This season, we’re excited to be sharing a blog post outlining the curriculum for each week’s practices, from warm-up to cool-down! Each lesson has different topics, goals, and activities specifically designed to optimize the participants’ growth. For a detailed breakdown of each section of the lesson, check out this blog post! This week’s topics are: You Are Here and My Girl Wheel! 

 

You Are Here - Lesson #1

 

Introduction

It’s the first day of practice! The team will sit in a circle at the beginning of the session to introduce themselves and listen as the coaches explain what Heart & Sole is. They will convey key information like the following:

• When and where the team will meet

• What to wear 

• What to bring

The coaches will also outline what participants should expect from the program, reminding them that they will walk, skip, hop, or run a 5K race at the end of the season together, but also that Heart & Sole is about developing a strong, confident, whole girl throughout the process. 

Lastly, the coaches will share the day’s Big Idea: Becoming a team takes time, effort, and support. 

 

Activity

Then, it’s time to set team expectations! The participants will brainstorm group expectations that they want to abide by throughout the season, then write them down on a sheet of poster board. The expectations can be broken down into three categories:

• How we treat ourselves 

• How we treat each other

• How we practice 

 

Strength & Conditioning 

The team will move to the location in which they will complete the rest of the workout and begin warming up their bodies for the active section of practice. The coaches will explain the importance of stretching and performing strengthening exercises to help prepare the participants’ bodies to run the end-of-season 5K. 

The team will perform four cold warm-up exercises, then complete a circuit of exercises like Superwomans, pushups, and squats. These circuits will be repeated throughout the season, allowing the participants to track their growth over time!

 

Workout

Each workout consists of running laps and, as the season progresses, participants will set personal lap goals to try to accomplish during the session. But, on the first day, there will be no lap goals to allow time to adjust. 

 

Instead, this workout will be measured only by effort. Coaches will explain that the goal is to give full effort, which can look different for each individual — some may want to run, while others may find walking or skipping more comfortable for them. The workout will last for 10 minutes, and then coaches will lead the team in some cool-down stretches. 

 

Recording Effort

The team will again return to their seated circle, and coaches will pass out each individual’s journal. Coaches will explain the importance of keeping a record of each practice to track progress over time. 

Tracking progress looks different to each participant, and they are in charge of how they will approach it! For example, some participants may like to put a percentage out of 100, while others might prefer a 1-10 scale. The journals feature several columns for feedback, including Pace/Effort and Thoughts/Feelings/Notes, and a lap counter for future practices. 

 

Girl Wheel Cards

 

Then, it’s time for the participants to receive their Girl Wheels! During this activity, they’ll learn what the Girl Wheel is and practice using it with their teammates to get to know each other better. 

Coaches have a deck of Girl Wheel cards featuring questions to ask each other about their Girl Wheel. Each partcipant will receive two cards, and with a partner, they will discuss one of the two. Then, they will trade the cards they just used, find a new partner, and repeat the process. If a participant is uncomfortable answering a question, they can pass, and the partner will ask the other question. 

 

Let’s Talk

During this time, the coaches will break down the Girl Wheel activity and help ensure that the participants process well. Coaches will ask questions like:

• What did you learn about yourself from this activity?

• What did you learn about someone else? 

• Were you glad you had a choice to pass?

• How would the activity have been different if you couldn’t pass? 

 

Wrap Up and Take Home Challenge

The team will return to their seated circle to wrap up the practice. Coaches will congratulate the team on a successful first practice and ask a participant to remind them of the session’s Big Idea. Then, it’s time for the coaches to give the Take Home Challenge: Tell someone at home about the Girl Wheel and what you learned and about Heart & Sole. 

Each practice will conclude with a closing ritual! The team gets to decide what their ritual will be, like giving Girl Wheel shout-outs to a teammate based on the learning goals and activities of the day or finishing with a closing cheer or song. 

My Girl Wheel - Lesson #2

 

Check In 

To open practice, coaches will set out Girl Wheel Check-In signs representing each section of the wheel (heart, brain, spirit, body, social) in a circle. The participants will stand together in the middle of the circle, and when the coaches ask a question, they will run to a section of the wheel, then come back to the middle to discuss.

• What part of the Wheel do you remember from the last practice?

• What part of the Wheel do you want to know more about?

• In what part of the Wheel do you think you’d like to grow over this season? 

Then, after the activity concludes, the coaches will introduce the Big Idea: Self-awareness can help us grow. 

 

Growth Continuum 

Coaches will assemble the next activity with four cones. One cone will mark where a coach will stand, and about 20 feet away, the other three cones will be placed in a horizontal line (forming a T shape overall). These three cones represent three options: Agree, Disagree, and Maybe. 

Then, the coaches will explain the activity: 

1. Coaches will read off a statement. 

2. Participants will run down to the single cone while thinking about how they feel about that statement. 

3. They will decide whether they want to stand at the Agree, Disagree, or Maybe cone. 

4. The process repeats. 

 

Examples of statements: 

• I’m good at standing up for myself. 

• I’m physically strong. 

• I know what’s important to me. 

• I have a support system I can depend on. 

After going through all of the statements, coaches will gather the participants to briefly process the activity, asking questions like:

• What did you notice?

• What if you want to move along the line from disagree to agree? What do you think that takes? 

 

Workout

After running through the Strength & Conditioning section of practice, the participants will continue onto the Workout portion of the session. This lesson will not involve a lap goal yet. Instead, participants will move in groups of 2-3 while discussing what their hopes are for the season and how they would like to grow. 

For about 15 minutes, the participants will run or walk laps. Then, they will record the number of laps completed along with their thoughts and feelings about the workout portion in their journals. 

 

Girl Wheel Puzzle

During this activity, the participants will help build a group Girl Wheel with examples from their lives to facilitate understanding of what each section of the Girl Wheel means. Coaches will start by asking participants to share what they remember about the Girl Wheel already and ask them to consider how it relates to their lives. 

Then, the coaches will split the participants into groups, devoting each to a different section of the wheel. Participants will open to the Girl Wheel Puzzle Segment section of their journals and answer the questions written on the puzzle about their group’s section. They will record their responses on a piece of the Girl Wheel Puzzle. 

 

After giving the participants time to think of answers to the questions, the group will reconvene to discuss. Then, once each group has shared, the coaches will put the Wheel together and ask a few processing questions:

• What do you notice when you look at the Girl Wheel we created?

• What happens if we take one part of the Wheel out?

• How do you think knowing about your Girl Wheel might help you with setting & achieving your goals? 

 

Wrap Up and Take Home Challenge

Coaches will congratulate the participants on another successful practice, then refresh the team on the day’s Big Idea: Self-awareness can help us grow. 

Then, they will give the Take Home Challenge: Set a goal you’d like to achieve while in Heart & Sole this season. If you can, think about all the different parts of the Girl Wheel where you might like to grow. 

To finish out the practice, the team will complete their chosen closing ritual!

- Abby Chalmers, Girls on the Run Minnesota Program Intern