Race
|
Time
|
Old Mountain 5K
|
32:10
|
Ocean’s Run 5K
|
22:01
|
Pawcatuck Lions 5K
|
20:57
|
Backroad Ramble 5K
|
22:01
|
Now, since I am in great running shape, I am able to PR at many races, or come close to PR’s. Hopefully, Old Mountain 5K won’t conflict with Indoor, and I can test my speed on trails there.
Let me recap in how I ran in November:
November 1-
November 2 (End of the Week)
Saturday: Due to
the rain and wind, I had to run indoor for Cross Country practice on my
birthday. 30 minute treadmill run at about 7:30 pace. 4.3 miles for the day.
Sunday: RI State
XC Championships. 5K distance. I barely qualified for the state meet, despite a
poor performance at the class meet. After the long bus ride, it was cold
getting out. After a 1 and half mile warmup, I was fine. Soon, the race was
ready to start. Westerly had just one other runner. The race went off, and I
was stuck behind crowds of runners. The course had one lap around a baseball
field, another lap around a field, then an out and back loop on wide double
track trails, and finished with a half-lap on field. After the first lap, it was
somewhat cleared out and easy to pass people. I was determined not to let the
other Westerly runner pass me (he beat me at the class meet, which was the
first time all-season). Once I was on the loop part of the trail, I had a good
amount of distance on him and never saw him again. I was surprised to pass
Jonny Eckel around Mile 2, and it turns out he was having a bad race. After
getting out of the trails, there is about 0.4 miles on field, and a finish on
the track field. In the last quarter mile, my coach yelled for me to sprint the
final portion of the course. I did, but I had almost no energy at the very end,
and was passed by 3+ people on the track field. I wasn’t sure what my time was,
but later I saw the results. 17:48, 54th overall, PR. I was happy,
but not thrilled. At least I was the top freshman. No cool down, and a boring
bus ride home. And I was happy the cross country was over. 4.7 miles total for
the day.
 |
| About 0.67 to go, just coming down a hill. |
 |
| The Ponagansett Course Map |
I understand it's hard to see the map. Press here to view it on a site.
Weekly Total (also including Oct. 27- Oct. 31): 37.2 miles
November 3-
November 9
Monday-Friday: Intentional rest post-Cross Country season.
Saturday: Easy 2.5 miles, and the first taste of cold weather. Took a Hill CR, and sprinted up it.
Sunday: Avondale 5K
Before the race, I did a 1.7 mile with WTAC group that showed up. My goals for the race were: just a 5K PR. After a fast first mile (5:30), I was tired and in 4th place (barely). The first two runners, Jonny Eckel and a former WHS soccer player and track runner named Cooper, were at least 10 seconds ahead, and I was right with Dad. I didn't think I had a chance of passing any of them, and I expected to remain 4th for the rest of the race. At the Champlin drive turnaround, Cooper started to slow and Jonny took the lead. After coming back onto Avondale road, Dad said bye, and I passed him and Cooper. Mile 2- 5:40. Coming back on the long stretch on Avondale road, I knew I couldn't catch Jonny. He was so far ahead. The way cooper slowed down, I knew he wasn't going to catch me. Dad had a good chance though. But in 3rd mile, Jonny was slowing down. The gap got narrower and narrower. I also had competition from behind me. At the end of mile 3, I was right behind Jonny. Mile 3 was 5:41. I was going to make my move, but Jonny probably had more energy and he would have the faster finish. I was wrong. Surprisingly, he didn't increase pace at all, and I flew by him for the win. My official time was 17:30, and for the 3rd week in a row, it was a 5K PR. 1.7 mile cool-down, and Jonny didn't come. I don't think he was too happy about his race. Total of 6 miles for the day.
.JPG) |
| The finish |
Weekly Total: 8.5 miles
November 10- November 16
Monday: Took the day off.
Tuesday: 7 mile run, with a few hills. Today I went for a short shore road segment. I easily took it. I also checked out a short land trust trail off Link Passage. I made a segment for it, but unfortunately, I was the only one on it.
Wednesday: 6 miles down to the beach and back. Ran 1.6 or so on the beach and came back on roads.
Thursday: 5.7 mi. I thought my Hill Workouts in Cross Country were helpful, so I decided I wanted to do them in the off-season. I ran a warm-up and then 12 hill repeats of the big hill in my neighborhood. I had made a segment for the hill a while back, and I sprinted the hill back then. My times now were much faster. But the hill workout was very boring, and I never have done once since.
Friday: 5.3 mi. Before the run, I was ready to go until I stepped outside. It was very cold. I stepped back in and told my mom I wasn't going to run today. Fortunately, I toughened up and went back out. After facing the wind the cold early in my run, I greatly considered turning around and only doing 0.5 miles. But, again, I pushed myself to stay running. I took back Dad's timothy drive segment, and finished the run, but it certainly was not fun.
Saturday: 7 miles on trail with Jonny Eckel and Dad to prepare for Little Rhody. Ran a very short double track to the pond and back, made 3 to 4 miles in champlin, and half a mile in Mastuxet.
Sunday: Little Rhody Runaround
The first year I ran this race, I crushed my goal and was very happy about my performance. The next year, I improved but didn't meet my goal of sub-55. This year my goal was sub-55 again, and I expected to go sub-54. Being the son of the race director, I had to get there early and wait around in the cold for a few hours. When it got closer to the race start, I ran a 1.7 mile warm-up with Jonny Eckel. I wasn't sure how I'd compete against him in the race, but if I could beat him in a 5K, I could probably hold him off in 8 miles. The race quickly started, and I learned that I lined up too far back. I was stuck behind the slowest sloths in the race and I felt bad when I had to cut a few off to get in the position I wanted.
Mile 1:
I usually hate this mile for being so fast, and I also don't like the road. This year, it was fine. It went by so quickly and I wasn't as tired as I expected. 6:05, and right behind Jonny Eckel.
Mile 2:
While I don't like mile 1, Mile 2-on are all fun miles. I like running through the campground, and it was another fast mile. 6:17 and last sight of Dad or anyone near him.
Mile 3:
I did my best to stay right behind Jonny, and I did. Towards the end of the mile, it was too slow for me and I passed him. 7:07.
Mile 4:
Now, Jonny is trying to stay with me (and I have no idea why the font changed here) and he's doing a great job at the that. He pushed me to go faster and Mile 4 is 6:36.
Mile 5:
Still ahead of Jonny, but barely. And how would the technical section affect our positions? He stayed right on my heels for the rest of the mile. Mile 5 is 7:00.
Mile 6:
I realized that if I wanted to beat Jonny this race, I would have to pick up the pace. I went faster and he couldn't keep the pace. I felt good, and created a 10 second gap in between us. Mile 6: 7:06
Mile 7:
I widen the gap, and near cool spring road I spot my dad. I had no idea I was doing this good. There is also one person in-between us. I wanted to pass at least one of them, and I ran the road section hard. 6:58.
Mile 8:
I passed the guy in front of me at the turn back onto Sanctuary Road, and finish at 50:37. The last 0.6 ran at 5:39 pace.
I won my age group. Huge (5-Minute PR), and I'm going for sub-50 next year.
.JPG) |
| Glad I wore just a singlet, many people must have gotten warm on the trails today. |
Weekly Mileage: 40.5, one of my best weeks ever.
November 17- November 23
Monday: Took the day off.
Tuesday: Ran a scenic route: Watch Hill Road, Avondale Road, Ocean View Highway, and Atlantic Avenue for a total of 7.1. Extremely cold at the end of the run, and very windy. Later that night, I received 2 plaques at the cross country banquet.
Wednesday: I hadn't really planned out a route before, and I made it up as I went along. I ran down Winnapaug, and then Atlantic Avenue. I felt pretty good, and was ready to turn back. I wasn't happy about the wind yesterday, but that was nothing compared today. It was so brutal that I stopped 3 times. The run got so miserable. Should I go into the nearest house and call home to picked up? When I finally got out of the wind, I was still very cold and miserable. One of worst runs of my life. 6.3 miles.
Thursday: I was glad that it wasn't cold today, but it was just as windy on Links Passage as it was on Atlantic Avenue the previous day. It wasn't awful, but I was glad when the run was over. I bumped into Jonny Eckel and he said he going to do a hill workout. 5.2 miles total.
Friday: I went to see a movie instead of running. I didn't feel great about taking the day off, but it was cold anyway.
Saturday: I had decided on Friday that I would run the Rivalry Run 5K on Sunday. On Saturday, I went running to prepare for it. It was very hard motivating myself to run, probably due to my unenjoyable runs previously in the week, but I managed another 5.2 mile run, and it wasn't so cold that day.
Sunday: WHS Rivalry 5K
I hadn't pre-registered for the race because of mis-communication with my Coach about being able to run the race. By the time I had permission to run the race, pre-registration was over and a T-shirt was not guaranteed. I didn't want one anyway, and the price didn't change for students, but I guess they thought they would have more pre-registrants because I ended up receiving another ugly cotton race shirt. On the ride over, we spotted the Eckel' s car and would I be competing against him for a 4th week in a row? No, their car pulled off and we didn't see him when we arrived. I wished he had showed up, because it looked like I had no competition. I did a mile warmup, and after standing for a while more, Jonny Eckel does show up. I lined up at the front knowing it was a race between me and him. Also, out of the 90 runners who ran the race, I was the only one wearing a singlet.
The race went off, and after a very short period of time, Jonny and I had the lead. He was slightly ahead for the first half-mile. We were right next to each other at mile 1. 5:37. At Avondale, my plan was to pick up the pace after mile 1, and not have the first mile be the fastest. That didn't work out, as I was too tired after the mile. At the rivalry 5K, it worked very well. I passed Jonny right away and put quite a gap on him. I finished Mile 2 in 5:24. Rarely ever has my second mile been the fastest. Mile 3 had plenty of hills. I was slowing down and exhausted and I kept waiting for Jonny to pass me. It never happened, and he was so much farther behind me than I expected. I knew I was going to PR. I crossed the finish line and the clock read 16:40. What the heck? I look at my watch, and it's 2.97 miles. I didn't like the course either. It's too similar to the pumpkins 5K course. Besides that, the food (bagels, waters, granola bars, better than your average 5K) and the awards (A bulldogs jacket, some strange cushion, a medal, and a $50 gift certificate) were great, and I loved how a police car and a biker were hired to lead the course. WTAC doesn't do that. Because of the course, and not much challenge from other runners(I feel very strange winning a race at about a 17:30 5K, where are the fast people?), I'm not sure I'd I'd do it next year.
Weekly Total: 27.5. Not so good, maybe I should have ran Friday.
November 24- November 30
Monday: Day off, as usual.
Tuesday: 8.4 miles. I had been planning this run for a while, and there were great conditions for a run. I didn't do it before because it had seemed too long. The plan was run to Watch Hill, take the Ocean House Bump (out of any Strava segment there was out there, I wanted that CR the most, the current KOM was Tommy 5K), and run home. I ran the entirety of Watch Hill Road (first time). The pace was faster than I realized, but it felt good and I continued. Running in Watch Hill was the highlight of my run. When I looked up Plympton Hill Road, I thought "Do I really want to sprint this?" But I probably wouldn't go back to this area or have this opportunity for a while, so I did. The strange thing is I felt like I could have tried harder and I didn't get the CR, but I took Tom's CR at a 3:56 pace. That did not sound right at all. I came back on the beach, and it was great. The sun was setting, the sand was hard, and I saw plenty of people. Suprisingly, I also got that beach segment CR. Once I got off the beach, I ran Atlantic Ave and Winnapaug Home. It was probably my best, and most fun non-race, solo run.
Wednesday: Planned to run, but wimped out because of pouring rain. It wasn't the rain that discouraged me, but the combination of cold temperature and rain. I saw that it was 32 degrees and even if I wore a few extra layers I would be soaked and incredibly cold. O miles.
Thursday: Woody Hill Run with B and Dad. It was wet from the pouring rain and certainly overgrown in places, but it was fun run. We saw some cool trails that I had remember from previous runs and I ran on new ones too. It was getting tiring towards the end, and the prickers left us with scrapes. A good run for me, and my longest trail run ever. Just over ten miles, and I am certainly glad I went. It was also the highlight of my day. I am excited for next year's run for the pumpkins, as it will be in some of the places we ran today.
Friday: Just didn't feel like running.
Saturday: A cold 5 miles at Grills Preserve with Dad. Stayed on the westerly side and I saw Big Hill overlook for the first time. Made a few segments, too.
Sunday: 9 Miles at Barn Island with Dad.
Friday: Just didn't feel like running.
Saturday: A cold 5 miles at Grills Preserve with Dad. Stayed on the westerly side and I saw Big Hill overlook for the first time. Made a few segments, too.
Sunday: 9 Miles at Barn Island with Dad.
Weekly Total: 33 Miles
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)