Saturday, December 02, 2017

Wayzata Boys Prepare in Secret

by Eric Jahn
It was dusk on the track at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton.  Wayzata XC Club coach Jon Lambert chased everyone from the site, including the press.  They wanted some privacy for their setup workout before NXN.

“Get lost!” he barked.  “If this works, other teams are going to try it.”

From a distance, it looks like they did a set of 300s at race pace, followed by a few faster reps.  

The course run-through the next day was uneventful.  Unlike other years there was little mud and no standing water.  The athletes were kept off the actual competition course, and only allowed on the cart path until race time.  But rain is forecast from nightfall on Friday through Saturday afternoon, and spikes up to 1” will be common during the race.


The elite athlete panel on Friday featured Jager, Quigley, Rupp, Hassay, and Mead.  The questions and answers ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime.  The message from most included consistency of training over time, avoidance of injury, and cross training only when necessary.

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