Briar Cliff and my training

Well I suppose its time to talk about our weekend....The women ran pretty well considering the heat. They all moved very well through the pack and seemed to have good race. They look better and better each weekend and are really looking good just in time for the conference meet in three weeks. Missy Reinhart was our lead runner again this week and has been really running great. Courtney Jones and Andrea Ahrendsen have been right on her heals the last couple weeks; its great to see a group like that working together! Courtney ran well considering she has been fighting an illness all week. Ali Bunde, Jenni Schomers, and Bre Platt have been consistently improving every week and their progress is amazing. Especially Jenni who is leaps and bounds ahead of last season. 

Then we move to the men.....we didn't exactly have our greatest weekend of the year. We tried to get out and run the first 4k together to help pull each other to a faster time. This plan however didn't really work on the day. Our times were not great and we looked really sluggish. We have been hitting it pretty hard for a while, so from this point on its really about keeping ourselves healthy and try to get some good controlled workouts to be ready for next weekend and the coming conference meet. The good thing we did do on the men's side is really move by people in the second half of the race, which is something we had hoped would start happening. The times weren't there but we have always said that place and how you compete is more important. The guys have great spirit, which we will definately see in the next three weeks.

My Training 

As far as myself. I thought it might be interesting to point out that I am still in the training mode myself. I usually get up at 5:30am and get in a workout of my own or occasionally go on a run with the team. I figure, i'm still young and I might as well take advantage of it. I haven't really decided what races I'm going to get in, but I do have a goal to get under my PR of 1:53 in the 800 and try to get under 4:00 in the 1500. I think those are both pretty attainable, it just depends on how much time I have to train. My job is to coach the BVU runners and my training will always take a back seat to that. I'll just have to make sure I manage my time effectively and it should all work out. This is an Olympic year, so I shouldn't have a hard time finding the great meets to compete in and drop my time. Things are a little harder than i'm used to in my training as I train alone most days. Its easy to push myself, however sometimes its better to share that experience with a buddy and really test yourself. This morning I did a workout of 4x400 at 71,68,69,67 with 90sec rest, and 4x200 in 29 with 90 sec. rest. Felt ok, but a little heavy in the legs. I'm still in the base phase and really trying to increase my strength and add in a little bit of speed from time to time. I have many months until my first competition, so its ok if I don't feel great at this time. On occasion I may post how my own training is going if anyone is interested. Hopefully you'll see me on the awards stand at the USA Track and Field Club Championships in July, that would be a pretty good goal I think.
 

Big Homecoming Win!

 All phases of the game came together this past Saturday in a 42-7 win over the Cornell Rams.  Our guys came ready to play from the opening kick-off until the final buzzer.  Offensively our OL did an outstanding job providing time for Chris Hawkins and opening up holes for our backs.  Chris took advantage of some extra time in the pocket and broke the school record for touchdown passes in a game with 6.  Our WR core was led by Randy Kaufmann who had 3 TD’s and over 100 yards receiving.  Steven Maguire, Trent Svendsen, and Devin Stewart all hauled in touchdown passes on the day.  Defensively we played a solid game holding the Rams to 208 total yards and giving our offense the ball with a short field on many occasions.  We accomplished our goal of limiting the number of big plays and played hard all four quarters.

This was a great win for the program and we really appreciate all the alumni that were in attendance.  It was great to see so many of our former players back for the game cheering on the Beavers.  We also had a large number of recruits on campus for the game and we received a lot of positive feedback from them and their parents. 

This week we shift our focus towards Luther College.  They have one of the best backs in the league and will provide us a great test on the road defensively.  On the other side of the ball they play very aggressive and will give us some looks that we have not seen yet this year.  We look forward to the challenge and hope to build on this past week’s victory.