Saturday, February 28, 2009

Keeping Healthy =D

In response to what Coach Mike said about keeping healthy, I wanted to approach how to help speed up recovery time and how to keep your daily aches and pains from 500 breakdowns and Diana hill from hanging out with you. Also, just some general good health tips for runners and non-runners alike.

*I know some people are busy and don't have time to read it all, so I went and highlighted the summary of big ideas.

First off, just wanted to say that when I was back for winter break, found that the core stuff is really good for general maintenance of muscles. Just like the saying that the chain is only as strong as the weakest link definitely applies here. I noticed there was no triple jump entries, but for the long jump at least, you still need to have strong ankles, knees, and hips. Any one of those collapses, then the whole body collapses. Key point: do the core stuff such as figure 8 to strengthen the trunk and the dynamic stuff during plyos because it really maintains bone mass and keeps the overall body flexible and in good condition.

Next, quick recovery time. If Coach Mike is still doing the week like he normally does, he'll program some time off for Sundays and/or Saturdays and maybe Fridays? But from what I've seen with intense double days and 3 games in a weekend, there's some stuff that simply just works.

Make sure that on your day off, you get out and do something. It can be as easy as a 20 minute jog or a quick yoga session, maybe a game of softball catch, or just waking up and doing some stretches. This keeps your mind on the goal and it gives your chance to active recovery. Instead of just sitting around playing xbox all day, you're giving your muscles a chance to move lactic acid to the liver and covert into pyruvate, which can be used by cellular respiration to make ATP. You keep your microfilaments of actin and myosin active. Keep your neurons firing!

Ice, ice, baby! It's not just a song, but its what you should apply to post work outs or if you end up with major bruises - bad handoff, getting hit with a medicine ball.. If you're not into icing, there's also ice showers (no longer than 20 minutes and tell someone in your house - you don't want to get a heart attack). If you wait 24 hours, you can go ahead and hit it with the massage roller that Coach Mike or have a friend or family member attack it with soft tissue. Also, side note but if you have an extra plunger lying around, after 24 hours, you can also use that to restimulate white blood cells.

Keep in touch with your body. Notice if after 500 breakdowns, that's when your shin splints happen or after throwing overhand you end up with problems in your rotator cuff. This kind of stuff is vital if after all this, something is still bothering you.

So big lessons for athletes: injury prevention, active recovery, ice, and know your body.

General health tips for everyone to know are really important, especially when you're doing the class situation where I go to class, dude sitting next to me coughs on me, I don't get time inbetween classes to grab some purrell, I shake hands with a GSI, and basically you get a whole lecture sick. That or your entire dorm is a disease haven because no one bothers to sleep.

So, first off - stress. Coach Mike can attest to this one. But I've also been victim to the fact that stress weakens your immune system. If between school and sports, you're feeling the tension, take a moment to unwind. Maybe schedule stuff and make a to do list. Stress usually decreases when you feel that you have control over the situation. So, if you're frustrated about how you can never makes the 15 200's, then make a mini-goal list about how you're making steps to making it. If you're stressed about recovering, come up with a rehab mini goal to get back to full health. Stress is also related to general sickness, so make sure that you're washing your hands and taking care of yourself. Grab a jacket when its raining at practice and dress in layers.

Eat healthy. This doesn't mean no in n out and no chiptole. I was a track and field athlete once before too! But it means, not skipping meals and snacking in between. This means having carrots, apples, grapes, water, gatorade, peanut butter and jelly and whole wheat bread in your house. Moderation is key, but make sure that your engine has fuel. As an athlete, your metabolism picks up so whatever you eat, you can burn off. Note: If you're a vegan or a vegetarian, make sure that you are getting enough protein by balancing your diet.

Last thing is get enough sleep. Sleep is recovery time for you and your body. Get in those 6-8 hours every night and not only will your muscles thank you, but so will your bones and your brain.

So to wrap that up: destress, eat healthy, and get sleep.
Hope this helps to make a more healthy, happy, and harmonious season! =D

*Also, if I hear through the grape vine that people are reading this, I can make an effort to find out new stuff, relate bigger ideas, and make it more relevent to what you're going through. Can also increase the frequency of postings.

Track on TV

Espn 2 @ 2 pm Tomorrow (Sunday) (USA Indoor Track and Field Championships)

Willow Glen Entries

Adam Groen - 1600
James Hamlin - 100, 4*100
Kenny Lee - 400, LJ
Jacob Montoya - 100, 200
Jeff Roberts - LJ, 4*100
Eric Tolson - PV, 200
Billy Van Aken - 100, 4*100
Greg White - 200, 4*100
Trevor Zandi - 3200

Lauren Drewniany - LJ, 4*100
Olivia Duran - 3200
Emily Frederick - LJ
Pauline Olsen - 200, 400
Courtney Robinson - LJ, 4*100
Erika Rodriguez - 200, 4*100
Catherine Sparling - 100, 4*100

Invitationals

Hey all - Just wanted to talk about Invitationals a little bit. This year is going to be a bit different from years past. We are going to try to increase the number of invites we are going to but decrease the events that we do there.

So our dual meets will be where we do multiple events and they can be thought of as competition practice. (you can't match the intensity of a meet in practice) and sometimes you will do events that aren't necessarily your strong suit, but have more of a training goal behind them.

As for invites this is when we will have you do your primary focus events, these are the places we are hoping to hit PRs. No one is going to be doing 4 events at an invite anymore, you are allowed 2 events max. I will talk about this on Monday with the team. Have a good weekend all.
- Coach Mike

Capture the flag

Had a nice battle of capture the flag. I like the dynamic of outnumbering one side, we tried it earlier in the year. This time it was everyone who played football in 2009: Billy, James, Jeff, Uriel, Vaziry, Jacob, Leech and Pelz vs. everyone else on the team. The football players won 3 games to 2 but all of them were good battles. Good times!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Team is growing.

Willow Glen invite is 8 days away. Our first league meet is 13 days away. Crazy. The good news is we have a pretty healthy sized team, the bad news is not all of our team is healthy. It is a very exciting time though.

Once the season starts, hopefully this blog will be a little more useful. When people tell me at practice that they are reading it, it makes me write more, when I feel like no one is reading I write less. I think Janet is a great asset to this blog so feel free to tap into her wisdom. Mark and Fresh may also contribute, however, you see them each day at practice.

Yesterday the relay teams did full speed handoffs for the first time. I look forward to seeing how they start off the year at Willow Glen. (Girls and Boys) Until next time. - Coach Mike

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Introduction

Hi track and field athletes!!

In case you haven't met me, I'm Janet Lee, one of the major commentators of the blog. I'm also a Live Oak alum, class of 2007 and I ran for track and field for all my 4 awesome years at Live Oak. I was a sprinter-jumper, ran the 400, 4*400, 200, and for a little while as freshman ran the 100 and 4*100. I also jumped the long jump and the triple jump. I was a pole vaulter for a day and was a hurdler and high jumper for track and field summer camp =D I am a "Coach Mike original." I was a freshman sprinter when Coach Mike first started working for the LO program, so Saturday Jump Crew, message boards, the beginnings of trugby, Midnight Madness, a lot of the legendary stories, Cunnan's fall dive - all people that I had the honor to run with. Hope that doesn't give away anything that you didn't know before.

I currently go to UC Berkeley where I am a sophomore intended major in biology. Why I am still relevant to you is that I work for the sports medicine team at Cal. I worked last season for football and I am currently working for softball. I have learned some of the ins and outs of treating minor acute injuries and recurring injuries. So, if you have questions - feel free to ask.

I'm also an example of how big the Live Oak Track and Field Network has spread. So, if you need anything regarding college stuff, college classes, what to look for, need info for visits, the cool places to eat in Berkeley, want a free tour - feel free to ask me, contact me. I'm an open book. By the way, I'm also Kenny's older sister if you don't see the resemblance.

So what I hope to contribute to the blog - stuff like insight from being a student athlete for Live Oak for Coach Mike, playing soccer and field hockey and from being a sports med intern at Cal, to stories to random motivational stuff that I pick up from hanging out with athletes and coaching staff, from facts in my classes, like how much ATP is being pumped through your body right now - its only 40% efficient. I know it sounds nerdy, but I love learning about the body and how it works - and pretty much science in general. =D

So if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to post regularly on topics that might be of interest to you - such as what to do about shin splits, good sources of CHO, what is actually going on on the cellular level when you are weight lifting, what a college level practice looks like, what D1 athletes get to do day in and day out, and anything else that you guys want to know.

But other than that, wishing you guys a great season and looking forward to hearing more about you - the ones I know and the ones that I have yet to meet. I'm excited to hear what you can do during the season!

Wednesday

Hey all -

Keep forgeting to bring my camera so no action shots but we had a good day today. Sprinters had some active recovery, nothing like working hard while recovering. While on the other hand the distance runners cranked it up a little bit, that group is looking good. Tomorrow will be the opposite.
Three Stars: (Wednesday)
1) Eric Tolson - Looking fast and then got a great lift in. He is gonna have a great season.
2) Pauline Olsen - Her form is coming along well, she is now holding it while tired, which is a HUGE step for her. Bonus: Didn't faint!
3) Trevor Zandi - Pushed himself at the end, I thnk he is starting to learn about himself.

See everyone tomorrow - Coach Mike

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Obea Moore

This guy is a LEGEND. People thought he would take down world records left and right. As a sophomore in high school he ran a 45.14 in the 400. He never made it to college never made it to the olympics and never broke any world records. Injuries, burnout, other distractions cost him. He peaked way too soon. Want to see how amazing he was here is the 1995 California state meet 4 by4. He gets the baton in second place a good 20-25 meters back of a 48 second 400 runner



skip to 2:40 for his leg.

Why am I showing you this? Just to say it is important to develop a good training base. You have plenty of time to accomplish big goals, don't be in a hurry to skip the basic steps in order to do more advanced work. This is why squats are still a big part of our program, hurdle mobility, crawling, things that seem simple and easy they are important. Vern Gambetta likes to say "Don't forget about the 98% to get that last 2%" When I see long jumpers trying to hitchkick when they don't even know how to run it makes me think of this. So yes we have a basic program but it suits us fine.

This is why I enjoy it when I hear you guys are doing other sports, I want all my athletes playing other sports. It gives you a nice wide base of training, wait til college to peak (or later). I wish other coaches saw things this way as well. (looking at you soccer coaches, year around club teams) There is just a more is better mentality that I think is harmful for the athletes both physically and mentally. See you tomorrow - Coach Mike

Monday, February 23, 2009

Monday

Well, we had a nice turnout today, probably the largest of the year. Today was pretty easy 10s, 20s and 30s for the sprinters and a good old 70 min run for the distance runners. Just want to say thanks to those of you that were out last week. So this post isn't worthless; how about some definitions for you. We have 3 different types of workouts.

1) High Neuromuscular - This is all about priming the nervous system everything needs to be done at the 95-100% speed. If your fastest 200 is 30 seconds it needs to be at 31-32. This workout is about setting motor patterns, training the brain to send impulses at the right time to the right muscles. It is important to take FULL recovery between reps, if you run another 200 all out without much recovery you may run a 35 and that would be 100% effort but not neuromuscular. It is important to understand the difference.

2) Metabolic - Now here we are trying to change our body chemistry, create enzymes, store substrates, improve our ability to recover etc... This is done somewhere between 60-80 %. Now if you are doing 200s if 30 was your max you would aim for 36-42 seconds. You would do multiple reps and not let yourself recover completely so that your body needs to change metabolically to deal with the fatigue. We usually split this into 2 areas (intensive (60%) and extensive(80%))

3) Active Recovery - High neuromuscular work usually takes 2-3 days to recover. We use active recovery as a way to work on secondary characteristics. Some aerobic endurance, flexibility etc... doing nothing will slow down the nervous system so we try to do something, but its work that is of low enough intensity that you can recover in less then 24 hours. That way you got a workout but will be fresh for the next workout. All of our workouts will fit into one of these catagories, and you won't do more than one at a time.

Running the hill tomorrow! Rest up.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Welcome to new contributors

I invited some people to post. So welcome to Mark, Justin and Janet. Feel free to post whatever is on your mind guys.

Bocce Ball






Well since it was the last day of practice during winter break we rewarded those who have been coming out by playing some bocce ball. Of course it was still track so we had to modify it a little bit. Get ready for about a 3 page paper describing the battle, here is how it went down:

Rules of Bocce Ball(at least as far as we know): You put the white ball down somewhere and each team gets 4 balls to roll down while attempting to get as close as possible. Scoring is as follows the team with the closest ball gets 1 point, if the 2 closest balls are the same team they get 2 points, 3 closest 3 points and 4 closest 4 points. The change we made is they did physical challenges each time to earn how many Bocce Balls they would get.

Teams
Orange Team
Trevor
Chelsie
Steven
Erika

Green Team
James
Abrianna
Emily
Alberto

Round 1:

Team Relay 1 - Teams ran 35 meters forward then 35 meters backpedaling while carrying green powerballs. In a tight battle that came down to the anchors James edged Trevor by about a meter. Green team got 4 bocce balls while Orange only got 3. Moved over to the pit we set up and that advantage held as green team took a 2-0 lead.

Round 2:
Balance - One on one drama here, a green person vs a orange person to see who could balance the longest. At stake: A bocce ball of course, meaning a team could get 4 bocce balls.

Erika vs Alberto - (Erika Wins)
Abrianna vs Trevor (Abrianna wins)
Emily vs. Chelsie (Round 1 - Tie, Round 2 Chelsie wins, Despite Emily jumping to delay her landing)




Steven vs James - (James wins, in a match that lasted 2.2 seconds)
Dead even 2 bocce balls each. However, at the pit the Orange team takes advantage to win 2-0.
Overall Score: 2-2

Round 3: (Note Erika and Alberto had to leave to now it is 3 on 3)

Static Squats. Another one on one match here where each person needs to get into a squat (thighs parallel to the ground) whoever holds it the longest gets the bocce ball.

Abrianna vs Chelsie (Chelsie wins, had the advantage doing spectrum squats wednesday)
Emily vs Trevor (A great battle and Trevor holds strong to win) Let me note: When it ended Trevor tried to stand up and couldn't, those distance runners are mentally tough. Very impressive!
James vs Steven (Big match; orange could win all 3 bocce balls, except it is James so green wins)
Over at the pit, orange has 2 balls and green has just one but they win it. 1-0

Overall: 3-2 Orange Leads

Buzzing through the middle Round we have Planks (last 3 get bocce balls, James Abrianna and Chelsie). We have the balance board sit (Abrianna, Chelsie and James win). Hurdle relay, teams need to go over and under the hurdles (team Green wins). Med ball throws (team green wins). The return of the roll and jump relay (team green wins) Going into the last event it is 9-5 team green is winning. First to 10 wins. However the last relay team orange finally wins a challange and by alot which means they have 4 bocce balls and team green has 1. James rolls for team green and goes out of bounds so team orange just drops their on the ground for the 4-0 sweep and a 9-9 game.
For the 10th point we just play straight bocce ball 4 balls each closest team wins. Steven puts a ball pretty close and on the last roll of the game james tries to top it, closer team green wins, further team orange wins. Well it is close, me and Justin bust out the tape measurer to be sure. 2'9 inches to 2 feet 9" a dead tie.
For over time each team got one roll, Steven had a good one, and James couldn't quite make it as close. Orange Team wins 10-9. Tensest game of bocce yet.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

FINALLY...the SUN

Hey all -
Finally had a dry day today. Pauline and Chelsie came out at 8:30am and should be pretty sore still and then the rest of the group came out in the afternoon for some good times at Diana. Fun Fact that came up today: The body releases growth hormone between 10pm and 2am. So sleeping from 1am - 9am is still 8 hours but won't help you recover as much. Thats why a consistant sleep schedule is important.

Friday, February 13, 2009

St. Valentines Day Massacre


IN the St. Valentines Day Massacre this year we had 3 events and some very competitive match ups.

Jacob vs. James

Pauline vs. Adam

Courtney vs Amanda

Mark vs Eric

Chelsie vs Emily

Trevor vs Alex


Event 1:

Partner 200s . Basically a stalemate the first 5 rounds in the final round things got interesting.

James, Chelsie, Adam and Eric all got a point.


Event 2:

Balance Board Standoff:


Round 1: Mark Adam Pauline Eric

Pauline was out almost instantly, then Adam. Mark and Eric battled until we had to find a tie breaker otherwise it would have lasted forever. Tie breaker was to sit on the balance board... Mark fell forward and Eric was the winner.


Round 2: Chelsie Amanda Courtney Emily

Coach Luis blew Emily over from 20 feet away. Then Chelsie went down, COurtney and Amada also needed the sit down to decide it and Amanda won.


Round 3:Jacob Trevor James Alex


Jacob and Alex were out first. Trevor and James lasted all the way through so they too had to sit on the balance board. This time James was the winner.


Final Event: 100 Meter Jump Rope Run and medball Roll.


2 ropes 1 Medball per team

Mark and Eric beat James and Jacob

Amanda and Courtney beat Chelsie and Emily

Pauline and Alberto beat Trevor and Alex


Mark and Eric beat Amanda and Courtney

James and Jacob beat Pauline and Alberto

Chelsie and Emily beat Trevor and Alex


Last Round: 4 Jump Ropes & 3 Medballs


Mark James Eric and Jacob 33.1 seconds

Trevor Alex Pauline and Alberto 48.6 seconds

Courtney Amanda Chelsie and Emily 49.3 seconds


The day finished with some candy. Can't believe the rain held off, pretty lucky for Friday the 13th.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Thursday

Adam kicked some butt with a 5:26 first mile today. Holy Smokes! Basically today was the calm before the St. Valentines Massacre tomorrow. Me and Mark have been coming up with some doosies of workouts for everyone that shows up. haha

Reminder: There is practice next week... 3:15pm on the track.

Observations:

Stephanie and Emily is the craziest plyo pair ever.

It doesn't take much for Billy to lose his lunch.

I put a hurting on Chelsie on Wednesday (sorry about that)

Trevor needs to drink some ocean water, minus the bird feathers.

Lexi double jumps the jump rope because she likes the extra work.

Pauline likes rectus abdominus on the balance board.

When Catherine is happy, she needs a handshake.

Erika still hasn't learned her lesson about running injured.

See ya Friday (the 13th) - Coach Mike

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Hey all -

So we had a team meeting at lunch, everyone got some free subway good times, unfortunantly I wasn't able to secure any coke flavored gatorade, maybe next time.

At practice it rained so we got as quick workout in and hit the weight room. Trevor did a good job of making sure the distance runners had a quality day.

The hookups continued at the weight room, Coach Olivas brought some Hot Chocolate (he called it something else) and cookies. Everyone learned what spectrum squats were. Mark and Fresh moreso than anyone.

First league meet is a month from tomorrow! - Coach Mike

Monday, February 9, 2009

King of the Hill


Here is a pic of the sprinters taking on the hill today. Performance-wise it wasn't the best day but we got in the work we needed. Side note King of the hills so far:


Week 1: Eric Tolson

Week 2: Adam Groen & Lauren Drewniany

Week 3: Pauline Olsen

Week 4:Elizabeth Pandura

Week 5: James Hamblin

Week 6: (Who will it be??)

Diet Coke and Mentos Attempt 2

Mentos and Diet Coke

Alumni Meet in Claremont

Hey all -

So this weekend I drove down to Claremont for the annual CMS Alumni Track Meet, I did some long jump, and ran the 100m. On Friday night, one of my former teammates Steve 'Sweet Music' Miller, showed me some cool videos about making a rocket from nothing more then a diet coke bottle and a packet of mint Mentos. Examples (definitely watch the 2nd one):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWS0FZEqdJA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4kBNBEJKD8&feature=related

Needless to say we the next day we figured it was worth a try... footage coming soon.

- Coach Mike

Welcome

Hey all -

We have tried a message board and it worked well for a while but now that is gone. SO as a way to keep something up and running for Live Oak Track and Field I started a blog. I will try to update it daily to semi daily as a way to have some fun this year. - Coach Mike

BY the way feel free to contribute and post comments