Claire Crosby of Mandeville details a week of training for the Skippers!
Week One:
The anticipation my teammates and I were feeling as the last week of summer came to a close was mounting. There was only one thing on all of our minds- the first day of practice. With a heat index of 110 degrees throughout the weekend, our spirits sill remained high as we were all looking forward to getting back out on the track. However, to most of our disappointment (others not so much), the first practice was canceled due to rapidly increasing temperatures of this hot Louisiana summer.
Nonetheless, we were back at it the next day. Now that school is on its way, the Mandeville High cross-country team has practice Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m. right after school. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are usually our harder days. Workouts include a fartlek, a threshold run, or of course a hill work out. Tuesday and Thursday are recovery or moderate runs.
On Wednesday before practice, I secretly did a rain dance in hopes of a nice shower to cool us off while running. Amazingly enough, the rain came- perfect timing for the hard workout ahead. Some of my teammates had to run a time trial, while the others including myself ran a threshold run. All I can say was that I was very thankful for the rain- we were all able to survive the first workout of the season.
As Thursday approached, the agenda simply comprised of core strength training and an easy recovery run. However, Friday was a different story- another hard day in this summer heat. On the bright side, my teammates and I always find ways to stay healthy and hydrated. Before and after every practice, all the runners weigh themselves to see how much water they have lost. For me, I at least lose a pound, which is a lot of water! Most of the time, one of my teammate's parents will bring a nutritious snack for the team to eat after we run. On Friday, my dad brought the team three ice-cold watermelons as a nice treat to cool us off.
This was my last first week of practice- although it is sad to think about my last year of running for Mandeville High School, my team and I are looking forward to what this season has in store.
Check our Claire's teammates who recently did interviews with LA Milesplit:
