As a follow up to two great meetings for those interested in middle school or high school cross country, this post contains important information for this summer and the upcoming fall season.

Communications

As before, this website should be considered the primary source for all information related to the cross country program.  We have a variety of means for notifying everyone of new information, but when in doubt always check the website.  Our preferred means of notification will be text alerts via the Remind service.  Please text @vikingxc to 81010 to sign up.  If we have last minute changes to times or locations, or important events or deadlines approaching, we will send text alerts out so please be sure to sign up.

Summer Training

The official cross country season lasts from the beginning of August to roughly the end of October.  As with any sport, runners will see better success by working on their own outside of that season. For more information on this, see the post on the Viking XC Four Phase Training Approach. Any group runs or events prior to the beginning of August are completely voluntary and simply provide a opportunities for participants to spend time with other runners in a group setting.  Suggestions for workouts will be given that line up with the first two phases of training, but these are guidelines and not mandatory.  Anyone is welcome to join, regardless of age, ability or sport.

Open runs start Sunday June 4th at Metamora Community Park. We will be hosting runs at the following times:

• Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at Metamora Community Park
• Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m. at Lyons Park
• Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at Metamora Community Park

Locations are subject to change, and any changes will be sent out via Remind and posted on the Facebook group.

Mileage Logging

Logging mileage has multiple benefits, including tracking weekly mileage to make sure you’re not ramping up too quickly and setting the stage for injury. This year, we’re introducing a new tool to help with this: Running2win.com.  It’s free to sign up, and you can search for “Viking XC” and join the team. You can track mileage and time, enter notes, and see reports of weekly progress.  If you have a Garmin, you can even set up Garmin Connect to automatically upload your runs to the site!

Tracking mileage is particularly important this summer because of…

High School XC Camp

Cross country camp is meant to be a chance for runners to get a more immersive experience in preparation for the season.  We’ll be running workouts, learning about several aspects of running (training and tactics, diet, cross training, recovery, injury prevention and treatment, etc.), team building games, and a chance to just hang out and have some fun with your teammates.  Because of the level of workouts involved, participants are required to have been running a minimum of three consistent weeks prior to July 25.  Consistent means running at least 15 miles per week for three consecutive weeks.  This requirement is first and foremost to help prevent injuries, and anyone attending camp must provide a log signed by a parent.

Camp is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday July 25th through Thursday July 27th at Pokagon State Park in Indiana. More details will be posted and sent out in the coming weeks as plans are finalized.

Team Bonding

Throughout the summer, we try to do events such as ice cream runs, movie nights, bike rides, swim parties, etc. as a chance for runners to spend time together having fun.  These events are 100% optional and will be communicated via social media, so keep an eye out for more info!

Schedule

Here is the tentative meet schedule for the 2017 season:

8/24 – Lake Middle School Invitational (MS)

8/26 – Defiance Early Bird (MS/HS)

9/2 – Otsego (HS)

9/9 – Tiffin (HS)/Archbold (MS)

9/12 – NWOAL Preview (MS/HS)

9/16 – Ottawa Glandorf (HS)/Fayette (MS)

9/23 – Widewater (MS/HS)

10/7 – Hudson (MS/HS)

10/14 – NWOAL (MS/HS)

10/21 – Districts (HS)

10/28 – Regionals (HS)

We’re looking forward to continuing to build on last season’s successes and strive towards our goal of helping each runner reach their individual potential.  Please contact the coaches if you have any questions!