August 14 Update – The Eye of the Storm

I hope you are all doing very well. It feels to me like it has been a VERY long time since the last update, but, in reality, it has only been two weeks. It has been an action packed two weeks, and there is quite a bit to offer in terms of an update.

We are in what I like think of as “the eye of the storm”. The 2008 season is upon us and is an all out sprint. From August 12 until the 2008 season ends in December, things obviously happen at a very brisk pace. What you may not know, however, is that the month preceding the season is really when that sprinting begins.

We have 37 (not a misprint, 37) guys here with us right now in our preseason camp. There is one more that we are hoping will be cleared to join us by the end of next week as he wraps up summer school requirements – so soon VU MSO will be 38 strong. The details for getting 38 kids to Valparaiso from, literally, all over the planet are both a huge challenge and a logistical nightmare. Coordinating flights, carpools, housing, meals, equipment, financial aid, class scheduling, etc…, all these things take careful planning and a lot of time.

The eye of this perfect storm, though, now that is the place to be for a coach. Without question, preseason is my favorite coaching time of the year. I get multiple training sessions per day with a healthy and motivated group. We have had no matches so there is no pressure for results and we can focus only on teaching and learning. We are still undefeated, and the optimism of this young team is infectious. There are no classes to worry about, no tests or papers to divert our focus. We simply eat, sleep, play soccer, repeat. For these two weeks, we are living the good life.

Now, on to the running…

WE have passed the halfway point! When I say WE, understand that I mean just that. I have run a lot of miles on my own, to be sure, but I have also relied (heavily, in some cases) on the donations of many from the VU MSO family tree. Well, so far WE have hit 531.1 miles since June 2, 2008.

In theory it is all downhill from here. We have made it through half time and are now into the second half. There is still a lot of time left and plenty of room for error, so we can’t let up, we have to stay focused, but we are certainly making measurable progress.

There are two mileage donations that I want to highlight. I’ve gone to the bench pretty quickly in August for my substitutions, but the preparation for preseason is likely the busiest time of the year for me and my staff. We desperately needed two good substitutions, and I think we have found them.

The first came to me via an email:

Hello,

My name is Misty Knestrict (Parent). I am a VU alumn(2000), played on the women's team in 1997 as a walk on, and was a team manager in 1999. I would love to donate miles. On August 10, I ran the Chicago Distance Classic 13.1 miles and on July 4th Lindsay's Race a 10k in Richland Michigan . Currently, I am registered to run the Banco run on September 14th, another 13.1 miles. That totals 32.3 miles. If there are any other small races in the interim, I will be happy to let you know. Also, I do have many many training miles. If you can use those I would be more then happy to let you know some totals.

Good luck to you,

Misty Knestrict


This is fabulous…thanks Misty! As the rule is to allow for two substitute days per month, I was very happy to accept her August 10 run of 13.1 miles. Great job, Misty!

We are very lucky to have a wonderful relationship with our women’s soccer program. I can tell you from many years in the business that this kind of working arrangement between the men’s and women’s teams is not the norm. Our women’s coaches and players are first class people, though, and a very talented bunch, so it has really been our pleasure to work side by side with them as we build the Valparaiso University Soccer brand. To now have one of their alums in the fold is meaningful.

The second donation came yesterday, August 13, 2008. This donation carries some special weight as well, and not just because it was a sizeable amount of mileage (inserts my happy face here). This donation is notable because it came from within – it came from our boys.

Our first order of business on Wednesday morning was to get a gauge on the fitness level of the team. The evaluation tool we used (I don’t like to call is a “test”, though I guess it is just that) was to run 300 yard shuttles. In our beautiful, newly re-surfaced football stadium, we ran a series of shuttles that went 10 yards and back, 20 yards and back, 30 yards and back, 40 yards and back, and 50 yards and back. Do the math, it adds up to 300 yards total, and the guys have 60 seconds to complete the run for one. With a three minute recovery period, they then go again. The goal for each player was to make at least 5 shuttles, and we kept going, for those able, up to 10.

For the most part, the fitness test was a success. While 10 guys fell short of the target (and have had some “extra miles” of their own as a result), we had another 10 still going strong when we stopped them. The majority of the players fell somewhere between 5-10 shuttles, and the team average was a 7. Soooooo....35 players multiplied by 300 yards multiplied again by 7 is a total of 73,500 yards. Dividing 73,500 yards by 1760 yards (1760yds = 1 mile) is a total of 41.7 miles.

Confused? Me too, but a 41.7 mile donation is something I can see pretty clearly!

The main point here is that these young guys that we are helping through the “Extra Mile”are also working very hard to help themselves. We preach at them daily, reminding them that a lot of people are going the extra mile for them, and that the team in return has a responsibility to always try to put our best effort forward. They are even training in Extra Mile t-shirts daily to keep this in front of them and on the front of them, and I am pleased to report that it is so far, so good in 2008.

It should be a fun season, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Gotta run,

Mike

PS - if you are nearby on Saturday, we play at 1:00pm on Eastgate. Three days into training, so it could be an interesting exhibition game, but a very useful one.