If you’re a caregiver or prospective coach who’s wondering what a typical Heart & Sole (H&S) practice entails, look no further! In this blog post, we outline each step of a traditional H&S 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 participant has the best possible experience! 

Check In

Each practice begins with a Check In that introduces the Big Idea—the theme that the lesson will center around—of the day. 

Some examples of Big Ideas include: 

• Making goals is SMART. 
• We can resolve conflicts. 
• Stretching ourselves allows us to grow. 

The foundation of this time is the Girl Wheel, which is composed of five parts: Body, Brain, Heart, Spirit, and Social. Each section of the Girl Wheel features unique characteristics that contribute to the development of a positive sense of self or identity for each participant.  

During the Check In, the coaches ask girls questions about the last lesson or about the Big Idea. The girls run a warm-up lap or jog to a cone and back while considering their response. For example, in a lesson about the importance of setting goals, the coaches may ask, “What is a goal you've reached that you are proud of achieving?” This time serves to help coaches understand how the girls are doing that day, introduce the upcoming topic, and facilitate movement right away at practice. 

Activity

The Activity combines the Big Idea with movement and thought before allowing time for reflection and processing. 

In the lesson about setting goals, the activity involves moving a tennis ball from a start line to a finish line with a few challenging factors: every participant must touch the ball but only once, every participant must stand in one spot for the duration of the challenge, and there is no throwing or kicking the ball. After a minute to discuss the plan, the team attempts the challenge. 

The goal of an activity like this is to put into practice connections with the Big Idea. In this case, the connection is that to complete goals, you need to have plans and be smart. 

After the activity, the coaches will ask a series of questions or introduce a new idea related to the topic. In this lesson, coaches would introduce the idea of setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding, and Timely goals) and ask the participants to reflect on each element of a SMART goal in regards to the activity. 

Strength & Conditioning 

The H&S curriculum features strength and conditioning circuits that have been developed specifically for middle school girls to challenge them and warm up their bodies for the upcoming workout. There are three different circuits that are repeated throughout the season along with cold warm-up exercises like high knee marches, forward walking lunges, and heels-up running. An example of a circuit includes the following exercises: 

• Squat and breathe (45 seconds squats/15 seconds breathing)
• Mountain pose (30 seconds)
• Forward fold with hands clasped (30 seconds)
• Strong warrior (30 seconds each side)
• Triangle (30 seconds each side)
• Standing straddle (1 minute) 

In the beginning practices of the season, coaches will lead this part of practice, but later on, the participants will have the opportunity to do so as well. 

Workout

The Workout blends the lesson’s content with physical experience to maximize retention of what the participants have learned. Each girl sets a lap goal to work towards while the lesson content is incorporated into each lap. 

For example, in the goal-setting lesson, the girls will make a SMART goal for their laps. Coaches will help them consider how to set a goal based on the answers to these questions: 

• S: How many laps?
• M: What is the lap space? What does a lap look like that day (sometimes the size of laps varies)?
• A: What’s my usual lap goal? What have I done in the past? How am I feeling today?
• R: Am I challenging myself? Growing from last time? Adding another lap? Running more than walking? Keeping a consistent pace?
• T: How long is the workout? Is there an activity, or is it just running? Is this the same amount of time or longer than last practice? 

The overall intention of the Workout portion of the lesson is to solidify the day’s teaching in the team’s minds by putting it into practice and help train them for the end-of-season 5K. 

Journal/Let’s Talk

This portion of the lesson gives the participants the chance to reflect on what they learned in the lesson and workout. Some days, this involves jotting down personal thoughts in their journals, while other days it involves chatting with the group about how the activity went and listening to what others have to say. Coaches facilitate this step of the lesson by asking specific questions and allowing the team to guide the conversation. 

• How did it go, setting your first SMART lap goal?
• We all have a goal to complete a 5K. How does setting regular lap goals help?  
• What parts of your Girl Wheel are involved in this goal?

Wrap Up

The Wrap Up builds on the Journal/Let’s Talk section and ends the lesson on a high note. Coaches ask the girls to share their favorite parts of the lesson, then present the Take Home Challenge, which is based on the day’s topic. Such challenges include: 

• Think about what part of the Wheel you might want to make a goal in for the end of the season. 
• Start working on that Girl Wheel SMART Goal!
• Try a new strategy or activity to reduce stress. 
• Tell someone at home about your practice 5K – how it went, what you learned, etc. 

The purpose of the closing is to celebrate and connect with others, so each team also participates in a closing ritual, which can vary from team to team. An example could be Girl Wheel Shout-Outs, which give girls the opportunity to shout-out someone else based on the learning goals and activities of the day (ex: I want to give Sarah a shout-out for setting a SMART goal that challenged her and working hard towards it!).

Every section of the H&S 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. For more information on what each week’s 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