Felicia, as she prefers to be addressed, attributes the success of her team to the athletes and parents. Felicia motivates and challenges all athletes on her team to improve as runners, as students, and as decent human beings. She provides athletes and their families with a positive, supportive, and inspiring team environment.

Athletic background: Six time Junior Olympian in Track and Field, Jr. High and High School Female Athlete of the Year, 1 year collegiate basketball. Felicia has raced distances from the mile (5:15) to ten miles (69:57)

Coaching background: 29 years of coaching various sports. Started out as a high school volleyball coach in l978. 1979 began coaching cross country and track and field at Franklin and Stagg High Schools. Spent 3 years as the U.O.P. women’s cross country coach, 5 years coaching C.Y.O. volleyball, and 4 years as the Director of the Stockton Mavericks Basketball Club. In 2006 Felicia retired from coaching Track & Field due to increased symptoms from scleroderma.

Come to practice on time. If late, you must submit a note from your teacher or physician showing the time of your dismissal or appointment time. Without a note you will be expected to stay after practice and make up for the time missed. Frequent lateness will result in a call to your parents and possibly missing the next race.

* unless a meet is scheduled

Roll will be taken each day. Runners must check in before practice.

The only legitimate excuse from practice is absence from school. If you miss one practice during the week without a written excuse, you will not race in that week's league meet. If you miss two practices during the week, you will not race in the scheduled league or invitational meet that week. If you have five or more unexcused practices during the month you will be dismissed from the team.

Foul language will not be tolerated at practices or races. Please be respectful at all times.

Runners must be academically eligible (maintaining a 2.0 G.P.A.) or be dismissed from the team. Grade checks will be made twice during the season. Parents will be contact when any runner receives a grade of C or below. Anyone caught using alcohol or tobacco will be dismissed from the team.

Training Information

Shortcuts to improvement: the quickest, most efficient path to improvement is to increase training intensity, not mileage. High intensity work, not high mileage, is best for boosting max V02 and economy. Runners who reduce their training will maintain fitness if they drop mileage and preserve intensity. But they will lose fitness if they preserve mileage and drop intensity. the biggest drawback regarding high mileage is that it makes runners feel bad. They frequently complain of extreme muscle stiffness and general fatigue. In other works, most were over-trained. With high intensity training, runners reported high energy levels, no achy muscles and better running. Research makes it clear: You get more performance bang for your training buck when you emphasize intensity over mileage. The bottom line: You run best when you are the most fit, and intensity produces higher levels of fitness than mileage.

Speed and Training Terms

Fartlek (speed play): Bursts of speed included within a training run. No set time or distance.

Interval: Helps to increase your body’s maximum ability to breathe in, transport, and use oxygen. Over time, it enables you to run faster with less effort from your cardiovascular system. Mile intervals: to develop a sense of race pace. Goal is to run all four laps at the same pace, finishing tired by not spent. Cruise intervals are moderately fast repeats with short recovery periods. These repeats are a controlled effort and often feel easy to runners. Short intervals are short and faster than race pace to improve leg speed, muscular fitness, running economy, and ability to handle lactic acid build-up.

Even splits: Try to run each lap on the track in the same time. This is even pacing just like you should run in your races. Stay relaxed.

Tempo runs: Mimics a race, but not the whole race. Improves your concentration while you stay relaxed, holding a strong pace for several minutes. Run 30-45 seconds slower than race pace.

Repeats: Helps to refine your running efficiency, and teaches you to maintain good form when picking up speed.

Strides: Light and controlled. Gradually increase speed for the first 20 yards, hold it for 60 yards, ease back down last 20 yards. Prepares the body for the next phase of a workout or race.

Form drills: Strengthens a particular muscle group and improves the movement of the body through the running motion.

Hill work: To improve muscular fitness, and mental toughness. Increases leg strength and bolsters your confidence in racing up hills.

Training error: Persistent high intensity (hard days) training without low intensity (easy days) of training.

Training Safety

• Run against traffic.

• Be alert.

• Beware of curves. Drivers may not see you.

• Obey traffic signals. Cross on green only and use designated crosswalks.

• Use road shoulders and sidewalks instead of running in the middle of the road. On narrow roads run single file.

• Don't play around with teammates or with drivers.

Race Tactics

It is always to your advantage to know a course well. Study your courses and plan lyour strategy during your survey!! Here are some helpful hints:

Narrow paths:Make sure that you are the first through a narrow path. This will serve two functions: l) It will automatically give you extra distance, as others must wait to enter the path. 2) It prevents you from being stuck behind a slower runner while the race in front of you runs away.

Tangents:Run the shortest route possible. Always take the most direct angle.

Surging:(Bursts of speed) Only surge to weaken or discourage your opponents with a strong kick, to get out of a pack and into the lead and put distance on them. e.g. If you detect a sign that a racer is tiring (running form is getting tight, turning of the head to look who's behind) surging past him strongly will discourage him mentally. If your opponent trys to surge to drop you, match his surge stride for stride. Hang right with him.

Shadowing: Use this mental tactic to hold your position. Stare at the back of your opponent's neck or back and visualize a rope or a hook holding you to him. "You are the hunter, and your opponent is your prey."

Passing: This could be a psychologically destructive tool. Like shadowing, overtake your opponent when he is undergoing strain (decreased in pace, tight form, looking behind, rolling head, rasing of the arms, not running tangents, running flat footed). Always pass strong.

Cornering: Accelerate through every corner and take a few quick steps after you exit. DO NOT slow down through the corners and pick up your pace after (only slow down before sharp corners to prevent running out too wide).

Gates: Slowly surge to the front of the pack, make sure you are first through the gate. Just like running narrow paths, you will put considerable distance on runners behind you. When surging for the gate do it inconspicuously. If you make a strong surge, other runners will react by doing the same, and you end up in a sprint for the gate.

Finishing gate: No matter how hard you run during a race, you can always have a finishing kick.

REMEMBER:remain relaxed, drive your arms, lift your knees!! The discomfort of the race is nothing compared to the pain of knowing what you could have done. Your discomfort is only temporary!!

NOTES

In the first half mile protect yourself by extending your elbows out to the side

Be aggressive in your race strategy. Do not be afraid to nudge others out of the way, but do say "sorry"

When you start feeling discomfort, know that your opponents are too

Begin your kick when your opponents are not expecting it and always run through he finish line.

Once you finish, immediately raise your arms to the side to prevent slower runners from passing you in the chute.

How to Score a Cross-Country Meet

Dual meet scoring is pretty easy. The first five finishers from each team are the scorers and the next two finishers from each team displace runners from the opposing team.

Race Day Preparation

Do not make dramatic changes in your daily routine prior to your race. This is not the time to make big changes in your eating, or breaking in new shoes.

Have a pre-race check list. Make sure you have accurate directions to the race, know our race start time, and look over your course map. Make sure you have your racing shoes, socks, uniform, water bottle, extra hair ties (girls), and a small roll of toilet paper in your race bag.

Give yourself extra travel time, and arrive at least one hour prior to your race start.

Keep your emotions in check. Feeling nervous or anxious is normal. Try to visualize the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach as being about the size of a basketball, then slowly shrink it to the size of a golf ball as you relax and concentrate on bringing your feelings under control. Nervousness is an important source of energy that can help your racing. Make sure you warm up properly. A race becomes tough when the first part of your race is the warm up. It will be torture that first half mile! Jog easy for ten to twenty minutes, stretch, and directly before your race start complete about five accelerations. The goal of your warm up is to send you to the starting line feeling, light, quick, and comfortable.

Have a race plan. Your plan should be specific: run with or shadow a certain competitor; run your first mile in a certain time; hold back the first mile, pick it up the second mile, run strong the third mile; finish in the top 10, 15, 50, etc.

Learn something from every race. Savor a good race. If you have a bad race, once it is over, it is history! Turn your race into a positive experience by determining what you did wrong and motivate yourself to do better next time. Your next race is always another opportunity for success.

"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

Mental Preparation

Be confident that you have trained well. If you run within your own abilities and you perfomed the best you could then you should be proud of your accomplishment. Set goals and try to improve on them each week.

l) Set realistic/reachable goals for yourself. Strive for excellence, not perfection.

2) Deal with negative things before they happen, and have a strategy to cope with these things

3) Make the most of every practice session

4) Work on improving your technique

5) Always use positive self-talk. "I can do it!"

6) Visualize and mentally rehearse your race. See yourself performing well.

7) Jog the race course and mentally take notes on how you will run each section.

Failure Only Comes When You Quit Trying

"Fear of failing is sometimes the biggest enemy in life. Because we are afraid that we might "fail," "not make it to the finish line," "come in last," we end up not trying or give up before we invest too much time or energy. Young people tend to give in to save social face by sending the message that " I really did not care," or "it was not fun." There really is not such thing as failure, only circumstances and results that teach us how to adjust and improve and continue to work to achieve our goals. The reality is that none of us really fail in life until we quit trying. If we quit trying to achieve a goa, that's when we have failed. As long as we keep working, learning, and improving, we have not failed."

It's OK to be Nervous

The secret to dealing with nervousness is to expect it. It is very normal to get nervous in competition. by practicing relaxation strategies, you will realize that your nervousness can help you concentrate more sharply, react faster, and give you more energy when you need it.

Mental Techniques for Racing

Before your race:

Play your favorite CD while traveling to the race

Do abdominal breathing to relax and relieve tension

Don't try anything new. Follow your usual pre-race routine

Find a quiet place. Breathe deeply, calm your mind, and remind yourself of how prepared you are

Enjoy your race. Don't take yourself too seriously. Remind yourself that the outcome of your race is not a life or death situation.

30 seconds before the start gun, take 10 deep breaths to relax, and increase oxygen supply to your muscles.