11/1 update

Braves,

We will be having our banquet on November 9^th at 5:30 PM at the pizza pie café here in Bountiful. I hope you will all be able to make it out as I think it will be a fun event with some awards being presented, including the lettering certificates for the xc season. We also want to do the most likelys, which are kind of funny, so I have included those so you can respond if you haven’t yet.

Uniforms:

Bring me your uniforms please from xc to my room any time, or bring them to the banquet. I will be entering fines into the system after the banquet for unreturned uniforms.

Indoor Track:

It will begin with our meeting on 11/29. I hope you all will be able to do it, as this season is going to be a blast. We are really looking forward to it, including the Simplot Games at the end of the season, which is an indoor meet that is one of the best in the nation at Idaho State University. I reserved some hotel rooms for members of our team who qualify to go. It’s going to be awesome.

I’d recommend getting back into the running habit with indoor right around the corner. I’ll be in the weight room Monday, Wednesday, Friday after school for all who are interested, and you ought to be running again every day and putting in miles to build your base so we are prepared for the outdoor track season, and next year’s xc season.

Big things are coming.

See you next week.

Coach Jacobson

10/9 update

Braves,

What a week and what a season. Congratulations to our state qualifiers: Anna Sophia, Belle, Blake, Dallin, and Luke. The region meet was quite the emotional roller coaster and epitomized our season fairly effectively both with the ups and downs.

Even though we came up just short of our team goals at the end of the day, that does not mean that our season was a failure. In fact, the season was a great success and serves as a stepping stone for our program. I encourage each of you to go compare your results from pre-region to region. I was shocked by some of the improvements. Abby Tew improved by 10 minutes, which is simply unbelievable. Most of you improved between 1-3 minutes and that is a great accomplishment in less than 2 months’ time. The individual performances were awesome to see, particularly after a long season of training. One of those individual highlights at region was from Daniel. He worked so hard throughout the race to try and get the team into a position to qualify for state that he fell to the ground shortly after the finish. It is impressive enough to work oneself into exhaustion but honestly that wasn’t really that remarkable for Daniel. What was remarkable was that a young 9^th grader who hadn’t really run before would come down to practice at 3:15 every day jogging into the facility eager to find out what the workout was. I can’t think of a single workout where he didn’t physically give his best effort. And training like that every day after 4 months for someone new to the sport is a massive challenge. That is what was remarkable. Anyone can go run one race and work hard on a given day. But to do it all year is what is impressive. Our team was full of people like Daniel, but to highlight each of you is too daunting of a task.

There is so much good that is to be taken from our season, and we are lucky to have the group that we do. The journey that we went on this season was a special one, and is a year we will always remember. It was our first year of many here at Bountiful and you made it special for us. One thing we are excited about is that of the 35 people who raced at region 7 were seniors so we are returning the majority of our team, which is going to make for a very fun year next season. Congratulations to our seniors Amelia, Elizabeth, Victoria, David, Braden, Marcus, and McKade on a great career here and we wish them luck on their future endeavors, though of course we have them for track so it’s not a complete goodbye yet. I remember the beginning of summer training when practice was somewhat awkward at first because a lot of you didn’t know each other or us very well, so everyone sat rather reverently. That was not the case at the end of the year J It is fun to how the team grows and changes over time as the team truly develops together. Mile repeats at the rec center or 800s at Lewis park or mile 8 4 4 8 mile at our facility made for some enjoyable days. Not to mention Rite Aid.

As coach and I reflected on the season there were three things, among others, that stood out to us that we can improve on next season which will increase the team success. Summer conditioning (meaning the miles that you put in on your own on days we didn’t meet), arriving late to practice (which cut short the warm up and in turn affects the quality of the workout), and leaving practice early. Those will be a few of the things that will help us in the seasons to come.

The ultimate tribute to what you accomplished this season and the effort each of you made came from coaches around the region and district. After the boys race when we saw that Box Elder had beaten us by 7 points their coach came up to me, even before I knew how close it was, shook my hand, and said how impressed he is with both our teams and how you performed throughout the season. I have had that same interaction with at least 5 other coaches throughout the season. Those compliments, and the credit goes to each of you for the work that you put in this season.

Moving forward now. For the state qualifiers practice will continue normally. Anyone who is interested in practicing with them is welcome to come. Anyone who has injuries, nagging or otherwise, come talk to me in my classroom or at practice and we will make a plan to get you back to 100% so you can begin training again.

As we have talked about we will be doing indoor track this winter. Indoor was new to Bountiful last year (they had done it before but on a very small scale). We had about 20 dedicated people last season. This year we are hoping to triple that. There has been a ton of interest this season about it and with better organization and understanding this season it is going to be a ton of fun. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our distance program should be the foundation of our track team. One, because of our numbers, and two, which is more important, because you understand hard work and are not afraid of it. Indoor track will begin on November 29^th with meets going through January and into February.  I suspect there will be some questions about it so feel free to contact me with questions. We are hoping all of you come out for it so you can be better runners, and because each of you will be part of the reason the team is successful. XC runners know what it takes to train and your example will be paramount for the other members of the team, especially the new ones. I just can’t say it enough. The dynamic of training for indoor is different from xc and is a ton of fun. Some of my best memories of training in high school and college were during the indoor season. If you are unsure about it come talk to me so I can paint a clearer picture. One thing is for sure, the more who come out to run the more fun it is for all of you.

Between now and indoor I don’t recommend keeping up the same training regime that you have been doing for xc. Frankly your bodies need to recover while still improving your cardio. I would recommend just going out and running on the roads or the trails and enjoy the fall weather. Get out and run as often as you can so you maintain cardio but also where your muscles can recover from the many intervals and repetitions we have done over the past 4 months.

Thank you for a wonderful season. I will send out a brief update next week and after state, but then I will dissolve this email list. If you know you will be interested in indoor track and would like to be added to that email list please respond to this email and I will add you straightaway. Again, feel free to contact me with questions. We are grateful for all your support and hard work over the past 4 months and couldn’t be more proud of what you accomplished throughout this journey.

Coach Caitlin

Coach Jacobson

10/2 update

Braves,

The week that we have all been waiting and training for since June has finally arrived. We hope you are excited about the opportunity that is ahead of us on Friday. This week is going to be a blast as we prepare for the races, and then the races themselves will be exciting. All you have to do is go out and run the race that you have been preparing for in training and we will see what happens. Don’t put any added pressure on yourselves this week, just keep doing what we have been doing. Jared Ward said something that, to me, helps take away some pre-race jitters, and that is “if you train like you race, then all you have to do is race like you train.” Come race day, all you need to do is what you have been doing, it’s that simple.

We have talked about the position that we are in and what we will need to do to be able to qualify for state. We will talk about it again at practice this week, but it is nothing complicated or confusing. What it comes down to is each teammate finishing in front of a few other teams’ runners. Whether we qualify or not could come down to only a few points, so every place counts. That is what makes cross country so fun. Having a chance to reach our goals at the end of the season is a fun opportunity.  

The race on Friday is at the Cottonwood Complex in SLC. There are JV races before the Varsity races.

JV Girls - 2:30 pm
JV Boys - 3:00 pm
Varsity Girls - 3:30 pm
Varsity Boys - 4:00 pm 

The bus will be leaving at 12:50, which means you will miss all of 8^th period. You will need to grab a quick lunch so that you can be ready to leave on the bus.

The training schedule this week is slightly different than in the past. We will do some speed work on Monday, and some easier stuff the rest of the week. That obviously does not give you permission to miss practice, especially with a few varsity places still up for grabs.

We have been working hard since June. Four months ago we began this journey and now is the time for the payout. Make sure you eat right and sleep right throughout this week so that your body is prepared to perform at its best. Let’s have fun this week.

Coach Jacobson

9/25 update

Braves,

This was an awesome week of work. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were different workouts than we have done to this point in the season, and we were able to accomplish a few things. We have less than two weeks until our region race, which would be the last race of the season unless we make it to state. This is our last week of true hard work. Similar to last week, we want to put in some speed work, while continuing to taper. Tuesday and Thursday last week were intended to be easier days, while still getting in some cardio work.

Speaking of Thursday, I cannot believe the weird things that these kids found on their run. We issued an “obscure item” challenge and some of the things they found were flat out bizarre. I still am laughing about the entertainment center. The Kerrs had some creepy mask, Ryan and Brandon came back with some antique action figures or something. And a chicken?? I took a couple of pictures and put them on our website. You probably have to scroll to the bottom to see them, but maybe while you are there you can upload a few of your own. You can get to the photos page by clicking on “2016 photos” on the right side of the website or by following this link.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMe1CwlaYOXlM0N_6R_pxkaGBvT63EAG8Z31wgCcjSEDZEM6CTNDhT8gnmJM6E59g?key=SkNkQjU2eWE3V1JyU2FjY2NqUllhTDVtd2NiRm1B

We have put it great work all season long, now is the time to take advantage of it. Don’t waste these last few weeks, take advantage of them. On Friday in the rain I was a bit upset at the beginning of practice, but to your credit, to those of you there, your work ethic really changed by attitude. We were impressed how well you worked in the rain. You are going to have plenty of races in the rain, including the state track meet it seems every year, so we have to be able to excel in rough weather. You did that on Friday so thank you for changing my mood through your work ethic.

At the end of the workout on Friday I told the group to have some fun on these last few 400s. Anna Sophia jokingly said to me that I might have a different idea of fun than they do. After I laughed I realized that I don’t, at least in this case. The workouts or races when you go as hard as you can, that is when you have fun. Part of that is the endorphins that are released, but the other part is exceling through challenges. That is a rewarding feeling and what makes running, training, and racing fun. I never see our team more happy than right after they finish a race. After Kiwi finished her race at pre region, where she also had an outstanding race, she said to Leslie, “that was fun!” (Coach and I were in earshot, not eaves dropping ;) ). The point I’m making is, let’s have fun, and the true way to having fun is working hard.

We have one race this week, and it is our home meet up at Mueller Park. The race begins at 3:30 with the girls followed by the boy’s race. You will be excused from school slightly early so you can get dressed and up to the meet. Because we are hosting, we will need help from each athlete, and any parent that is available to help at the finish line, or standing at a few spots in the race to direct traffic. I’m putting another link to our course map so you can review it. It is mildly confusing, which is why we need help to make sure the kids don’t take any wrong turns. Let me know if you will be available. Mostly you would stand at some of the intersections and direct the kids along. Nothing too complex. http://bravesxc.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_12.html

There is no varsity or JV this week. This race and the workouts the next two weeks will be used to determined who will be racing varsity at region, so now is the time to show what you have. Let’s have some fun this week.

Coach Jacobson

9/18 update

Braves,

The results from the meet we had on Wednesday our on our website. We were impressed with the effort during those races. It is crazy to think that we only have one race to go before our region meet. Parents, in case you hadn’t heard from your son or daughter, we are not going to race on Friday the 23^rd at Roy. That was on our schedule but we decided to not race that day so we can use the time to prepare for our final races. That means that we have our home meet on the 28^th, region the week after, and state after that. With the final few weeks of the season we have some exciting things ahead of us.

The final few members of the varsity teams are not set in stone, given the improvements that people have been making, and that is a good thing for our team. Over the next two and a half weeks that will be decided as we go into region. We were extremely impressed over the last two days with a few kids stepping it up in practice as they make their final push to make the varsity team. We will need that kind of tenacity if we are going to have a shot to reach our goals.

We set a goal at the beginning of the year to qualify both teams for state. As the season has unfolded and we have deal with ups and downs, injuries and improvements, our goal is within reach, but not a guarantee.  It is going to take a collective effort to have chance at qualifying for state. As the season has developed, on paper, the boys team finds themselves neck and neck with Box Elder for the final qualifying spot. It looks to be very close. The girls teams in the region have been slightly more unpredictable, but it is clear that we will have to really improve in order to have a shot. Not surprisingly, our girls have been improving (as have our boys) as a result of their hard work, which is why we believe there still is a chance. Anything can happen on race day, we just need to prepare ourselves so we can make things go our way. This is an exciting time. Ultimately, what we hope each of you understands, and whether you have been on jv or varsity doesn’t matter, is that we need each other, all of us, in this process working hard as a TEAM in order to reach our goals. Those of you who were with us last year for track will remember that our boys team fell 4 points short earning a state team trophy for the first time since 1991. Though that team dominated in region, they came up just short at state. That team had a lot of athletes who had bought in to the team concept and were working hard every day, but there were many who weren’t committed enough, and it cost us in the end. I do not want that to be our story. We cannot afford to be missing practice over the last stretch of our season. The region is just too close. I know you have other things in your life so schedule things in such a way that allows you to accomplish everything you need to.

I hear every day in my classes some students saying they stayed up and did homework for a large number of hours the night before for some class they had. Typically when I ask more questions about it they regretfully reveal that they had procrastinated for several days. What’s worse, when I ask how many text messages they sent, or snap chats they received throughout the duration of their “study time” they realize where the conversation is leading them so they plead the fifth (something Stratty likes to do when asked about if he iced is foot J). My point is, use your time wisely. Do not procrastinate, especially not in the middle of the term, because the end is usually worse in terms of workload. If you have a cell phone or an ipad or whatever, put it away while you study. In college I learned very quickly and gratefully how much more I could get done in the hour before practice when I kept my phone in my bag and stayed of social media. There is a little #lifehack for you as you move forward.

We are lucky to have a team full of great kids. For the most part you are responsible and want to do what is best for you and the team. Stay true to that and you will be able to balance all you have while still helping our team be successful.

This upcoming week we have a few things to accomplish. We have two things we want to accomplish in training over the next two and a half weeks in order to reach our goal. First, we want to continue to develop our speed, and take it up a notch. Our base has been established, and now we get to reap the rewards. As former long-time Weber State Coach, and BYU athlete Coach Blaisdell used to say, “the hay is in the barn” meaning we have put in the work, now we get to enjoy it. Second, we will begin to taper. Our workload won’t be as strenuous as your bodies begin to recover. As a training schedule for this week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be speed days, either on the track or at Lewis Park, and Tuesday and Thursday will be distance runs, but more in the casual (NOT lazy) category. On Tuesday we will meet at Mueller Park Junior High and run our course a few times so you can get the hang of it, but it won’t be a strenuous run. We will give you further details at practice on Monday.

On Tuesday we will be taking our team picture for the year book. Make sure to bring your Uniform top (don’t worry about the shorts, but wear dark shorts or spandex if possible). That picture will be taken at 2:40, so if you are late, you will not be in the photo.

Again, there is no race on Friday, but we will be practicing.

We have an exciting few weeks ahead. Enjoy it, embrace it, be determined, and let’s reach our goals.

Coach Jacobson