Round Three

Our third meet is upon us this Sunday at 1:00PM at Overbrook. I am very pleased with how the team is gelling and performing. Reviewing some statistics of prior teams, two things jump out:

1. This team had a greater improvement in time from week 1 to week 2 than all the others. This bodes well. Typically, week 2 to week 3 is the biggest improvement in time, with the final week being only marginal improvement. We'll see how they respond...a lot of it is weather related so I am praying for this wonderful cooling trend to hold, although the forecasters are saying otherwise.

2. The course is a true mile now. For returning veterans that have kept track of times in years gone by, worry not! You are not getting slower, the course got a little longer. It had always been suspect to me - 5 minute miles are not usually common among 6th graders! I wrote it off to the extraordinary talent of our kids and Coach Donnely's Heartbreak Hill harrassment...but alas, we are human.

Please review pre-race instructions posted earlier in this blog and fine tune the process. Review the last two races with your runner (or yourself if you are the runner reading this!) and assess what went right and what went wrong. Double check diet and fluid intake...the chocolate donut and coca cola option is probably not working!

Speaking of diet, a quick word on "carbo loading." First, it really isn't necessary for a race of this distance. Second, nutritionists tell me that if you are going to do it, the heavier pasta intake should be two-three days before the race. I have always found a light pasta, like the recipe below works best.

I look forward to another great meet!


Lemon Pasta:

3-4 cloves garlic - pressed or finely chopped
Juice of three lemons squeezed
3-4 TBS of olive oil
Black pepper to taste
3-4 tomatoes chopped up (hand squeeze them if you like your sauce to have a little more body)
2/3 cup of walnuts toasted (you can use pignoli or pecans, I vary it)
Handful of fresh herbs - basil or Italian parsley works well

Toss all the above together in a large bowl

1 lb. pasta (I go for a cavatapi or rotini - soaks up the sauce better)

Cook the pasta and toss it in the bowl.

Serve with a salad or fresh fruit...mangia bene!