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Informational Packet

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CURTIS CROSS COUNTRY

2017 SCHEDULE

Vikings

Curtis

2017 Cross Country Calendar

Vikings

Date / Meet Name / Location /
9/9/2017 / The 19th Bellarmine XC Invitational / Bellarmine Prep HS / Tacoma, WA
9/14/2017 / SPSL 4A Preview / Ft. Steilacoom Park / Lakewood, WA
9/20/2017 / Curtis, GK @ Sumner / Eismann Elementary / Bonney Lake, WA
9/27/2017 / Olympia, Curtis @ Puyallup / Wildwood Park / Puyallup, WA
9/30/2017 / 22nd Curtis XC Invitational / Chambers Creek Properties Central Meadow / University Place, WA
10/7/2017 / NIKE -- HOLE IN THE WALL XC INVITATIONAL / Lakewood HS / Lakewood, WA
10/12/2017 / Emerald Ridge, Bellarmine @ Curtis / Curtis HS / University Place, WA
10/13/2017 / 30th Annual Frosh/Soph Classic @ Wright Park / Wright Park / Tacoma, WA
10/19/2017 / SPSL 4A Championship Meet / Ft. Steilacoom Park / Lakewood, WA
10/28/2017 / WC District 3 / SW District 4 Westside Classic / Chambers Creek Properties Central Meadow / University Place, WA
11/4/2017 / 4A WIAA STATE XC MEET / Sun Willows Golf Course / Pasco, WA

Top of Form

Curtis XC Team Guidelines

1. Practice begins at 2:20 in the CHS Auxiliary Gym or 2:10 in CHS Room 406 (Tuesdays) after every school day, and at 9 am on selected Saturdays.

2. If you need to miss practice, please tell your coach in advance. Schedule yourself so that you will not miss practice.

3. Any unexcused missed practice will result in missing the next meet. The second may result in removal from the team. This will be enforced. If you are home sick, e-mail your coach and leave a message or bring a signed note the next day. If you have a legitimate reason for missing practice, bring a signed note the next day (from a teacher, doctor, parent, etc)

Girls— or 566-5710 ext.2504

Boys— or 566-5710 ext.2484

4. When returning from a run from off campus, check back in afterwards on the attendance roster so that we know that you have returned. Do not sign anyone else in/out, and do not sign out before the run.

5. Take your workout seriously. It will be posted on the bulletin board before each practice and emailed to you each week.

6. Keep a personal training log of your daily running. Weekly running log sheets will be handed out each Tuesday, and should be turned in the following Tuesday. These will factor into varsity points.

7. Uniforms and gear must be turned in by Monday, October 23rd unless you are still competing. If you qualify for post-season meets, you must turn your gear in by the following school day after your last race.

8. Stay at the meet until it is completely over, even if you are done competing.

9. You must ride the bus to away meets and back, and may only ride home with a parent/guardian (no one else) if you have them talk to your coach beforehand.

10. Treat all opponents and officials with respect.

11. Communicate with your coach about any issues that may be affecting your running.

12. Report all injuries to a coach as soon as possible.

13. You must have a 2.0 GPA from your last semester grades, as well as your first quarter grades, to compete.

14. Headphones are only allowed on the bus—nowhere else. At meets, wear only issued gear or Curtis related shirts, etc. Any clothing under the uniform must be of one color and unadorned, with only one small logo from the manufacturer.

Boys Varsity Lettering Guidelines

Athletes that have accumulated 100 points will earn a letter at the end of the season, as long as they have finished the season in good standing. Seniors completing three or more seasons in good standing will also earn a letter.

Varsity Points can be earned by:

1. 3 points for finishing each race

2. Bonus points for finishing a race in the top 12 members of the team.

1st: 15 bonus points

2nd: 13 bonus points

3rd: 11 bonus points

4th: 9 bonus points

5th: 8 bonus points

6th: 7 bonus points

7th: 6 bonus points

8th: 5 bonus points

9th: 4 bonus points

10th: 3 bonus points

11th: 2 bonus points

12th: 1 bonus point

3. 10 points for keeping an updated training log during the summer

4. 10 points for keeping an updated training log during the season

5. 20 points for turning in your gear on time (10/23 or 1 day after last race).

6. Additional points will be awarded for attendance throughout of the season.

Individuals that will compete at the varsity level will generally be the top 7 times from the previous meet, but consistency, citizenship, team chemistry, and past performances will also play into any such decision.

Girls Varsity Lettering Guidelines

Varsity Points can be earned by:

1. 3 points for finishing each race

2. Bonus points for finishing a race in the top 12 members of the team.

1st: 15 bonus points

2nd: 13 bonus points

3rd: 11 bonus points

4th: 9 bonus points

5th: 8 bonus points

6th: 7 bonus points

7th: 6 bonus points

8th: 5 bonus points

9th: 4 bonus points

10th: 3 bonus points

11th: 2 bonus points

12th: 1 bonus point

3. Additional ten points for attendance and completion of workouts

4. 10 points for keeping an updated training log during the season

5. 20 points for turning in your gear on time (10/23 or 1 day after last race).

6. Additional points will be awarded for attendance throughout of the season. This is in addition to the 10 points for workout completion. This ranges from 15 to 5 points.

Strength Routine: 3 days a week

10 sets of 30 count of any of the following (everyone count out loud)

· crunches (w/ legs up)

· diagonal crunches right (left elbow to right knee)

· diagonal crunches left (right elbow to left knee)

· right side crunches (knees pointing left)

· left side crunches (knees pointing right)

· rocky crunches (twist left and right before coming back down)

· flutter kicks

· windshield wipers (legs up, move left to right, don’t touch ground)

· crunches reaching diagonally across legs

· up and out (legs up, out, don’t touch ground)

· flat crunches

· boat (hold up legs, arms, in sitting position)

· twisting boat

· bicycle

· on stomach, holding torso above ground (with partner)

· plank straight

· right plank

· left plank

· star plank (legs apart)

· plank leg lift

Hip strengthening exercises:

· Clams: Lie on your side with your hips positioned forward and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Keeping your ankles together, lift your top knee, opening your legs like a clam; lower and repeat. Repeat on the other side.

· Bridges: Lie on your back with your knees pointed up. Using one leg, raise your hips and opposite leg upward until your pelvis is in line with your torso. Lower and repeat.

· Fire Hydrants: Balance face-down on all fours – knees and hands. Without moving your back, lift one knee up toward your chest; then move that same knee out by bending your hip until the leg is parallel to the ground; finally, kick the raised leg outward until it is straight behind you, in line with your torso.

Finish with:

· 15, 10, 5 pushups (slow on my count)

· shin strengthening exercises (front, back, out, in) (with partner)

Recipe for Success

So… you either want to get better, or are thinking about what you would need to do to get better, or at least the XC Coaches at Curtis think that you should be thinking about getting better. How do you do it? Here are the 7 things that you will not be able to succeed in cross country or distance running in track without:

1. You need to build a Mileage Base:

If you want to succeed, this is the first thing to think about. It must begin long before the actual season begins. For cross country, it begins after the state track meet in May. For track, it begins after the cross country state meet in November. If you start any later than this, you will prevent yourself from building as much of a base as you will eventually need to reach your full potential.

Step 1 is 10-14 days of light running (15 miles/week maximum for girls, 25 for boys), if you do not have any lingering injuries from the past season. After that point, you want to increase gradually week to week as much as you can for 8-10 weeks (see #2 for guidelines about gradual increase). The higher your mileage gets by the end of these 8-10 weeks, the better (see #2).

After this phase of increase, you need to maintain this period of high mileage for 4-5 weeks. This will take you up to the end of the off-season (around last week in February for track, middle week of August for cross country), which is when you will be running the most miles per week all year.

The most important thing you do all week is a long run. This single run will compose 20-25% of your entire weekly mileage (so 8 miles for a 40 mile week, 16 miles for an 80 mile week). By doing this every week, you will significantly increase your lung capacity, the volume of your heart chambers, and the number of capillaries feeding your muscles.

When increasing mileage, incorporate morning runs a few days a week, which will give you some easy miles and will also loosen up your muscles, which prevents injury.

2. Injury Prevention

If you do not avoid getting injured, you will not do as well as if you had not been injured. There is no way around this fact. Therefore, this is an absolute priority.

The first thing is to always add mileage gradually when you are building your mileage base. This means no more than 5 miles a week. Anything more than this is too risky, and you will find out you are hurt 7-14 days after the damage has been done.

Stretching improves flexibility, and may be a good way to prevent muscle damage. You should make the habit to stretch after you run, not before (unless you are doing some intervals or a workout, when you stretch after your warmup). Stretching before warmup will not accomplish much, and static stretching (holding a stretch) doesn’t help as much either (dynamic stretching drills are recommended, instead). Before any hard effort you will need to properly warm up by raising your heart rate to increase blood flow to your muscles for at least 10 minutes. After any hard effort, you absolutely must do a cool down by jogging for at least 10 minutes, which will remove leftover lactic acid in your muscles and prevent injury in the following days.

Anytime that you detect an injury coming on, it is very important to treat it as soon as possible. Communication with your coach is crucial, especially to coordinate your needs with the workout schedule of the team. Important treatments that should be used on sore or possibly injured areas tend to focus on preventing swelling. They include icing (either submersion in ice water or ice massage with Dixie cups ice blocks, or a bag of ice if neither is possible), ibuprofen (such as Advil) which is an anti-inflammatory agent, and elevation (laying on your back and raising your legs above your body). Other treatments to be used later include massage and heat, but only after the first phase of treatment.

Your shoes are your best tool to prevent injury. You need to get good, stable, well-fitting shoes (with laces, not elastic). It is a great idea to be fitted by a running shoe store the first time you are buying running shoes, since they should take into consideration your running gait and foot mechanics. If you have high arches, you may need to get some orthotics (either from a doctor or even over-the-counter ones from a shoe store), which help support the bottom of your foot and prevent shin splints and other injuries.

When you are running during the wintertime, you will need to wear enough clothes to protect you from the weather. When running in 50 degree temperatures or lower, you should wear pants, long sleeve shirts or jackets, and for comfort’s sake, some gloves and a hat. You can always take clothes off and wrap around your waist, but you don’t want to be out in the cold without anything to keep you warm. You will risk injury and sickness if you don’t keep yourself warm, especially in the winter.

An important thing to focus on during training is how you feel. If you have any type of sharp pain, a pain that seems to get worse as you run, or a pain that doesn’t seem to go away after a few days, you need to back off from your training (e.g. if you are running 50 miles a week, take a week of 20-30 miles). If you don’t, it will get worse and you will hurt your chances for success later on. If pain persists after a week of this, you need to stop running entirely and try different methods of training (pool running is the best, elliptical trainer is good, exercise bike is OK). Cross training will not be as good as running ever will be, but it is better than getting hurt, and it is better than nothing.