If you’re a caregiver or prospective coach who’s wondering what a typical Girls on the Run (GOTR) practice entails, look no further! In this blog post, we outline each step of a traditional GOTR lesson from warm-up to cool-down. Our curriculum is carefully designed to both teach valuable life skills and lessons to your girl and prepare her to succeed at the end-of-season 5K, and our trained coaches follow a specific practice plan to ensure that every girl has the best possible experience! 

Are You Ready? 

The girls spend all day in a classroom, so we set them up for success in the lesson by beginning with some informal time for socializing. This takes place as the participants are arriving to practice from their classrooms; for example, if the last bell rings at 4 p.m., they may have until 4:15 p.m. to talk, build connections, and eat a healthy, team-provided snack to fuel up for practice. The curriculum provides coaches with ideas for icebreaker activities or questions to ask the team to help facilitate conversation and relationship building. Coaches will also take attendance during this time. 

Getting on Board

This step is a short game or activity to help introduce the day’s lesson topic. For example, the first lesson within the Hello, Mountain Mover! curriculum is titled “Our Mountain Mover Team” and features a twist on Duck, Duck, Goose. Each girl will have the opportunity to create her GOTR name by putting an adjective that starts with the same letter in front of their name (ex: Silly Sierra, Awesome Amy, Creative Caroline). Then, after the team has had the chance to hear everyone’s names, the Duck, Duck, Goose game will commence using “GOTR names” instead of the traditional verbiage of the game. 

Stretch & Strengthening Exercises

Once the topic has been introduced and discussed, it’s time to get ready for the workout! To help the participants develop strength and avoid injuries, the team will go through a regimen of stretching and strengthening exercises. Some examples include: squat jumps, running arms, and bicycles.

Warm-Up and Workout 

During this stage, the coaching staff helps deepen the team’s understanding of the lesson topic by combining it with physical activity. The Warm-Up, similar to the Getting on Board stage, is an activity that allows the girls to put the day’s topic into practice while participating in some kind of exercise. 

For example, the “I Can!” Power lesson’s Warm-Up activity is a game in which the participants must move between a series of cones while keeping a tissue on top of their head. If the tissue falls off, they can activate their “I Can!” Power and try again, putting the lesson content into practice. 

After the Warm-Up, the Workout commences, consisting of completing laps and working towards a lap goal while continuing to utilize skills learned in the lesson. For example, during the “I Can!” Power lesson, they will complete laps while thinking about all of the things they can do, then write their thoughts down in their journal after every lap. 

Processing 

After learning a new topic and putting it to use during the Workout, it’s important to allow the girls time to reflect on the practice and consider how they might apply the lesson’s principles to their daily lives. Coaches lead the participants through cool-down stretches after they finish the Workout and ask questions to facilitate thoughtful reflection. 

Some questions coaches might ask: 

• Why is it important to remind yourself of all the things you can do? 
• What is one thing you learned about yourself or your teammates today?
• Why does our self-talk matter? 

Wrap-Up

As the practice comes to a close, the participants have the opportunity to continue the reflection begun in the Processing stage by recording their laps and writing down what they’ve learned in their GOTR Toolbox. Then, the coaches will present the GOTR Goal, based on the day’s topic, which is a take-home task for the girls to work towards before the next practice. Finally, the team will give out Energy Awards and end with a closing cheer. An Energy Award is a brief cheer or phrase used to highlight positive efforts and attitudes at practice, and it encourages the girls to bring each other up and acknowledge what went well during the session!  

Examples of GOTR goals: 

• Before next practice, try to activate your I Can! Power when something feels hard. 
• Before our next practice, stop and celebrate any mistakes you make. 
• Before next practice, do another small act to help your community.  
  

Every section of the GOTR curriculum plays a critical role in the process, and our coaches take care to follow the steps closely to create the best possible experience for the participants. This season, we’re excited to utilize a new curriculum, Hello, Mountain Mover! For more information on what these Mountain Mover sessions will look like, visit our blog for weekly updates detailing each day’s topic, goals, and activities! 

- Abby Chalmers, Girls on the Run Minnesota Program Intern