We Meet the Hills

       The team met at 8 a.m. at Big River Running Saturday morning.  Unlike this practice last year, the weather was beautiful.  There was no lightening that forced us to run our strides under the stores' overhang this time.  Off we went to Queeny Park.  Inside the park, we did our stretches in a grass field next to the Washington University cross country team.  When we were done, Coach Traughber and Coach Williams brought the team to the base of the steepest, tallest, meanest hill in the park.  Anyone who has ran at Queeny Park knows of this monster.  The groans could be heard from miles away as coach explained the workout.  "200 meter hills at 5k pace."  We were split up into groups and everyone had either 4, 6, or 8 hills.  After the workout was finished and the pain subsided, the team ran back to Big River for team day.

       On team day at Big River, everyone on the team can buy shoes, apparel, or anything in the store and receive a 20% discount.  There was much commotion about the release of the new Nike Flyknit technology shoes, but no one besides Coach Tom has them.  Maybe he will share.  Thank you to the Big River workers, they were as helpful as always with suggesting the right shoes for everyone who needed them.  We should be geared up for another successful fall!

       Today was the last practice before school starts for everyone except the freshmen, who had Freshmen Orientation on Friday.  Good luck to everyone with school. 

Joke of the Day is back!! (for one day at least)

       "I might need to ban shirts from practice" - Coach Traughber after some runners had to run back to get their shirts from the park bench.  He could probably start a collection with all the shirts that are forgotten at parks we run at.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.

Taking a Dip

       This morning brought more favorable weather on the track.  Everyone was asked to show up to practice determined to dominate tempos after an overall unsatisfactory workout last week.  During the warm up skips and stretches, all of the runners carried on the usual jokes and chatter, but when it came time to tempo, we were ready.  Last week's workout didn't phase anyone this time.  To Coach Traughber's delight, the groups rolled in, one after another, nailing each of their paces.  Also, we were even lucky enough to receive cross country race simulation! The varsity soccer squad (congrats to Justin Abernathy, Kevin's younger brother, for making the team) ran their 2-mile race while we were tempoing, so we were weaving and wiggling our way through their pack like a real race.  Hopefully this workout is foreshadowing what is to come later in the season: Domination.  But this will be no easy task, especially because we are going into the season as the complete underdog.  We need to keep up the fantastic workouts like these, great work runners!

       Shout out to Alex Potter for making an appearance today at practice!  It was great to see him again and talk with him before he heads back to Columbia for his second year at Mizzou.  We wish him luck as he will join the Mizzou Running Club. #freepotter

       After practice, most of the team took a trip over to Coach Boland's house for the beginning of the season pool party.  Coach Boland, accompanied by Coach Russo, Williams, Traughber, and Mahood, barbecued the most hot dogs I had ever seen, and good thing because a high school runner sure gets hungry after tempos.  The pool water was a bit chilly because it had not warmed up yet, but since when does temperature affect a DeSmet cross country runner?  Despite the cold water, we all had a great time playing in the pool.  The Boland family deserves a big thank you for their hospitality, so thank you!

Thank you for reading. Cheers, my friends.