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Coach Kedge
Blog #2


Adam Kedge, coach of the US#1 Albuquerque Academy Chargers, has taken two teams to NTN and he was NTN Southwest Regional Editor in the inaugural year of 2004. His blogs  tell how NTN affects him and his team.

 Full Credit to the Victors

Last week I promised an update on how it all turned out, state that is.  Before I get to commenting on the result,  which most everyone that pays attention already knows,  let me set the situation.


For 10 consecutive years the 4A state title in New Mexico has gone to my Albuquerque Academy Chargers or to Rob and Kathy Hipwood’s Los Alamos Hilltoppers.  When the Toppers happen to win the title the Chargers are 2nd and when my Chargers win, it is the Topper that are 2nd.  10 years with 10 fairly close 1-2 finishes.  My Academy team has been talented enough, diligent enough, and a little lucky to have now won 8 of the last 10.  This past weekend was not one of those 8.   Only twice has the margin of victory been 10 or more points.   

This past weekend belonged to the Hilltoppers.  With a great team effort and a super  talented group of guys they won the state title by 6 points.  Both teams were healthy and at full strength – no excuses and full credit to the victors.  

My kids are not used to finishing with a curvy number in front of their name. In the past couple of years we’ve lost only a couple of meets.   Besides NTN and one time when we sat our varsity, they’ve been fortunate enough to have Academy listed at the top or the result sheet week in and week out.   So, this past weekend was a test of sportsmanship for my guys. As you saw from the traditional red vs. green photo posted on page 1 of dyestat.com,  some of those smiles may be painted on a little bit,  but out of respect for the Hilltoppers, they are there arm in arm to celebrate a great rivalry.  I am most honored to say that they responded like true champions to their 2nd place finish. 

Red or Green?


The battle was a classic one, similar to many that the two teams have had in the past decade.  The battle has gone so deep that a few years back I stole the question “Red or Green?” from our state.  New Mexico is known for its southwest beauty and for its southwest cuisine.  That great Mexican or New Mexican food comes in two forms, topped with red or green chile.  Because of that our state is the only state in the nation with the official state question – Red or Green?     

They do it again this week at NTN Southwest regional in Tempe

This next weekend at the SW Regional Meet in Tempe, Academy and Los Alamos will face off again. The rest of the Southwest will be in attendance, but odds are Academy and Los Alamos are going to finish next to each other in the standings.  It will likely be a nail biter with the two programs not separated by more than a few points.   We know if we can sneak a few steps ahead of those green jerseys that we have a very good shot of having our season continue.  

Academy verses Los Alamos has become a rivalry between two great schools and two historic programs. Like rivalries should be, the kids go at it tooth and nail, each team tries to beat the pants off of the other.  Once they cross the finish line, they shake hands and congratulate each other and then, no matter who comes out on top, go arm in arm and shoot a photo that demonstrates both respect and sportsmanship.   
 
We face Los Alamos often and have won our share, but this past weekend the state question for 2007, “red or green?”  has been answered.  

The week ahead and state guidelines

That was last week and now we have to mount up and get ready for another week.  So, here is what our week will look like and how we’ll prepare for our first ever NTN Regional Meet.

The week ahead will be a little different.  All states have a state association that looks over their state’s high school athletic programs.  Ours is a good group governed by sensible leaders.   The restrictions and guidelines they set fourth are generally fair to all the kids involved.  With that being said, there are some restrictions that we need to abide by.  One of the restrictions is the amount of time we, as coaches, can have contact with our kids during the off season.   Being that state was this past week we are now functioning under those new guidelines.  As coaches our contact is limited to school days and the time is reduced.   That means that some of the work and preparation that our kids are going to do is going to be left up to the team captains.  

One day removed from state our kids will meet in groups of twos or threes to shake out their race day legs.  Many programs take every Sunday off.  I like to have my kids run 20 of every 21 days.  Consistency in training is one of the cornerstones our program is built upon.    I don’t give out specific workout for Sundays and just have the kids “go as you feel”.  Some will run as little as a few miles, others as much as 8 or 9.   Most of the kids will need a nice Sunday run to get the sour taste of defeat out of their mouths and be refocused by Monday afternoon.     

BenJo is a horse

BenJo will inevitably be on campus early on Monday morning getting in his extra work.  As an All-American he needs a good 10 – 20 miles more per week than his teammates.  Here too I am not any more specific than “get in a few morning runs”.  He’s a veteran and a thoroughbred, he knows what he needs to do in order to take on the country’s best come December.  As I get out of my truck on my way to my office before school, I see Benjo making his way across the field logging a few miles.  

With such an important week behind us, our workout routine will change a little this week.  We’ll keep some sense of normalcy to it, but have to flip-flop a few things.   Monday will consist of an hour run in the foothills adjacent to the east side of town.  This is a usual Wednesday or Thursday workout for us.  The kids will meet up at the open space parking lot and run our favorite trail, trial 365.  It runs along the base of the Sandia Mountains, and the rolling hills average about 6300 feet in elevation.   Trail 365 is a place we can focus solely on running and not worry about crosswalks, traffic lights, or even mile markers.  We know the trail well and the balancing rock run will take us out and back at a moderate pace in dead-on 60 minutes.  8.5 miles.

Blue Gatorade and the Four Yorkshiremen

I’m sure the talk of the week will be light.  Coach Lopez and a group of boys will talk about Halo III.   Doctor Vraspir and some of our best students will talk Calculus III, over my head.  Much of the weekly talk will center around academics, big projects and demanding teachers.  BenJo and I will talk college cross country and his brother’s chances at the NCAA national meet.  BenJo’s brother Jeremy is one of the top college runners in the country right now.   A discussion will come up one day before practice on our favorite flavor of Gatorade and consensus will be that “blue Gatorade” is near the top.   One of our runners, the same young man, always has a huge opinion on something.  It could be something important like an event in European History, or it could be his opinion about the school cafeteria food.  He’ll make sure he talks loud enough and long enough about it until we all know where he stands.  I’ve never seen a boy so passionate about the taste, good or bad, of a corn dog.  

At the end of practice the three of us coaches will recite some segment from a You-Tube video clip we saw a couple weeks ago of the Four Yorkshiremen.  If you’ve yet to see it, here is the link;   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo .  For us it is a crack up and never gets old. For the kids, they tolerate our sophomoric banter – paybacks I guess.   We even put our own spin on it when talking about how it used to be when we were runners.   

Tuesday will consist of some 1000’s at a local park.  We’ll use the 1.5 miles up to the park as a warm-up, stretch, and then do 5 x 1000.  We usually shoot for about 3 ½ to 4 miles worth of repeats but this late in the season we’ll drop down some.   With the coaching restrictions in place we coaches will likely get the kids started and then either get in our own run or head out on the mountain bikes for a ride.  The guys know the routine and don’t need us as much as we’d like to think.  Once they are all done, they’ll cool down, do some abb work, stretch, and hit the ice bath.  

The rest of the week will be light.  Runs will range from 4 to 6 miles plus strides.   Maybe an extra half mile or mile thrown in for a warm up but we’ll keep it all low key.  During this time of the year we’ve trimmed most of the fat in the workouts and don’t do much as far as weights, circuits, or calisthenics.  Warm up, run, cool down and go home, besides it’s getting dark earlier.  

Still, this week will be busy.   Throw in some planned time to host a coach of a major DI program that is recruiting Ben, plus an evening to hold our annual post-season awards banquet in short week of training and it fills up fast.  Workouts and activities aside, its going to be equally as busy academically for the boys.  Our school is relentless in the amount of homework they give.  The kids are amazing. 

Boys will be on their own in Tempe

At the end of the week our team will make its way out to Tempe.  This meet will be far different than the rest.  The kids will go in small groups and the coaches cannot be involved in any of the planning or activities.  They’re in charge of taking on the SW without us.  Next week I’ll let you know how it all turns out.  My next report will be on NTN-4, hopefully with the Chargers included.





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