Weekly Log: September 14 to 20- NK Dual Meet & Stavros Beach Race

Monday: 8 Miles. We ran the entire course for a warm-up and then another mile for a warm-up, which is pretty much the longest warm-up I've done for this kind of distance. The course ran short, I still don't know the exact measurement because I heard 2.7, 2.8, and 2.9 from people, but I'm going to take the Newspaper's 2.85. 2nd of about 80 runners, 15:17 (5:21 pace, although that's not very believable). A quick recap.
Expectations: NK freshman and senior will be competition on course and I will pace off them.

Mile 1- 5:10

• NK Runners run easy the first mile.
• Other people sprint out and I'm in fifth a tenth of a mile in.
• A third of a mile, I'm in second.
• A half mile I'm in first.
• Felt great the entire first mile and had about a 10-second lead (I think) at the mile mark.

Mile 2- 5:48

• Terrain changed from grass fields to all double-track dirt trails.
• Not very technical at all (trails).
• At halfway point/turnaround, NK Freshman is 5 seconds behind me.
• I slowly get more and more exhausted.
• I crash into a big NK runner on the way back due to confusion, but don't lose a lot of time from it.
• The freshman slowly gains on me.

Mile 3 (or last 2.85)- 4:17 (5:04 pace)

• This is where I question the distance because I couldn't have been running that fast for the last .85.
• Passed early by Freshman and unable to keep his pace.
• Told by a coach there was a huge gap between me and the next guy with half a mile to go.
• The ending seemed to take forever (and I hated it) over grass fields and the next guy was very close to catching me (but I barely held him off)
• Felt like absolute crap from Mile 1.5 on.

Tuesday: 7 Miles. A good pace (7:20 average, started at 8 but worked it down to 6:50) along the Pawcatuck river on one of my favorite roads, River Road. Started with a group of three, but one couldn't keep up and it was a two-person run. Kind of a boring run, but happy with the pace and distance.

Wednesday: 7.5 Miles. Solo run, and I made up the route as I went along. I had instructions to run 6:40 pace for 50 minutes, and I ended up with 6:39 pace. It was a hot humid day, and it was a tough run, but I was also happy with this one. It did end up being quite boring, but I didn't put much thought into the route and could've chosen better.

Thursday: 5.5 miles, Stavros Beach Race.
This race was really cool because the entire cross country team came down to run it. And I really like my cross country teammates. A few didn't show, but our team has pretty doubled since last year and there were probably triple the amount of XC runners than there were last year. We did a short warmup at first, and then a longer one closer to the race start. A few beach strides, the usual terrible waterstop joke, a few race comments, and looking at the competition (Just Tom and Dad) for ten minutes before it actually started. So, I'd usually write a lengthy blog post about a win (spoiler), but a beach race without much position changing is uneventful and hard to write about.

First Half (0-1.5): Everyone went out fast as usual, but I was out in front as usual. The pace was quite fast, and I didn't know if it was going to be a repeat of Monday. I heard someone running close behind me. I guessed it was Tom, and I was right. Not much happened: I led to halfway point, ran on the side on the water, and started to get a little tired. Turned around the cone from the left side (I'm not sure If I was supposed to go from the right, it was hard to hear Roy's directions).

Second Half (1.5-3.0): It got a little more exciting here. Tom was 10 seconds behind, Dad 20 behind him, and Justin, Kyle, and Andrew 20 seconds behind him. And it was really hard to see because of the way the sun was. It also became hard to hear, and on the way there I could hear Tom close behind but I heard only waves on the way back. The way back was awful. I was extremely worn-out and I had no idea how big my lead was. Nothing really happened. I didn't have a lot of strength at the end because I left it all on the course. I was surprised to see Tom was almost a minute behind me, and also surprised to find out later I tied Mike Galoob's course record.

A good race, and pacing went better than Monday's race. It wasn't as enjoyable as previous Stavros race though due the fast and tiring pace. Next race: Dual Meet Monday @ St. George's School vs Prout, Narragansett, Middletown, Rogers.

Friday: 7.5 Miles. A conversation filled run. Started with six, then a minute later it was four, and after half an hour it was two. Actually a very fun, and I felt great, but was very sore after Stavros.

Saturday: 5 Miles. Moderate track workout. 5x800: 2:30, 2:31, 2:31, 2:31, 2:17. About two minute recovery in-between, five minutes between third and fourth 800. Hot and felt tired, but certainly not an extremely hard workout, and I still had enough energy to sprint the last one. Difficulty: 3/5.

Sunday: 5.5 Miles. Waited all day, and was not in the mood to run. In the off-season, I would usually take a day off in this scenario, but I had instructions to run. Instead of skipping it, I cut it two to three miles short. Didn't eat much all day and felt terrible on the run. Really glad to finish it.

Weekly Total: 46 Miles, which is great.

Meets Monday (St. George's) and Saturday (Goddard Park) this week. Monday's is slow and hilly, Saturday's if flat and fast. Not looking forward to Monday's/