Weekly Log: September 12 to 18

Just one easy meet this week plus some training.

Monday: 6 Miles. South Kingstown dual meet.

Not an important meet at all. First dual meet of four this season, which are held every Monday until the 4th week, which is on a Tuesday. SK was certainly the top team here, does decently in the division, but doesn't have any standouts on the state level. Coming into this, I knew I could win no problem. I still wanted to run hard, but I didn't feel much pressure coming into it nor was it important at all for me. I ran a 18:35 here freshman year, as the sharp turns, pavement crossings, and mixed terrain slow down the pace from a standard XC course. My sophomore year I did not run the course, but the fastest times ever were recorded from the top NK and Chariho runners with times of 16:59 and 17:02 respectively. I had just come off a PR and third fastest time in RI (for this season) of 16:11 for 5K, so I thought a 16:40 would be a great effort here. Course map.

While I was happy to run an easy, low-pressure XC meet, I really hated the course because of the two loop format and frequent change of terrain (and would also find out there were 10 pavement crossings and many annoying sharp turns). We were supposed to run the course jog for a warm-up, but for some reason the SK coach had us walk it. I was slightly annoyed but was okay with it until I realized it was completely cutting into our warm-up time and we would be racing soon. We departed the group with 15 minutes to race time to do a short, but completely improper and rushed warm-up. I wasn't even able to use the bathroom. And even worse, I still had no idea where I was going on a few sections of the very confusing course. I finally got it all cleared up, got a few strides in and awaited the gun. At least, I thought I had it all cleared up. I went out fast without overdoing it right away. I saw a flag at the end of field and continued, but I heard "Matt, turn right" before I got there so I guess I wasn't supposed to go so far. Fortunately, the rest of the course I was able to follow. I wanted to shake any followers off my path and have a huge lead right away, so I continued to run fast. I felt like I was going out just right and not stupidly sprinting the first mile, but the effort felt a little harder than I wanted. The first trail was a little annoying with loose rocks on a slight uphill. There was another field, and once I got past that, I was both feeling better and was enjoying the terrain more. I felt good for the rest of the first loop. There was a small hill at the start of the second loop and I suddenly went from feeling good to can't move my legs. I didn't blow up, but decreased in pace significantly and now really wasn't feeling it. I tried to pick it up, but the sunny fields, loose rocks, slight uphills, and heavy legs made it impossible. When I finally get past the section I didn't like, I was able to get to a better pace, but it was still a little slower than I would have liked. I started to pick it up more in the last half mile, but was completely defeated by a short steep hill before the finish and my last 150m were terrible.

I guess I really did slow down quite a bit lap 2 as I finished in 17:25, way off both what I wanted and the course record. Really disappointing, but on the bright side it was probably the best meet to have a bad race at.

Tuesday: 9 Miles. First east ave of the season. Made a new route, east ave out and back with two loops around local neighborhoods. Really enjoyed the lack of cars and runner-friendly roads, but wasn't feeling it and felt heavy legs the whole time, thirst and it was hot. Pace was really good, but not very enjoyable.

Wednesday: 6 Miles. Timed timothy drive loop. Wasn't looking forward to a track workout or another distance run, but got really excited to find out that we might have a super easy practice with Indian chains and possibly a game. Unfortunately, we not only didn't get that but did something even worse than any of the above options. Timed timothy drive loop. This is a XC workout we have done before where we run hard for 5-6 miles down to timothy drive, out and back on granite and east ave. It's not fun to run roads I run easy frequently at a fast pace, it's usually hot, and it's quite annoying stopping at stoplights during a hard effort. I was hoping we were done with these, but unfortunately we had it again. I wore my watch to monitor pace. Ran out easy for a little bit then took the lead and picked it up. I could've run faster but ran about tempo pace as I didn't want to be super uncomfortable. Somewhere along the way, it got really hot and I got really tired. Not fun. Difficulty of Workout: 4/5 (not really a workout but I don't know what I'd call this)

Thursday: 6 Miles. Hill Workout. Apparently, we were going to have a really hard workout, but I wasn't worried as they're very rarely brutal. I figured the coaches would just increase the number of repeats which would make it tougher. I was thinking three fingers and was hoping for that. It ended up being 3xNarragansett, 1xFinger, 3xNarragansett. I wasn't looking forward to it, but felt great and really strong most of the time (got tired at the end of the finger). Suddenly changed to 1 Narragansett at the end instead of 3. Actually a pretty fun workout. Difficulty: 3/5.

Friday: 9 Miles. To chase hill road and back. First old Hopkinton road in a while. Ran out and back on old Hopkinton, forrestal and chase hill. Rolling hills the whole time. Enjoyed most of them but some really wore me out. Way too many cars. At least I felt pretty good the whole and was happy with pace.

Saturday: 8 Miles. Home XC workout. 3xWesterly (Bradford Preserve) Trail Loop. I was set down for 10:45 splits but didn't know what that meant, both pace and effort-wise as it hard to measure on trails. The uphill (to upper field) was so tiring every time, but I regained energy and felt much better on the return each time. Every time, I felt like my uphill was slower but downhill was faster. I was the only one not to hit their first split or come close, but everyone slowed down while I stayed consistent. Enjoyed it, but makes me a little nervous when facing good uphill runners. Downhills were so fast. Splits: 11:20/11:10/11:10. Four mins recovery on each. Difficulty: 4/5.

Sunday: 7 Miles. Technical and hilly but fun Natchaug (Northeast CT) trails. Afternoon trail stop during CT day trip. Natchaug state forest looked massive so I figured the running there was great. I really enjoyed the trail. Flat sections, dark sections, rocky sections, steep sections. Nearly all single-track.

Weekly Total: 51 Miles
YTD Total: 1,645 Miles

Next week: While most of these weeks so far have been training with only a few meets and only one important meet so far, next week dives into the XC season. So far the amount of meets per week have gone: 0/1/0/1, but this week has three. Monday brings dual #2, this time against Chariho. Depending on the health condition of their top runner, I may or may not have great competition. It's at the home course, which will be exciting, especially if it rains. Nervous about the hilly mile 2 and possible competition, but should be fun. Wednesday is the Stavros beach race, which I'm really looking forward to as it is a great event and I want to run a fast time. Shouldn't be any great competition either, making it less stressful. Saturday marks the ocean state invitational, a meet I have zero enthusiasm for as the course is absolutely terrible and it's a long meet I may have to wait around to race for. Unfortunately, it's the most important of the three as it's a big invitational. Hopefully I run well in all three.

Predictions:

Dual #2 at Bradford Preserve- 1st in 18:02, Chariho's top runner does not compete
Stavros- 1st in 15:49
Ocean State- 3rd in 16:25 (not sure what competition will be like)

*Note: if you are seeing this post again and are confused on why, I accidentally deleted it and had to figure out how to get it back.

Injury Fund Recap

Once again, the summer has come and gone in what seemed like an incredibly short amount. Cross country started up and soon, despite school not starting until September 6th, the first meet rolled around. Unlike indoor and outdoor track where the first meets are solely for fun; extremely low key, short and small events, the cross country season always opens with a major event. It's not quite as important as championship races or massive out of state invitationals, but nearly every team in the state goes to the opening meet and attempts to run a fast time. This meet, hosting eight varsity races named after coaches and officials and two freshman races, runs from morning to mid-afternoon and was something to be nervous about. I enjoyed it both freshman and sophomore year, but after both failure at Schonning and still trying to transition back to school running, I had just about no interest in competing here. But this was a major cross country meet and you can't just skip major meets for no/bad reasons (although some of my teammates would tell you otherwise), so I was in, whether I liked it or not.

The major change for this year was that the meet took place at East Greenwich HS, not the usual Burrillville MS course. This was a new course that was apparently years in the making. While I did enjoy the old Burrillville course, it was not certified, it overlapped several times, and while I'm unsure what the actual distance is, it's a short course and not quite 5K like advertised. Perhaps it was time for a change. The EG course was certified by Ray Nelson and was supposed to be incredibly fast and flat. I'd love to start the XC season off with a PR (current PR 16:12), so it seemed to be a great place to do it. The only aspect of the course that I wasn't excited for the two loop format, but at least it wasn't two by 2.5K loops.

As I stated before, I was not looking forward to this. Even less so when I learned I was running at 12 against two top distance runners I didn't want to lose to, Cumberland's Ben Drezek and Barrington's Mars Bishop. I started to get nervous the days before, worrying about dying halfway through and trying to run a hard pace from the gun. Race day rolled around.

I wasn't super nervous going to the meet race day, but just had a complete lack of interest in competing. To make matters worse, I had very few teammates in my race while most ran the freshman race earlier that day. We arrived about 10AM, after my usual pre-race breakfast on the bus, and spotted the East Greenwich High School for the very first time. I spotted some Chariho runners preparing to race in a few minutes, and from what I saw, the course looked awesome. About half an hour later, we were told to go scope out the course. I didn't think that was a great idea as we had a big group overall and teams were still on the course with more would be coming out soon, but of course, we all went anyway. I did want to preview the course, but I knew it wasn't right risking a clog up on the trails and potentially hurting other's races. Not one to ignore my coach, we were soon doing the thing I had feared- nearly taking up space on the trails during a race. We were able to avoid getting in the way of any runners, but I felt like a jerk and an idiot while doing so. As the far as the course went, it looked great. I thought the grass start that quickly becomes crushed stone double track was a great opening half mile. Next another grass section followed, with a part open to spectators then a part along a fence before starting the main trail portion. It wasn't typical trails- but rather more XC style with a wide crushed stone path. It was somewhat shaded but led out to a loop that was open and hot. the only bad thing about the course was that there were two loops, at least for the 5K. The loop was small rolling hills but short and mostly flat. There were a few sections where the rock was bigger and looser which wasn't very comfortable footing at all.

We took far too much time with our course preview and soon the freshman races were up. Our freshman squad left and our varsity team for the day starting doing a proper warm-up. Within the hour before racing, as usual, I became very nervous. Not only did I have little interest in racing, but it wasn't helpful seeing others sitting casually done with their races. The hour went by, I took care of bathroom problems and got the last of my warm-ups in. I did 4 or 5 strides and took a look at the rest of competition, but really was only worried about Mars and Ben. Even though I wasn't looking forward to this, I was ready to go out hard and stick with them as long as I could. We got in our spots and awaited the gun.



Start to Loop
As usual, we immediately went out hard from the gun. Sometimes it feels really awful running a near-sprint immediately, but it felt right here. Ben, as usual, sprinted out hard and I found myself in second place behind him right after the first turn. I had no trouble getting out and into a position where I could pass easily. I figured Mars was right behind us. I stayed with Ben and noted that we slowed a little but were still running a fast pace. We made the loop around the baseball field and headed into the short first trail portion. Ben pulled away a little bit but I still couldn't see or hear Mars. At first I was nervous that Ben had opened up a very small gap so early into the race, but soon I caught back up and remembered that he just goes out extremely fast. We stayed one-two going back the crowd of spectators when immediately exiting the trail, and before getting on the next trail, Mars caught up to us and I could see him right by me. Soon, Mars pulled up to my side and we were running as a pack. On the wider turns we would run on the side where there was dirt and more traction, which felt like a better move. Soon we approached the main loop.

First Loop
At this point, I knew the pace was fast but I didn't think we were overdoing it. But for some reason, I was getting quite tired. I continued to hang with the group. Mars took the lead shortly after but we still passed the mile mark as a group of 3. I heard the split. 4:48. At first I thought it was off, but later I would realize that it was right and we really did run out that fast. I was running in third now and Mars started to pull away. Perhaps he noted we were slowing down and realized now would be a good time to break away. Even though I came into the race with every intention of hanging with the leader as long as possible, I didn't try to go with him here. I felt drained and I didn't even know if I could match his move, so I let him go and stayed with Ben. At first, I felt defeated and was wondering if I could even stay with Ben, but soon I passed him as well. I felt like he was right behind me, but soon I started to gap him. Mars was much further ahead, but I was trying to extend my lead on second rather than going after first. Mars extended his lead and I extended mine, but I wasn't ready to pick it up loop two.

Second Loop
Starting the second loop was awful. I had barely anything left and at this point I was trying to hold on for second. It didn't go on to long, but was a sufferfest and not fun to run again. It was mostly uneventful. When nearing the end, I kept my eye up on Mars ahead. I wanted to close the gap but didn't the energy and strength and instead kept my current position.

Finish
Sooner or later, I realized I wasn't going to win, but was still scared Ben would overtake me because I knew I wouldn't have a kick. I was looking back at the switchbacks, and even though I had a good lead on him, I was still pretty nervous. When we got back onto grass, I knew it was time to kick but was only able to pick it up a tiny bit. When I heard others yell Ben's name out right after mine, I was really nervous he was coming for me and I wouldn't be able to respond. I pushed it a little more at the end, feeling like Ben was right behind me, but still finished ahead of him.

2nd Place Overall. Timing clock wasn't working, but I was told I ran in 16:40s range. Disappointing and not what I was looking for. Looking at some other times of the day, I could see others were a little slower than anticipated, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I was interviewed and would later find out I actually ran 16:11, the third fastest time of the day, and a one-second PR. Results here. Disappointment turned into success. Not a great race, as I could gone out a little slower, kicked better and tried to hang in there longer, but happy with a PR as that was the main goal for the race. I wish my time had been a little bit faster, but overall happy with the performance. Lots of fun, but non-important races and courses where times don't matter coming up before the Ocean State Invitational on 9/24.

Weekly Log: September 5 to 11

More of a training week, as no racing this week and Stravos postponed Tuesday.

Monday: 7 Miles. Labor day trail/road mix with some Carolina and some Carter. Really was looking for to a trail run, but ended up disliking it as so much was road and it was tougher on my still tired legs. Was originally looking for eight, but completely ran out of desire and headed back for seven while the other two (Tom and Dad) continued on.

Tuesday: 5 Miles. I was extremely disappointed Stavros was postponed, but perhaps better this way as I didn't get much sleep that night and the conditions would be brutal for a beach race. I also wasn't sure if I had fully recovered from Saturday. I was excited to think we might do a track workout in the pouring rain (harder to breathe, but much more enjoyable), but unfortunately we did hills instead. 7xPark: It was awful. I was already not feeling great that day as I was tired, had a headache and felt weak when coming to practice. The wetness and heaviness of my clothes, the clothes sticking to me, the difficulty breathing and the lack of traction I had made this one hell. After the first one, I was probably much slower than the pace I should've been running and tried to run decently but felt awful the whole time. As a result, my team was much, much closer to me than usual and even closing the gap a little bit. Hill workouts are typically a little challenging but almost never brutal. This one was. Difficulty: 5/5.

Wednesday: 9 Miles. Typical high school distance run. Felt really weak for about 4 miles, but felt a little better in the second half. Felt hilly coming back, but didn't get that much elevation gain. Overall this was okay- I was happy with my pace and that I didn't take any breaks, but I wished I had felt a little better overall.

Thursday: 6 Miles. Another hill workout, this time Narragansett ave. I was actually a little happy we weren't doing track as originally planned (soccer game taking place). We had to do seven and I wasn't feeling great so I thought about taking a little easier than usual. I started off hard and actually felt good throughout, pushing it until the end. Happy with this one. Difficulty: 3/5.

Friday: 5 Miles. Super fun Bradford Preserve practice. So nice to have a change of venue from the track, hills and ugly roads nearby. Course jog and then we had to run it hard. I wasn't looking forward to the second part at all, but we ended up doing only the trail portion. I didn't love the course during the jog, but it was really fun during the hard run part. I broke away immediately, slowed down a little on the hill and started to feel crappy/run slow up until the field, but I started to feel better there and felt great on the return, pushing the pace. Ran 10:49  for trail portion. Difficulty: 3/5.

Saturday: 5 Miles. Wasn't looking to this hot and possibly hard track workout. Original plan was 3xMile, but since a football game was starting soon it was cut down to 2xMile and 2xNarragansett. A little grateful for the change but still not thrilled doing two hard miles on the hot track. My target time was 4:50 for each, 3-minute recovery. Felt really good starting, with (oddly) people right behind me (they were going way too fast; I wasn't) but was disappointed to hit the first 400 in 73 because I felt I was moving much faster than that and I'd have to pick it up, both effort and pace-wise. It wasn't fun after that. I started to pick it up, but wasn't feeling it anymore and was getting quite tired. I went through the 800 in 2:25, the 1200 in 3:47 but really ran out of energy at the end and finished in 4:51. Pretty good and not super hard but it was all about #2. I was supposed to get three minutes of recovery, but it felt like he started me really early while I was still recovering. Felt tired from the start and it was tough. I got through it okay even though I was incredibly and weak, but was off pace going through the 400 in 74 and the 1200 in 3:55. Felt terrible but finished in 4:58, not horrible but not super close to the target. Disapointed, but also turned out I got 2 mins recovery. Hills were a little hard because we just did track. Starting was super tiring and the first one was hard but felt much better the second time. Positions were completely changed up, as the track workout had different effects on different people. Difficulty: 5/5.

Sunday: 6 Miles. Woke up at 6, ready to head to surftown to watch and get a run in, but I found out that my alarm was way off for some reason and it was really 4:50. Went back to bed and then didn't wake up again until 8:20. It was really 7:10, but I was really upset at first as I had planned on running with a teammate at 6:30 there and now had no run in and no ride down. Almost decided not to go and (miserably) run from home but then realized I could quickly grab a few things and sprint down there. I left at 7:20 and got there at 7:28, just able to watch the start. Ran with freshman teammate Aaron with breaks to catch some of the action. I was disappointed with the race, both with the lack of fast times and the refreshments afterwards, but I was happy to get in a decent and easy recovery/shakeout run. The morning wasn't awful, but could've been better,

Weekly Total: 43 (stepped down from last week total)
YTD Total: 1,594 Miles

Dual meet tomorrow (9/12) at SK (CCMS), possibly the least important race of the season because of a complete lack of competition. Not nervous and very little pressure. Course record of 16:59 (5K) for that course, so that would be cool if I broke it.

First XC Meet- Weekly Log: August 29 to September 4

For some reason, I've had trouble getting this last week's log up even though I never had a problem with time in the past. I'd figured I need to do it before I forget. Week #2 of XC, First Meet Saturday 9/3, Injury Fund Carnival @EG. Smaller log this week.

Monday: 9 Miles. 2nd HS distance run. I'm so tired of the same roads, but the three month gap make the first of the season feel fresh. Picked the river road loop which is usually okay (flat, fast and scenic) but the heat killed me and I had to take many breaks, even jumping in the river at the end. Gradual decline of pace.

Tuesday: 6 Miles. Couldn't make practice and got to run duval trails in early AM instead. Much more fun, considering I was still feeling it after my tiring 8-miler the day before and everyone else had a brutal workout. I wanted to push one of the duval segments but got tired quickly and really just used it as a recovery run.

Wednesday: 9 Miles. New springbrook route (not the roads; just the specific loop I was running): glad to be out of the sun but felt awful from start to finish. Maintained a quality pace but very unpleasant, like Monday. Super humid.

Thursday: 5 Miles. Was hoping for some track as I needed a hard workout to give me confidence for Saturday, but got hills instead. Two fingers (hardest hill workout we do) before one hard Narragansett. I felt okay but thought I was going much slower than usual. I was ready to run the last Narragansett hard but felt completely out of steam halfway through. Somehow I still beat the segment CR on Narragansett summer to ward that I have wanted for so long. Didn't feel genuine at all; I feel like Strava screwed up. Disappointing to get it this way. Difficulty: 4/5.

Friday: 8 Miles. Apache/old pumpkins course neighborhood is fun to run in, but the hills tire me out. Perhaps not the best place for a shakeout, but I went that way anyway. Mixed in another neighborhood and Cimalore field. Run went by really quickly and it was actually a little fun. I felt pretty good except for heavy thighs. So much better than both Monday's and Wednesday's.

Saturday: 5 Miles. Injury Fund XC Carnival. Went out super hard in 4:48 (Fastest 5K mile split by 11 seconds!!!) as I tailed the leader (pack of three) then faded a little and was unable to hang with the top guy (third place for first mile) but got ahead of the original leader. Everyone told me I was high 16:40s/low 16:50s, but my final time was 16:11, a 1-second PR. I will do a separate write-up sometime in the future. A pretty good race. Results.

Sunday: 10 Miles. Recovery loop w/Dad and B. They were doing 16 as a long run pre-surftown on the course, but I opted to do 10 as this was recovery and I wasn't ready to go that distance. Just did the Weekapaug/misquamicut portion as they continued to watch hill. Felt pretty good for most of it; pace was never too challenging. Got really tired in my worn out legs towards the end.

Weekly Total: 52 Miles (much better than I expected considering the typical beginning of season decline)
YTD Total: 1,551 Miles