The night of Friday October 20, 30 MVXC athletes and their coaches gathered in the Monta Vista gym to prepare the first ever Dawn Patrol…we had an evening of both quiet and less than quiet games (the uncommon four basket/four team basketball championship of the galaxy, for example) as well as part of a movie and a bit of homework. By midnight, we were wrapped up in sleeping bags in various rooms, balconies and corners of the gym, trying to get some rest.
Before dawn the next day, we were up and ready to go. At 6:45am we were running in the pre-dawn dimness along Regnart Road and up Fire Trail, so that as the sun rose over Fremont Older Open Space we were ready to greet it! After our drills, we attacked one of the signature workouts of the MVXC season: Candy Crush, an infamous layout designed by Coach Flatow and ex-Coach and MVXC alumni Matthieu Paquet.
Candy Crush is a pretty but vicious one-mile repeat with a nasty hill in the middle and lots of rollers, and very little flat, and we run this loop with 90 second walking recoveries. Candy Crush is a difficult workout to love, but this is a workout that seasoned veterans look forward to running. Candy Crush is exceptional training for running at Crystal Springs and is a good measuring stick of cross-country fitness on hilly courses. Some people love Candy Crush, others endure it. I think it is important to realize that we don’t have to love everything that is good for us; sometimes it’s OK to appreciate the benefits of a hard task or a hard workout. It can be equally great to say ‘I loved that workout!’ and ‘That workout was really satisfying’ or ‘That workout was money in the bank’.
We jogged back to school after running Candy Crush…and by 9am we were sitting in the cafeteria demolishing trays of pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit. A pretty great end to an excellent 12 hours!
I sent a few photos to Coach Ben Rosario of Hoka NAZ Elite, and he sent back a text that he had never heard of any cross country team doing anything like Dawn Patrol. I don’t know if that makes us creative or nuts; maybe both. No matter, it was a cool evening and an excellent workout! And I enjoyed sharing the sunrise with the team. Dawn runs are pretty great!
