Thank you all for your patience as we deal with the heat. It’s been a tricky week, and the team has done a good job of adapting to the changes.
I’m going to summarize the changes to the regular schedule for the next two and a half weeks. That first part will be simple so we can update our calendars. Below that, I’ll add some editorial comments1, and do not impact the schedule, so feel free to skip those parts!
I think all the changes below are reflected in the online schedules, but here it is in one list.
October 8, Thursday: Choose optional morning practice at 6:30 AM2; or come to afternoon practice at 4:10 PM, weather permitting. As usual, the school will let us know the practice situation around 3 PM. (There is a small morning group that is planning to arrive at 6:15 AM to get extra mileage around the track from 6:15 until we launch.)
October 9, Friday: Everyone practices at 3:25 PM.
October 10, Saturday: Optional Dawn Patrol run and Candy Crush workout. Meet at 6:15 AM! It’s fun, and we should be used to getting up early!
October 14, Wednesday: Pre-race. We are going to retake our team photo, so please wear your uniform top and singlet today.
October 15, Thursday: New date for the SCVAL Crystal Preview4. The schedule will be the same as before so you can use the existing meet sheet, simply change the date to October 15.
October 16, Friday: We will not attend the Roughrider Invitational. We will have a practice at the normal time.
October 17, Saturday: Practice at 7 AM.
October 20, Tuesday: SCVAL Baylands Meet #2. This is already on the schedule and is not a change.
October 24, Saturday: Haystack Tune Up at Hayward High School5. This meet will be optional, but highly encouraged. I am trying to schedule a bus for us. Details will follow.
Editorial Notes6
1I really want to make snarky remarks about people who don’t think climate change is real but I’m too hot.
2I’ve been so gratified by how many athletes have come to morning practices the past two days. With only 24 hours of notice, almost half our team was at the track and ready to roll at 6:30 AM on both Tuesday and Wednesday! The workout we ran (a down ladder on the track) was more productive than anything we could have done on a 90 degree afternoon (or in the 70s for that matter), and the kids were really positive. One boy did tell me that he fell asleep during lit class, but when pressed, he admitted that he usually fell asleep during lit class anyway3. In the last couple of years we have completely lost one event (Watermelon 2025), had several miserable races and workouts, and already had five workouts elther shut down or curtailed this season because of the conditions. I’m thinking about next year. Maybe we should just plan on having one practice each week before school. If we pick the same day, everyone can plan around that, and we can count on at least one good training day. I can’t see the climate suddenly getting more temperate in August and September next year and the year after. I will be looking for comments on this idea at some point.
3I had to add that story into this blog post. I’ve already told my wife, my friends, the athlete’s mother, my old running partners, so I had to tell the world, too 🙂 And yes, I know, embedding a footnote inside a footnote is not condoned by most style manuals for scholarly articles, but this blog post is not a scholarly article, so feel free to mark me down. Honestly, if you do call me out on this style violation, I’ll be happy because I now know that you read this far. Thank you, thank you!
4Moving this meet was such a good decision. The temperature is forecasted to be more than 20 degrees cooler next week. Hallelujah!
5I’m really happy we figured out an alternate plan so quickly after the Crystal meet was moved.
6I am so proud of so many student-athletes for making the best of tough weather situations. From the San Diego fiasco, to the Crystal meet reschedule, to the photo retake, after an initial throwing up of hands, the kids adapted. The workouts the last couple days are so fun! It’s fun seeing us all arrive in the dark and figuring out who is who, pointing out Mars in the dawn, getting in a strong run without the threat of heat stroke. It’s been great. Thank you all for being so flexible!
