Spring make or break?

Spring break has always been a crucial time for track and field training. A week without school will always cause limited numbers for practice. There are too many young kids who don't have transportation, there are family trips, there is general laziness, but then there is the select few who use this time to really train. I view spring break in this manner: the kids who need to be there always show up, and the ones that don't show up need the break. With such a short season, taking spring break off, and hoping to compete amongst the state's elite, is just not an option. The core of athletes we had during spring break had some incredible workouts. As a coach it allows me to much more creative working with a smaller group. Each athlete also gets more individual attention. Our distance runners met at the track every single day, and then ventured off to various parks, and running trails around the area to complete their workout. We have some tremendous trails at Sandy, probably some of the best in the state as far as high schools are concerned, but it's still good to give the kids some variation especially when the situation allows for that.

We have been nursing some injuries, and spring break was also a great time to heal. The Wednesday after the break we come up against two strong teams in Centennial and St. Mary's. The rest time and alternative training (bike workouts, pool workouts) were tremendous benefits for our injured athletes. I feel they will be ready to take on the Mighty Blues, and Eagles.

We end the week of spring break training with a barbecue. This year the BBQ was held at my home in Gresham. It's great for a team to meet and play outside of a track setting. I think that this really helps to bring a team closer together. It also brings closer to a tough week of training so that we can concentrate on the rest of the season once the break is over. A lot of teams choose to go to invitationals over the break. We have never done this because I think the break is such an important time to train with such a short season. This philosophy has been successful for us in the past so I've chosen to stick with it. Perhaps in the future this may change, but until then it's Spring make or break.