Practices: Where, When, and What to Expect

LOCATION AND TIME

The default practice times and locations for the season are Sundays at the Fairfax High School track, and Tuesdays at Van Dyck Park on the trails, hills, and fields.  To keep the group size manageable, practices for each day are broken down into two sessions, as follows: 4^th grade and younger – 2:00 to 3:00 on Sundays, and 5:45 to 6:30 on Tuesdays.  For 5^th grade and older, the times are 3:00 to 4:00 on Sundays, and 6:30 to 7:15 on Tuesdays.  The full team schedule with exceptions to these times and locations can be found at the Running Schedule link elsewhere on the team website (http://www.fpycsports.com/Running%20homepage.htm).  Meets are typically on Sunday afternoons, starting in April.  We also have added a handful of Thursday practice sessions at Van Dyck Park to the mix.

The age breakdowns for the practice sessions are somewhat flexible - if a family has siblings that would fall into the two different age groups but they are relatively close in age, feel free to choose a single session (it can be awkward, though, at the extremes when you have a 5 year-old running with the older - generally faster - children, or a 14 year-old running with the younger group).  More information about age groupings for competition can be found at the Age Groupings for Practice and Competition link elsewhere on the team website (http://www.fpycsports.com/Running%20homepage.htm).

STRUCTURE AND GUIDELINES

The coaches will not take attendance at practices.  Workouts do build on each other to some small extent, but we are well aware that families have other commitments that have to be met. We would like to have every team member at each and every practice, but if every Tuesday or every Sunday is in conflict with ongoing events - much less an occasional missed practice - we will still make a productive season out of the time each child can attend, and will gladly accept them whenever your schedule permits. Lost time will not affect participation in meets.

Some have the perception that Sunday sessions at the track are the “main” practices and Tuesdays at Van Dyck Park are more “optional” or less important meetings.  That is not true at all.  Varsity sports at Fairfax High School preclude our access to the track during the week, but we welcome the change of venue in both spring and fall.  On Tuesdays, we work on some things that are just as important that we can not do on Sundays, such as hill sprints.  Also, some field event throws (shot put and turbo javelin) will be introduced (for now) only Tuesdays, whereas we have to take advantage of the availability of the long jump pit on Sundays.  While it is true that attendance understandably falls off slightly for Tuesday sessions, the practices are a nice compliment and an important part of the program experience.

Please be cognizant of the large scale construction going on at Fairfax HS. We meet down at the track behind the school.  Most of the changes that affect parking have been completed, but we recommend allowing an extra few minutes in case there is limited or no parking adjacent to the track and athletic fields.  At Van Dyck Park, we meet at or near the picnic pavilion.

Runners will be issued a competition and practice number that should be affixed to their shirts at all practices and races. Coaches or volunteer parents will collect the numbers after EACH practice, and the runners may pick them up again at the following practice.  Trust us, it might be a little chaotic and tedious the first few practices, but the numbers will not get lost this way and this exercise is paramount in helping the coaches learn each child's name - and the process does get easier once we get into a routine.  Please allow a few extra minutes prior to practice to pick up numbers.

Please bring a water bottle or two to every practice. The drinking fountains at both Fairfax HS and Van Dyck Park are neither reliable nor the best (low projectiles and lukewarm water).

A typical practice will consist of 1) a brief warm-up jog; 2) group stretching and announcements; 3) the “meat” of the workout - speed training, pacing, or endurance activity - which may involve forms of intervals or hill running; 4) at least one rest/water break; 5) running games or fun strength
training; and 6) cool down and/or stretching.

As you might expect, practices will generally get a little more challenging as season moves forward and the athletes get stronger, but at each practice there will always be a workout that every child can complete.  The coaches do not want to lose anyone and do not operate under the assumption that everyone progresses at the same rate.

There will be Sundays when another sport (primarily soccer) is holding a game on the infield of the track (hopefully, this will not be often).  In these cases, we will do our best to eliminate any safety concerns, but it is near impossible stop an occasional errant ball.

(Fall Cross Country season only)  At the first practice, all runners will receive a running log, which they are expected to update throughout the season.  This is for fun and we will collect them at the end of the season to see who achieved certain mileage levels for awards.  Everyone who reaches certain mileage levels during the course of the season will receive a special long-sleeve FPYC running shirt.  The levels are, for age 8 and under: 13 MILES ("half-marathon"); for 9-12: 26 MILES ("marathon"); and for 13 and older: 50 MILES ("ultramarathon").

RECOMMENDED DRESS AND FOOTWEAR

Please dress appropriately. It is generally cold (spring) or warm (fall) at the start of the season, but the weather quickly changes within a month of either season. You may want to consider having your child dress in layers, so that they can take off a light sweatshirt, jacket, or long sleeve t-shirt and still have something underneath. Any general athletic shorts are fine, but ones that hang well below the knee might be more cumbersome for distance running than they are for something like basketball. We STRONGLY recommend running-specific shoes in place of generic tennis shoes or any other harder soled sneakers (generally more 'squared' - such as for basketball or skateboarding). Running-specific shoes may or may not do much for performance (we are of the mind that they do), but at least consider them for their propensity for preventing injuries and blisters. Our kids are a lot more resilient and flexible than we parents are, but they are prone to ankle, knee, and even hip and heel injuries.

WEATHER POLICY

Our weather policy is pretty unscientific. We cancel practices only in circumstances of 'extreme' weather. We typically run in the rain, but cancel when there is recent or imminent thunder and/or electrical activity (e.g. a passing thunderstorm at 2:00 PM is neither imminent nor recent and will not necessarily cancel a Tuesday evening practice). However, prolonged heavy rain combined with high winds would likely force cancellation. We will do our best to send any cancellation notification or confirmation that practice is
still on via e-mail at least 2 hours prior to the start of practice - or you can always call. Overriding all of this is the green light to use your discretion: if you think your child might be vulnerable to getting sick, might be miserable if they get a little wet, might be overly late due to weather-related traffic, or most important of all - might be in any danger... by all means keep them home.