Track and Weather

The track season of 2010, starts on Monday March 15th. The first practice will begin with an informational meeting in C250. “I’m pretty excited,” exclaimed Santana Callaso. Although practice starts indoors some athletes will be practicing outside. All distance runners must come prepared for cold and wet weather. This is because temperatures are only expected to get to 11 degrees and they may even get to as low as -24 degrees. Also during the month of March it is anticipated to receive as much as 30 more inches of snow and this can really affect track practice, right?
According to distance coach, Mr. Sharp, “It does not affect distance runners; distance runners run at a long term pace so the muscles stay warm, only extreme weather conditions would affect distance practice.” This is significant because some athletes will have to practice outside even when conditions are not favorable. On the other side sprinters will be practicing indoors for the first two weeks. This is because sprinters use short explosive bursts of speed and this means the muscles would not be as warm as distance runners would be. Many athletes are looking to improve there performance so coming to practice prepared is the first step to success. According to Mr. Swanson, “I feel good, because we are going to focus on character more then anything.”
The first two weeks of track practice will be focused on form, speed development, and most importantly character building. After the first two weeks athletes will practice outside on the track. “We will be creative if snow is still on the track,” said Mr. Swanson. Same goes for distance runners who will “have fun in the snow,” according to Mr. Sharp. This is very relevant due to the fact that there is an abundant amount of snow covering the vast majority of the track.
So with all of this snow and cold temperatures it is highly recommended to come prepared for the worst. This means bringing the following: hats, gloves, underwear, sweatpants, sweatshirt/jacket, multiple pairs of socks, many dry shirts, and a good pair of running shoes. After attending the preseason meeting, it is recommended to keep all of this clothing in an athletic locker throughout the season. This especially goes for distance runners, who according to Coach Sharp, “We will always be outside, unless there are extreme weather conditions.”
Defined by Mr. Sharp, “Extreme weather conditions would be below zero with a high wind chill or a heavy snow.” Once again this is important because coaches want to build character more then anything. As Mr. Sharp points out, “the question is how hard did our guys work and how hard did the other guys work.” Coaches and athletes will soon find out come the first track meet at River Falls. This meet will take place on Saturday the 27th of March. This meet is indoors but other outside meets do in fact have the possibility to be cancelled. Meets can be cancelled due to weather conditions, which are determined by either a games committee or, at smaller meets, coaches’ discretion.
In the month of March it is expected to be the worst weather conditions. So all in all, the most important thing a track athlete can do is come prepared for practice and expect the worst.