In our newest feature, MileStat answers your questions! Check out what questions we answer this week and who asked them.
Our newest feature seeks to answer and talk about exactly what you want to hear about. We had numerous questions sent to us and of those we chose these to answer. If you are interested in having your questions answered then just shoot us an email at njez@milesplit.com for a chance to be featured next week. (Photo by: Mary Ann Magnant)
MileStat, What workouts do you recommend to stay in shape for the off season between XC and outdoor track if you are not doing indoor track?
by: Andrew Via
Andrew, first and foremost I recommend doing whatever Loudoun Valley does. As we saw this XC season and last year's outdoor season, whatever they are doing is really working. Everyone in Loudoun County is always going to be gunning for an indoor season but I feel a lot of them don't recognize the blessing that it secretly is. They basically get a chance to train from November until late April, twice the amount of time your summer break is and it is all to prepare for the big meets in late April and May.
If I were your coach, I would stress a couple things. I would first start fresh. Take a couple weeks off and treat it like you are starting your first summer practice before XC. There is no way you are going to keep racing shape year round so you might as well treat it like you are starting from scratch. From there I would build some base milage and then work in speed but keeping a focus on general fitness for the first two thirds of the off-season. After that, I would start that last 1/3-1/4 of the off-season getting into track shape and working on some more speed specific things. Remember, even when indoor season is over you have a couple months before major competition starts and you won't want to peak until May/June.
Aside from that, I would lift, lift, and lift! There is not event in any running event that lifting properly cannot help. Work hard on upper body strength and core. Focus also on doing weight training with cables or dumbbells whilst on an aerobic ball. Always try and engage your core and use your mind when you are lifting and designing workouts. Instead of doing just simple roman chairs, do them one leg at a time to simulate running... be smart with your training and always remember to train with purpose.
MileStat, why do some cross country meets such as Octoberfest, the MileStat Invitational, and even the State Meet get rounded to the nearest second, not just the real time like in all the other meets?
by: Jake Dexter
Jake, the answer to your question is very simple in fact and I suppose a lot of people just simply do not know this but it says in the USATF rules that any LDR (long distance running) needs to be rounded up to the next slowest second. That is to say if you run 14:59.01 that your official time is 15:00.00. Wouldn't that stink?
It clearly leaves no room for interpretation and says that results are only official if they are properly rounded. At our meet and States we make it a point to be absolutely perfect when it comes to measuring and reporting results the correct way.
MileStat, why is it that someone can run a 2:44 in the 5A North Regional (1000m) and can advance to the state meet and someone in 5A South can run a 2:38 and not advance to the state meet? This seems very very unfair.
by: Tyson Evans
Tyson, it can seem unfair to some but ultimately you are competing against your competition and simply put, sometimes it is going to be harder and sometimes it is going to be easier. In events like the girls 3200, it is going to be much harder to advance to states through the 6A North then 6A South but it balances out in other events such as 55m hurdles. So in sum, it all depends on which event and yearly cycles. Some years a ton of great runners will be all in the same classification or region and others they will be spread out. I wouldn't exactly say it is fair but I would say it is not unfair.
MileStat, Who are the top 11 male distance runners from Loudoun County? It does not need to be in order.
by: Anonymous
Anon, well I would have to base it off of mainly XC season since there is no indoor track in the county. The list obviously has a number one runner and that is Drew Hunter. After that though here are my ten runners in no particular order. Fitsum Seyoum, Ethan Newland, Jackson Morton, Andrew Matson, Jack Joyce, Jarred Silverman, Ihab Benlamkadden, Will Smagh, Brandon Wells, and Chris Galloway.