Monday: 8 Miles. Pleased with the result, but felt horrible during the run. Cold going out against then wind, and a rather disgusting bathroom break. I was happy to get onto the beach, until the bad slope made for uneven and uncomfortable. When it finally stopped, I had lots of stomach distress and more bathroom problems. Horrible and chafing final two miles.
Tuesday: 4 Miles. 4x400 w/50 seconds recovery. 3-minute break between #6 and #7. Way under the 71 splits I supposed to do, but surprised how consistent I was. 76/69/68/68/67/66/67/67/67/67/67. Last three I was hurting a little. Good workout. Difficulty: 4/5.
Wednesday: 8 Miles. Now, my target pace for my school runs is 6:25 pace for 7 miles. Usually, I feel good running this pace until mile 4 or 5, but it never gets brutally hard. Wednesday was a struggle. I started running in the neighborhood that the old pumpkins was held in, and all my leg strength and energy faded on Gardner hill. The rest of the run, I was fading and avoiding any hills. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, but eventually worked my way up to a 6:26 average pace. Happy with the run, but felt horrible.
Thursday: 5 Miles. Was hoping for and expecting an easy track workout, but got hills instead. 6 repeats of Narragansett. Like Wednesday, I was much more tired than usual. I struggled with the hills wasn't close to my best times. However, I finished strong on the last one. It was harder than usual, but not brutal. Difficulty: 3/5.
Friday: 8 Miles, fun mystic loop. I think the best time of day to run is around 4-5 in the afternoon as you're probably less tired and more time to fuel yourself. This one was at 5. I really enjoyed the mystic roads, and even took two segments. First 5 miles were low 7s pace, then final two were much faster. Last mile was 5:54 pace. Very happy with this run. Felt much better than pervious two days.
Saturday: 6 Miles, track workout. The Saturday workouts are always brutal, so I was expecting one of the hardest workout I've ever. It wasn't as hard as I expected, but certainly not easy. Two sets of 200s, 18 in total. First was 12x200, 34 seconds each w/30 seconds recovery. I felt good until the 8th or 9th when my thighs started to feel heavy. I was running about 33s for each. We got a 5-minute break then 6x200 (originally planned as 8), 29 seconds each w/90 seconds recovery. These were very hard, as they were pretty much all-out for me and my legs were already tired. I was a few seconds off on some on them. Difficulty of workout: 4/5.
Sunday: 8 Miles, first time at great swamp management area. The perimeter trails around the swamp was pretty awesome (as are most trails with water views), but it was impossible to find the segments and the other trails were not impressive and reminded me of some of the boring Westerly grills trails. Felt horrible for most of the run, clearly lacking energy. Disappointed with the place, and don't have much interest in returning. Other trails I'd like to check out include green falls/tippecansett, John H. Chaffee Preserves, Trustom Pond, and Carolina Management Area.
Overall, a pretty solid week. While I didn't feel great on many runs, I was satisfied with the final result of all of them. Pretty good workouts too. Last week is the final week before I start having track meets.
Correction from Last Week's Log
Last week I said that Field Street is the worst hill locally, but after running Gardner hill on Wednesday, I think that is worse.
Weekly Total: 47 Miles
YTD Mileage: 484 Miles
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Two Races, One Day
I woke up around 6:30, cooked a little bit of pasta and ate it, even though it was probably too close to my first race- the Hare Hop 5K. This was in Mystic, done by Jeffrey Anderson of Kelley's Pace. While I was looking forward to running it, I decided that I would hold back and run it at my target tempo pace (about 5:40), and hopefully I could come in 2nd behind Jonny Hammett. I didn't think there would be much competition other than him. We got to Mystic around 7:30.
Hare Hop 5K
Mystic, CT
March 5, 2016
7:59 AM EST
I warmed up with Dad, a short and easy jog through the parking lot. I had gotten my pre-race bathroom break out of the way, but I wasn't quite sure if I had to go again. It was about 10 minutes before the start that I had a moment of panic, as I didn't have my racing flats, but the problem was quickly solved. When I went to strip to race gear, I was feeling cold. Really cold. Obviously, I was shorts. That was a no brainer. I had my singlet and I was wondering if it would be too cold. Yes, I stepped of the car and immediately decided I would have to wear something else. Gloves, armsleeves, or both? The thing was, while I have really been enjoying the armsleeves this winter, I've never raced in them before. I put them on, then got the weird armsleeve feeling, and decided to ditch them. But my fingers get cold easily, so I wore gloves.
 |
| The Start |
Mile 1
I ran out slow, letting 10 or 15 people get ahead of me. After a quarter mile, I was no longer liking the slow start, so I passed a few guys. I was staring at my watch as we exited the parking lot. I was in about 7th or 8th, trying to run 5:45 pace. At the half mile mark, I was starting to notice how horrible I felt. It wasn't difficult at all to run 5:45, but my thighs felt heavy and locked into the pace. By the end of the mile there was plenty of separation. Jeffrey Wadecki was leading it out hard and had opened up a big lead. Next was Jonny and a young armsleeve runner, probably around my age. They seemed neck and neck, but I can't remember exactly. Then there was my group, who had fallen 20-30 meters behind the chase pack. I had moved up to fifth, but there were one or two guys right behind me and I was right on the guy in front of me. I also started to notice the discomfort in my stomach. I had eaten way too close to the start was feeling a full stomach effect.The mile ended as we finally got off Coogan Boulevard and turned onto Jerry Browne Road. Split- 5:44, right on pace.
Mile 2
We turned off Jerry Browne shortly after and onto the worst hill of the course. I wanted to pick it up a little, so I passed into 4th. I saw that my average pace was slowing on the gradual climb, and picked it up. The 5th guy and the small pack dropped off me as they couldn't match my pace. I felt like I was gaining on the Armsleeve runner, who had dropped a few seconds back from Jonny. We got to the top, and I watched the top runners go around the turnaround. There was a thirty second gap between 1 and 2, a three or four second gap between 2 and 3, a ten to fifteen second gap between 3 and 4, and a five second gap between 4 and 5. We go back down the hill, and I don't use to my advantage, but rather coast down it smoothly. (It wasn't actually smooth: my thighs still felt heavy and stomach full).
We turned back onto Jerry Browne, then Coogan Boulevard. No one was close behind me, and I was definitely gaining on the armsleeve runner. Mile 2- 5:34, a little fast.
Mile 3
I kinda felt like closing the gap, but it would require going faster than tempo and could possibly ruining my next race. I did anyway, not going all out. I began to pick it up to a 5:25 pace, slowing hunting down the armsleeve runner. It was clear that he was slowing, as he had fallen back. I was just thinking about finishing and not running with a full stomach, so I didn't have intentions to pass him, but to come up close. I didn't want to put too much effort into this race. It took quite a while to close the large gap. With a third of mile to go, I was only two seconds behind him. I was going to let it be that way, but right before the hill, Dad said something like "Try and pass to get third.". This gave me a push, as I realized I wanted top three. I pushed the hill a little, getting right on his shoulder. Then, I soared past him on the downhill. Jonny was the next runner, but he was way out of reach. I was pushing it now. I was starting to kick with what I had left, then I realized there's still a quarter mile to go around the parking lot. I didn't make the extra surge because of it, but was still running pretty fast. I look back at a turn, and saw I had opened up a huge gap on 4. I thought he would be a little stronger at the end. I was gaining on Jonny a little, but there wasn't enough distance to close it. I sprinted the last straightaway.
I ran out slow, letting 10 or 15 people get ahead of me. After a quarter mile, I was no longer liking the slow start, so I passed a few guys. I was staring at my watch as we exited the parking lot. I was in about 7th or 8th, trying to run 5:45 pace. At the half mile mark, I was starting to notice how horrible I felt. It wasn't difficult at all to run 5:45, but my thighs felt heavy and locked into the pace. By the end of the mile there was plenty of separation. Jeffrey Wadecki was leading it out hard and had opened up a big lead. Next was Jonny and a young armsleeve runner, probably around my age. They seemed neck and neck, but I can't remember exactly. Then there was my group, who had fallen 20-30 meters behind the chase pack. I had moved up to fifth, but there were one or two guys right behind me and I was right on the guy in front of me. I also started to notice the discomfort in my stomach. I had eaten way too close to the start was feeling a full stomach effect.The mile ended as we finally got off Coogan Boulevard and turned onto Jerry Browne Road. Split- 5:44, right on pace.
Mile 2
We turned off Jerry Browne shortly after and onto the worst hill of the course. I wanted to pick it up a little, so I passed into 4th. I saw that my average pace was slowing on the gradual climb, and picked it up. The 5th guy and the small pack dropped off me as they couldn't match my pace. I felt like I was gaining on the Armsleeve runner, who had dropped a few seconds back from Jonny. We got to the top, and I watched the top runners go around the turnaround. There was a thirty second gap between 1 and 2, a three or four second gap between 2 and 3, a ten to fifteen second gap between 3 and 4, and a five second gap between 4 and 5. We go back down the hill, and I don't use to my advantage, but rather coast down it smoothly. (It wasn't actually smooth: my thighs still felt heavy and stomach full).
We turned back onto Jerry Browne, then Coogan Boulevard. No one was close behind me, and I was definitely gaining on the armsleeve runner. Mile 2- 5:34, a little fast.
Mile 3
I kinda felt like closing the gap, but it would require going faster than tempo and could possibly ruining my next race. I did anyway, not going all out. I began to pick it up to a 5:25 pace, slowing hunting down the armsleeve runner. It was clear that he was slowing, as he had fallen back. I was just thinking about finishing and not running with a full stomach, so I didn't have intentions to pass him, but to come up close. I didn't want to put too much effort into this race. It took quite a while to close the large gap. With a third of mile to go, I was only two seconds behind him. I was going to let it be that way, but right before the hill, Dad said something like "Try and pass to get third.". This gave me a push, as I realized I wanted top three. I pushed the hill a little, getting right on his shoulder. Then, I soared past him on the downhill. Jonny was the next runner, but he was way out of reach. I was pushing it now. I was starting to kick with what I had left, then I realized there's still a quarter mile to go around the parking lot. I didn't make the extra surge because of it, but was still running pretty fast. I look back at a turn, and saw I had opened up a huge gap on 4. I thought he would be a little stronger at the end. I was gaining on Jonny a little, but there wasn't enough distance to close it. I sprinted the last straightaway.
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| The Big Gap |
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| The Kick |
My time was announced as 17:31, but official time was 17:33. My watch said 5:31 pace, which is a low 17s, so I guess I ran wide on turns or something. A good race, I enjoyed the course, and probably would've had a lot of fun if I wasn't running with heavy thighs and a full stomach.
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| The Finish |
Ocean's Race Strategy
So here's what I was originally planning for Ocean's Run. I wanted to break 22, so sub-5:30 pace. I wasn't completely sure if I could do it, as I took some time off and hadn't been training for anything over two miles. I thought I'd be at least close though. I think, for me, if I want to run the fastest time I can, I need to go out fast. I wanted to go out fast, a 5:20 first mile. This may be a little tiring, but shouldn't be too hard on the flat sections of Misquamicut. I'd try to hit a 5:30 second mile, which may be a little tough, and then my third mile would like be slow as I'd be very tired. I'd try to run a 5:30, but it would likely be 5:40. That would put me at 5:30 average, and I'd hope to just run under 5:30 in the last mile.
After Hare Hop, I really doubted I could do that because of how tight my thighs were. I'd try it out to see if I could, but would just be happy to PR. A short warm-up felt okay, then I was going to do a few strides since I was racing it hard. It didn't happen. As I was getting my flats ready, they called people over for the start, despite it being 12 minutes early. Dad and other WTAC members headed over, probably a little nervous. I was freaking out a little, though, as they were in their gear and I was not. I put on my flats as quickly as I could, stripped down to singlet, gloves, and shorts and ran over. And then they announced it won't start for a few minutes. Great, thanks for rushing me. Soon, they told us we would follow a biker on an immediate right to fix the distances. I made the decision to go out hard. I never questioned or thought about the change, because I thought that's what a reliable director would do, and I forgot it wasn't a reliable director (distance errors many times in the past). Not only that, but I was focused on this race, ready to push the pace.
Ocean's Run 4-Miler
Westerly, RI
March 5, 2016
9:13 AM EST
Fast Start
I was ready as soon as the gun went off (I don't think it was a gun, but I can't remember what started us). Immediately, I was running an extremely fast pace, no one going with me. I noticed this and slowed a tiny bit. When the biker led us out on Atlantic, I didn't know where we were going. Soon came a sudden very sharp turn around a guardrail. My lead kept extending, but then soon someone was chasing after. He was closing in on me and was right behind at the end of chute with the guardrail. I was running about 5-flat average pace, as I was constantly monitoring pace. I was happy with this: it felt much better than I expected. Next came another turn, this time wide, before entering a similar guardrail chute. We ran to the end of that, then onto the planned course.
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| Big Lead, Except for the Guy Closing in on Me |
Mile 1: I started to get a little tired half a mile in. This is where the runner passed me. I noticed that my body felt great (no tight thighs/full stomach). The average pace going down, around 5:10. The runner was right behind me, and eventually would pass me on the west edge of Misquamicut Beach parking lot. He was wearing much more gear than I was and was wearing earphones, but looked fit as a runner (I would later find out this was Geoff Nelson, or at least I think it was, based off results). I ran behind him for about a minute, before he started to talk to me. He asked me if I was running the 4-miler, and once I answered yes, he asked what pace I was looking for. When I answered 5:30, he said "I can get you there." I guess I was going to pace off him, which was not something I was expecting but I suppose it would help. Since he was running the half, it was clear he was a very fast runner. I ran close behind him for the rest of the mile, split- 5:16. Right on target.
Mile 2: I was getting tired on Maplewood, and he opened up a few meters on me. This was not good. I was ready for him to turn around and say pick it up, and I would respond that I couldn't. The full stomach feeling was coming back a little, although not so bad this time. He did turn around and said something I couldn't hear, although it didn't sound positive. I closed the gap and got right back on him at the slight incline on Ocean View Highway. I was next to him at the top. Mile 2- 5:29. Perfect.
The Wrong Turn/Off-Course Running: Somehow, I regained some energy after going up Ocean View and I felt more confident. I stayed pretty much on his shoulder, worrying about pace, not course. I was pretty sure the turn was on Crandall, so when I passed Uzzi I didn't even about turning. But, I did look down. And I saw the red arrows. Even though the director clearly said turn at the red arrows, I interpreted this as take the next right. So, I kept going, feeling strong, but now slightly worried. Then I got to Crandall. There were no red arrows. There was no one there. I was panicking a little, realizing the turn was on Uzzi. Geoff Nelson kept going and I tried to alert him, but his earphones must have blocked out the sound. I made the decision to turn on Crandall. Crandall was great. The sun came out and warmed me up. I regained more energy, and picked up the pace while still feeling pretty comfortable. I was worried, but realized Crandall is parallel to Uzzi and that I could fix my mistakes. That didn't keep from wondering if my race was over and looking back a few times. One of those times, there was someone there, telling me that I had led other runners off-course. When I turned off Crandall and onto Atlantic, I looked right and saw a course marshall at the intersection of Uzzi and Atlantic, confirming I had run off course. But at least now, I was back on.
Keeping It Fast: When turning off Atlantic and onto Crandall, my watch beeped and I received mile 3 split- 5:24. This was so much faster than I expected, a good indication that I would break 22. And I still had a lot more left. I kept running in the 5:20s, feeling good about my race again. But, then when I was at 3.2 miles, I got worried again. I still had to run to second street, run second street and rabbit run, run winnapaug, and then return on Atlantic. It seemed like more than 0.8 miles, so I was nervous. I passed course marshals, keeping the pace fast. When I turned off rabbit run at 3.7 miles, I was sure the course would run long. I didn't know how long, so I kept running fast, although I slowed a little.
Jogging it In: So I didn't really jog it in, but I became more and more upset as I ran towards Atlantic Ave. I turn at 4 miles, and still had plenty to go. My mile 4 split was 5:28, indicating my time would've been not only sub-22, but under 21:40 (it would've been 21:38, measured perfectly). I slowed down so much, as a great race where I crushed my expectations had been ruined. I got to the final turn, running on the right as I was about to turn into the chute on right. As if I wasn't angry enough, the volunteer yelled at me. "What are you doing?". I didn't know what to say, so I kept running, really slow now. "Are you running the half?" He yelled. I told him I wasn't, and he yelled that I shouldn't be running on the left (I had only turned to the right a few moments before) and that I should be following the (apparently obvious) directions (that were never given). I was really mad about this, and slowed down even more, running in at a 6:10 pace.
When I finished everyone around the finish was happy for me, but I was extremely upset. The rest of the experience was crappy. The food was crappy, my awards were bad, and no one apologized for ruining for race. What's even worse is that the half was ruined, running an extra half mile long. This was clearly caused by an unnecessary and rather horrible extension of the course at the beginning.
My final time was 23:23, almost two minutes off what I actually ran. The only good thing that came out of the race is that I performed well, and that it showed me I can easily break 22. Unfortunately, this was the time to do it, as I coming off a season with good training. My next 4-miler will be in summer, Run 4 Kerri. Then, there's a good chance it will be very hot and I won't have good training in my legs. Even if I did manage to break 22 then, it's likely I wouldn't be that far under.
Even though Trimom has just now acknowledged their long course (only for the half, but I guess it applies to both) via email, there didn't seem to be much apology there, and I'm fairly certain that I will never do this race again. At least Hare Hop 5K was well done. If it was the other way around (Ocean's run first as warmup, then run hare hop hard), it would've been great race day. My next race is the first dual meet in early April, and my next race with WTACers is Backroad Ramble.
Back to Track- Weekly Log: March 14 to 20
And after less than 10 runs in the off-season, it's back to track. Unlike Indoor Track, the first meet for outdoor is the first day of the fourth week. Even though there were a few cool aspects of track starting, I wasn't looking forward to it at all. So, I was surprised how well it went.
Monday: 7 Miles. I got there with little interest in running, and my body wasn't feeling great either. I was told to run with the new and a few returning distances. I was supposed to run easy for 15 minutes, then pick it up to a high 6s and see what shape everyone was in. Two immediately felt back and eventually dropped off on the speed increase, while the other stayed close to me until the final hill, where he fell off.
Tuesday: 5 Miles. First track workout of the season. Usually, we do a timed (all-out) mile on the second day of practice. So, I was a little surprised that we were actually doing a workout. We ran the same pace for four distances, each time dropping 400m off. About 2 mins recovery in-between, I ran 1600/1200/800/400. Something like: 5:06/3:42/2:28/73. Was so surprised how tiring this was, then realized it was because it was a humid day, and certainly not because I was out of shape. That, and I was a little sore from the stretching I am not used to. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Wednesday: 8 Miles. I felt good early in the run, and knew that this would be one of my faster. However, only two miles in, I was very tired from running 6:15 pace and my legs started to hurt. One of the rare runs where I ran from school to house (or close to house) and back. Struggled through, especially with hills, but was very pleased with end result: 7 miles at 6:23 pace, tying my faster ever 7-mile run. (8 total because warm-up/pick-ups).
Thursday: 4 Miles. Today we did the timed mile (actually 1600), and I was really wishing Tuesday's and Thursday's runs were reversed. I wasn't great again, and the strides felt horrible too. Then we were off. I was very happy with my first 400, as I came through in 66, which would be my opening split in a perfect mile race. Then it felt apart. I got really tired, and slowed down a lot. I obviously wasn't coming near 4:30, but I hoped to break 4:40. I didn't get my 800 and 1200 splits, but was told I was on pace for sub-4:40. Didn't happen. I crossed the line in 4:43, tying my best practice time. I was so disappointed in this, as I felt I should be able to run at least a 4:35 in practice, and certainly ran it all out. I also timed my kick horribly, not picking it up until 50 meters to go. We ran 12x100 on the grass field, I was supposed to run 16s, which was about what I ran.
Friday: 8 Miles. I was too worn out from all the unexpected hard runs earlier in the week, so I wasn't going to attempt another 6:20 run, like Tuesday. I thought about running a 6:50 average, but decided to run with a slower group for a few miles at 7:20 pace, then break off and attempt 6:30 splits. My legs and feet hurt again, but it felt much better than Tuesday's run and went by quickly. I found this cool road called Captain's Drive of Beach Street, which had many different colored houses. I was frustrated by the amount of times I had to run dead ends/extra loops to make 7.
Saturday: 4 Miles. Based off Tuesday and Thursday, I thought we were immediately going to get into hard training. The workouts were much harder than the starting workouts in cross country and indoor. But, we ended up doing our first hill workout at the worst hill locally: Field Street. I made the mistake of remembering it to be a lot easier than it was. It has an easy section, then a very steep but short section. It became tiring to do this several, but never got extremely difficult and I actually enjoyed it. On the first one, the next runner was close, but after that everyone dropped way off. Palmer Street is parallel to Field, which looks much tougher. Also parallel to Field is Locust Ave, an interesting name. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Sunday: 9 Miles. I was planning ten, but completely and wildly underestimated how tough the Yawgoog trails were. While the trails were somewhat cool, I would say that I disliked it. Frequent technical climbs and rocky sections slowed the average pace to over 10 minutes, something I don't experience often. I usually enjoy trails more than roads on an average run (but I much prefer to race roads), this was a step out of my comfort zone and far too technical for me. While some of Yawgoog trails were tolerable, I really did not like the trails near Long/Ell Pond as they were much too rocky and steep, even getting to a 16-minute average pace. My first mile was over 13 minutes, perhaps my slowest ever.
This week was great. The only low point was the 1600 being much slower than I expected it to be. This first week of track was much different from other seasons in two ways: it was harder and I wasn't immediately sure that I was the best distance runners. Freshman cross country and freshman track aside (first season I was unsure of my placement/second season I had someone close to me returning), I've been far ahead of the rest of the field. This time, there were three possible people who could be better than me.
Person #1: I actually had never this guy before the first day of track. The only reason I thought he might be a fast distance runner is because he looked good enough to be in the Olympics. He looked like a great runner. And then he went with the sprinting group, showing no interest or experience in distance running.
Person #2: This guy is a german foreign exchange student. Apparently he was an athletic standout and also told me he beat my score on the pacer, which is not an easy thing to do. While this wasn't the best standard of measuring speed, it scared me a little. He became a distance runner, but after he couldn't keep up the entire run on Monday, and was far behind on the week's workouts, it was clear he wasn't close to speed level.
Person #3: The final person with potential had recently moved from China. I never would've considered him as a runner, until several people told me he runs a 15-minute 5K. He actually missed the first two practices, which scared me a little a more. Then, after talking to him, he had no idea was distance running was and went with the sprinting group, claiming his 15-minute 5K was a thing of past. Two days later, an athlete told the coach he used to run a 15-minute 5K, and he was put with the distance group. The runner didn't do well on the group run Friday, but surprised me when he kept up with me on pick-ups and almost beat me when I raced him. He said he was injured, and would need training to back in shape.
So for now, I'm still Westerly's #1 distance runner. But, we'll see.
Weekly Total: 45 Miles (much higher than I expected for the first week of track)
YTD Mileage: 437 Miles
Monday: 7 Miles. I got there with little interest in running, and my body wasn't feeling great either. I was told to run with the new and a few returning distances. I was supposed to run easy for 15 minutes, then pick it up to a high 6s and see what shape everyone was in. Two immediately felt back and eventually dropped off on the speed increase, while the other stayed close to me until the final hill, where he fell off.
Tuesday: 5 Miles. First track workout of the season. Usually, we do a timed (all-out) mile on the second day of practice. So, I was a little surprised that we were actually doing a workout. We ran the same pace for four distances, each time dropping 400m off. About 2 mins recovery in-between, I ran 1600/1200/800/400. Something like: 5:06/3:42/2:28/73. Was so surprised how tiring this was, then realized it was because it was a humid day, and certainly not because I was out of shape. That, and I was a little sore from the stretching I am not used to. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Wednesday: 8 Miles. I felt good early in the run, and knew that this would be one of my faster. However, only two miles in, I was very tired from running 6:15 pace and my legs started to hurt. One of the rare runs where I ran from school to house (or close to house) and back. Struggled through, especially with hills, but was very pleased with end result: 7 miles at 6:23 pace, tying my faster ever 7-mile run. (8 total because warm-up/pick-ups).
Thursday: 4 Miles. Today we did the timed mile (actually 1600), and I was really wishing Tuesday's and Thursday's runs were reversed. I wasn't great again, and the strides felt horrible too. Then we were off. I was very happy with my first 400, as I came through in 66, which would be my opening split in a perfect mile race. Then it felt apart. I got really tired, and slowed down a lot. I obviously wasn't coming near 4:30, but I hoped to break 4:40. I didn't get my 800 and 1200 splits, but was told I was on pace for sub-4:40. Didn't happen. I crossed the line in 4:43, tying my best practice time. I was so disappointed in this, as I felt I should be able to run at least a 4:35 in practice, and certainly ran it all out. I also timed my kick horribly, not picking it up until 50 meters to go. We ran 12x100 on the grass field, I was supposed to run 16s, which was about what I ran.
Friday: 8 Miles. I was too worn out from all the unexpected hard runs earlier in the week, so I wasn't going to attempt another 6:20 run, like Tuesday. I thought about running a 6:50 average, but decided to run with a slower group for a few miles at 7:20 pace, then break off and attempt 6:30 splits. My legs and feet hurt again, but it felt much better than Tuesday's run and went by quickly. I found this cool road called Captain's Drive of Beach Street, which had many different colored houses. I was frustrated by the amount of times I had to run dead ends/extra loops to make 7.
Saturday: 4 Miles. Based off Tuesday and Thursday, I thought we were immediately going to get into hard training. The workouts were much harder than the starting workouts in cross country and indoor. But, we ended up doing our first hill workout at the worst hill locally: Field Street. I made the mistake of remembering it to be a lot easier than it was. It has an easy section, then a very steep but short section. It became tiring to do this several, but never got extremely difficult and I actually enjoyed it. On the first one, the next runner was close, but after that everyone dropped way off. Palmer Street is parallel to Field, which looks much tougher. Also parallel to Field is Locust Ave, an interesting name. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Sunday: 9 Miles. I was planning ten, but completely and wildly underestimated how tough the Yawgoog trails were. While the trails were somewhat cool, I would say that I disliked it. Frequent technical climbs and rocky sections slowed the average pace to over 10 minutes, something I don't experience often. I usually enjoy trails more than roads on an average run (but I much prefer to race roads), this was a step out of my comfort zone and far too technical for me. While some of Yawgoog trails were tolerable, I really did not like the trails near Long/Ell Pond as they were much too rocky and steep, even getting to a 16-minute average pace. My first mile was over 13 minutes, perhaps my slowest ever.
This week was great. The only low point was the 1600 being much slower than I expected it to be. This first week of track was much different from other seasons in two ways: it was harder and I wasn't immediately sure that I was the best distance runners. Freshman cross country and freshman track aside (first season I was unsure of my placement/second season I had someone close to me returning), I've been far ahead of the rest of the field. This time, there were three possible people who could be better than me.
Person #1: I actually had never this guy before the first day of track. The only reason I thought he might be a fast distance runner is because he looked good enough to be in the Olympics. He looked like a great runner. And then he went with the sprinting group, showing no interest or experience in distance running.
Person #2: This guy is a german foreign exchange student. Apparently he was an athletic standout and also told me he beat my score on the pacer, which is not an easy thing to do. While this wasn't the best standard of measuring speed, it scared me a little. He became a distance runner, but after he couldn't keep up the entire run on Monday, and was far behind on the week's workouts, it was clear he wasn't close to speed level.
Person #3: The final person with potential had recently moved from China. I never would've considered him as a runner, until several people told me he runs a 15-minute 5K. He actually missed the first two practices, which scared me a little a more. Then, after talking to him, he had no idea was distance running was and went with the sprinting group, claiming his 15-minute 5K was a thing of past. Two days later, an athlete told the coach he used to run a 15-minute 5K, and he was put with the distance group. The runner didn't do well on the group run Friday, but surprised me when he kept up with me on pick-ups and almost beat me when I raced him. He said he was injured, and would need training to back in shape.
So for now, I'm still Westerly's #1 distance runner. But, we'll see.
Weekly Total: 45 Miles (much higher than I expected for the first week of track)
YTD Mileage: 437 Miles
Sunday, March 13, 2016
The Offseason
For me, the majority of racing is fun. Championship season for my school career is certainly not as it's so stressful, in the early months of the season there are a few races I enjoy. And out of season, I enjoy pretty much all the races. This is my 4th offseason (not including summer), here's how the previous ones went:
Offseason 1
November 3, 2014-November 30, 2014
Weeks Off: 4
Total Mileage: 110 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 28
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 3
Avondale 5K- 1st in 17:30, 18 Second PR
Little Rhody Runaround- 14th in 50:37, 5 Minute PR
Rivalry Run- 1st in 16:40, would've been a PR (short course)
Offseason 2
February 23, 2015- March 15, 2015
Weeks Off: 3
Total Mileage: 64 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 21
Average Mileage/Day: 3
Races Run: 0
Offseason 3
November 15, 2015-November 28, 2015
Weeks Off: 2
Total Mileage: 53 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 27
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 3
Little Rhody Runaround- 3rd in 47:44, 3 Minute PR
Washington Trust Turkey Trot 5K- 3rd in 16:49, fast splits
Chariho Alumni 5K- 1st in 17:10, slow splits
Offseason 4
February 29, 2016-March 13, 2016
Weeks Off: 2
Total Mileage: 54 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 27
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 2
Hare Hop 5K- 3rd in 17:33, Negative splits
Ocean's Run 4-Miler- 1st in 23:23, would've PR'd (long course)
So I'll do race write-ups in a separate post, but here are my weekly logs.
Offseason 1
November 3, 2014-November 30, 2014
Weeks Off: 4
Total Mileage: 110 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 28
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 3
Avondale 5K- 1st in 17:30, 18 Second PR
Little Rhody Runaround- 14th in 50:37, 5 Minute PR
Rivalry Run- 1st in 16:40, would've been a PR (short course)
Offseason 2
February 23, 2015- March 15, 2015
Weeks Off: 3
Total Mileage: 64 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 21
Average Mileage/Day: 3
Races Run: 0
Offseason 3
November 15, 2015-November 28, 2015
Weeks Off: 2
Total Mileage: 53 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 27
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 3
Little Rhody Runaround- 3rd in 47:44, 3 Minute PR
Washington Trust Turkey Trot 5K- 3rd in 16:49, fast splits
Chariho Alumni 5K- 1st in 17:10, slow splits
Offseason 4
February 29, 2016-March 13, 2016
Weeks Off: 2
Total Mileage: 54 Miles
Average Mileage/Week: 27
Average Mileage/Day: 4
Races Run: 2
Hare Hop 5K- 3rd in 17:33, Negative splits
Ocean's Run 4-Miler- 1st in 23:23, would've PR'd (long course)
So I'll do race write-ups in a separate post, but here are my weekly logs.
Weekly Log: February 29 to March 6
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 0. Starting to think about weekend races.
Wednesday: 0. Find out hare hop and ocean's run are on the same day.
Thursday: 0. Decide just to do Ocean's run.
Friday: 3 Miles. I change my mind, and decide to do both. My run is easy, but since I don't really feel like running roads I run the nearby Champlin. Super easy: low 9s on trails, high 7s on roads. Not feeling as good as I want to, maybe I should've ran Thursday. Thighs feel super heavy/uncomfortable. Not looking good for tomorrow.
Saturday: 9 Miles. Short warm-up before Hare Hop, then I run Hare Hop. Great race. Short warm-up before ocean's, ocean's run, and a short cool-down.
Sunday: 0 Miles. Sore.
Weekly Total: 12 Miles
YTD Mileage: 348 Miles
Weekly Log: March 7 to March 13
Monday: 0. Eating unhealthy.
Tuesday: 10 Miles. I feel good about myself when I run long at a good pace. I wanted to do 10 miles on Tuesday. I was either shooting for a low 7s with a few hard segments or a hard 10 miler, around 6:50 pace. I ended up picking the latter, since I wanted consistent splits and didn't feel like doing short sprints, as that would wear me out. This was one of the best runs I've been on in a very long time. I ended up running 10 at 6:38 pace in 1:06:17, which actually beats my Blessing 12 and 13 times. So many things went well. The weather was perfect, it was enjoyable, the views were great, and it felt good. Running 6:35s felt very easy at first, and it wasn't until Mile 6 that it began to get hard. But still, only the last mile was very difficult. An awesome run.
Wednesday: 7 Miles. I kinda wanted a big week, but would obviously have to tone it down from yesterday. I was very sore, and I had the pacer test in gym. It's a really stupid way to test your running fitness as you have to constantly do 180 degree turns after only running 20 meters. It's nearly impossible to get into a solid pace, as you lose your momentum on the turn and then have to pick it up again. I was shooting for a 160, as that would be far ahead of the current record of 130, but I felt horrible and my thighs were sore and hurting from Tuesday's run. I got tired at 30, then really tired at 100 and jogged the last one in at 130 after missing a few. If it were converted to laps around a track, I don't think I'd have a problem getting 160. I got home even more sore, and went out for a short Champlin. My legs and thighs felt horrible, and the pace was super slow.
Thursday: 5 Miles. It was a pretty hot day, especially for winter. Felt pretty crappy again, still sore. While my pace was pretty good (6:59), it seemed harder to run it than usual. Just a forgettable rockridge run on a full stomach.
Friday: 6 Miles. I felt like eating when I got up, not running. Even though I missed a good opportunity to run in the morning (no school), I still got in a good run at the Barn with Dad. And since we threw in a few segments, it was pretty great, despite a slower pace than I wanted (not feeling it again). Last time, I failed to even PR on the segments: this time I tied my PR on West Main Spur, Had a six-second PR and two-second CR on East Main Spur, and a 4-second PR and CR on Wequetequock Cove Return. Good run.
Saturday: 8 Miles. I originally wanted to do 10, and do a few miles on the beach but after I slept in too late, I wasn't feeling it. I almost cut it down to 6 after failing to find a route that I liked, but then I moved it up to 8. Got dropped off at Weekapaug, and I planned to do some segments. Segment #1 was Wawaloam Dr Climb on Noyes Neck Road. I felt good on it until halfway through, before I got really tired and slowed down a little. It seemed really long. However, I felt that I posted a good time on it. Next was meadow ridge, and while it tired me out, I felt that I got a good time on it. Finally, I ran another Wawaloam Dr Climb (this time a longer stretch of flat coastal Weekapaug), but I felt tired. I was tired but I got my energy back and eventually picked it up, ending up with a 6:38 average once again. I ended up not even getting on the first segment, as my strava map shows that I ran through background (and of course, it only glitched when I was running the segment), I was way off on Meadow Ridge since I stopped early, and I took the third segment easily in 5:17 pace. Frustrating, as this is not the first segment error. I did end up getting two CRs on winnapaug, even though I didn't run them extra hard.
Sunday: 8 Miles. I guess this made up for me doing not doing the full 10 on Saturday, because I didn't expect to run this long. A solid run through Carter Preserve with Dad and Aaron. This was the first time where I had plenty of energy without eating or drinking anything before. Fun run, we explored most of the preserve, and I got a solid time on the grassland mile (5:11). However, twisting my ankle and leg several times was not fun.
Weekly Total: 44 Miles (pretty good for me)
YTD Mileage: 392 Miles
 |
| Average pace is weird, since I ran three sub-7 runs, three over 8-runs but never any in the 7s range. Kinda wish it was faster. |
Friday, March 4, 2016
New Englands- Weekly Log: February 22 to 28
Sorry this is so late. I was planning to post this Monday, but then forgot for the rest of the week.
The final week of indoor, as the season concludes Sunday with the New England Championships. I squeezed in as RI's 5th spot (when I has finished 7th, 2nd and 4th dropped out) in the Two-Mile. Seeded 17th of 32, it'll be likely that I'll just miss out on making the fast. It's held the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center, which I'm looking forward to running there. Anyway, it'll be nice to not be stressed out by track as I usually, since this meet will be more relaxed than pressured.
Monday: 0. So happy to take a day off and not worry about running.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. Track workout. It was cold out, but so cool with rapidly falling slow. Not insanely hard, but certainly not easy either. 7x300 w/40-50s recovery. Splits were around 54, sometimes a few seconds faster. Followed by 8x200, 30s recovery. Splits ranged from 31-33. Difficulty of workout: 4/5.
Wednesday: 7 Miles. Very smooth East Ave run, to tennis courts and back. Very happy to run a 6:18 average pace for 6.2 miles. Really tiring on the few hills that I ran. Great running weather, I completely regretting gloves (a decision influenced by the weather reading on my phone) as it felt pretty warm out there.
Thursday: 5 Miles, another track workout. 7x300 again w/30s recovery. Similar splits. Weather was great again, windy but felt warm. Concluded with an all-out 300, I ran a PR of 41.8 seconds. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Friday: 4 Miles, brief track workout. Super windy and super cold, and was not happy I forgot to bring gloves. Fortunately, I wasn't out there for long, as I only had 3x300 w/30s recovery: 46/49/49, followed by 2x150 pickups. 300s were very fast. Difficulty of Workout: 4/5.
Saturday: 4 Miles, easy shakeout. Ran 7:02 average pace, but felt like 9:00 because my thighs were feeling really heavy. This made the pick-ups harder than they usually are. First half I was cold, second half I was warm.
Sunday: 5 Miles, New England Championships. My expectations were that I'd run at 3, and the meet would by quickly. Here's a short version of everything before my race: breakfast at 9, bus departs from WHS @10, we arrive @12. I expect that I'll warm-up around 1:45, and sit around in the gym and near the track. I got to watch lots of great races, but ended up warming up at 3:45 and running at 5:30. Around 5:10, we were checked in and 5:20 brought into the track area. It was not like states (nervous up to 5 mins before, then not nervous), as I wasn't nervous coming in to it but got nervous warming-up and very nervous in the 10-15 minutes before. We put on our spikes and I relaxed a little, knowing that my slow heat of the two mile still had the girls heat on the track now and the fast girls heat after before we ran. Then I paid a little more attention: this was the girls fast heat. That meant we were running in 4 minutes, not 15 like I thought. They had us run a lap around to the start, where we were given a chance to do a stride. It didn't feel good. We lined up and we were off.
The Slow Heat of the Two-Mile:
I didn't know whether to be happy or not that I was in the slow heat or the last one. In the fast heat, there would be no pressure on place and I could hang in the back but it would hard to stay with anyone there. If I was in the slow heat, I would be pressured to stay in the front, but the pace wouldn't be as fast and it would be much easier to stay with them. I also didn't know if I would like the track or not- I had warmed-up on it earlier but wasn't sure how I felt. When the gun went off, I was towards the back then soon dropped to back of the pack. I think I was even dead last for some of it. I passed a few over the course of the next lap and found myself right behind a Hendricken runner (8th place at states) who had run 8:58 for 3K, then never broke 9:05 again for the rest of the season. The opening 400 was 70, about target pace (for the opening 4) but it did not feel good. I stayed with the Hendricken runner for another 400, where his teammate (6th place in state) passed me and started moving ahead. I eventually made a move to pass the Hendricken runner, but it was tough as he tried to hold me off. This was 800 meters in, 2:24 for the four laps. I was very tired. Over the next four laps, I tired to pass a few more and get towards the front, but I had little energy. The mile mark was run in about 4:52. The next 8 laps were a blur. My coaches were yelling to me to pick it up, but I was dying out there. I finished 6th in the slow heat, 18th overall in 9:57. The cause was clearly that I ate too early and I had lost most of that energy by the time it got to my race, despite eating a bagel and few bars in between. So, a pretty bad race. But it was a fun experience (not running bad, but being up there): I got to watch great races, run on a great track, and warm up around the elites. I was disappointed of course, but more about the bad close to the season and not the specific race. After all, I had figured that I would run great since my last two meets were disappointing. And I probably would've if it was at 1 and not 5:30.
Weekly Total: 31 (lame)
YTD Mileage: 336 Miles
The final week of indoor, as the season concludes Sunday with the New England Championships. I squeezed in as RI's 5th spot (when I has finished 7th, 2nd and 4th dropped out) in the Two-Mile. Seeded 17th of 32, it'll be likely that I'll just miss out on making the fast. It's held the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center, which I'm looking forward to running there. Anyway, it'll be nice to not be stressed out by track as I usually, since this meet will be more relaxed than pressured.
Monday: 0. So happy to take a day off and not worry about running.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. Track workout. It was cold out, but so cool with rapidly falling slow. Not insanely hard, but certainly not easy either. 7x300 w/40-50s recovery. Splits were around 54, sometimes a few seconds faster. Followed by 8x200, 30s recovery. Splits ranged from 31-33. Difficulty of workout: 4/5.
Wednesday: 7 Miles. Very smooth East Ave run, to tennis courts and back. Very happy to run a 6:18 average pace for 6.2 miles. Really tiring on the few hills that I ran. Great running weather, I completely regretting gloves (a decision influenced by the weather reading on my phone) as it felt pretty warm out there.
Thursday: 5 Miles, another track workout. 7x300 again w/30s recovery. Similar splits. Weather was great again, windy but felt warm. Concluded with an all-out 300, I ran a PR of 41.8 seconds. Difficulty of Workout: 3/5.
Friday: 4 Miles, brief track workout. Super windy and super cold, and was not happy I forgot to bring gloves. Fortunately, I wasn't out there for long, as I only had 3x300 w/30s recovery: 46/49/49, followed by 2x150 pickups. 300s were very fast. Difficulty of Workout: 4/5.
Saturday: 4 Miles, easy shakeout. Ran 7:02 average pace, but felt like 9:00 because my thighs were feeling really heavy. This made the pick-ups harder than they usually are. First half I was cold, second half I was warm.
Sunday: 5 Miles, New England Championships. My expectations were that I'd run at 3, and the meet would by quickly. Here's a short version of everything before my race: breakfast at 9, bus departs from WHS @10, we arrive @12. I expect that I'll warm-up around 1:45, and sit around in the gym and near the track. I got to watch lots of great races, but ended up warming up at 3:45 and running at 5:30. Around 5:10, we were checked in and 5:20 brought into the track area. It was not like states (nervous up to 5 mins before, then not nervous), as I wasn't nervous coming in to it but got nervous warming-up and very nervous in the 10-15 minutes before. We put on our spikes and I relaxed a little, knowing that my slow heat of the two mile still had the girls heat on the track now and the fast girls heat after before we ran. Then I paid a little more attention: this was the girls fast heat. That meant we were running in 4 minutes, not 15 like I thought. They had us run a lap around to the start, where we were given a chance to do a stride. It didn't feel good. We lined up and we were off.
The Slow Heat of the Two-Mile:
I didn't know whether to be happy or not that I was in the slow heat or the last one. In the fast heat, there would be no pressure on place and I could hang in the back but it would hard to stay with anyone there. If I was in the slow heat, I would be pressured to stay in the front, but the pace wouldn't be as fast and it would be much easier to stay with them. I also didn't know if I would like the track or not- I had warmed-up on it earlier but wasn't sure how I felt. When the gun went off, I was towards the back then soon dropped to back of the pack. I think I was even dead last for some of it. I passed a few over the course of the next lap and found myself right behind a Hendricken runner (8th place at states) who had run 8:58 for 3K, then never broke 9:05 again for the rest of the season. The opening 400 was 70, about target pace (for the opening 4) but it did not feel good. I stayed with the Hendricken runner for another 400, where his teammate (6th place in state) passed me and started moving ahead. I eventually made a move to pass the Hendricken runner, but it was tough as he tried to hold me off. This was 800 meters in, 2:24 for the four laps. I was very tired. Over the next four laps, I tired to pass a few more and get towards the front, but I had little energy. The mile mark was run in about 4:52. The next 8 laps were a blur. My coaches were yelling to me to pick it up, but I was dying out there. I finished 6th in the slow heat, 18th overall in 9:57. The cause was clearly that I ate too early and I had lost most of that energy by the time it got to my race, despite eating a bagel and few bars in between. So, a pretty bad race. But it was a fun experience (not running bad, but being up there): I got to watch great races, run on a great track, and warm up around the elites. I was disappointed of course, but more about the bad close to the season and not the specific race. After all, I had figured that I would run great since my last two meets were disappointing. And I probably would've if it was at 1 and not 5:30.
Weekly Total: 31 (lame)
YTD Mileage: 336 Miles
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