Good evening, NRXC parents!! It’s the most wonderful time of the year (for me, at least!), and I’m really excited to get this summer started!
Summer training begins in less than 48 hours, on Monday, June 2, 2025. We will meet at Northridge High School, at the Northeast corner of the track at 7:00 AM.
This is the first of weekly update posts I’ll be providing prior to the start of each week of practice during the season. My goal is to get them out by Saturday evening each week. Occasionally, it may slip to Sunday, just depending on schedules.
I hope to provide you with all the information you need to plan your week and get your athlete where he or she needs to be! If you do have any questions, please feel free to reach out in the GroupMe chat, by email (coaches@northridgexc.com) or by text/call to my cell at (801) 425-0457.
I. Attendance Expectations
All runners should come to the first day of practice. After that, for the month of June, expected attendance (whenever in town) is as follows:
A. New Runners
“New Runners” include those running with us for the first time and runners going into 7th or 8th grade for the 2025-2026 school year. They are:
- expected to attend Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday practices when in town and available.
- welcome to attend any other day (i.e., Monday, Wednesday, and/or Saturday (if scheduled)), but that is totally optional.
B. Experienced Runners
“Experienced Runners” include those who have run with NRXC during a prior season, or upperclassmen (9th grade and up) transferring into Northridge who have run cross-country before. They are:
- expected to attend practice each weekday when in town.
- are encouraged to attend team long runs on Saturday when scheduled (especially those who want to compete for a spot on the varsity team during the fall competition season).
And attendance at practice during the summer is not a precondition to competing in the fall. But I do want to emphasize that as we attempt to build NRXC into a competitive program — and one that can provide meaningful collegiate academic and competitive opportunities for our athletes — consistent attendance at practice is the bare minimum condition…I appreciate all the commitment that our athletes and parents have shown thus far!
II. Weekly Schedule
This week’s practice schedule and details are set out below. On days where we have a standard mileage run, practice will usually be finished between 8:00 and 8:15 AM. On days where we have a strength session or a breakfast afterwards, practice may extend longer (and I’ve tried to provide estimated times).
A. Monday (June 2, 2025)
Location: Northridge High School
Time: 7:00 AM
We will introduce athletes and coaches, do our best to learn names, have a short practice, and will have breakfast for the athletes. We will have games and activities for the athletes after breakfast. Plan on practice being complete around 8:15-8:30 on most days. Breakfast will extend the conclusion of this first day closer to 9:00 AM.
B. Tuesday (June 3, 2025)
Location: Northridge High School
Time: 7:00 AM
We will have a running form and mechanics focused practice that will finish with some time in the weight room. I want to emphasize that, while strength training is an integral part of our program, it may take the form of body weight training or lifting weights. We will keep the weight manageable and any weight lifting will be done principally with dumbbells and kettlebells, rather than barbells. If you have concerns about your child lifting weights, and would like them to do bodyweight strength exercises, message me and we’ll adjust! Our run practice for the day will conclude around 8:15-8:30 AM, and we should be finished in the weight room by 9:15 AM.
C. Wednesday (June 4, 2025) (GOOGLE PIN)
Location: Weber River Trail
Time: 7:00 AM
On Wednesday, we will meet to run at Weber River Trail. Again, this practice is option for new and underclassmen (7th and 8th grade in 2025-2026) runners. This will be a standard distance run with strides (short speed development accelerations). We should be done between 8:00 AM and 8:15 AM.
D. Thursday (June 5, 2025)
Location: Northridge High School
Time: 7:00 AM
Similar to Tuesday, this will be a running form/mechanics session, followed by strength training. However, on Thursday we will not be in the weight room, we will be doing a bodyweight plyometric session after practice on the track. Our session will conclude with games. We should be done with practice by 8:30. Athletes may stay longer to play games if they wish.
E. Friday (June 6, 2025)
Location: Oak Forest Park (GOOGLE PIN)
Time: 7:00 AM
We will meet at Oak Forest Park for a full-team practice. This park is directly to the south of Adams Elementary School in East Layton. We will meet at the southeast corner of the park, at the pavilion near the playground closest to the LDS church (see map below as the parking lot can be a bit tricky to find). Practice will begin with a short core workout (~8 minutes), followed by a standard distance run down on the Kays Creek Parkway near Hobbs Reservoir. It will finish with breakfast and games at Oak Forest Park after practice. There is a pavilion at the park where we will eat. I do not currently (as of May 31, 2025) have any volunteers for this breakfast, so, if anyone is available, help would be much appreciated! I will discuss additional volunteer needs later on.
F. Saturday (June 7, 2025)
Location: Layton Commons Park (GOOGLE PIN)
Time: 7:00 AM
This is our first team long run, and all runners are invited (although new runners may want to rest rather than run this extra day early in the week). Experienced runners are encouraged to attend. We meet at the south end of Layton Commons Park, near the duck statues. Runners will run various distances from Layton Commons Park. Distances will vary widely based on training goals of each athlete. After the run, we will have some snacks and drinks available to help athletes “start the recovery clock” on a good week of training! Some athletes will be finished before 8:00 AM, and some may take until around 8:30 AM.
III. Mileage and Training Expectations, esp. for New Runners
All of our runners are at different points in their development. I want to emphasize that we try our best to take a mindful approach to training that considers the situation of each athlete. While many of our experienced athletes will run many miles this summer (and this higher mileage is important to their development), many of our newer athletes will benefit most just by developing consistency in their training. This means that the goal for many new runners should be consistency in days run per week (starting with 3-4, and building up to 5 (or perhaps 6 in the exceptional case) by the end of the summer) rather than having any concern about hitting specific daily mileage targets.
I would much rather have a new runner running 8-10 miles per week through the summer, split over 4 days each week consistently, than running high mileage each day and being sporadic with their training. As adults we know that consistent effort is the only true superpower when it comes to skill development, and running can be a great place to learn that life lesson.
We will discuss these principles with the team, and over the first week, will try to meet with each athlete and discuss a potential training plan with them.
I also want to say it is VITAL for all runners who are multisport athletes to talk with one of the coaches about how best to integrate their summer cross-country training with their other sport(s)!
IV. Volunteer Needs and Opportunities
As we mentioned during our parent meeting, we have a number of volunteer needs and opportunities available this summer. Right now, the most pressing is the breakfast at Oak Forest Park this coming Friday, June 6, 2025, after practice (around 8:15 AM). We currently have no one signed up. I like to have three families signed up for each breakfast to split the workload and expense, if possible. You can coordinate the menu between you. The kids will be love, and be grateful for, anything you provide!
I have put the current signup sheets up as Google Docs. You can sign up there. I believe I have given all the necessary permissions, but am continually surprised…let me know if something doesn’t work. And THANK YOU for your support!
Breakfast Signup Sheet
Team Pineview Day
Cross-Country Camp
V. Photos and Video
We will be taking photos and videos of our training, both for fun and use in the end of the season team video, and for use in running form/mechanics analysis. If you have a concern about your child being photographed or videoed for these reasons, please let me know. I will do my best to respect those wishes, but our training is a public activity, and neither myself, nor Northridge High School or the Davis School District has any control over the actions of third parties. Thank you for being patient with us as we try to do our best.
We do have a team photo gallery on our website. I will generally upload photos and videos there. It is password protected. I will put the login information on the appropriate GroupMe topic. Feel free to download and use any of the photos/videos of your child there for your own personal use, including printing and social media use.
You are also free to upload photos that you have taken of the team during its training. If you do upload photos there, you consent to their use by others under the conditions set out above. Again, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.