Running and Training in Canyon, TX

Being hired to coach at West Texas A&M has been a great experience this year. Canyon has proven to be a great spot to train and the runners that I have worked with have shown great interest and enthusiasm for their sport. We basically started from scratch this year with a new staff and a new squad on the men's side. We only had four runners during the fall which made it impossible to score in any cross country meets. We will not declare track and field as an official sport until next year so we can only compete as an off-season activity during the spring. Things are looking up for next season though. We have a really great group of kids coming in next year (some still yet to be determined). The current runners' mileage is anywhere from 50-80 miles a week, we are hitting the track anywhere from 2 to 3 times a week, and usually lifting 2 times a week. We only have 4 more weeks remaining in our off-season so we are cutting back on volume some and running fast. I am anxious to see how everyone runs at Texas Tech next week. If everyone stays healthy, I see no reason why we can't continue to improve. We will run out at Palo Duro Canyon this Sunday anywhere from 14-16 miles...hopefully I can get some video of what it is like out there and post it next week.