Practice times

Over the years, we have toyed with the idea of different practice times. Right now, our practice times of 2 p.m. each weekday – except for 11 a.m. on Wednesday – has been set in stone for the distance-running team for as long as I can remember.

The idea of practicing earlier, in the morning, is one that has always intrigued me. I have felt there are a few compelling reasons why it might work. But, it has usually met with a combination of resistance and/or indifference, and I have left it at that. And generally, the idea of a different practice time has not garnered much traction among the ones it affects the most, and that is the current team members.

Until now.

Several men’s distance runners have expressed interest in a change to 11 a.m. on all days – not just Wednesday – for practice. While I will not make the command decision, yet, to change to that time, there are several compelling reasons why it’s a pretty good idea:

--Doubling. By practicing essentially midday, this eliminates the need for early-morning doubles. All doubles can be done in the late afternoon/evening. Translation: No more 6:30 a.m. practices! That’s not a bad thing.

--Lifting/core/drills. Can now be done after practice in the afternoon after practice if there are no other class conflicts. No rushing to grab dinner.

--Class scheduling. For science majors with afternoon labs, there would be no more conflicts. In addition, it allows those that want to have afternoon classes (2-3:15 and 3:30-4:45) to now take them.

--Yeah, it’s earlier than 2 in the afternoon, but it’s not so early that you won’t be awake. There should not be an increased injury risk with this time, as opposed to, say, 8 a.m. practices (which I would LOVE but I won’t even propose that …).

--For early season XC when we are still dealing with summer heat (hard to fathom that now), the 2 p.m. timeframe is the heat of the day and peak sunshine. Sure, 11 a.m. is still warm, but it’s not as intense as 2 p.m. Generally, midday is pretty temperate year-round.

--From a personal standpoint, it will enable me to help out Coach Chuck even more with transportation and coaching of the women’s team. Now, we can have 2 vans and coaches for those practices at 2 p.m. I will basically be working practices all day, but that's OK.

As with any major change, it will take some mental and physical adjustments. You will have to adapt your eating patterns. But again, it’s not like guys have perfected that through the years: A lot of times guys are cramming in a late lunch at 12:30, and then their stomachs are upset at 2 p.m. practice. Also, we already practice at 11 a.m. each Wednesday, so moving it there every day is not as foreign as, say, 8 a.m.

Note that the proposed practice time change is NOT DEFINITE and NOT FINALIZED. The purpose of this post is to generate discussion, and even a topic for a poll question, which I have not had in a long while.

Also note that this ONLY affects men’s distance runners in the fall semester, if we were to do it. Coach Horton will continue to meet sprinters at North Field or Vassar in the afternoons, during the fall. And Coach Chuck obviously has to continue with afternoon practice because of his teaching schedule. If we do it, and if we like it, we can consider moving that practice time permanently to 11 a.m.

What do you think? If you are a current team member, let me know in person. If you are an alum, parent or interested party, feel free to vote in the poll (well, current team members can do that too) or e-mail me at runhed246@hotmail.com. I’d like to hear what you think. We do not need to make a definite decision on this right away, but we need to make up our collective minds in time for fall 2011 registration, which is later this spring.