Lots and Lots and Lots

This is a bit of a unique post. It’s going to have short recaps of Friday and Saturday’s practices as well as some blog housekeeping things.

Friday—Bok Bash
It was a nice easy run on the first Friday of the school year. We had a nice big pack up front that was going to do a Conway-Mason if it wasn’t for some power line issues. So we ended up doing a Laduemont instead. Because the Back to School Bash was that night, there were some leis and sunglasses being worn on the run to fit the Bash’s theme.

Best Dressed. Kabes. Today marked the glorious return of the Reeboks. They complimented with new socks. And with this he also was wearing Boyle tribute shorts. For those of you who don’t know, that means girl shorts. It was a popular look for Zach who didn’t care what anyone thought because he made them look darn good.

Saturday—BRTD
It was Big River Team Day so we were away from DeSmet for the first time all season. The run took place at Queeny Park. It was a run plus tempo day, so we ran easy for a few miles and then had two or three tempo miles. Everyone ran well especially the last mile where there were tons of fast times. After this, guys stocked up on new shoes, spikes and gear at the store at a discounted price.

Best Dressed: O’Connor & Abernathy. These two guys had the best match job we’ve seen so far this year. Both had the extremely popular flag shorts from last year: Matt in his Germany and Kevin in his Ireland. What set them apart from the other guys in flag shorts were their shirts. They each had on the same design knock-off soccer jersey that corresponded to their country. An all-around solid look that took some real skills to pull off.

Blog-Keeping
I’d like to officially announce the Grand Unveiling of the Milk Table Hall of Fame section on the blog. As some of you may have noticed it has been there all summer, but it is now complete (except one picture of Leeman that will be added it time). It can be found on the top right side panel. Be sure to check out both Zach and OC’s farewell posts which are linked in their Hall of Fame pages. Zach’s has been up for a while, but OC’s was just added in the last week. You probably haven’t seen it because it was placed next to Zach for the sake of chronological order. So please check out the Hall of Fame and enjoy.

Also check out the Alumni Race Post as there are now pictures with it.

Just some general info now. (1) Comments are awesome. So comment! We like it. A lot. You get involved and everyone has more fun. It’s a win-win. (2) We encourage you guys to also get involved by sharing your experiences with the Blog Masters so they can be blogged about too. (3) A way to do this is to write a contribution- a guest post. You write something, we post it, everyone reads it. Potter did some of these last year and we loved them. Just email one of us whatever you got. (4) If you would like text message updates of blog posts, let me know (314) 630-4836.

"NICE!"

After everyone’s first day of school there is nothing like what will probably be the longest practice of the year. Warm-up. Drills. Hills. Cool down. Stretching. Weights. Core. Splendid.

The hill workout went very well. Pretty much everyone was nailing their paces. This meant that the top group didn’t let down any of their eight dedications. Blog Inception Hill (formally Ladue Hill), as it has been renamed by Jacob, provided some nice shade to run in on this hot day. The workout finished with high fives and knuck-bumps for everyone.

The generally dreaded post-hills Falaise cool-down was a lot of fun today because we were join by T-bone who was looking forward to it all day. There were so many good stories, quotes, and jokes during this time. Too many to write down. The sparknotes version would be: Lil OC had a rough time. Sorry bud. We know you can take it. We also got some solid Parkour and a half Super-Wave.

Quote of the Day: “9:55, drop it like it’s hot!”- Coach Traughber during the cool down.

Joke of the Day:

Girl driving by in car- “You’re so HOTT!”
Kabes- “We know all see was talking about Jack.”
Jack gets a big grin.
Kabes- “That’s cause we know she was kidding!”
High Fives all around.

Title: Coach Traughber said that in response to us hitting our paces and Rob explained that it’s a word that T-bone really likes.

Back in Black

At the start of practice I relayed a message from the Milk Man (Coach Leeman). He asked me to tell the guys that he said hello and that he missing everyone. I also gave the news that he and Kim are expecting a baby. This received a roaring applause.

The Wednesday Long Run marked the official highly anticipated return of JC Madey after a full year off. I say official because it has been know for almost all of the summer that he was coming back, and he was at most of the summer group runs as well as part of camp, but this was his first practice. He missed the first week due to family vacation, but better late than not at all. JC was one of the top in his class, making the State Team as an alternate his sophomore year before being sidelined. He is called the Bulldog and is a mental toughness expert.

Another new addition to the team today was Jordan Bender. Yes, for the fourth straight year we have a Bender on the squad. DeSmet Cross Country Great Blake Bender convinced his brother to come out for the team. Other guys can tell you how excited I was when I saw him in the locker room, because words would not do it justice.

On to practice, it was a hotter day and we went west on Ladue. A lot of guys were doing a 141 but got cut off by construction and had to make it up on the track. I enjoyed running with Madey; we had a nice talk about some big business plans. Everyone finished up with a 4x2 on the track. Coach reminded us of the importance of time management, hydration, and sleep now that school has started.

Over the last two days, we have passed out Milk Table information cards. They're more or less business cards for the blog. If you would like one, let me know, I have plenty.

Best Dressed: Coach Russo. He turned heads in his brand-spanking new Spirit Shirt. Which by the way is down-right awesome. White with a diagonal maroon stripe and the DeSmet crest on the front, and a Spartan head and the number 46 on the back. Why 46 you ask? Because that is the number of championships we have. He matched it nicely with some throw-back maroon Kairos shorts. Do you want to look as cool as Coach? Well you can! Get the exact same shirt for only $10 from Stugo.

Title: For his return Madey wore all back.

Cruise Intervals: Like a Party, But With More Laps

PART: 1

It was a relatively beautiful morning on the track as the team got ready for the first Cruise Interval Workout of the season. New groups were made today from the results of the Second Annual Alumni Run. With a majority of the Seniors off dealing with Freshman Orientation the top group consisted of a Power Duo of Matt O’C and Jack Hussman. 1600’s were the name of the game today 3-4 of them. Overall the team performed Magna Cum-Laude (With great honors) today with plenty of effort from top to bottom.

About half way through the second Interval the sun burst through the clouds prompting a well placed reference to Fire on the Track as I asked my group when Pre had arrived.

John Waller pulled out an exceptional performance during the final CI exercising his mental toughness to hold with his group consisting of himself, Josh Goetz, Brian Scherping, and Myself until the end earning approval and a solid handshake from T-Bone afterwards which is always a sign of a job well done.

The Group Split for a Cool-down with the top groups heading out for an easy stoplight while the others pulled out an Entrance to Entrance (E-E for the cool kids). The stoplight consisted of many thrown apples and many iPod wearing exercisers out enjoying the mild morning. This all was of course followed by a “Get-Jacked XC style” session consisting of weights and core and an ice bath for the few the proud and the strong (Me and Hussman).

Stay Healthy, Hydrate, Sleep.

-Padre (1st Post!)

PART: 2

The second practice today, all seniors, was equally successful as the first. Rob and I dominated the CI. The tandem of D-bow and Higgins looked good as well. Ben chipped in with a solid workout of his own. Today also marked the first day of practice for Matt Coleman who is greatly looking forward to working with the freshmen this year.

Nice work by everyone in the early practice today, too. And some comments, I like that.

Quote of the Day: “Coach, it was the bandana!”- D-bow to T-Bone after he completed the workout.

Best Dressed: Bowman. A camo bandana locked things up for D-bow. The look was only enhanced by its power to help with the CI. Dan also had his straight from Spain Liverpool shorts on. There was no doubt about this victory when Rob called it the “Dan-dana.”

--kabes--

Going to the Dentist

After a late start to practice due to an accident on Ladue that delayed many of us, Coach Traughber began with saying how impressed he was with the Alumni Race. He said the event went really well and gave a nice shout out to the blog for the nice post which made a good point about being a program. He read off times and the improvement which were for the most part vast.

On the hands down best day weather wise all season, everybody had a nice AE run. The top bunch of us had a Super Spoede, what was once the classic first day of practice run. A week late, what’s the difference? It was so nice that the run didn’t drench us with sweat this time. I broke away from the pack and was able to run with Alumni Race Champ, Connor, and Rob for a bit. Practice wrapped up with four hill sprints before we stretched under the pavilion.

There was the coaching staff and senior meeting after practice. We talked about thing that cannot be publicly disclosed. But I would like to remind the senior of the challenge placed before us by Coach Russo: Good Senior or Bad Senior—you know the difference—make the right choice.

Quote of the Day: “We’re not goin to State; we’re going to Canada!”- Seamus during our pre-senior meeting meeting as he was standing in front of the map explaining the plan for the team’s global domination.

Title: In a weird coincidence, we had three guys with dentist appointments after practice. Making it even funnier, it happened to be all of the Blog Masters, Potter, Seiler, and Abernathy.

On a total side note, just some general Milk Table news.
I’d like to call you attention to the title. First the typical title was redone over the weekend. Why? Because the new title does three things (1) it incorporates the Milk Table logo (2) it more accurately displays the “Life as a DeSmet Distance Runner” as a subtitle (3) it’s way more awesome. Also, be on the lookout for themed titles as Blog Master Padre the Sailor Man will be mixing up the title every so often to keep things fresh. Kinda like right now with the “Back to School” theme.
And the Milk Table is now a link on the offical team website. In the words of Jacob, "Woot! Haha we're big time now."

PSA

Milk Table PSA

This Tuesday at 3:00 Pm Central Time, Everyone's Favorite Fool, Mackenzie Smith, And His Family's Candy Store Will Be Featured On Show Me St. Louis. The Show Will Run On KSDK (Channel 5).