Recent News and Updates - E-mail cquick@d211.org

August 24, 2008 - Workout Analysis, Practice Schedule, Miles

I've had some time now to look at the workout results, and I see a ton of positives.  Hopefully, these results indicate that we are on our way to another great season.  First things first.  The practice schedule for Week 3 is below.  Varsity starts twice weekly doubles this week.

Miles Update - I compiled and updated Week 2 miles.

Workout Results - Four Varsity Athletes Challenge 15:00

This workout is always one of my favorite ones of the year.  It is a lot of fun getting into a competitive situation with our girls as partners, and the times are often good predictors for how we will race.  When compared to the efforts of previous state trophy teams from 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007, we stack up well.  Our best version of this workout was in 2004 when the top four guys all totaled under 15:00.  Our deepest version was last year when the conditions were ideal for running.  We ran well on Saturday despite the hot and humid conditions. You could see in both the boys and girls results that performances tailored off badly throughout the workout with the third rep being the slowest by far - probably a bit of dehydration setting in.

Top Seven Runner Comparisons

Athletes who earned All-State honors later in that season are in bold.  Those who earned All-Conference at the MSL meet are in italics.

So what does any of this prove?  Nothing.  We are certainly in league with other teams that won state trophies and the MSL title though.  Our top end is just a bit off the top times set by some of our all-state runners and will have to improve.  We are strong through five runners, but our depth weakens after that.  If the weather had as big an effect as I think, though, we may be much better than the times indicate.  Certainly, a 10-15 second correction per guy puts us way ahead of last year's group.  We ran in perfect conditions in 2007 as opposed to the brutal heat of 2008.  I can't wait to see us race so I can stop analyzing workouts and see real results.

Sophomore Comparisons

I took the top seven sophomore times from past workouts and compared them to our times from Saturday.  Athletes who made the varsity later in the year are highlighted while those in italics are kids who placed top 25 in the MSL F/S race.  

The obvious point here is that our fastest sophomores are not yet on par with other super sophs who have made the varsity team that same season.  Last year's workout was clearly the best one ever run by the Palatine sophs, including Chano, Alec, and Jeff.  This year's group is exciting though.  We have nice depth.  It is great so see Kendall Cox with us and running well - his 16:36 put him at #2 man.  It is also key to our depth to have Ryan McGough (17:10) and Reuben Frey (17:15) added into our puzzle.  I think this group will be outstanding, especially as our freshmen start to improve and get added into the mix.

Freshmen Comparisons

Very few freshmen even run the 3 x mile workout so that says a lot about a group right away.  This year's frosh class is small, but packed with talent.  Noah Yosif and Peter Tomkiewicz ran some of the best frosh times ever in the 6 x 800 workout while our three guys in the longer workout did excellent.  Guys in bold made Top 25 in the MSL F/S race as freshmen.

August 23, 2008 - Workout Results, More to Come

The team ran well today despite the heat, and our workout puts us right in with all of our trophy teams through five guys.  The depth will certainly need to improve, but I am happy right now.  Here are the results of 3 x mile with the 800 times to follow.

More analysis will be forthcoming later tonight and tomorrow.  I'm typing one-handed while holding little Christopher so I'm a bit off my game.  If you are a nerd like me with nothing going on tonight, the Olympic marathon starts at 6:30.  Go Ryan Hall!  Send him some cosmic, PHS "can do" good vibes!

August 19, 2008 - Mileage for Week 1

I added the mileage for Week 1 of practice.  I missed getting totals from some guys since we were in the dead period, but many of you did a great job of running.  If I missed your miles, make sure you get them to me from now on.

August 17, 2008 - Week 2 Practice Schedule

"You never know which moment of success will be the one that ends up changing your life, so they're all worth fighting for.  From the smallest victory at home to the most public triumph, every win of your life might be the one that really ends up meaning something, that transforms you simply from the winner of the moment into that rarest thing of all: a true winner."

- Johan Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong's team director

I watched a lot of cycling this summer, particularly highlights from Lance's seven Tour de France wins.  Bruyneel's book is a great read on how to build a true winner.  I love his emphasis here on the fight, the idea that you must venture effort in all situations of your life because you never know which moment of effort will be the one that changes it all.  Think about that as you train and as we mold together into a winning team.  It takes the effort of everyone up and down the line to get us to the top.

Practice Schedule for August 18 - August 23

We had a lot of people who seemed confused about when practice was last week so I am going to try and set up a weekly schedule on the site from now on.

August 3, 2008 - Cross Country Season is Here

On Wednesday, August 13th, we shift to regular and required practices.  The team will meet at 8:00 am in front of the athletic doors at Palatine High School.  All athletes wishing to run cross country must turn in a parent permission form, an emergency card, and proof of a current physical.  Only eight athletes on the team have turned in their paperwork to the nurse.  Get it in today!  Seniors and juniors without their papers in will be suspended a meet if they are not ready to go on Wednesday.

You must turn all of these papers into the nurse at Palatine High School.  We cannot allow you to practice with the team if your papers are not turned in.

Baby Christopher's First Pictures - For Friends and Family

Since Madeline got her own photo gallery on PalatineCC, I thought I would make sure to put Christopher Dunbar Quick's first pics out here as well.  He was born on August 4, 2008 at a weight of 9 lbs 9 oz and was 22 inches long.  At that weight he will be bigger than me soon.  Meri is okay now, but it was a tough birth since he was a week overdue and rather large. 

We debated about names for a long time (years in fact) and we finally decided to use two family names: Christopher is my first name obviously and Dunbar is Meredith's maiden name.  Rejected choices included John Kenneth Quick (sorry Lancaster), Augustus, Robert Dylan, and thousands of others.  Enjoy!