Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Another Great Turnout

28 people, 7 of whom were women. WOW, again! I report this in the hope that even more people are encouraged to show up. Good to seen the Columbus cross scene out and having fun. Always a refreshing time of year to take a break from the 'tude of the road scene.


Left to Right: Women, Men 3rd Group, Men 2nd Group, and Men 1st Group

I quickly realized tonight that doing any kind of instruction was not going to be manageable with close to 30 people. That works best in small groups where you can concentrate on each person's needs. And I also quickly realized that we had a good mix of cross veterans and newbies (not that the veterans couldn't use some brush up). So here's 2 ideas:

1. One or more of the veterans show up early (~5:30p) to work with anyone who wants to work on specific skills (like the ones in the Dwight videos). A veteran would work with a small group to provide advice and address any issues of technique. If you are interested in doing this, leave a comment and we'll get the word out that you'll show up early for anyone who is interested.

2. Gamm comes up and puts on a clinic at Kenney Park. I called Gamm to tell him there might be some interest. He is thinking of a Friday before one of the Cap City races. He's going to post something about this soon, so be sure to let him know if you are interested. Gamm has done a host of cross clinics before, and he's doing one for your competition down in Cinci.

Anyway, let us know your thoughts on that.

From the feedback I'm getting, the mini races seem to work well for getting in some intensity. The old track coach in me wants to run a scripted practice, but I'm realizing that the social aspect is important too...so no more plans for drills between mini races. (I'm sure it's obvious that I'm making all of this up as I go along.)



Stay tuned for next Tuesday. I have to talk to the soccer coaches to be sure all went well (which I think it did). Most likely we will be back at Kenney Park next week.

And no, that course was not typical of a midwest cross race course. But I can tell you that all of those elements have been in courses before, just not jammed all in 1K.

Skills, it's about the skills.

-Ryan Rish

2 comments:

Mark said...

Ryan and Jon, you guys outdid yourself today at practice.
loved that stuff. nice course.
A full mix of everything to be encountered this season. And that was a standing ovation after practice I think.
We could almost make our own trail in those woods, if you want, I can help.

Ryan said...

Ahh, you're just saying that because there was single track. There's a bit more trail to the north and south of what we used (even a mini rock garden).