Hard to believe that I didn't really want to run too hard...but managed a 1:32.53 Half Marathon at the Gettysburg Blue/Gray race yesterday in snow covered Gettysburg!This was good for 20th place out of 420 finishers. And, second in my age group. I would have received an apple pie if I'd stayed! LOL
Pictures of the run will be uploaded tonight!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Felicia "REPRESENTS" - Way to go Girl!
Sometimes you just don't realize at the time that something special is brewing. Felicia did this when she asked, "Can I come up and work with you at Catoctin"
Little did we know that having this wonderful young lady come up from Middletown's youth running club would lead to a dual-championship high jumper! (We have to give some credit to Middletown, right!?)
But alas, this is exactly what happened.
Felicia began working with Catoctin earlier this season with Kathy (Coach Kathy) on high jump as there wasn't much of an opportunity to jump in Middletown. Several practices, bleacher relays, sharks and minnows and video taping those eyes shut and what happened?
Another regional Champion!! Thank you Felicia for allowing Catoctin to "adopt" you as part of our Team - you've been a great addition (and we found out she's a pretty good trail runner too....do we see cross country in the near future?) LOL
Little did we know that having this wonderful young lady come up from Middletown's youth running club would lead to a dual-championship high jumper! (We have to give some credit to Middletown, right!?)
But alas, this is exactly what happened.
Felicia began working with Catoctin earlier this season with Kathy (Coach Kathy) on high jump as there wasn't much of an opportunity to jump in Middletown. Several practices, bleacher relays, sharks and minnows and video taping those eyes shut and what happened?
Another regional Champion!! Thank you Felicia for allowing Catoctin to "adopt" you as part of our Team - you've been a great addition (and we found out she's a pretty good trail runner too....do we see cross country in the near future?) LOL
Regional Champion!!!!!!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sam "REPRESENT" CYA Track & Field - First Gold Medal!!!
What an awesome day today was! As I had posted on my Facebook page, a coach's job is to place his or her athletes in the best position to succeed. Three weeks ago, I did just that with Sam. Much to the laughter and chagrin of some, and because of that, some convincing to Sam that this event was a viable event, she decided to give race walking a try.
It turns out that Sam is a natural - had the form down in less than 20 minutes. And, the work and effort that we put in (including that one extra practice at Mount St. Mary's) really paid off today!
Despite a sore knee, which quickly became two sore knees, Sam succeeded in her quest to not only complete the race walk, but she did it to perfection - receiving not one demerit for form. Race walkers are judged on their ability to keep both feet on the ground while keeping the front knee locked at all times.
Here is Sam's winning walk:
From the second lap on, Sam's knee was hurting her. The other walkers told her in the bullpen that everyone's knees hurt when they begin race walking because of the stresses the event places on the knee by having to keep the knee straight. But, she continued to race along, and fought through the pain. In fact, she told me afterwards "Oh, I wasn't going to quit." Now that is every coach's dream to hear their athlete make that statement!
So, 3000 meters and 27:28 minutes later, Sam crossed the finish line a CHAMPION!!!
As a coach, is there anything better than this? Can a coach be any more proud of their athlete? Well, yes, when said athlete possesses a humble personality along with a strong, good personal foundation, this simply amplifies their rise to Champion!
Very proud of you Sam! You represented Catoctin proud today!
~Coach John
It turns out that Sam is a natural - had the form down in less than 20 minutes. And, the work and effort that we put in (including that one extra practice at Mount St. Mary's) really paid off today!
Despite a sore knee, which quickly became two sore knees, Sam succeeded in her quest to not only complete the race walk, but she did it to perfection - receiving not one demerit for form. Race walkers are judged on their ability to keep both feet on the ground while keeping the front knee locked at all times.
Here is Sam's winning walk:
From the second lap on, Sam's knee was hurting her. The other walkers told her in the bullpen that everyone's knees hurt when they begin race walking because of the stresses the event places on the knee by having to keep the knee straight. But, she continued to race along, and fought through the pain. In fact, she told me afterwards "Oh, I wasn't going to quit." Now that is every coach's dream to hear their athlete make that statement!
So, 3000 meters and 27:28 minutes later, Sam crossed the finish line a CHAMPION!!!
As a coach, is there anything better than this? Can a coach be any more proud of their athlete? Well, yes, when said athlete possesses a humble personality along with a strong, good personal foundation, this simply amplifies their rise to Champion!
Very proud of you Sam! You represented Catoctin proud today!
~Coach John
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Runnin on the AT Trail - CYA Style!
I have wanted to post for quite some time, some of the kids that are running on the trails in northern Maryland. I coach a youth track and field/XC club with about 45 kids in track and about 20 in XC. Today's post will show some kids on the AT Trail from this past Friday, June 17.
We had an awesome time as we started out from Pen Mar Park, heading towards High Rock. We even manged to recruit two new runners from Middletown - Felicia and Veronica!
They are both strong runners and did very well on the difficult trail.
Next, we had Donovan, and he is very strong runner from Middletown, but now running for Catoctin. Donovan is very fast and usually our front-runner with Lillie (Lillie missed this run!).
We managed to catch one of our runners in "distress" - "What? I have to climb that hill!!" Sam's facial expression is priceless!
But alas we made it to the top of the mountain, High Rock! In this picture we can see Alexi as well as the rest of the kids in previously mentioned. They were looking at the awesome view!
Here is a pic of everyone just before we headed back to Pen Mar:
All told, the kids did great and we made 6.5 miles in 2:35! On July 8, we'll be heading out from High Rock to Raven Rock. More trail news to follow!
We had an awesome time as we started out from Pen Mar Park, heading towards High Rock. We even manged to recruit two new runners from Middletown - Felicia and Veronica!
They are both strong runners and did very well on the difficult trail.
Next, we had Donovan, and he is very strong runner from Middletown, but now running for Catoctin. Donovan is very fast and usually our front-runner with Lillie (Lillie missed this run!).
We managed to catch one of our runners in "distress" - "What? I have to climb that hill!!" Sam's facial expression is priceless!
But alas we made it to the top of the mountain, High Rock! In this picture we can see Alexi as well as the rest of the kids in previously mentioned. They were looking at the awesome view!
Here is a pic of everyone just before we headed back to Pen Mar:
All told, the kids did great and we made 6.5 miles in 2:35! On July 8, we'll be heading out from High Rock to Raven Rock. More trail news to follow!
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