Long Beach Poly's Summer Practices
Long Beach Poly reached out to us to explain their summer training and team culture. Thank you to Coach Cameron Ford and athlete Lindsey Camille for the help.
How often does Long Beach Poly practice in the summer?
We practice six days a week for all returning runners and new runners are on a four days a week plan. Practice usually consist of a two hour training period and we keep the mileage fairly moderate.
What is summer camp like?
Summer camp is an opportunity for deserving qualified runners to spend time in Mammoth Lakes, CA where they get to “live the life of professional athletes.” For 20+ Years we have kept mainly the same traditions for our program and we keep records of each run and continue to share life long experiences for the kids. 90% of our runs are on trails. Each run has character to it. Some with 2k vertical gain, 15mi trail runs, downhill trail time trials, doubles, and much more. Though we are all here to run and train, the most important aspect of the summer camp is the team bonding. Our team culture is our backbone and glue to the foundation for the long season ahead!
What is the secret to LB Poly's success?
Our secret to success I’m not really able to pinpoint but I would say our identity is very much a family culture. Every athlete is treated the same and we prepare the athletes to have room to grow throughout their entire career. With the training and development we have for our team it is far more common to see athletes run all four years and drop their personal best marks by significant margins each year. We do not have a feeder school into our program, we don’t over train the kids so they can maintain a typical teenage life and we don’t set up crazy diets or remedies. Simply put we have kids that come for their own self improvement and to be with their friends.
How does LB Poly create their team culture?
I would call our culture building somewhat old fashion. Lots of cross country courses these days are all about flat and fast. Though we do enjoy it from time to time here and there, we have a long tradition of making our athletes feel accomplished by other means. I can recall some of our athletes saying they have never left our home town and we take them through runs in Yosemite. Showing our runners at a trailhead the top of a mountain we are about to run to. Taking a travel team of more than just varsity so they have something to look forward to beside the hometown courses. It’s great seeing the kids that were maybe the far end off the pack majority as a freshman and later watching them develop into a varsity runner. Our identity is that we invest into our athletes earlier on. They could be experienced runner freshman or even a first time senior runner. We invest in each one of them. This couldn’t be done without our amazing volunteer families, alumni giving back, support school administration, and also our very present coaching staff.
We do preach a healthy competitive environment but we do know that there is much more beyond the sport. We believe in our program and the history runs deep. You will not find a school that has as many championships as ours and that’s because the LB Poly Family (the entire school, not just XC) is endlessly supportive.
Check out pictures from Long Beach Poly's summer training and fun!