On March 6, 2017, the Arrowhead Boys; and Girls’ Track and Field season will officially be underway. With about a little month left for preparations, many athletes are amping up their offseason training programs in attempt to be more prepared. Track and Field is a no cut sport at Arrowhead and all one has to do to join is sign up and provide physical/health information if needed.
“I have been going pretty steady at five to six days a week all offseason. As far as difficulty goes, the first week I had off after state for cross country, I maybe ran two days, if that. About two weeks later, though, I went back up to about four days a week and shortly after to five. I owe almost all of my success in track and cross country to the extensive offseason training I’ve done over the years. And as always, I increase the rigor of my training the month before the season begins to get more in the mindset of the season starting. Given that it’s now February, I’ve added a few minutes to my recovery runs and long runs as well as quickened my tempo for workouts,” said senior Sam Evert.

“For offseason training, I’ve been going to an after school workout program organized by Coach Harriot since October. Some days we do running exercises, other days we do weights and core related stuff. Staying in relatively good shape long before the season starts is really beneficial from the standpoint that you don’t have to cram all your training into the last two months or so prior to the season starting. Given that we do now only have one month before getting started, I feel well prepared enough that I shouldn’t have to increase the difficulties of my workouts that much. Making sure that you don’t overwork is just as important as making sure you don’t underwork,” says senior Jack Vento.
     On the other side of the enhanced preparations are the coaches. Preparing the schedules, making sure all be equipment is ready to bring out, and keeping tabs on their athletes are all contributing factors to starting the season off smoothly.

“I always tell our guys at the meeting before the season that you can’t roll off the couch and expect to have a good season. Even if you haven’t put in the work over the fall or winter, as long as you at least do something before we start in March, you’ll be far better off than if you do nothing at all. The other thing that I have to make sure gets around before we start is the signup form. I need to know how many people are coming out for things like new uniform orders. From what I saw from the meeting last week, we’re probably going to have a bigger team than the ones we’ve had the last three years which is really nice to see,” said head coach Chris Harriot.

Looking strictly at the distance department, who finished in a noteworthy second place in the 4×800 meter relay at the state meet last year, Coach Mulrooney has had several consultations with his runners throughout the offseason.

“I like to have an initial meeting about a month after cross country ends to give everyone an idea about what to strive for during the offseason. Then, I’ll have one after winter break as well as one a month before the season starts to tell everyone that they should be getting in more days per week and doing more difficult workouts. For the most part, anyone who comes to the meetings tend to follow the regiment I hand out to at least some extent. As coaches, we can always tell by day one who put in the work in the offseason and who didn’t,” Mulrooney says.