SJCS Cross Country Running Team 2023

Hello Runners and Parents!

The beginning of the school year and our cross country season is fast approaching, so I thought I'd get an early email out to you with information about the upcoming season. 

Before we begin, on behalf of Coach Gillespie and myself, I'd like to welcome you to the SJCS Cross Country Team!  We're really excited about the upcoming season, especially with such a big group of runners!!!

This email has some important information about the schedule and the training philosophy we'll be following throughout the season.  Please take some time to read through it.  And reach out to me if you have any questions. Also, please let me know (by sending me a separate email) if you want me to add or remove any email addresses to these emails (and TeamSnap) for your family in the future.  You can also log into TeamSnap and make the updates yourself as needed.

The Basics

You may be wondering what Cross Country running is, and how the meets will work.  So here are the basics. Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on an open-air course over natural terrain such as dirt or grass (although sometimes pavement). Unlike running on a track, there are often some hills on the course. Yeah!

Our conference meets normally take about 1 hour to complete, with a JV race (5/6 graders) going about 1 mile, and a Varsity race (7/8 graders) going about 2 miles.  The courses vary depending on the location. We typically have boys and girls run together, however, the scores/places are determined separately.  The top 5 runners by gender are scored for both JV and Varsity.

Te​amSnap

Similar to prior years, we'll be using TeamSnap to help us stay organized. You can download the TeamSnap app on your phone (via the app store), or access it via the internet (https://www.teamsnap.com).  This evening, I will be sending you all an invite to join the team via TeamSnap. This will allow you to access our team schedule and subscribe to it on your own calendars.  As any events are added or updated (time, location, etc.), you will automatically get the updates on your phone if you've subscribed to our calendar.  

Schedule

Our NICC meets will begin in mid-September, so we have some time to build slowly into running shape.  This will allow us to have a nice progression into fitness and should help us keep any overuse injuries to a minimum! 

Here are some key items about our schedule for you to know.

• The most current information about the schedule can always be found on TeamSnap.  As I mentioned above, you should receive an email invite this evening to join the team on TeamSnap.
• Each week (normally on Sunday evening), I will send an email out to the team with information about the schedule for that week, including practice and meet dates/times/locations.   
• Note that practices will begin the week before school starts - the first practice is on 8/22!.  If you are unable to make it to practice that first week, no worries.  I will send out an email with the workouts, and you can do them on your own.  
• We will aim to have 3 practices a week throughout the season, unless there is a meet during the week, in which case, we’ll likely have only 2 practices.  Generally, 2 of the practices will fall during the school week, and a 3rd practice will fall over the weekend (usually on Sunday afternoon/evening).
• On weekdays, the practices will normally be at Sunrise Rotary Park (right next to school).  Typically, these will be right after school (starting at 2:15pm and ending at 3:30pm).  Runners should meet in the gym foyer.
• Note that the practice times and locations for the week of 8/9 are different.  
• On Sundays, we will be meeting at other locations, such as Old School Forest Preserve or Independence Grove, for a change of scenery and some fun new running challenges (e.g., hills - yeah!).
• If you can't make it to a meet or practice, don't worry.  Kids are very busy with many activities these days.  One of my biggest goals is to instill in them the value of getting fit and having a good time doing it. If they have to miss a practice or a meet, they will not be penalized.  I just ask that they do the following:
• Don't get discouraged about missing a practice or two, and don't give up.  Show up to practices and meets when you can.
• When you can't make it to a practice, try to make up the work on your own, but make it fun!  If you are missing practice because of a practice for another running sport (e.g., soccer), you are already doing the work.  But if you have to miss practice because of another non-cardio activity, try to do a fun cardio workout on your own (e.g., go for a bike ride with mom or dad, play soccer with some friends, play full-court basketball, etc.).

Parent Volunteers Needed

With a very large team this year (~40 runners – Woot! Woot!), we need a couple of parent volunteers to help out at each practice to ensure we keep the practices moving efficiently.   Also, each team in the conference is required to have a few volunteers help during the meets.  A google doc will be set up in the coming week to sign up for volunteer spots.  We ask that each family plan to have a parent volunteer at least once – for either a meet or practice – throughout the season.  Volunteers need to be current on any Virtus/Youth Protection requirements with the Archdiocese.

Training Philosophy

Our training this year will be focused around having fun and improving fitness. Running is a sport that the kids can do their whole lives, so we want to help them fall in love with it for a lifetime of enjoyment.  

Here are some key items related to the training plan for the year:

• Endurance and Speed - Our focus during practice will typically be either endurance or speed, sometimes a little of both.  Each week, at least one of our practices will be focused more on endurance (going slower but for longer).  And another will be focused more on speed (going faster but for a shorter amount of time).  Don’t worry, we have lots of ways to make both disciplines fun!  
• Additional Workouts - Runners will also be encouraged to do some workouts on their own outside of meets and practice.  Our suggested goal for everybody is to get in a workout at least 5 days a week.  That includes our practices and meets, so for most weeks, that means only finding two other times during the week to do something related to improving your fitness.  This could be running, biking, swimming, hiking, yoga, or even participating in another sport.  Ideally, it's an activity that they have fun doing!
• Starting Now – To get ready for the season, I encourage all the runners to start getting some exercise in during the next week and half.  If you haven’t been running lately, try to ease into it.  I suggest that you try to run 10-15 minutes straight (at a comfortable pace so you don't have to walk – or if you have to walk, try to minimize how long you walk before running again) at least 3-5 different days before our first practice on August 10th. If you are able, try to work in a few other exercise sessions as well (e.g., biking, swimming, etc.).  
• Setting Goals - We will be encouraging the kids to set goals and to work towards accomplishing them.  To that end, we will be asking each runner to set a season goal; and then to help them stay motivated and continually work towards that goal, each week we will ask them to set a weekly goal.   One of the great things about running is that everybody’s goals can be different.  For some, it might be a specific time goal (e.g., breaking 7:30 in the mile).  For others, it may be a general fitness goal (e.g., working out 5+ times a week for the entire season). 
• Running is a Team Sport – Although each runner is out there running their own race and working towards their own goals, we are all on the same team, and we will support one another in practices and at meets.  We encourage our JV runners (5th and 6th grade) to stay for the Varsity (7th and 8th grade) races.  And we encourage our Varsity runners to cheer on our JV runners during their race.  Running is a fun social sport, and it’s a positive thing anytime anyone of us gets out there and goes on a run.  Even if we don’t improve our time or we have a bad day, in the end it’s a great thing that we went out and did it.  So we will all encourage each other and have fun doing it together.

Finally, if you have any questions, let me know!  

Thank you,

Coach Marisa Macdonald

Email - [email protected]