Schedule

This is the 2010 schedule. While we try to keep it accurate, always check for last-minute changes. (Click here to see a full-page version of the calendar)

(Thanks to Chuck Yort for the help on the new calendar)

maps and directions available on our Map page

Cross Country Stats

Cross Country states are available via XCstats.com. Click here for instructions on how to join - its free!

Bus and transportation info here

Pictures

Photographers needed! If possible, upload your photos to your favorite gallery hosting site (like smugmug or many others), and send a link to the webmaster - he'll add your link here so everyone can enjoy your pictures. Thanks!

Pasta Feeds

We hve pasta feeds for the team prior to certain meets. The quantities in the menu below may be adjusted upward depending on the size of the team.

• Pasta (10 parents, to feed 12 people each)
• Salad (8 parents, to feed 12 people each)
• Garilc Bread (8 parents, 3 loaves each) already sliced and warm please!
• Water - 120 bottels (2 parentes, 60 bottles each)
• Desserts (6 parents, to bring 2 dozen each, maybe more)

If you are interestedin signing up, please contact Constance Bowie at beingmomrocks at yahoo.com

Fund Raisers

Pumpkin Patch! Come sleep in the school parking lot for a night. Go here for more information and to sign up! Hurry - your favorite time may be going fast...

Links and Other Info

Drinking, Eating and Sleeping for the XC Competitor
Los Altos Cross Country Home
Los Altos High Home
LynbrookSports.com
FavoriteRun.com
Roster
America's Running Routes

Coming Up in Cross Country

Pasta Feed!! Uniforms!! More!!

Uniforms

Hi everyone,

The large majority of the athletes have received their uniforms. This e-mail is only if you have not picked up your uniform or you haven't handed in a check

Students who have their deposit check in, but have not picked up their uniform:

Rachel Grate, Victoria Greenen, Egan McComb, Ideen Seyed, Tony Sun, Lydia Vieratis, Lauren Waller

Students who have not handed in the uniform deposit checks:

Haley Caddes, Gregory Cairns, Scott Casas, Audrey Cashen, William Crameri, Nicholas Giles, Ian Glasner, Daniel Golub, Jake Hogge, Jacob Kidd, Katie Love, Ian Palmer, Samuel Ryan, Mitch Seed, Simon Zorin

I will be at school tomorrow- Friday at 4, to pick these checks up. Please try to get them in to me.

I will be at the H.S. on Tuesday, the 7th at 3:30 to give out the rest of the uniforms. This will be the last chance because Wednesday is the race.

If I made a mistake or there is a problem please let me know.

Dana Lee

Transportation Fee

If you have not handed in your 100.00 transportation fee to the bookkeeper please try to get it done soon. Write the check to LAHS, make sure you or your child gets a receipt to show you have paid. Our first meet is next week and if the check is not handed in they will not be able to get on the bus. If you have any questions or problems contact me or have your child talk to PattiSue at practice.

Thank you,
Dana Lee

Pictures!

Parents/Coaches: if you take pictures at a meet, please share them with the team! To do this, please upload your pictures to a photo websie such as Picassa, Smugmug or your personal favorite. Once that's done, then send the link to the web guy. Your link will be posted right here! It's that simple.

School Policy on Driving to Events

• A student cannot drive him/herself to the event. Students doing this will not be allowed to compete
• A student cannot drive other students at anytime during school functions or practices.
• If you leave early (ie, get a ride home from your parents), be sure to check out with the coach before you leave. The coach will also want to see you leave with your parent, so parents, please park the car and meet your athlete on the field when they check out. Thanks in advance.
• Parents: If you plan on giving a ride to other students, you need to first fill out paperwork with the school office. This takes some time, so please plan ahead. Your cooperation is appreciated. The Volunteer Driver Application form can be found here. (The above has been district policy since 2001)

Practice Info

• For all practices and meets, you must check in with PattiSue. This is an official class.
• After school: Mon-Fri, 4:00 PM.

Join the Cross Country e-mail List

Joining our list is easy - our list is on the Eagle Mail page. Fill out the top part of the page, then scroll down to the Cross Country list and check "Join". Finally, click on "Review my Selections" and follow the instructions from there.

To leave the Cross County e-mail list, do the same thing - go to the Eagle Mail page and fill out the top part. Then click on "Show my lists." From there it is easy. Or you can click here - UNSUBSCRIBE from the X-Country elist - which will send an e-mail to the list keeper.

Coach's Corner

Sept 2, 2010

Hey Everyone,
Great job in the heat and adjusting to our new warm-up routine.  Remember group names on Friday.

This weekend we will be kicking off our Saturday Morning Bagel Runs.  We will run at Arastradero Preserve at 10:15.  The entrance is off Arastradero, about a mile after Arastradero Road crosses Page Mill Road. It's less than 10 minutes from campus.  I have room in my car for 6 runners.  First come, first served. I will be at the high school at 10 am to give a ride to the the first 6 people who request one via email.  These runs are highly encouraged, but optional.  If anyone can help with driving, let me know.

Many of you expressed interest in obtaining the handouts that Coach Charles shared at our Parent Info Night covering health and nutrition .  They are attached in the next email I am sending out and will include information on XC stats as well.

I will sign up the following people for the Toro Early Bird Meet in Salinas on 9/11.  This information has been shared with the team.  Please send me an email if you are not on the list and would like to attend (all are welcome to compete) or if you on the list but are unable to attend.  This is the site of the CCS Championship.  This will be our only opportunity to run the course before CCS.  It is a beautiful, but challenging 3 mile course.  Please note: this meet costs money to enter.  If we enter you and you never intended to compete, you may be charged for no showing.  The meet starts at around 9:00 and ends at 12:30.  We will be going by bus but a parent or certified driver may drive you if you would prefer.

Girls:
Claire, Lauren W, Tori, Megan L, Alice, Katie, Sophia, Mia, Audrey Cashen, Lauren S, Marissa M, ,Marisa L
(Again, feel free to add your name to this list!!)

Boys:
Austin, Ben S, Mikey, Blake, John, Dane K, Josh C, Steven D, Alex C, Terence, Mark, Egan, Greg D, Reilly F, Tim D, Aaron B, Gregory Lee, Ian P, Judd, Simon, Alex L, Devan, Stephen S, Alex B, Eric B, Dane T, Owen, Nicholas B, Riley S,
(Again, feel free to add your name to this list!!)

Let me know if you have any questions.
Coach PattiSue.
 "Running is a mental sport...and we're all a bit insane!"
- Author unknown

August 31, 2010

Just a reminder that we are meeting with the captains at 3:45 tomorrow for a very brief meeting.
Thanks for making the time.
Coach PattiSue

August 31, 2010

As we finalize our roster and create our ever fluid training groups, things are really coming together.  A few reminders:

Tues 8/31: Roster...final roster is due today...If I haven't seen you in a week, I will assume you have decided to drop.  Please confirm that you are on the list at practice today.  Please contact Mrs. Cave with any paperwork issues.

Wed. 9/1: Uniforms...please bring a check today if possible (makes the distribution of 100+ uniforms much easier); otherwise bring it with you tomorrow. Questions? contact  Dana Lee at danaelee@mac.com.

Mon. 9/6 Labor Day: Regular practice at irregular time.  We will be meeting at 6pm.  Please have a parent email me if you are not able to attend.  Otherwise it will count as an unexcused absence.

Tues 9/7 Pasta Feed!!! At Austin and Claire's house.  If you would like to help, please contact Connie Bowie at beingmomrocks@yahoo.com.

Wed 9/8 Lynbrook Invite:  Our first meet!!! Everyone is expected to attend. 

Sat: 9/11 Early Bird Invite at Toro (Salinas).  Everyone is welcomed to compete but note that it is a fairly tough 3mile course (as opposed to Lynbrooks 2 mile flat course).  Athletes are entered by grade in this meet (ie freshmen race against freshmen).  It is our only chance to run on the CCS course so anyone who is hoping to run varsity should definitely plan to be there.  Note that last year we had two freshmen boys on varsity and had about 12 different boys who ran varsity for us at different meets during the season.
Transportation is provided.

The following athletes are expected to attend: Boys: sub 5:10 miler; Girls sub 7:00 miler (you are entered unless you tell me otherwise)
The following athletes are strongly encouraged to attend: Boys sub 5:45, Girls sub 7:15
The following athletes please serioiusly consider coming: Boys sub 6:00 and girls sub 7:30
Again, everyone else is more than welcomed to compete so don't let these time suggestions stop you.  If you want to race, you should race.  If you can run StopSign you can run this course.

That's it for now! 

Coach PattiSue
"I love running cross country....On a track, I feel like a hamster."
- Robin Williams

August 30, 2010

Hey Everyone,
First of all great job on the time trial on Friday.  The times were outstanding and exciting across the board.  Even though it is early in the season, we've already had a number of best times, and the cumulative times of both the top 5 girls and the top 5 boys was faster than last year!  Alex Carr, who dropped from 6:14 mile last year to a 5:07 mile this year said it well; "that summer training really makes a difference."  I feel a little bad for all the newbies who have no idea how well they did since everyone is much faster.  We were really impressed with everyone's effort and attitude. There will be a make up very soon for those of you who missed the time trial on Friday.

The Final Roster is due tomorrow!!!!!  If you have been less than diligent about coming to practice for whatever reason, you need to come today or else you will be taken off the roster. With over 125 athletes on our current roster, we are looking forward to having our attendance sheets fit on two pages instead of 3.

If you know anyone who is thinking about switching sports or doing two sports this fall, please tell them they must contact me ASAP and definitely by practice tomorrow to have any hopes of joining our roster (decisions will be made on a case by case basis).

We will have practice on Labor Day.  This is a regular practice. However we will move the practice time to 6:00. It is a particularly important practice due to the fact that our first meet is on following Wednesday (yes 10 days away!).  If you are unable to attend due to a family conflict, please have your parent/guardian email me.  Otherwise, it will be considered an unexcused absence. 

Finally, if you know someone that should be on the elist but isn't, please send them to the LosAltostrack.com website.  The home page has instructions on how to join the group.

See you all later today!
Coach PattiSue

August 27, 2010

August 26, 2010

August 25, 2010

August 24, 2010

Hey Parents,
Please be advised that the coaching staff is well aware of issues regarding training in heat and questionable air quality.

In terms of the heat, we are trained to know the signs of heat exhaustion, have plenty of water available,  will adjust our workouts when necessary (as we did yesterday), and in some cases, will not send our lesser trained athletes off site. If we do go off site in hot weather, we do "drive-bys" and have water available at predetermined spots. Please note, we make these decisions at the last minute primarily due to the fact that our weather can change rather rapidly (ie a breeze can come up, the predicted heat didn't materialize, etc). Please don't assume we will cancel practice.  Even if we reduce the workout, we might use the time to discuss racing, technique, goal setting, etc.

Although it is a "spare-the-air" day in the greater Bay Area, the actual air quality in our area is still considered safe (you may check yourself at the spare the air website).  We are fortunate that this is rarely a problem in Los Altos, but double check to make sure.

If you have any further questions or concerns, let me know.
Coach PattiSue

See you at the Parent's Meeting on Thursday!

August 19, 2010

Hey Again,
This will be my last email for at least 3 days!!

Tomorrow is Fun Friday.  It will be a light day to give those of you who want to go to the dance a chance to get ready.  AND for freshman, the workout is optional.

On Super Saturday, there is a highly encouraged, but totally optional Captains workout (ie not led by the coaches but by the captains).  Please meet at the high school at 10:00am.  It's not that early.  It will be Eric's last run before heading off to MIT. :-(( 
Speaking of runners going off to college this week, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Erin, but we wish her the best at Santa Clara as well. 

For those of you who looked at the Calendar, we have a tentative meet scheduled for Oct. 9 in Clovis.  It is an overnight trip.  The trip will be limited to no more than the available top 10 boys and the top 10 girls.  However, Oct. 9 is the first fall SAT.  If you are planning to take the SAT's on that date, can you please send me an email as soon as possible.  Send it directly to me at psplumer@aol.com.  We want to finalize this trip as soon as possible and need to understand the potential conflicts.  There is an SAT date in November as well.

Finally, please mark you calendars for the Parent Meeting next Thursday night in the cafeteria. 

See you then if not sooner,

Coach PattiSue 
"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Thomas Edison

August 19, 2010

And the emails keep on coming....

Thanks again to Dr. Patty Einarson for doing so many physicals yesterday.  If you still need help on this, you can contact her directly at 906-9485 or peinarson@stanfordalumni.org.  If you have questions as to whether you are cleared or not, please contact Kim Cave directly.

We have our Mandatory Parent Meeting next Thursday night, August 26 at 7pm.  All parents, veterans or newcomers, are highly encouraged to come (Can you hear me begging???).  It really helps us run the season smoothly when we start off on the same foot.  With such a large team (over 100), it is so much easier if we can have one discussion which covers most of the issues that come up rather than 100 separate conversations.  And even if you've heard me speak so much that you feel like you just can't take it anymore, come anyway so you sign up for your favorite volunteer position(s) because we need our returnee parents more than ever.  And since this year we are in the cafeteria, we can have food!!  By the way, all athletes are welcome to attend, but we strongly encourage new athletes to come.  We will have a shortened practice to make it easier for them to do so.

You will find attached our official, but always flexible, schedule.  I will also cut and paste it for those of you who can't be bothered with opening a document.

Finally, the manager from Sportissimo in Town and Country called to tell me that they are extending the special 15% discount till Sunday so if you haven't had a chance to make it over there, you still have a chance this weekend.

As Always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Coach PattiSue

Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge. David Bedford

August 17, 2010

We are off to a great start! We have a huge team and it seems to be growing every day. Learning all the names will be a big task for me!   There is a lot of great energy and enthusiasm.  However a number of you still need physicals.  Please get them as soon as possible.  As you know, you cannot work out with the team without one.  As a reminder, in addition to the doctors arranged by the school, the parent of one of your teammates, Mark Cuson, is a doctor and has offered to provide physicals to anyone needing one.  Her name and number is

August 15, 2010

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to the 2010 Los Altos High School Cross Country season!  It promises to be an exciting year based on the number of new athletes joining the team and the strong summer conditioning undertaken by many of our returning veterans.  We have some big shoes to fill, but we are confident that you will be able to do so.  But don't worry, if you haven't run a step in your life, you will not be alone.

Tomorrow (Monday) is our first day of practice.  Most days we will meet at the high school track at 4:00.  Our practices generally last until 6:00.  However, for our first day, we will be meeting in the cafeteria.  After this meeting, we will be breaking into groups and going for our first run of the season.

A couple of housekeeping notes: 
You must have the following:
1) A good pair of running shoes.  All shoes are not alike!!  It is strongly advised that you buy them from a reputable running shoe store (not sports authority, sports basement, footlocker, etc).  The best ones in our area are Sportissimo (formally Metro Sport) at Town and Country and Fleet Feet (formally Runner's High) on Santa Cruz Ave in Menlo Park.  Other options are Road Runners in San Carlos and Ryan's Sport in Santa Clara.  The Nike store at Stanford Mall is pretty good too, but it is obviously limited to Nikes.  All but the Nike store will give you at least a 10% discount if you tell them you are a member of the Los Altos High School XC team.  While you are there, pick up a few good pairs of socks.  Running socks will help prevent blisters and other annoying foot problems.  Again, there is a difference between regular socks and running socks...as a few of you already know the hard way.

2) Running clothes...you cannot run in jeans or long sweats (unless it is cold).  Your gym clothes are fine...we have seniors that still wear their Egan shorts (that may be pushing it, but it happens....)

3) A physical.  Mrs. Cave, our athletic director, has made it clear that you must have your physical paper work turned in before you will be allowed to work out with the team.  If you do not have a personal physician or can't get a physical for several days or weeks, please contact

June 14

And now onto Cross Country. Today, Monday June 14th, is our first day of unofficial, official summer conditioning. We will meet as a group Monday through Thursday at 6pm, and like always, we will generally meet at the track. Some of the runners are also planning on meeting on additional days as well. There is no charge and it is not mandatory, though highly recommended. If you know of any incoming freshman or new sophomores (or juniors or seniors for that matter), spread the word. Our track website has been converted to XC and we are working on the elist. We have some big goals for next year and want you to be a part of it.

See many of you later today, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Coach PattiSue

About This Site

This site is the official unofficial site for all things pertaining to Los Altos High Cross County and Track & Field. It is not associated with the school and not maintained by the school, so any comments/statements made here do not necessarily reflect those of school officials. If you find anything offsensive on this site, please contact the web peson listed below and it will be taken care of.

The purpose of this site is to provide timely information for team members and their parents. We strive to keep the site up to date, but occasionally we fall behind. If you have information that you would like posted on the site or find errors or omissions, contact the web person listed below.

This site is maintained by Jim Clark. You can reach him via e-mail at jim_clark "at" pacbell.net.