Sept. 1 - 6 (Week 14)

We are entering a super busy time of our schedule - 4 races in just 2 weeks for some of you! So make sure you are on top of everything you need to be. Thanks for all the help at the car wash. It went very well, and we hope each of you raised some money for your XC expenses. 

If you haven't got the Binderly App (parents and athletes) PLEASE DO. (You can get rid of your track and XC Remind). Create your account (parents and athletes) and connect to Pine View HS and join Cross Country.

Purpose of the Week's Workouts: Click here for a link to this week's workouts (Week 14). Workouts will be kind of all over for the next two weeks as various teammates are getting ready for different races. So, make sure you note where you are at on the workout schedule and get everything in you're supposed to. As we get ready to head on our team overnighter next week, we will really be focusing on our standard of being at practice. We will also be looking for grades to be solid - we will have a grade check this week; each athlete needs to bring a printed copy of your current grades to Coach Decker by Friday (or you won't be eligible to travel next week). Update your minutes from Week 13 here: Weekly Minutes. 

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: AM - 8:00a at Sunrise Valley Park (Everyone) 

Tuesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - RACE - DIXIE ALL-COMERS: Bloomington Hills North Park (St. George); 6:00p; info below.

Wednesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and yoga (White, Black, expected; Silver optional; Maroon can join for yoga at 6:45a) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Thursday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Friday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice on Fridays will usually be in the am, and everyone should be there) / afternoon - 12:25p at PVHS (White expected; Black and Silver optional - no sophs/fresh; no Maroon)

Saturday: RACE - LAS VEGAS INVITE: Sunset Park (Las Vegas); 10:00a; bus leaving PVHS at 5:00a; info below. We will need to know by Wednesday if you are able to race or not.

Upcoming Events:

• RACE - Dixie All-Comers: Tuesday, September 2nd at Bloomington Hills North Park; Youngsters 5:30p, Girls 6:00p, Boys 6:40'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 5:00p for warm ups. Everyone who didn't race at Timp will race here.
• RACE - Las Vegas Invite: Saturday, September 6th at Sunset Park (Las Vegas); schedule (race times are Pacific Time): Var A Boys 7:00a, Var A Girls 7:30a, Fresh/Soph Boys 8:00a, Fresh/Soph Girls 8:35a, Var B Boys 9:10a, Var B Girls 9:45a. Bus will leave PVHS at 5:00a (be there on time). TOP JV BOYS WILL RACE IN VAR A RACE. (Varsity will not be racing)
• RACE - Hurricane All-Comers: Wednesday, September 10th at Washington County Legacy Park; Youngsters 5:00p, Girls 5:45p, Boys 6:30'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 4:45p for warm ups. JV will race here.
• RACE - Border Wars: Saturday, September 13th at Valley Regional Park (Taylorsville); Sr Girls 9:00a, Sr Boys 9:20a, Jr Girls 9:40a, Jr Boys 10:00a, Var Girls 10:20a, Var Boys 10:40a, Championship Girls 11:00a, Championship Boys 11:20a, Soph Girls 11:40a, Soph Boys 12:00p, Fresh Girls 12:40p, Fresh Girls 1:00p. We will be leaving on Friday- Itinerary (updated soon). We will be taking about 48 athletes (that will be between 16-20 girls and 28-32 boys), you will have to be here for all your expected practices to be in consideration for traveling with the team.
• get the full schedule here

Uniform Info & Spirit Pack - Go back to last week's post (spirit pack orders are still open)

Youngsters - ***We are encouraging our Youngsters to join the Velocity Kids running club***. Both this week's Dixie All-Comers and next week's Hurrican All-Comers have youth races. We'd love to see some future Panthers out there. 

Race Report - 

Timpanogos Invite: This was our first big challenge of the year for our Varsity teams and things went okay. And, honestly, okay is better than usual. The Varsity girls took 10th without Avery, so we were pretty pleased to see that result. Emmalee was 21st overall and the 5th 4A girl. Tev had a strong 2nd half to move up to 42nd. Sariah continues to be brave and push herself up the rankings; it was great to have Elin back from injury and running with the team again; and Andi and Sydney continue to make steady and important improvements to help the team. The Varsity boys took 12th. Maybe a little lower than we expected, but we still saw some good things. Trevor finish with a top 20 finish (4th 4A). Bender and Jake went 40th and 45th. Benji hanged in on a tough day and Nate is working back from his injuries, and they took 96th and 99th. And Liam was just back in 102nd. The JV guys took 3rd and were led by a strong race from Mason who took 2nd. Then Kyle (11th), Elliot (16th), Brennan (26th), and Tyler (27th) rounded out our scoring. Results. News.

Alumni Report - 

Trey and Bridger both ran this past weekend's UVU Invite in Orem. Trey is looking very strong for a Varsity spot for the Wolverines this year as he took 4th for the team. Bridger had a great first collegiate race and says he's loving running in college and that it is tough!

PVXC Thought of the Week: "All you can do is stay focused and stay on your game."

-Brad Stulberg

So maybe a little longer discussion here because we won't have team meeting on Monday (so stay with my train of thought and stay focused). This info is taken from a Stulberg post about an event that took place at the US Open (tennis) the other day. So apparently, in a tough match, Taylor Townshend (who was a big underdog) won a pretty lucky point that hit the net and then dropped in against Jelena Ostapenko. Ostapenko thought Townshend should have acknowledged the lucky shot and apologized (tennis etiquette, I guess). But Townshend didn't. Townshend went on to win the match, and after Ostapenko confronted her about the lucky point thing and was pretty upset. The teachable moment for us comes from Townshend's response which included her focusing on what she could control - her game and composure - and not getting caught up in all the distractions, name calling, and extra stuff that was happening around the incident. In fact, Townshend went on to beat her next heavily favored opponent as well! The lesson (from Stulberg's post)... "RESPOND NOT REACT. When things don't go to plan... You can react and lose your cool, as Ostapenko did. Or you can respond and stay locked in, as Townshend did. Reacting is rash. You go on tilt. Responding is deliberate. You stay focused." This is so huge in running (practices, workouts, races) because rarely will everything go right. Ask Jake about getting spiked last week. Ask Mason about having to run JV races while you're a top Varsity guy. Ask our crew that is working through injuries right now. Ask those who get a cold, have a bad day at school, have an unexpected tragedy, forgot their uniform, had the weather go crazy hot, or whatever... No matter the case, when you react, you've let something out of your control take over. When you respond, you stay in control, you refocus, and you do what you're able to do. And usually, things end up being pretty okay (or even better than okay).

So here's the challenge part - go back to the last time you reacted to something and think about how you could have responded instead. Even go to the next step and run through some visualization of bad things happening (maybe in a race or something) and plan out how you are going to respond and keep things under control rather than react and lose the control.

Aug. 25 - 30 (Week 13)

This has been a great start to the season/school year. It has been awesome to see so many of you really working hard to be to practice and buying in to the program. Remember that the more you put into something, the more you're going to get out of it (and for us, the more the team will benefit as more and more of you put a lot into it). Let's keep it up this week!

If you haven't got the Binderly App (parents and athletes) PLEASE DO. (You can get rid of your track and XC Remind). Create your account (parents and athletes) and connect to Pine View HS and join Cross Country.

Purpose of the Week's Workouts: Click here for a link to this week's workouts (Week 13). The weather looks to really be ready to help us have a nice week (yay). A big goal of this week is to turn the corner on some of the little injuries and aches we've been having. So we set up our workouts to help you be feeling good. Make sure you do your part by sleeping, eating, drinking and taking care of your body and mind. Update your minutes from Week 12 here: Weekly Minutes. 

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional - decide if you want to jump in this workout or not, totally fine either way) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice will usually be in the afternoon, except Friday, and everyone should be there; Mondays we'll meet in the lecture hall for a team meeting first)

Tuesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Wednesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and yoga (White, Black, expected; Silver optional; Maroon can join for yoga at 6:45a) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Thursday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Friday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice on Fridays will usually be in the am, and everyone should be there) / afternoon - 12:25p at PVHS (White expected; Black and Silver optional - no sophs/fresh; no Maroon) / RACE - TIMPANOGOS INVITE: Lakeside Park (Orem); 10:00a; Var Girls and top 13'ish boys; info below.

Saturday: 6:45a at Sandstone Elem. (Everyone) - CAR WASH after

Upcoming Events:

• RACE - Timpanogos Invite: Friday, August 29th at Lakeside Park (Orem); Var Girls 10:00a, Var Boys 10:30a, JV Boys 11:30a. We will be leaving on Thursday - Itinerary VARSITY and a few other top JV ATHLETES ONLY.
• Car Wash - Saturday, August 30th at Sandstone Elem, 9:00a-noon. This is a great opportunity to raise money for your XC expenses (trips/hotels, Nike trip, shoes...). Get "selling" your tickets.
• RACE - Dixie All-Comers: Tuesday, September 2nd at Bloomington Hills North Park; Youngsters 5:30p, Girls 6:00p, Boys 6:40'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 5:00p for warm ups. Everyone who didn't race at Timp will race here.
• RACE - Las Vegas Invite: Saturday, September 6th at Sunset Park (Cedar); prelim schedule: Var A Boys 7:00a, Var A Girls 7:30a, Fresh/Soph Boys 8:00a, Fresh/Soph Girls 8:35a, Var B Boys 9:10a, Var B Girls 9:45a. Bus will leave PVHS at 5:00a (be there on time). TOP JV BOYS WILL RACE IN VAR A RACE. (Varsity will not be racing)
• RACE - Hurricane All-Comers: Wednesday, September 10th at Washington County Legacy Park; Youngsters 5:00p, Girls 5:45p, Boys 6:30'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 4:45p for warm ups. JV will race here.
• RACE - Border Wars: Saturday, September 13th at Valley Regional Park (Taylorsville); Sr Girls 9:00a, Sr Boys 9:20a, Jr Girls 9:40a, Jr Boys 10:00a, Var Girls 10:20a, Var Boys 10:40a, Championship Girls 11:00a, Championship Boys 11:20a, Soph Girls 11:40a, Soph Boys 12:00p, Fresh Girls 12:40p, Fresh Girls 1:00p. We will be leaving on Friday- Itinerary (updated soon). We will be taking about 48 athletes (that will be between 16-20 girls and 28-32 boys), you will have to be here for all your expected practices.
• get the full schedule here

Uniform Info - <<<LAST WEEK FOR THIS INFO>>> Each athlete will need to purchase their uniform. The top (singlet) will be purchased through the school, cost $50. Pay to PVHS Finance Office and bring receipt to Holt. The shorts need to be purchased on your own. 

Shorts:

Boys - We will be running in the Nike Fast 3" (black) short for XC (same as we got for track this past season).  Here are some links: Nike, FastBreak, Gazelle, Running Warehouse, TCRunning 

Or if you are more comfortable in a 5" short, order the Nike Challenger: Nike, Kohl's, Dick's, Scheel's

Girls - Have a spandex or running short style option.

Spandex: Nike Women's Pro 3" (black/white) links: Nike, FootLocker, Tillys, Fit2Run / Nike Women's Pro 365 5" (black/white) links: Nike, Macy's, Amazon, Nordstrom, FootLocker

Running Short style: Nike Women's Tempo (black) links: Nike, Macy's

Spirit Pack - <<<LAST WEEK FOR THIS INFO>>> PVXC Team Store. A few new color options have been added. We also have a second company offering spirit pack stuff here is the link to MVP Sports. Always remember spirit pack stuff is completely optional and open for parents, family, friends to order. 

Youngsters - We are on hold with our Youngsters... we'd love to get it going, but haven't had enough interest in getting coaches (we'd need 1-2 more to make it work). Here was our original plan (if you know of anyone who would want to help we'd love it): Youth XC Running Camp (6th-8th grades). Monday and Thursday at 3:00p at PVHS, near the electronic sign (days may change). Spread the word and come join us! We are looking for parent volunteers to coach. You don't have to be super knowledgeable to help out... just someone who wants to be involved. Reach out to Coach Holt at david.holt@washk12.org if interested. ***Another great option is the Velocity Kids running club***

Race Report - 

SUU Invite: What a great day yesterday! Varsity boys started us very strong by nearly sweeping the race. Trevor took the win, followed by Bender, Benji, and Rake. Ben finished out the scoring with a 9th place finish, and Riam had a strong race finishing 12th. The girls Varsity was missing quite a few, but had strong races from Emmalee taking 2nd, Sariah finishing 11th, and Andi who had another good race in 30th. The JV boys took home a 100 point win hitting a perfect score and 7 of the top 10. Mason ran very well up front, Then a great group of Kyle, Will, Elliot, Brennan, Tyler, and Miles. Really we could list all the guys here for how well they did, but we'll mention a couple others: Nathan and Tayson had very strong races; our freshmen crew of Sebastian, Hudson, Finn, and Hunter ran well; and Joseph B. had a huge improvement over last week. Laura was our top finisher in the girls JV with a 12th place result. Ember and Ole also had good runs as the team took 5th. Really great efforts by so many!  Results. News.

PVXC Thought of the Week: "The #1 factor that determines if a training plan works? Belief. You can have 'perfect' workouts, elite level data, and cutting-edge recovery tools... But if the athlete doesn't buy in, none of it sticks. The body follows the mind. If the mind is hesitant, distracted, or full of doubt, performance suffers."

-Steve Magness

Those that have been around our program for a while know our stuff works, what about you? Sometimes things like a bad race, an injury, a negative word by a trusted loved one, just a general feeling that you're kind of in a rut happen. And sometimes these things cause us to start to question our program. That little doubt then grows into a full-on doubt. When that happens, performance suffers. How do we counter this? Go back to the basics... Why am I here? What do we do that works? What are my feelings about those who are around me? Revisit why you bought in in the first place and rebuild the belief. It's not about pretending everything is perfect; it's grounded confidence in the direction you are headed and the support that a program can give you. Belief is a powerful tool. Belief is built by trust, listening, collaboration, vulnerability, ownership. Belief helps lead you to accomplishing your mission. 

Aug. 18 - 23 (Week 12)

 *Remember it is best to view in the web version - to find this option on your phone, scroll to the bottom of the post*

One week of school down... we made it through. Hopefully we are all starting to get into a groove a bit with school and practice and all the other things we have. This is a great time to bring up how important it is that you are staying up on your school work. Use your time wisely in class and get things done. Limit things that waste your time once you get home from practice. And get schoolwork done early so you can be getting to bed at a good time.

-New communication... please do this! We are going to be using the Binderly App that the district has asked all school programs use (you can get rid of your track and XC Remind). Create your account (parents and athletes) and connect to Pine View HS and join Cross Country. Be patient as we figure this out, but hopefully it helps our communication get to where everyone is getting the team info.

Purpose of the Week's Workouts: Click here for a link to this week's workouts (Week 12). It was a great first week of school and practice. We'll continue to work to get our full workouts in (even though we have to modify some things because of the heat). Update your minutes from Week 11 here: Weekly Minutes. 

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional - decide if you want to jump in this workout or not, totally fine either way) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice will usually be in the afternoon, except Friday, and everyone should be there; Mondays we'll meet in the lecture hall for a team meeting first)

Tuesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Wednesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and yoga (White, Black, expected; Silver optional; Maroon can join for yoga at 6:45a) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Thursday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Friday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice on Fridays will usually be in the am, and everyone should be there) / afternoon - 12:25p at PVHS (White expected; Black and Silver optional - no sophs/fresh; no Maroon)

Saturday: PM - RACE - SUU INVITE: Bicentennial Park (Cedar); 8:00a; info below.

Upcoming Events:

• RACE - SUU Invite: Saturday, August 23rd at Bicentennial Park (Cedar); prelim schedule: Var Boys 8:00a, Var Girls 8:30a, JV Boys 9:00a, JV Girls 9:30a. Bus will leave PVHS at 6:15a (be there on time). 
• RACE - Timpanogos Invite: Friday, August 29th at Lakeside Park (Orem); JV Girls 10:00a, JV Boys 10:30a, Var Girls 11:00a, Var Boys 11:30a. We will be leaving on Thursday - Itinerary (updated soon). VARSITY and a few other top JV ATHLETES ONLY
• Car Wash - Saturday, August 30th at Sandstone Elem, 9:00a-noon. This is a great opportunity to raise money for your XC expenses (trips/hotels, Nike trip, shoes...). We'll get out tickets and go over instruction on Monday at the team meeting.
• RACE - Dixie All-Comers: Tuesday, September 2nd at Bloomington Hills North Park; Youngsters 5:30p, Girls 6:00p, Boys 6:40'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 5:00p for warm ups. Everyone who didn't race at Timp will race here.
• RACE - Las Vegas Invite: Saturday, September 6th at Sunset Park (Cedar); prelim schedule: Var A Boys 7:00a, Var A Girls 7:30a, Fresh/Soph Boys 8:00a, Fresh/Soph Girls 8:35a, Var B Boys 9:10a, Var B Girls 9:45a. Bus will leave PVHS at 5:00a (be there on time). TOP JV BOYS WILL RACE IN VAR A RACE. (Varsity will not be racing)
• get the full schedule here

Uniform Info - Each athlete will need to purchase their uniform. The top (singlet) will be purchased through the school, cost $50. Pay to PVHS Finance Office and bring receipt to Holt. The shorts need to be purchased on your own. 

Shorts:

Boys - We will be running in the Nike Fast 3" (black) short for XC (same as we got for track this past season).  Here are some links: Nike, FastBreak, Gazelle, Running Warehouse, TCRunning 

Or if you are more comfortable in a 5" short, order the Nike Challenger: Nike, Kohl's, Dick's, Scheel's

Girls - Have a spandex or running short style option.

Spandex: Nike Women's Pro 3" (black/white) links: Nike, FootLocker, Tillys, Fit2Run / Nike Women's Pro 365 5" (black/white) links: Nike, Macy's, Amazon, Nordstrom, FootLocker

Running Short style: Nike Women's Tempo (black) links: Nike, Macy's

Spirit Pack - PVXC Team Store. A few new color options have been added. We also have a second company offering spirit pack stuff here is the link to MVP Sports. Always remember spirit pack stuff is completely optional and open for parents, family, friends to order. 

Youngsters - We are going to start up our Youth XC Running Camp (6th-8th grades) this week. For now, we are planning on meeting Monday and Thursday at 3:00p at PVHS, near the electronic sign (days may change). Spread the word and come join us! We are looking for parent volunteers to coach. You don't have to be super knowledgeable to help out... just someone who wants to be involved. Reach out to Coach Holt at david.holt@washk12.org if interested.

Race Report - 

Cedar All Comers: Good season start up to Cedar. Weather was still pretty warm and we had some hot days here for our first week of school practice, but we still saw a lot of good performances. Both boys and girls teams ended up winning. But the real point of this meet is to give us (our team and each individual) a starting point to build on. So make sure you reflect back on the race a bit. Take special notice of the times you felt you were running fast and putting in great effort and remember what that feels like so we can replicate it and grow in the future. Results. News.

PVXC Thought of the Week: "If you view practice as an obligation and not as an opportunity... you'll never make it at the next level. You don't have to practice... you get to practice."

-Coach Riley (@6am_practice)

What's practice to you? Hopefully it is something you look forward to each day. A time to be with your best friends. A time to get out and push yourself. A time to do something you love. Hopefully you're not thinking... I have to get up in the morning, or I guess I'll go to practice this afternoon I have nothing else to do. Find some joy in it. See it as an opportunity to grow. Not a lot of people get to spend time doing something as awesome as we do with as awesome group as we have. Find your reason why and it will make this tough thing we do so much more enjoyable. 

Important Note about Races/Buses - It is very important that each athlete and parent understand our standards when it comes to participate in races: 

-First (and this is for being on the team, not just racing), athletes MUST have Activate done and marked complete (see link earlier in this post). This includes registration documents complete, fees paid, and physical complete and submitted (including insurance clearance)

-Second, athletes grades must be checked for previous quarter. The office does this, but those who attend alternative school or who are home schooled MUST turn in their grades at the beginning of every quarter to be checked.

-Third, athletes must be attending practice. Those not attending practice won't be registered for the meets. This includes almost all reasons to miss: appointments of all kinds, work, even school if things are falling behind and not discussed with the coaching staff. If there is a need to miss practices (and meets), athletes need to talk to coaches in advance!

And here's a little info on travel/buses and the end of meets: 

-athletes are expected to ride the bus to meets (there may be times when we have to adjust this a little because of team size)

-athletes can only travel home with their own parent (not trusted family friends, not grandparents, not siblings... only the athlete's parent can take them home, after signing out with coaches). Athletes need to stay throughout the meet to support the team even if their race is done (even if a parent needs to leave). We will always have a bus for away meets to bring everyone home.  

-PARENTS, we love that you come support your son/daughter in this extremely tough sport. At the end of a race, when you've seen them work so hard and are so tired, we know you just want to go up and give a huge hug and support them. However, after the race is a super important time for your son/daughter. They need to compose themselves a little (especially after a tough race), be with their teammates, do all their cool down stuff, and often get cheering for the rest of the team. So the best thing to do is give a quick high-five and hug, tell them you are proud of their effort (please don't ever criticize or even try to evaluate their race... they know what went well or poorly, and the coaches are paid the big bucks to help them with that). So just give a quick recognition and then let them get doing their stuff (even a quick encouragement of, "Great job! So proud of you! Go knock out your post race cool, and we'll see you when you're done," would be super awesome).

Aug. 11 - 16 (Week 11)

*Remember it is best to view in the web version - to find this option scroll to the bottom of the post*

A lot of stuff this week, so please read through all of it.

Although we are on Week 11, hopefully we have a crew that is also on Week 1... that means we have some new teammates! So during this first week, get out and invite people to join us (even be brave and talk to classmates you don't know). 

-Make sure you have completed your Activate (formerly registermyathlete) including your physical and fee.

-New communication. Because of the troubles with Remind, we are going to be using the Binderly App that the district has asked all school programs use. Create your account (parents and athletes) and connect to Pine View HS and join Cross Country. Be patient as we figure this out, but hopefully it helps our communication get to where everyone is getting the team info.

Purpose of the Week's Workouts: Click here for a link to this week's workouts (Week 11). We'll start into our regular school year practice schedule now. So make sure you check out the info below (and on the workout spreadsheet) to see what the schedule is for you. We'll try and not go too crazy this week since its our first week back to school and we'll be in the heat, as well as having a race. But those who are going up to Renegade Camp will still get a solid amount of minutes with your long run on Saturday. Update your minutes from Week 10 here: Weekly Minutes. 

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional - decide if you want to jump in this workout or not, totally fine either way) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice will usually be in the afternoon, except Friday, and everyone should be there; Mondays we'll meet in the lecture hall for a team meeting first)

Tuesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Wednesday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and yoga (White, Black, expected; Silver optional; Maroon can join for yoga at 6:45a) / PM - RACE - CEDAR ALL-COMERS: Cedar HS; 6:00p; info below.

Thursday: AM - 6:15a at PVHS short run and weights (White, Black, Silver expected; Maroon optional) / afternoon - 3:00p at PVHS (Everyone)

Friday: AM - 6:00a at PVHS (Everyone - our main practice on Fridays will usually be in the am, and everyone should be there) / afternoon - 12:45p at PVHS (White expected; Black and Silver optional - no sophs/fresh; no Maroon)

Saturday: on own or form own group, or invited Varsity group at Renegade Camp

Upcoming Events:

• WEEKLY ACTIVITIES: Sadly we've come to an end of summer Waffle Wednesdays. We'll still be trying to get some team parties in, often the evening before a meet. 
• RACE - Cedar All-Comers: Wednesday, August 13th at Cedar HS; Youngsters 5:30p, Girls 6:00p, Boys 6:40'ish. Bus will leave PVHS at 4:00p (be there on time). YOUNGSTERS WHO WANT TO RACE MUST PREREGISTER... email Coach Holt at david.holt@washk12.org by Monday morning to get registered (no cost).
• RACE - SUU Invite: Saturday, August 23rd at Bicentennial Park (Cedar); prelim schedule: Var Boys 8:00a, Var Girls 8:30a, JV Boys 9:00a, JV Girls 9:30a. Bus will leave PVHS at 6:15a (be there on time). 
• RACE - Timpanogos Invite: Friday, August 29th at Lakeside Park (Orem); JV Girls 10:00a, JV Boys 10:30a, Var Girls 11:00a, Var Boys 11:30a. We will be leaving on Thursday - Itinerary (updated soon). VARSITY and a few other top JV ATHLETES ONLY
• RACE - Dixie All-Comers: Tuesday, September 2nd at Bloomington Hills North Park; Youngsters 5:30p, Girls 6:00p, Boys 6:40'ish. No Bus; be at the park by 5:00p for warm ups. Everyone who didn't race at Timp will race here.
• get the full schedule here

Important Note about Races/Buses - It is very important that each athlete and parent understand our standards when it comes to participate in races: 

-First (and this is for being on the team, not just racing), athletes MUST have Activate done and marked complete (see link earlier in this post). This includes registration documents complete, fees paid, and physical complete and submitted (including insurance clearance)

-Second, athletes grades must be checked for previous quarter. The office does this, but those who attend alternative school or who are home schooled MUST turn in their grades at the beginning of every quarter to be checked.

-Third, athletes must be attending practice. Those not attending practice won't be registered for the meets. This includes almost all reasons to miss: appointments of all kinds, work, even school if things are falling behind and not discussed with the coaching staff. If there is a need to miss practices (and meets), athletes need to talk to coaches in advance!

And here's a little info on travel/buses and the end of meets: 

-athletes are expected to ride the bus to meets (there may be times when we have to adjust this a little because of team size)

-athletes can only travel home with their own parent (not trusted family friends, not grandparents, not siblings... only the athlete's parent can take them home, after signing out with coaches). Athletes need to stay throughout the meet to support the team even if their race is done (even if a parent needs to leave). We will always have a bus for away meets to bring everyone home.  

-PARENTS, we love that you come support your son/daughter in this extremely tough sport. At the end of a race, when you've seen them work so hard and are so tired, we know you just want to go up and give a huge hug and support them. However, after the race is a super important time for your son/daughter. They need to compose themselves a little (especially after a tough race), be with their teammates, do all their cool down stuff, and often get cheering for the rest of the team. So the best thing to do is give a quick high-five and hug, tell them you are proud of their effort (please don't ever criticize or even try to evaluate their race... they know what went well or poorly, and the coaches are paid the big bucks to help them with that). So just give a quick recognition and then let them get doing their stuff (even a quick encouragement of, "Great job! So proud of you! Go knock out your post race cool, and we'll see you when you're done," would be super awesome).

Uniform Info - Each athlete will need to purchase their uniform. The top (singlet) will be purchased through the school, cost $50. Pay to PVHS Finance Office and bring receipt to Holt. The shorts need to be purchased on your own. It would be a good idea to get them very soon. 

Shorts:

Boys - We will be running in the Nike Fast 3" (black) short for XC (same as we got for track this past season).  Here are some links: Nike, FastBreak, Gazelle, Running Warehouse, TCRunning 

Or if you are more comfortable in a 5" short, order the Nike Challenger: Nike, Kohl's, Dick's, Scheel's

Girls - Have a spandex or running short style option.

Spandex: Nike Women's Pro 3" (black/white) links: Nike, FootLocker, Tillys, Fit2Run / Nike Women's Pro 365 5" (black/white) links: Nike, Macy's, Amazon, Nordstrom, FootLocker

Running Short style: Nike Women's Tempo (black) links: Nike, Macy's

Spirit Pack - PVXC Team Store. All of this is completely optional. This is gear for athletes, family, friends, whoever. Just place your order, pay, and have it with a few days.

Youngsters - We are going to start up our Youth XC Running Camp (6th-8th grades) next week. We are looking for parent volunteers to coach. You don't have to be super knowledgeable to help out... just someone who wants to be involved. Reach out to Coach Holt at david.holt@washk12.org if interested. For now, we are planning on meeting Monday and Thursday at 3:00p at PVHS, near the electronic sign (days may change). Spread the word and come join us!

Race Report - 

Desert Relays: We started the very well with a successful relay meet with DH. For the first time in the meet's 11 year history, one team swept all 6 individual awards. That team... PV! Congrats to Jake, Trevor, Carter, Tevye, Emmalee, and Elin on their leg wins. The boys team of Jake, Trevor, and Ben set the record for the fastest time run. And the girls (mentioned above) was the second fastest team ever (just a couple seconds off the record). The girls ended up 2nd to DH, but ran well. The boys took home the cross-stitch bear with the biggest win in history of the race.

HOKA Relays: It was great to get another shorter, less stressful race under our legs on Saturday. We had a great time at the HOKA Relays sponsored by St. George Running Center (thanks for the awesome team night as well). PV away with the sweep of the girls, boys, and co-ed division (and coaches, too).

PVXC Thought of the Week: "People rarely underperform because they don't care enough. They underperform because they care so much that it paralyzes them."

-Steve Magness

Have you caught on that we really think Steve has great stuff to say?! This is another very solid thought. Maybe the biggest challenge of doing amazing things is getting out of your own way. I bet most of us have struggled with this is some way... we want something so bad that we essentially sabotage our self with destructive thoughts, trying to be perfect, or prove ourselves good enough. So how do we deal with this? The answer is an interesting paradox... the more you detach from needing success to validate you, the more freely you can pursue it. Magness says, "The outcome matters. But the person chasing it matters more." He continues, "If you want to perform at your best... Let go of needing it to mean everything. Hold the goal lightly. Care deeply about the craft. And do the work because it fulfills you, not because it defines you." I love running. It has been a HUGE part of my life. Probably so much that most people who know me would connect it to me before anything else. However, running isn't who I am. I am a father, a husband, a teacher, I have very deeply held religious convictions, I am a person who loves the outdoors, I love pets, I am someone who values my relationships I have made with people through running. Running is a part of who I am. It is not the only thing I am. I learned the value of this in my own running when I was winding down my marathon career. For over a decade (not to mention the 30+ years of running in MS, HS, college, and beyond), I had built up large goals for my own running - hitting some and not others. Interestingly at the very end of my career, I found myself faster than ever. How? I actually was able to let go of the idea that running defined me. In a way, I sort of zenned it. The culmination of so much hard work combined with allowing myself to just love running, the process, and the journey allowed me to get out of my own way and become my best self at the time. It was actually a time I value very highly in my life. So much so that when people inevitably ask me if I am going to run this race or that, or if it bugs me that I am slowing down in my "old" age, I am 100% able to say that I loved what I did and now I am at complete peace with where I am at... no regrets! 

Kind of a long blab... but there you go; now you know more about Holt that you did before (unless you've been there for a morning run when I'm sharing one of my weird dreams!)

Aug. 4 - 9 (Week 10)

Thanks so much to everyone that helped pull camp off: Captains - great job planning and leading activities, parents - thanks for driving and chaperoning, camp crew - thanks for the great food, team - thanks for your participation, Williams fam - thanks for the hospitality  It was a great camp. It has been a great summer. And now it is time to reap the rewards of our hard work as we get into races. It would also be a great time to reach out to anyone you think would like to be part of our team (or has faded a bit over the summer). With the imminent start of the school year, we often grab a few new teammates. So reach (back) out and see if you can grab a few more friends.

-Make sure you have completed your Activate (formerly registermyathlete) including your physical and fee.

Purpose of the Week's Workouts: Click here for a link to this week's workouts (Week 10). This is one of our biggest weeks (except for those who are just joining us). We really want to get some good minutes in this week while we can grab a few more morning practices. Then next week, with the start of school, we'll cut back a bit and build into the heat and the busy new schedules we'll all have. So do your best to be to all practices and get all the minutes in you can this week. We also have a couple races. A reminder that the Desert Relays are a REAL RACE and everyone should be there. Because of the size of our team, we'll have some travel races that not everyone will get to attend and if you are missing races and practices, that probably won't help get you a spot to the travel races. Also note the practice schedule and locations below... we switch our practices to PVHS now. Update your minutes from Week 9 here: Weekly Minutes. 

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: Regular practice at 7:00a at PVHS. (Everyone) / PM -  RACE - DESERT RELAYS: Bloomington Hills North Park; Girls 7:00p, Boys 7:30p; meet at 6:00p for warm ups and relay team assignments. 

Tuesday: Regular practice at 7:00a at PVHS. (Everyone) / afternoon 3:00p at PVHS - short run and weights after at PVHS (usually takes about 45mins) (Silver, Black, White expected; Maroon optional)

Wednesday: Regular practice at 6:30a at PVHS. (Everyone) / afternoon on own or organize own group (Black, White expected; Silver optional)

Thursday: Regular practice at 7:00a at PVHS. (Everyone) / afternoon 3:00p at PVHS - short run and weights after at PVHS (usually takes about 45mins) (Silver, Black, White expected; Maroon optional)

Friday: Regular practice at 7:00a at PVHS. (Everyone) / afternoon on own or organize own group (Black, White expected; Silver optional)

Saturday: RACE - HOKA RELAYS: Desert Hills HS; 7:00a; meet at 6:15a for warm ups and relay team assignments. 

Book Club Reading: We'll see what we're doing here....

Upcoming Events:

• WEEKLY ACTIVITIES: Waffle Wednesday (Wed after morning practice - location TBA) / Team Party (often Thursdays, info will be shared each week at practice)
• RACE - Desert Relays: Monday, August 4th at Bloomington Hills North Park, 7:00p. This is our first official race of the season. It's a fun, low-stress meet against Desert Hills. We'll meet for warm-ups at 6:00p.
• Spike Night at St. George Running Center: Thursday, August 7th, 7:00p. 
• RACE - HOKA Relays: Saturday, August 9th at location Desert Hills HS, time 7:00a. A super fun community relay event where everyone races a mile. Warm ups at 6:15a.

Uniform Info - Each athlete will need to purchase their uniform. The top (singlet) will be purchased through the school, cost $50. Pay to PVHS Finance Office and bring receipt to Holt. The shorts need to be purchased on your own. It would be a good idea to get them very soon. 

Shorts:

Boys - We will be running in the Nike Fast 3" (black) short for XC (same as we got for track this past season).  Here are some links: Nike, FastBreak, Gazelle, Running Warehouse, TCRunning 

Or if you are more comfortable in a 5" short, order the Nike Challenger: Nike, Kohl's, Dick's, Scheel's

Girls - Have a spandex or running short style option.

Spandex: Nike Women's Pro 3" (black/white) links: Nike, FootLocker, Tillys, Fit2Run / Nike Women's Pro 365 5" (black/white) links: Nike, Macy's, Amazon, Nordstrom, FootLocker

Running Short style: Nike Women's Tempo (black) links: Nike, Macy's

PVXC Thought of the Week: "If you knew you were 25 failures away from your goal, how fast would you want to get through those 25 failures? Instead of running from fear, invite it into the game."

-Jeff Moore

We've talked a lot about learning and growing from our struggles. This quote builds on that idea. We never know when that next break-through will happen, and often we don't notice that slow daily growth. So if we let our fears of failure hold us back, we won't ever make it to our goals. Quiet that Self-1; put doubts away, let go of self-judgments, and allow struggles to be a way to grow.