Week 6 is upon us. We’re half way through our summer training at this point, and are now ready to start getting after it!
I. Week 5 Recap
The recap portion of this will be shorter than usual, since it was UHSAA Moratorium week and we didn’t hold any official practices. But that doesn’t mean our athletes weren’t out running — I appreciate every one of you athletes and parents who took our advice to heart and ran consistently during this past week. It will pay big dividends in the fall. If you were unable to get out this past week…don’t lose heart! Please continue to be as consistent as you can. Just as with everything else in life, true progress and success is not determined by how hard you show up and try on the race day, or even the occasional hard workout day — but how you show up to the easy runs, the long runs, the mobility work, and the strength training…week after week! These are important life lessons that can be learned in many places, but we’re also learning them with XC.
If you have not sent me you times for the 4th of July 5K or the your time trial, please do so ASAP. If you weren’t able to do one, please send me your most recent PR for a race 800M or longer. If you don’t have one, then don’t worry about it.
If you were excited with your 5K time…AWESOME! I’m so glad you’re seeing the progress that you wanted. If you weren’t, don’t lose heart. This is an early season benchmark. Remember, races are not assessments of your personal worth or your potential as a runner, athlete, or person — they are OPPORTUNITIES and INFORMATION. So, let’s be thankful for the opportunity we have to race and compete with our teammates and friends, and let’s take the information from this past race and use it to improve. We want all our athletes to remember that we are MOST PROUD of you when you show up, give full effort, and support your teammates.
Today (Saturday, July 5, 2025), we headed down to Sugar House Park in Salt Lake to preview the State Championship XC course. I wanted our athletes to get a feel for the course and to understand what will be inspiring much of our training during this coming fall. It is a difficult course, but that is something that is great about cross-country! You test yourself against competing athletes, but also in conditions that aren’t optimal for fast running. We’ve got some great runners with outstanding potential, and I was very excited by what I saw today.
II. News & Announcements
A. XC Camp
Our annual XC camp starts 18 days from today (on July 23, 2025)…it’s coming up fast! We need to get head counts for who is going to be there. I will send out a Google Form to collect this information either this evening or sometime tomorrow (July 6, 2025). Please fill it out ASAP, even if you’re not 100% sure yet…take your best guess. Here are some details:
Location: Camp Lamondi (Ogden Valley, near North Fork Park)
Dates & Times: Starts Wednesday, July 23, 2025 @ 1:00 PM), Finishes Saturday July 26, 2025, @ 10:00 AM).
Cost: $100 per athlete
Food: All food provided, except for lunch on the first day.
Boys and girls will be camping in separate locations. Adult chaperones are needed. Food will be handled by the AMAZING Jared and Cindy Jeffrey!
Coach Hazard and I will be finalizing the itinerary this week, but it will include trail runs, workouts, a day at either Pineview or Causey Reservoir, team goal setting, and other activities. This is a great activity that is well-attended each year. As I mentioned last week, if your son or daughter is not certain about attending camp, or afraid they won’t find a friend, I encourage them to come. They will make friends, and I’ve never known an athlete to attend and not have a great time. Please message me with any questions!
B. Register My Athlete
It’s that time of year again! I’m sorry to say it, but I need to start bugging people about Register My Athlete again. Our first meet is August 12, 2025, and RMA must be completed by August 8, 2025. If you have any questions, you can refer to this guide I created, or you can message me directly.
Thanks in advance for getting this done!
C. Friends and Neighbors
I have had a few people mention to me that they have friends and neighbors whose kids might be interested in XC…please encourage them to come out and join us! Everyone is welcome, even if they’re coming partway through the summer, at the end of the summer, or even part way through the school year.
D. Pineview Day
Just a reminder that our team Pineview Day is coming up in July 17, 2025. On this day, we will meet for our morning run at Windsurfer Beach in Ogden Valley. We will run up a trail towards Lewis Peak varying distances. After the run, we will eat some breakfast and spend the morning and afternoon at the lake. The team will provide snacks…and maybe some Taco Bell? Or something…it’s TBD.
In any event, we need parents able to bring kayaks, paddle boards, other boats/toys, etc., for the kids to use in the water. There is a signup sheet that can be found here.
E. Watches & Workouts
We are entering the portion of our season where we will be running workouts. This will require timing intervals. Because we have many, many more kids than we have coaches, we will need our athletes to bring watches to all workouts and be prepared to time themselves. As I mentioned at our preseason meeting, a GPS watch is NOT required. But all athletes WILL need a watch with a stopwatch feature.
The Garmin watches you ordered have taken a FRUSTRATINGLY LONG time to arrive. But according to the tracking, they have been sitting in SLC awaiting delivery since Wednesday (delayed by the holiday, I assume). They should be at the school by Monday, July 7, 2025. I will get them out as soon as I have them. Again, my sincere apologies for the delay.
F. Watchless Run
You’ll notice that Wednesday’s run at Weber River Trail is a “watchless” run. Even though I just talked about how important it was for athletes to have watches for workouts, they should not bring their watch to the run on Wednesday. I will assign each athlete a distance and pace to run on Wednesday. No athlete will tell any other athlete their assignment. I will have markers on the trail showing the places to turn around for each assigned distance (e.g., those assigned to run two miles, will run out one mile, until they see a sign that says, “2 Mile Turnaround,” and then run back). Athletes will do their best to internally run the assigned distance at the assigned pace. All runners will start together. I will have a stop watch, and will tell each runner their total time as they arrive. They will write down their times on a sheet, and the boy and girl with the time closest to their assigned time win a prize. This is a fun activity. Because we will all be starting at once, it is important that runners arrive on time. Also, I will not assign paces that are strenuous for any athlete…this is a test of their own internal clock, not of their fitness.
III. Weekly Training
See the table below that summarizes the upcoming week’s training. The details of this week’s training can be found in the weekly training PDF.
| Date | Location | Time | Type of Training Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, July 7, 2025 | Fernwood Recreation Site | 7:00 AM | Trail run + hill sprints |
| Tuesday, July 8, 2025 | Northridge High School | 7:00 AM | Workout + weight room |
| Wednesday, July 9, 2025 | Weber River Trail | 7:00 AM | Watchless run! |
| Thursday, July 10, 2025 | Antelope Park & Ride | 7:00 AM | Hill repeats + SubT |
| Friday, July 11, 2025 | Art Nord Trailhead (Huntsville, Utah) | 7:30 AM | Easy trail run |
| Saturday, July 12, 2025 | Layton Commons Park | 7:00 AM | Team long run |
| Sunday, July 13, 2025 | N/A | N/A | Rest. |
Although this week’s training PDF mentions wearing spikes for a portion of Tuesday’s workout, spikes are not required. If athletes have them, whether from track or from XC last year, they are welcome and encouraged to bring them. If not, normal running shoes will work just fine. No need to go out and buy spikes for workouts.
PLEASE NOTE the change of location for Thursday’s practice. Instead of meeting at Northridge High School, as it says in the general summer schedule, we will meet at the Park & Ride located at the south of the Antelope Drive Exit on Highway 89.
Also, our Friday trail run at Art Nord is one of the highlights of each summer for our athletes. We will meet at Northridge High School at 6:45 to carpool for those who need rides. Alternatively, you are welcome to meet us at the trailhead.
IV. Other/Points of Emphasis
No video this week.