Week 9 / High Altitude Camp!

Another strong week of running!  We'll be happy to have most of our team back together after missing a big crew for various activities; and we'll be happy to be heading up the mountain for some great experiences up at camp.
Let's have a better week at getting our minutes recorded.  So PLEASE, enter your Week 8 Minutes here.

Announcements for camp:
Please remember to double check the packing list for camp including a copy of your baby and family pictures.
We will be trying to leave from PVHS at 11:30a on Monday, so be there around 11:00 to get things packed.

Schedule for the week:
Monday - practice will be our TIME TRIAL!  A time trial is a race with our team.  We use it to see where everyone on the team is at through this point of the season, get those antsy legs moving a little bit, and remind you a little how to race before we head into our first meet.  We will meet at 7:00a at Bloomington Hills North Park.  After our usual warm ups, we will get started racing around 7:45 (if parents want to come and watch).  If you have any siblings or know of anyone who will be running with our Youngsters program, they can come race as well.

Monday - Thursday - After practice, we will be heading up to Cedar Mountain for camp.  Those not attending camp will need to get the rest of the week's runs in on their own.  We will be coming home from camp Thursday around noon.

Friday and Saturday - practice on your own or get your own group together.

A couple upcoming events:
Cedar All-Comers - August 9th, 6:00p, Cedar HS - This is our first meet of the season!  We will be taking everyone who has their physical and registermyathlete done to this meet (I am planning on two buses).  So if you haven't done either of these requirements, please do so ASAP.  We will be leaving from PVHS at 4:00p that Wednesday afternoon - with the girls race at 6:00 and the boys at app. 6:30 (I have not been told yet if they will have a middle school race - if so, it would normally start at 5:30).

Renegade Camp - August 11th-12th (location TBA, very likely Beaver Mountain).  This is our Varsity Camp.  We will usually take about the top 10 boys and girls to our Renegade Camp.  If you are planning on being Varsity or competing for Varsity this season, make sure you have these dates available.  We will probably leave Friday in the early afternoon and return Saturday in the early afternoon.

Athletes of the Week:
Jose Urioso, Jr - Jose has done an excellent job since joining our team last year.  He has a great attitude and continually brings everyone on the team together.  His hard work saw his running improve dramatically in the past year.  Look for him to continue to PR throughout the season.
Ashley Hall, So - Ashley is another runner who epitomizes what XC, and particularly PVXC, is all about.  Everyday, Ashley is out working hard and motivating her teammates to do their best.  Because of her influence many runners have joined the team and believed that they, like Ashley, could do things that they once thought were too hard.


And we'll end with our quote for the week.  This is based a bit upon what we talked about at practice on Thursday... so take a few minutes and connect it to that.  As you do, set aside a few minutes this weekend and do some visualization and mental and physical prep for the time trial Monday.
"Fundamentally, the marksman aims at himself." - Eugen Herrigel

Summer Running Club Update!

So it doesn't rain for two months and then... rain out!  So with our big storm this week, we weren't able to hold our final day of Running Club.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience of this; but there was no way to safely race on the very slippery grass, let alone pass out certificates, awards, and shirts without everything just becoming a major mess.
So the new plan:
We will hold our final club day on Tuesday, August 8th, at 8:30a at Washington Elem. (the XC team will be gone to our high altitude camp this coming week).  We will still get out awards, so get your marathon mileage done in these extra weeks; we will pass out our shirts; sell old club shirts ($2 each or $5 for 3); and all the other good stuff we do on the final day of club.
We would greatly appreciate it if everyone will share this message with family and friends who are also involved in Summer Running Club.

Week 8 and final (?) camp info

Another good week for PVXC.  We are coming into camp during week 9, so most of this post will be concerning it and our kind of crazy upcoming week.
We've got our rides up the mountain set.  And we've got most of our minutes reported for the early stages of the summer, so keep them up to date from now on.  (Please enter your Week 7 Minutes.  This form will close Tuesday evening.)  Drivers and those listed as going to camp can be found on our Minutes Spreadsheet for the season.  (Those driving will get personalized info sent home to them on Tuesday.)
Speaking of Tuesday... it is probably the most important day of this week for us.  Not only is it our last Kids Club (and all the craziness that goes with it: races, shirts, awards, etc...), but we will also meet after Club and go over all our info for camp (packing lists, etc... - which will get linked here early in the week) (since many of you going to camp will be gone for the rest of the week).  So, please plan on staying for a few more minutes after Kids Club on Tuesday.
We will also go over Fundraising info and the Sponsorship papers for the Run-a-thon. (NEW INFO!)

Let's go through this busy week:
Monday - NO TEAM PRACTICE.  Today will be your tempo run (you MUST get it in please!).  If you are running a race (Enterprise - no info?; or Hurricane - 6:30a @ Hurricane city center, cost 2 cans), use this as your tempo.  If not, get your tempo in.

Tuesday - 7:00a practice followed by Kids Club and then camp meeting.  3:00p weights and short run.

Wednesday - 7:00a normal practice.  Afternoon run for some (on own).

Thursday - 7:00a normal practice.  3:00p weights and short run.

Friday - 6:30a long run, meet at double churches in the Fields.

Saturday - run on own or organize your own group run.

The counselors have asked that any hs'ers who were looking to change their schedules come to PVHS on Monday to get that done (if possible).  Boys from 9:00-10:00 and girls from 10:00-11:00.

Week 7 Athletes of the Week:
Alli Baker, Fr. - We've been counting down the days until Alli joined our team.  She comes to us as another one of our very talented Freshman girls class.  And with her hard work and desire to push, whatever she accomplishes this year and in the future will definitely not disappoint.
Cooper Despain, Jr. - Cooper has had a great summer of xc.  He has consistently pushed his runs to the Varsity level guys.  He is a great example of pushing through the ups and downs with hard work and a positive attitude.

We'll leave with a deep thought from the Omaha tribe "Dreams are wiser than men."

Camp and Minutes Update!

Here is a link to all our recorded minutes.  It also contains some important info about CAMP including those who have listed that they are going to camp (and those who haven't!), those who have paid (and, again, those who haven't!), and those that are good with their practice attendance.

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS DOCUMENT and fix or address anything that needs to be dealt with.
If you need to catch up minutes, email them to Coach Holt (pineviewxc@gmail.com).
If you need to update if you are going to camp or have paid, also, let Coach know ASAP.
It is also important that you get your physical before camp, so please get that taken care of.

And finally, but VERY IMPORTANT, we need help with rides (at the bottom of the doc, you can see who we have planned out so far).  Some parents have mentioned possibly driving.  Please email (or text) Coach and let him know what works - driving up around 11:00a on Monday, July 31st; or driving back, being at Camp at around 10:00a on Thursday, Aug. 3rd; or even coming up and staying some or all of the time as a chaperone.

Week 7

Congrats everyone on another good solid week.  It is tough to push all the way through the summer.  There are camps and activities, family vacations and reunions, and all sorts of other things pulling you away from practice.  But many of you are still getting your runs in and doing great things.
We want to congratulate Jessica Hill again for earning Track and Field Freshman of the Year honors for the entire state! A very well deserved honor for one of the top distance runners in Utah.  Jessica's win also shows a lot about this team... Our team and our friends and supporters really pulled together for Jess.  In the boys vote, it only took 30+ total votes to win.  We voted for Jessica around 3,500 times!  That says a lot about how much we care for each other on this team.

As we get ready for Week 7, a couple important things:

Let's get our minutes recorded!
For Week 5 we only had 19 of you record your minutes and of course that let to our lowest total team minutes for the summer.  We are challenging the team to set a new record with our Week 6 minutes - it was our biggest week of the season, so it should be easy; WE JUST NEED EVERYONE TO GO ENTER YOUR MINUTES... NOW!  And if you have missed any weeks up to now, go enter them in.  Remember, not only is this a requirement for camp, the bigger idea is that recording your minutes and logging your runs are two things that will make you take more responsibility for your own running, thus making you a better runner.
Please enter your Minutes for Week 6 here.

Also, some important info for High Altitude Camp.  On Monday, we we will be compiling the final list of who is going to camp and who has paid (more on that in a minute).  If you aren't going to be at practice for some reason, but are going to camp, make sure the coaches know (email or text us).  We also need to get rides finalized ASAP, so we are looking for parents who can give rides up and/or back from Cedar Mountain on Monday, July 31st and Thursday, Aug. 3rd.  Even if the coaches might have your name already, if you can help, please email or text and let us know what you can do.
Requirements for camp: $90 paid (if you haven't paid yet, we are setting up one more day with the finance office, hopefully this week); be consistently running at least Level 1 workouts (which means you MUST be coming to practice, with just a couple approved exceptions); and you are logging your minutes (so a bunch of you better get caught up on that!).
We are always in the need of large tents for camp, so if you have one let the coaches know.

And we also want to do a big push for everyone coming out to Tues. and Thurs. afternoon practices.  Each of those days we do weights at 3:00 (followed by a captains' message - which are always awesome), and then an optional short run.  Of course, some of you can't make it with afternoon schedules.  But many of you just aren't coming.  Now is the time to gain the strength you gain from weights, and it is the time to start building up a bit of acclimatization to the summer heat that we will have to deal with much more when school starts.

And finally, if you want a race for the 24th (we won't have organized practice that day), there are basically two options (semi-) locally.  Hurricane hosts a 5K which usually costs only a few cans and is a fun, flat and fast course.  Enterprise also has a great race with 5K and 10K distances.  Check either one of them out and get a good fast workout in!

Here's the outline for the week:

Monday - 6:30a long run.  Also making list of all those attending camp.

Tuesday - 7:00a practice followed by Running Club.  Afternoon practice at 3:00; weights, running, and captains' message.

Wednesday - 7:00a practice.

Thursday - 7:00a practice.  Afternoon practice at 3:00; weights and running.

Friday - 7:00a practice at Vernon Worthen Park (middle of St. George).

Saturday - on own or with your own group.

And now a final thought for a short discussion tomorrow:
"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey the matters, in the end." Ursula K. LeGuin

Oh... we better catch up our Athletes of the Week for the past two weeks.
Jessica Hill, So. - well we already bragged a little about Jess, but she is awesome and has grown tremendously in the past year, and she has such a great attitude about all things in life.
Jenessa Finch, So. - Jenessa also has shown amazing improvement in the past year.  She finished the track season as one of the top Freshman 2 milers in the region and has continued to grow throughout the summer.
Scottie Bushar, Fr. - Scottie has been around our program for many years, and we are very excited for him to finally be a 9th grader.  He has transitioned to hs running very well and we expect big things from him for many years.
Josh Miraglia, Sr. - Josh is a great example of pushing yourself to be your very best.  Despite a very rigorous academic schedule, Josh has been a very dedicated runner and seen great improvements throughout his two seasons with the team.

Week 6

Hopefully everyone had a great week with no coaches around! We are super proud of all those who still got their runs in and those who organized runs - it is during those times that no one is watching that champions are made.
As we head into Week 6, we get back on our regular schedule of practice:
Monday - 6:30a at Washington Elementary
Tuesday - 7:00a with Kids Club after. We will have weights and an optional short run at PVHS at 3:00p.
Wednesday - regular 7:00a practice.
Thursday - 7:00a; with weights and optional run at PVHS at 3:00p.
Friday - 7:00a at Bloomington Hills North Park.
Saturday - on own or organize your own group run.
Please update your Week 5 Minutes here.
And a challenge for the week; let's get back to logging our runs each day. Whether you are using fastrunningblog, our Week Reports, Strava, or something else, recording your runs is a big step in taking control of your own running and progress.
Finally, here's a little thought for you:
"For the raindrop, joy is entering the river." Ghalib

Week 5 and Kids Club June Race Results

We've finished up our first month of practice and Summer Running Club.  We've had a lot of good growth as a team - most people who started the summer with us are still coming out, and every once in a while we grab a new face; Kids Club has been going well; and the end of summer is coming quicker than we all want.

The results for our first Summer Running Club race can be found here.  We had some great racing, many new names added to the top 50's and even a few new records: Elin Holt with a new 2nd Grade girls' record, Westley Rae and Brian Richardson with new 5th and 6th Grade boys' records, and Ben Beitler with a new 4th Grade and overall record for the 1-4 Grade Boys! Congrats to all of you and everyone who ran so hard.  REMEMBER, THERE WILL BE NO SUMMER RUNNING CLUB THIS COMING WEEK due to the moratorium.  See you all back on July 11th.

Speaking of moratorium, we have no coach led practice this week... BUT REMEMBER WHAT YOUR CAPTAINS HAVE SAID; if you need a reminder of that, get in touch with someone from the team and be reminded.
The workouts for the week are posted.  Follow them as closely as you can.  And always remember, if you are out of town, do the best you can to get your running in.
Let's also remember, that as the summer has started really heating up, and our runs have gotten longer, we need to really be hydrating (especially over the weekends when we aren't in our normal schedules - this is something too many of us were reminded of the hard way this last week).

Here's the form to report your Week 4 Minutes.

Let's jump back to this past week and recognize our Athletes of the Week:
Gracie Clements, Fr: We have all been pretty stoked to have Gracie finally running with us.  Not only is she a great runner who could play an immediate role for our team, she brings an unmatched enjoyment of life to the crew!
Jason Lunt, Fr: Another Freshman earning AotW is Jason.  He has been around the program for a while with 3 older siblings all having run for PV.  Jason has really pushed himself this summer and brought a lot of the younger runners with him.  Look for Jason to have a great Freshman season and to become an important contributor in the coming years.

And let's end this with another thought provoking quote! This one coming from Rudyard Kipling's Second Jungle Book:
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,
and the strength of of the Wolf is the Pack.