New Englands- Weekly Log: June 6 to 12

Final week of the outdoor season, as I once again squeezed in as one of the last qualifiers for the new Englands championships. It was cool going up to Vermont in XC season, and also cool to go to the Reggie Lewis track and field center. This location was closer, Willowbrook park in New Britain, CT, but like the others, it did not disappoint.

Monday: 4 Miles, track. 6x400, 45 second recovery, ran splits between 66-69. 60 second recovery after that set before an all-out 300 (44s), which was quite tiring. 5-8 minute break, then 4x200 (33s). Difficulty: 4/5.

Tuesday: 7 Miles. I felt pretty good but after about 3 miles, the heat started to get me. I became drowsy and tired, losing more and more motivation as it went on. I received temporary relief when I soaked my head in the sink at Dunkin Donuts, but it was short lived. However, I still maintained a fast pace (6:26) for six miles.

Wednesday: 4 Miles. All-out 400, in which I felt slow but still hit a PR of 55.6 seconds. It took a lot out of me, making the following 8x200 (33s each/45s recovery) quite hard. Difficulty: 4/5.

Thursday: 3 miles, 6x200. Descending pace: 37/35/33/31/29/27 (not exact splits, but around there). Around one minute recovery, this was pretty easy. Difficulty: 2/5.

Friday: 6 Miles, final shakeout/practice. Easy, easy five miler through pumpkins neighborhood and east ave side roads. Felt great.

Saturday: 4 Miles, New England Championships.

Like states, I waited around for a long time. Slightly less this time (states was 12 to 6/New Englands was 11 to 4), but I had no idea what time I was running and the waiting around was not fun. The track was really nice, the first I've ever seen with nine lanes. The area around it was also nice, with two giant sets of bleachers, and plenty of room for teams to set up. The waiting around at states was boring at times, but was never awful as I was somewhat comfortable and had a great view of some great races. New Englands was not fun waiting around. It poured from 11 to 2 (give or take half and hour on each side), making it cold, wet and unpleasant. I also had a terrible view of any of the races, so it was either watch them in the pouring rain or don't watch them. The worst part was I didn't have a comfortable seat, and I was just waiting, having no idea when I would warm-up or race. It finally came, and as the time passed I became nervous I didn't eat enough because I didn't plan on running later than 2. I was also visiting the bathroom far more often than I would've liked. My warm-ups were far apart from each other, there was lots of waiting around inbetween due to unexpected delays. It felt like the 4x100, an event that takes less a minute to complete per heat, took a whole hour due to technical difficulties. When it was finally time to warm-up, the sun randomly came out and warmed up everything. At first I was looking forward to racing in the rain, but after getting cold I was glad for the change. It wasn't hot, but the weather was very nice.

I didn't get nervous until my final warm-up, as I wasn't feeling great. Of course, this didn't mean I would feel crappy during the race. I wasn't allowed to check in at first, and when I did others in the event were already heading over to the start (area where runners put spikes on before brought to start). I was really nervous during strides because I was afraid the 200s would go by quickly and I would be rushed to head over. My coach finally told to me get there. I ended up having more time than I expected, but not as much as I would've liked. I got a few extra strides in on an outer part of the track, and then the slow heat was told to jog over to the start.

The jog up to the line. Never done this before.

I had some bad races in the previous two New Englands, so I wasn't sure how I would do in this race. I wasn't looking for any specific times, just to run hard. The big meet was states, and this was just an extra opportunity. As we awaited the final instruction, a group of four or five jogged up to the start from behind. These were mostly Vermont runners, who I guess were a little late. We repositioned the start, and we were off.

3200
It was a fast start, and it was crowded. I was slightly boxed in, but tried to stay on the outside to not get boxed in too much. I was mid-pack, and pretty quickly in a runner from behind stepped on my ankle hard. It really hurt, and it felt like it was bleeding. I ignored it and soon it went away. The Vermont runners led it out quickly, opening a small gap on the rest of us. They came back to soon, and there was shuffling in the pack. I tried to stay near the other RI runners in the race (one EG, one Hendricken). We went through 400 in 67 or 68, and the 800 in about 2:20. I wasn't feeling great, and I was almost sure I'd fall off the pack. We were on a good pace, but it was very unlikely I'd be able to keep it. A red singlet runner had a big lead, a lead that he completely lost over the next few laps. As we hit the hallway point in about 4:40, 4:41 we had all caught up to him. The pack remained surprisingly intact, still 6-7 people in it. I stayed at the back mostly, trying to hang on. Every once in a while someone would drop off. Somehow, despite feeling weak, it wasn't extremely hard to stay with the pack. It wasn't until 6 laps in, where the pack broke up and there was some pushing at some points, that I realized I was running well. I don't remember what the split was, but I knew I was near 9:30 pace. We broke off into a group of 3, one being the EG runner with two to go. I passed the EG runner with 600 to go, but he passed me back at 400. I never planned on making a move, as my kicks have been so bad lately, but when my coach yelled to go around, I did. I picked the pace quite a bit and had a sudden burst of energy that I probably should've used earlier in the race. I had a really good kick this time, and took the unseeded heat in 9:23.9. This would've been a big PR for 3K, and much better than I expected.

I actually thought I had a chance at top 6, based off last year's relatively slow times (it was hot), but the fast heat was fast. I finished 11th overall, 2nd (of 5) from RI. There were 9 runners under last years winning time, and I would've finished 3rd in last year's race.

Somehow, I managed to run by far the best race of the season, running about 10 seconds faster than I expected. Really happy with the meet.

Sunday: 0 Miles, watched BRR race. Not quite as exciting or fast I anticipated.

Weekly Total: 28 Miles
YTD Mileage: 952 Miles