East Bay Challenge 2016

Last year I was both surprised and unhappy with this edition to the schedule- but I ended up liking the course and having a lot of fun at the meet. For those reasons, I was excited to make a return into 2016. The competition and my expectations of the competition (in turnout, not quality) was the opposite of last year. Last year I expected no competition and there ended up being many fast runners while this year I expected the same top-notch competition but only Chariho answered the call for fast runners. I didn't want to have to worry about place, so I was hoping to not have much competition. It seemed that there wouldn't be any until Chariho showed up. After seeing Kyle Keefe, Chariho's top runner, warm-up it seemed the race would be between him and I. While I thought I was faster than him, last week's race had hurt my confidence and I was nervous about facing him. My plan was to take out hard as usual and hopefully get a big lead on a downhill. I figured my time would be around 16:20, adjusting for the frequent hills.

Also of note was that this was the first I'd race in 3/8 inch cross country spikes. Midway into the season was the first time I had really thought about the effect of different length spikes on performance. I wasn't sure what length to use race day and was a little nervous about trying something new, but ultimately decided to use the new spikes as the entire course was grass field, a relatively soft surface that I could use extra traction on. I was a little nervous about using the longer spikes on pavement crossings.

The Course Map didn't show the course off very well.

I feel like my strava activity was clearer.

My race went well here last year. The stacked competition meant I placed 5th to some that I don't usually lose to, but I was pleased with my 16:59 effort on a hilly course. This season, I'm much faster than last year. Injury Fund went well with a PR of 16:11 (15 seconds faster than last year- but that was a short course), Ocean State brought another PR of 16:09 (54 seconds faster than last year), and Avenger was a little disappointing but I still PR'd (16:09.3). I had taken off 65 seconds from my 2015 pumpkins time.

My numerous improvements over last year improved my placement across the state and gave me an indication that I could take the win. Kyle had beat me in most XC races last year, but his many injuries and my fast rate of improvement kept me ahead in track. He was out on an injury during the dual meet we were to race each other in, so in a way this was the make-up for that. I felt pretty good on warm-ups. First was one lap of the course, then some fun trails exploration south of the Glen. Next, we put on our spikes and headed over to the line. We did strides and stretches while catching the last ten minutes of the girls race.

In those last ten minutes, I started to get nervous. Perhaps this was because I hadn't met expectations last week and didn't want to have a bad race again. Perhaps it was because I don't have much strength on hills and I don't have much strength in multiple loop course. Whatever the reason I was, I didn't have much time to think about it. The last girls were finishing and we were on the line, preparing to race. We waited an extra minute to let the last girls go by, then we were up. Someone spotted another girl finishing and the timer indicated that we'd wait another minute for her as well. We did no such thing. A few seconds later, he raised his arm and shot off the gun, to many runner's surprise.

As usual, I went out hard from the gun. This is one area I've improved significantly in this year. Last year, I struggled with the cross country starts and found them quite uncomfortable to run so fast from the gun, while this year I get out into a good position with ease and enjoy doing so. The course started with a quarter-mile lap around the field. I quickly took the lead and led around the first field. I was slightly confused on one turn, but figured it out quickly. A quarter mile in, I noticed there was no one right behind, and later it was indicated to me that I had a 20-meter lead. I was pleased and surprised with this, but still worried the gap may close. I pushed the downhill on the first field and felt strong but slightly out of control. The rest of the first loop went very well. Everything seemed to play out in my favor. Despite my constant worries of the gap closing, my lead was only increasing and I was feeling pretty good. I felt slow on the steepest uphill and was sure Kyle would gain on me. I hit the mile in 5:00. On the final field of the first loop, I felt like one of my spikes had gotten stuck to a rock or another small object and the spike felt uncomfortable and wobbly. I'd figured the stuck object would come out on the pavement crossing, but as the feeling went on, I started to feel that my spike was loose and coming out. I figured it was leaning to the side. The feeling stopped and I felt something come off, likely one of my spikes. It certainly felt like I was missing one. I was glad to remove the discomfort, and finished up the first lap feeling pretty strong.

I tried to push the downhill field at the beginning of the second lap. It was tiring when climbing again and I wasn't looking forward to the three upcoming hills. I had a good lead at this point and my only concern now was that I felt weak and was fading. I hit the second mile in 5:11. The second time up the steepest section was brutal as I was lacking energy. I felt quite slow going up. The last mile was tough. I wasn't feeling very strong anymore but tried to keep pushing, although at some points it was very difficult. I had another moment where a spike felt loose, wobbly and uncomfortable before it also fell out. Perhaps I did a bad job with tightening the spikes on one shoe. I was feeling very tired on the final uphill. The 90 degree turns made it easy to see how far my lead was, and this was the first time I was satisfied with the gap. I realized even if he had a great kick and I had a terrible one, I'd still win. I crossed onto the final field. My coach yelled for me to kick, but I didn't really have anything here. I tried to pick it up a little but lacked the strength to finish strong. I made my way around the field and made the turn onto the final straightaway. My mile three split was called out. It sounded like 15:36, but I wasn't sure if it was 15:36 or 16:36 (it was probably 15:26) and wasn't really paying to the times at all during the race. I saw Kyle on the opposite side of the field, still having to make the final loop. Then I saw the clock. The times were in the 15:40s and I was shocked. I had no idea I was running that fast and it looked like I was going to break 16. This gave me extra motivation and I was able to pick it up more. Unfortunately, I wasn't close enough, creating another soul-crushing moment where the clock ticked up and up and it didn't seem like I was getting much closer. I came very close, but I saw the clock tick 16:00, then 16:01.

I was thrilled I had PR'd, nearly broken 16, and won. I thought there was no chance of getting a PR here and I did. I couldn't believe I was 20 seconds faster than I had originally anticipated. I had replaced last week's poor performance with a great one. No matter how great my race went, it was so disappointing to just get over 16. Breaking 16 would have made this the perfect race. Chances are if I had kicked earlier, I would have done it too. It was odd being so satisfied as I had crushed my expectations, yet still leaving disappointed. Full results here. I did end up enjoying the course once again.

Another odd part of the race was that after checking on my spikes, it turns out none of them fell out and all were not only intact but also in good condition. One had pierced a hard leaf, which made some sense, although is certainly a disadvantage of the longer spike.

It's also quite disappointing that the cross country season is almost over, and all the stress-free meets are over. I enjoy running at ponaganset, but the meets held there are too big and important to have a lot of fun at. I want to have the stressful Championship races over with and run well in them, but I don't want to transition back to track. Fortunately, my time here will reflect well on that course. Last year, I felt that I ran all-out, or nearly all-out on both courses (East Bay and Ponaganset). I ran 24 seconds faster on the ponaganset course one week later at class, and then six seconds faster than that a week later at states. I feel like the gap should be similar, which would translate to a 15:37. That seems a little fast, I feel that I can run under 15:50 on the course and perhaps even a low 15:40s. Running the course Sunday made me a little nervous as it was a little hillier than I remembered. First race of the day on Saturday I'll find out what I'm capable of.

East Bay Challenge- Weekly Log: October 17 to 23

This week's race again falls on Thursday: The East Bay Challenge. This will be last meet before championship races, all held at Ponaganset this year. While all on fast grass fields, the amount of hills slows times down on this courses, making a PR unlikely but a fast time still possible. Going for the win after last week's disappointing performance.

Monday: 8 Miles. Still feeling very sore ever since Friday, I was starting to worry. I was happy to get a slight reduction in time and decided to run easy today. My typical distance run is 7-9 miles at 6:20-6:40 pace, so easy was only around 6:50. Felt comfortable at first, but had to make a bathroom stop at the library four miles in and splits slowed into the 7s for the first time in a while towards the end. 6:49 pace was pretty good for a recovery attempt.

Tuesday: 7 Miles, Narragansett Hill Workout. I was glad we were finally doing fingers as I find the Narragansett repeats to be very boring. Most people had shorter workouts than me, especially the freshman, who have freshman states coming up on Monday. Two fingers + one Narragansett. The fingers always start out well, but get very tiring on the second set, especially on linden and ward as they're the hardest. I noticed that people were much closer to me than usual, which was a little worrying, but I was able to break away after a few hills. I felt strong in the first set and was really happy to see a 5:31 first mile, which I felt translated to 4:50 in GAP. It ended up being a 5:05, not nearly as satisfying. My second set wasn't very good as I felt pretty tired at that point. Difficulty: 4/5. Not sore, meaning taking Monday easy was a good move.

Wednesday: 8 Miles. It's suddenly been very hot this week, odd for mid-October. I certainly felt it on this run. I didn't want to overdo it, but wasn't happy about splits getting much slower. I ran a good first two miles at 6:30 pace as usual, but started to feel quite awful after that and watched my pace get slower and slower until it was high 6:50s. Ran some really bad mid-7s splits without being able to do anything about it as I felt extremely horrible. First time running to the town Forrest from the school, which was much more pleasant than the road. There was a slow tractor which stayed right behind me but never passed coming down canal, which made the run a little more fun. The driver said something positive about my running when he finally passed me on Perkins, but I couldn't exactly catch it.

I've noticed frequently this year that many times, there's been swarms of small bugs around town that fly into me, often hitting my sweat and dying on my body. It's very annoying as many times I have to wipe them off me, getting unwanted crushed bug guts on my hands and face, shield myself while running or occasionally they will fly into my eyes. This was one of the worst runs for these small bugs as I was attacked several times: on Potter Hill road, on Canal and in Wilcox Park, a location they often visit. Hopefully the cold will kill them off soon.

Thursday: 8 Miles, East Bay Challenge. Absolutely destroyed the course with both an 8-second PR and a 48-second (not sure on this one, no results exist before 2015, yet the meet has apparently been held for a while) course record. After last week's disappointing race, this was the confidence boost I needed. I felt like I'd run around 16:20 on a great day, yet I was nearly 20 seconds faster than that. Very happy with this race. Will definitely do a separate post, just like last year. Moved from 9th to 7th in State Rankings, which is a good sign. Results.

Friday: 8 Miles. Felt great, and took the opportunity to go for a shirtless rain run. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but being soaked two miles in at a sub-6:30 pace changed my mind and I enjoyed the rest of it. A great run.

Saturday: 6 Miles. I don't enjoy Saturday practices, and this one wasn't very fun. Only one coach showed up. I was prepared for an easy track workout that wasn't supposed to be very difficult. The freshman got 10x200 w/30s recovery at 5K pace and an-all out 400 which sounded quite fun, but we had the same hill workout as Tuesday. Went by quickly and didn't feel too hard, but lost interest as I actually wanted a track workout and forgot my GPS which I usually use for the hills. Difficulty: 3/5.

Sunday: 9 Miles. Ponaganset course preview to determine what length spikes I'll wear for the upcoming championship races. Wore 3/8 inch which were completely worn down from the pavement crossing (there's only two-but going across the parking lot didn't help). My spikes were great on the grass, but not on the wooded trail which takes up the majority of the course. 1/4 inch is likely for the upcoming meets. This is the first season I've really paid attention to spike length. Tillinghast management 20 minutes later. Perimeter trails. First loop was fun and weather was great, but had no energy after that and didn't enjoy the trails as much. Will have to return and explore neighboring wickaboxet as well.

Weekly Total: 54 Miles
YTD Total: 1,910 Miles (my original goal was 2000 miles for the year- looks like I'll break that in early November)

Class Championships on Saturday. Looking for a time 15:45 or faster.

Weekly Log: October 10 to 16

Just one meet this week, Thursday at the Avenger Invitational. No brown invitational as previously planned. As I'm really late with this log, I'll keep it brief (and because I don't really remember any of the details).

Monday: 8 Miles, Pawcatuck Loops. Last day of the three day weekend. Felt really tired on a relatively hilly route.

Tuesday: 6 Miles, Seven Narragansetts. Not an extremely difficult workout, but wasn't feeling great and the large amount of repetitions was getting quite boring. Gradually slowing down as I got weaker. Difficulty: 2/5.

Wednesday: 10 Miles, Greenhaven Loop. Since I'm running out of options for new routes, I've been wanting to run this one for a while. It's too long to run if I'm not instructed to run for an hour, so I haven't been able to in the last few times. I broke my PR for longest school distance run at 9.1 miles. The several miles on route one were not pleasant. Ran a little too fast and was feeling more worn out pre-meet than I wanted.

Thursday: 7 Miles, Avenger Invitational. I really didn't want to race this, and it certainly wasn't helping that I would have great competition up front and wasn't running until 5:20 (waiting around for 2 and half hours). I later found out that two possible up-front contenders dropped out and only the fastest of those three remaining. Even though I enjoyed the course on the warm-up, I was really nervous about facing him.

The start was absolutely awful. The EG coach was telling us directions, but no one on my end of the starting line could hear him because he wasn't talking loud or into a megaphone and was on the other end. When he finished, he walked into the middle. I figured he'd give louder directions, but instead raised his arm and suddenly the race was started. I had no idea this was coming and lost a few seconds, not having the usual great start. I quickly took the lead, but noticed I wasn't feeling very strong. I kept pushing until the mile, but started to feel incredibly weak. I noticed half a mile in that there were many people in the lead pack (but there were only three). I led up until the mile in 4:45, where Jackson Cronin passed me.

I was feeling really awful and didn't go with him when he started to pull away. Eventually, the gap stopped opening but he had too big of a lead for me to close it. I never really made a move to try and catch him. I didn't feel strong and I felt like I was slipping on the terrain. Mile 2 in 10:04 gave me a little confidence that I could pull out a big PR, but my lack of effort and strength made mile three slow. I felt like I was slightly gaining on him at the end. I saw the clock ticking just over 16:00 and tried to sprint to get a PR. My strong kick at the very end only showed how much I really left out on the course. The clock disappointingly ticked up and I crossed in a PR tie of 16:09. I actually ended up slightly PR'ing as this time was 0.6 seconds faster than my time at Ocean State Invitational.

Time-wise, I ran decently but nowhere near what I'm capable of. For place and toughness, a weak race on my part and confidence-hurting.

Friday: 9 Miles, ran the distance run really hard because I was feeling bad about Thursday's race. Not a great move as I became quite tired and it wasn't that enjoyable. 6:11 pace.

Saturday: 5 Miles, hard track workout. I really hated the track workout on 10/1, which was very hard mile repeats. I first heard we were doing a timed mile, then easier and shorter stuff which didn't seem so bad. I was sore from not taking Friday easy and a little nervous I might not be strong. The mile was enjoyable because I got to chase the others by starting 30 seconds behind. I cranked that out in 4:31, which is close to projected 1600 PR and was an actual 1600 PR. I went out in 64, so I was a little disappointed I slowed down so much, but I guess that was inevitable. Felt really strong. 5 minutes recovery, than a mile closer to 5K pace. My target was 4:52. It wasn't too bad, and I ran a 4:54 somewhat comfortably. We were told we were done with the workout there, but coach was upset at a comment made by someone on the team and we were doing 4x400. I would've preferred to be done, but it didn't seem too bad. Then we switched to a mile, same pace as last time. That one was really tough. Coach yelled to me to hammer the last lap, and I was able to do that and run a 4:44. Pretty happy with this effort and happy that I felt good. Difficulty: 4/5.

Sunday: 13 Miles, long Sunday run in Portsmouth. 11 and half miles on the Sakonnet greenway trails, which looked awesome based on reviews, pictures and the trail map. I feel that it may have been fun in other circumstances, but it didn't live up to my expectations. 1.5 miles at the glen after to preview my Thursday course (East Bay Challenge). The 11.5 had almost no elevation gain, yet the glen had about 75 feet of gain in just over mile. Brutal run, one of the hardest of the week, because my legs were so sore from the pervious three days.

Weekly Total: 58 Miles
YTD Mileage: 1,856 Miles

Double Bradford Preserve- Weekly Log: October 3 to 9

Two races this week, both at the same venue. Final dual meet of the season on Tuesday against Prout, Narragansett and Middlebridge, and Run for the Pumpkins 5K on Saturday. Excited for both.

Monday: 9 Miles. Another distance run. Didn't have a good route planned out so did several smaller loops instead. Didn't feel great but it went by quickly.

Tuesday: 6 Miles, XC Dual #4.

I was a little nervous coming in because I didn't know how I could possibly beat my time from the first meet here or even run the first mile anywhere near that fast again. This time the competition was Prout. I figured Jonny Eckel would be much closer to me than the Chariho runners were last time but I still wanted to have a good lead before I entered the trails. Warm-ups went okay, we did our strides and soon it was time to race.

As usual, I went out hard from the gun. Like last time, I diagonally cut across at the start until I took the lead then settled in a little. I gapped the field quickly, but quickly noticed that it wasn't as comfortable as last time. I glanced back at one of the switchbacks and was surprised how close Jonny was (not super close, but much closer than the Chariho runners were last time on this course). Wanting to increase my lead as much as possible before entering the trail, I kept running hard. I slowed down a bit lap 2, but kept the effort the same and had a decent gap on Jonny before entering the trails (maybe 100 meters?). Once again, I was shocked to hear my incredibly fast mile time, especially as I thought I couldn't run 4:49 again and planned on not running out so hard (but did anyway). I split my fastest mile split for 5K ever of 4:42. (Jonny's was 5:00).

Cool shot of how the field was broken up 200 meters in.

I pushed the hill as much as could, at least for the steep portion. It was slow like expected and that also made me slightly nervous that Jonny might close the gap a little, but I was fine. I felt slow and tired going up immediately after the steepest section until the pumpkins intersection. The slight downhill gave me a boost, before the long and slow climb up to the upper field. It was quite relieving to make the turn onto the upper field, one of my favorite trails anywhere, as I both felt an increase in pace and energy. The downhills were fun. As soon as I spilled out on the field, I picked it up again and increased pace until I was sprinting. One of the best finishes I've had this year. I heard my mile 3 split of 16:02 (It actually sounded like 17:02, which scared me a little) before finishing in 16:40(Jonny 17:29). Really happy with that time on this great course. Always sad to the see the dual meets end and go onto to higher pressure races.

Wednesday: 9 Miles. Once again didn't have a good route planned out and ran several smaller routes to make up my distance run. Felt a little sick/full. Got swarmed by lots of small bugs in Pumpkins neighborhood (which would show up several times this week and next).

Thursday: 6 Miles. Hill workout as expected, but tried out a new hill this time off of high street. 9xHillview Ave. Wasn't feeling awesome but somehow managed to lap everyone. Only felt strong on the first one, as it started out steep and then had a smaller grade throughout. Really short hill, which made the first few easy but recovery was really short too. It was getting pretty tiring towards the end, but the new setting and hill made it fun. Certainly nowhere near as hard as field street, but not the easiest hill I've done either. Difficulty: 3/5.

Friday: 6 Miles. Really surprised when my coach gave me a 30-minutes for my distance run instead of 60 minutes. It was somewhat of a pleasant surprise as I was feeling weak and not looking forward to the distance run. Figured out a route as I went along.

Saturday: 9 Miles, Run for the Pumpkins. I was pretty sure I had the win, so my main goal was for a fast time. I was hoping to break 18 on the course, but really wasn't sure I'd be able to. My plan was to run hard from the gun and hopefully have a big lead at the end of the mile. Race day came. The whole XC team was going which would be interesting to see how times would differ with the XC course. I figured the pumpkins course was about 80-90 seconds slower. I got another course preview when going on a jog for the course marking. That was fun, but actually left me much more tired than I expected. I was also surprised how wet the field was and wasn't happy that I didn't bring dry socks and my feet would be wet when racing. I did the usual warm-up routine with my team, minus the first warm-up as I was still out on the course marking warm-up. Changing into spikes was not fun as my socks were still wet and there was nothing I could do about it. I did about 4-5 strides before heading to the line. It was really wide this year, which was nice as many people got to start at the front. I wanted to make a last-minute bathroom stop but wasn't willing to wait in a 5-person line. Eventually, we all lined up and the gun went off.

I went out exactly like I would in a cross country race, perhaps even harder. I instantly had the lead at the first turn. There was a good gap between me and the next runner when entering the trails, but I was still nervous that it wouldn't last. Of course, I was wrong but the slow hill section certainly didn't convince me of that. It was very interesting to hear after that many of my XC teammates occupied the top positions for the first part of the race. I noticed when getting to the top of the hill that I still hadn't fully digested and I had discomfort in my stomach. Perhaps I ate too much or too close to the race start. The section that followed the steep part was tight but fun as well as the short gravel road section where I tired to figure out how big my lead was. The long straightaway sections that followed were fast, but not very exciting. As I wasn't feeling great, I didn't want it to drag on and this section wasn't helping. I finally got to the end of it, passed the road and onto the new trail detour. This trail certainly was interesting as it was very soft and had incredibly sharp turns, but seeing as it took away the longer field finish I think I preferred last year's course.

Next came the twisty pine forest section. Hansel and Gretel was fun. It felt like it took a while, but it was by far the best trail on the course with the fun twisty sections and very different terrain. It felt slow but I had no idea how this would play into my time. At one sharp switchback, I tried to look back and see the next person but was accidentally went off course as I was not looking at the flags ahead. I looked up and realized I was on the path, then quickly corrected myself back on. I probably only lost a few seconds, but it was a confusing moment. I was recognizing specific places in Hansel and Gretel, like the stone wall Brightman jumped over last year and coming up to the rock. It felt like I was in there for a long time. There were a few logs runners had to jump over, which I did not appreciate as I was quite tired and barely able to get over them. On many, I couldn't even clear it all the way and my spikes hit the top. Going over the big rock at the end was very difficult and I stumbled over it, barely getting my footing down. Passed the mile two marker.

I was really tired at this point and wanted to take the XC return path back, as it is much more enjoyable and easier. The last mile wasn't fun. I really wanted the race to end and the slight downhill wasn't helping me much. The path was also getting boring and dragging on, feeling long again. After a while, I finally reached the intersection to go back down. I wasn't able to push it as much as I wanted, perhaps since I was feeling crappy. I did have a good finish at the very end, but not a great one and I certainly would have preferred to run last year's finish. Turning the final corner was disappointing because I saw how far off my time goal I was. I suppose I underestimated how slow the course was and I probably could have pushed it a little more. I guess I'll come back next year with the same goal in mind (if I run it next year).

Immediately after finishing, I felt very hot and exhausted. It took me a few minutes to recover. It was interesting to see how others finished, but many were slower than I expected. Very brief cool-down to follow. Full results here.

Sunday: 6 Miles. I figured since I like running in Mystic, I might enjoy the trails there. I found a map of the pequotsepos trails and it looks like the perimeter trails plus a trail off maritime drive. I didn't realize that it would be raining, and that made the run pretty unpleasant with slippery surfaces everywhere

Weekly Total: 51 Miles
YTD Total: 1,798 Miles

Next week's race is a new addition to both RI XC and the Westerly Schedule: The Inaugural Avenger Invitational on Thursday. While its likely I'll hit off a PR and perhaps a win, I have little interest in this race for a few races (see below)

1) The Course- I actually mostly enjoy the terrain of the new EG course, despite the fact that there are several pavement crossings and it's a little hard. The two-loop layout really made it much less enjoyable, turning a good course into a okay or possibly bad one. Starting that second loop is mentally tough and not something to look forward to.

2) The Competition- This is a Rhode Island only meet, meaning I can't let anyone Rhode Islanders who shouldn't be ahead of me beat me, which is much more stressful than racing out-of-state strangers. Sometimes I welcome competition, but when its at a venue I don't enjoy or don't have confidence in running well there, it makes it even more stressful to race runners close to you.

3) The Time- A weeknight invitational where I don't run until 5:20 in the last race of the day.

Westerly will not be making an appearance at Goddard Park for the Brown Invitational, which I'm glad about because one Goddard park race is enough for me for a year.

Weekly Log: September 26 to October 2

After all the frequent racing last week, this week is a nice break. One more on Monday, then the rest off. We were originally planning on having a dual meet against Stonington at Bradford Preserve, but that didn't work out and was replaced with training.

Monday: 6 Miles, Third XC Dual Meet. Out of the dual meets, this one would be by far the most competitive with North Kingstown bringing plenty of front-runners and also a fast toll gate runner in the field. At all the other dual meets this seasons, I was able to get a big lead, but at this one I wouldn't even win and possibly be challenged for second place. I knew NK sophomore Sam Toolin would take the win, but thought I had a decent chance at second place, although I was worried about Toll Gate junior Nik Reygadas. The course was at Rocky Point park, a relatively new course. I was originally excited to run here, but after hearing it was 3-laps, I was unsure what to think of it. After looking at the course in person, I wasn't looking forward to it. It was actually 3.5 laps, completely on grass. Even worse was that there was a very windy stretch we would run 3 times. I wasn't able to get in a complete warm-up, although it wasn't as bad as my lack of warm-up at the first dual meet. I wasn't feeling great on the warm-ups. Toolin said he would be sitting on me at this race, but at this point I was so used to it that I didn't mind.

We started. The first stretch was a slight uphill across a field before taking a right and heading towards the water. Several ran out hard, including some that didn't belong there. I was in second at first, then passed to take the lead. I took a wrong turn (continued instead of taking a left), but was quickly corrected and back on track. Reygadas had this place as his home course and starting giving directions. I understood the rest of that course, just not that turn. He led until the end of the windy part, before I took the lead again with Sam right behind me. I was already feeling drained from the fast start, the wind, and possible leftover fatigue from other races. I wasn't happy to have 2.5 laps left and was also slightly worried I might get DQ'd for the wrong turn (only because the TG coach mentioned we'd get DQ'd if we went off course). We continued on, slowly. In the middle of each main loop, there was an uphill and then a downhill. At the start of the uphill, we got our split for the mile- 5:07. I knew it was going to get much slower. I noticed that both uphill and downhill, Sam came right up to me and sometimes even passed me. Another loop went by and then another. I felt slower and slower, weaker and weaker. I think the mile 2 split was 10:29. We finally got to the last time through the windy section and just half a lap to go. It was time to kick, but I had nothing. I was really nervous about Reygadas catching up. Sam told me we had a 100m lead, and I confirmed it to myself when looking back at a turn but I knew I'd be really slow on the final uphill stretch. I tried to run hard at the end, but once again had nothing. Sam took off and ran away from me in the final stretch. I still finished second.

I later found out my time was 16:40, which actually isn't bad at all. I also looked at the elevation at my GPS data and it was around what I got for the home course. I felt terrible and thought I was running terrible, but actually a decent performance. Absolutely hated the course and am hoping we won't return next year.

Tuesday: 10 Miles. Northern westerly again. Went up high street, then across potter hill. Found a steep, long and winding hill on Randeau passage. Wanted to go up laurel and look at the town forest entrance too but didn't enough time. Felt pretty good and got to explore some new roads. Pace wasn't super aggressive as I was trying to recover.

Wednesday: 9 Miles. Was ready to do a hard hill workout, so it was really disappointing when we we ended up doing a distance run instead. I quickly figured out a route. I ended up running really fast and even pushing it up the hill at the end to keep my pace in the low 6:10s. Felt like I got in pretty good elevation again. I even checked, and I was top of the (strava) leaderboard for elevation at that time (which only lasted one day).

Thursday: 7 Miles. Then we got the hard hill workout. It was supposed to be 8xField Street, but coach changed it up and we ran 2x(Field/Palmer/Mayflower), 2xField with the recoveries still being the downhills. One of the coaches told me to work the downhill on one of the hills, which was confusing and certainly tired me out for the next hill. This was very exhausting. After I got done with the first set, the rest of it was quite hard. I got throughout and tried to push it, but my legs were dying at the end. Difficulty: 4/5.

Friday: 9 Miles. Another distance run. My first mile was a little fast, but then it started raining pretty hard. I sometimes like running in the rain, but it didn't take long to for my clothes to be soaked. After two miles, I felt like I was running into the wind for the rest of the time. I felt worse and worse over time as my pace gradually slowed. Once I got to the old pumpkins neighborhood, my run improved but overall very hard with the wind and rain.

Saturday: 6 Miles, track workout. I enjoyed the nice break from not doing track workouts, so I really wasn't looking forward to this one. We had done mile repeats several times and I was hoping we would do shorter intervals this time. I also felt terrible on the warm-up. I was dreading the workout even more when I heard we were doing mile repeats, 3xMile. One of the coaches told me my first split was 5:52, so I got a little excited about that, until he corrected himself and said 4:52. My target splits were supposed to be 4:52/4:40/4:52. I really didn't want to run it.

The first one was okay. I felt pretty good the first lap until I hit the wind on the straightaway closest to ward ave. I went out in 70 and slowed down a little but the first one was overall okay. First two laps were fine, 3 and 4 were a little tiring but I got through them okay and ran a 4:52 first split.

After about two minutes recovery, I was up again. I was thinking there was no way I could run a 4:40. Went out in 71 this time, slightly tired from the last time. I must've slowed down a little lap 2, from both the wind and fatigue because my coach yelled at me to pick it up lap 3. I was still off the pace, so I tried to hammer the last lap and managed to crank out a 4:41. Really happy with that, but absolutely dead at that point.

I hoped he would let us off easy on the last one because I felt like I couldn't even run 5:30, but unfortunately he did not such thing and I was still expected to run 4:52 without any extra recovery. The last was brutal. I felt horrible after just 150 meters. I was off pace again (mostly from lap 3) and once again tried to hammer the last lap. I ended with 4:55 which I was still pretty happy with.

Difficulty: 5/5. One of the hardest I've done. I felt a little better than I expected and was pretty happy with my splits. Hopefully I won't have to do that workout again.

Sunday: 5 Miles. Was told I could have the day off if I wanted but did a light run instead. Got a preview of the pumpkins course, complete with the recent course changes. Probably ran a little too hard. Forgot hard (soft) it was. Hopefully I'll be able to run this next weekend. I think I prefer the XC course, but still enjoyed this one.

Weekly Total: 52 Miles
YTD Total: 1,747 Miles

Stavros, First Home Meet, and Ocean State Invitational- Weekly Log: September 19 to 25 (w/Race Recaps)

Injury Fund knocked down many fast times, but since then the High School XC scene has been pretty quiet, with only dual meets filling many runner's race schedules (and mine). This week ended that, with this weekend being the first weekend of the XC season to have major meets once again. And after that, there are no more "quiet" weeks (or not many). Another way of saying this is that this week kicks off competitive cross country for RI. If any XC runners weren't feeling in a cross country state of mind yet, they should be after this weekend. While some RI teams went to NY for the Bowdoin XC Classic and a few up to NH for the Manchester Invitational, Westerly, as usual, picked the Ocean XC Invitational, held at Goddard park. While I was expecting this, I never look forward to it as I don't enjoy the course. I've actually not only run it every year of high school, but also since 7th grade, as Middle School races are held on Friday.

Previous Results

2012- 7th Grade/13th of 198/7:43 for 2K (6:13 pace)
2013- 8th Grade/7th of 243/6:56 for 2K (5:35 pace)
2014- Freshman 1/5th of 159/14:31 for 4K (5:50 pace)
2015- Varsity 1/13th of 220/17:03 for 5K (5:29 pace)

2015 Race

While the varsity races were fast, this year I was entered in the Championship Race, which was a whole another level. To get a glimpse of how competitive that is, my 17:03 effort in Varsity 1 from last year would have placed me 42nd in the Championship race. I was definitely happy to step up to a bigger race, but there was a downside. Nearly all of my teammates would run before me while I waited around for four hours and raced at noon. I had gone through more hours of waiting (six at the 2016 outdoor track state meet) before my race, but still wasn't looking forward to it. Based off my previous results (mainly my 2015 result), current fitness level and PR, and the amount of competition in the Championship race, I wanted to finish in the Top 10 and run low 16s (sub-16:20). Goddard Park is always an unpleasant experience for me and I just wanted to get it over with.

So typical week of training before an important race Saturday, right? No, this week doesn't just kick off the big meets of cross country, but also starts the weeks with several meets instead of just one. I had three races this week, a Bradford Preserve Dual Meet against Chariho on Monday, the Stavros Beach Race on Wednesday and of course, the Ocean State Invitational on Saturday. On Monday, I did have any specific goals. I knew it was likely Chariho's top runner would not race due to injury, and I wouldn't have any trouble winning if he didn't show up. I just planned to run it hard. As for Wednesday, I wanted to run a fast time. I was pretty sure I had the win no problem and wanted to run about a 15:30-15:50 time, as anything in that range would be about an all-out effort for me that would demolish the current CR of 16:20 (I tied it last year).

Then it got worse as plans changed. I was excited to race Monday, but found halfway throughout the day the meet was moved to Thursday. I would find out that my coach didn't want to race the first two races of the week hard, but just for the win. Two races that I was excited for now just became moderate efforts. I would later find out on Thursday that I was to run all-out at the new Bradford Preserve course, so it wasn't all a loss.

Monday: 5 Miles. Halfway into school I heard the meet was postponed and practice cancelled, which further ruined my already mediocre day. Took a long nap when I got home which drained all my interest in running, but of course I had to go out anyway. Originally planned 5-8, incorporating the local Mastuxet and Champlin trails. Maxtuxet was overgrown and wet, which was quite unpleasant to run in. After taking a fall on rocks in Champlin (wet from the rain), I was having an awful time and just heading home right away. Not a good run.

Tuesday: 6 Miles. Repeats on field street. Felt humid, but I thought I was running strong the whole time. For some reason, my segments showed I was off usual field street pace, but I think there was some error. Hard hill workout, steep section really slowed the pace and made me tired going up, but made the pace quick on the way down, getting less recovery. Seven repeats. Hard, but not unpleasant. Liked this workout. Difficulty: 4/5.

Wednesday: 6 Miles, Stavros Beach Race.

I originally had so much excitement for Stavros, but lost a lot of it after the two week delay. Finding out that I was just to run for the win was also disappointing, but at that point I had lost so much excitement that it didn't mean too much anymore. The only thing I would be missing would be going home with the CR. As far as I knew, I had the win. One of my goals for this year was get a back-to-back win (win a race this year that I also won last year), and I'm pretty sure I had this one. I figured Tom would be the top guy. Our team did our usual two warm-ups, plus stretching and strides and soon enough we were on the line. My plan was stay about 10m behind Tom for the first mile, catch up to him and run behind him at the turnaround, then take off mile 3.

Since I was planning on leading until mile 2, I wasn't going to take it out hard. I guess I forgot that a moderate effort is still much faster than warm-up, because I nearly paused/ran incredibly slow at the very beginning before starting to run a more race-like pace. For the first few moments, I was in a big pack with my team before separating after a minute. Tom had the lead and I moved into second but wasn't right on Tom's heels. I soon noticed that we were much farther to the left than I would have liked. I quickly corrected myself and ran right to the water's edge. I stayed behind Tom for a while. It didn't feel as comfortable as anticipated, and I found myself slightly regretting the decision to run on the right side as I now was splashing in the water, which was slowing me a little. I found a place somewhere in the middle that felt right. Towards the end of the mile, either I started to slow down a little or Tom picked it up and the gap was increasing a tiny bit. I picked it up to keep the gap equal to the distance I wanted.

I must have increased pace a little too much because soon I found myself right behind Tom. This was a little earlier than I wanted, but it felt more comfortable and I didn't want to slow down. He went around the cone first, then I went. I soon caught up to him again and we ran side by for a quarter mile. I started to take the lead, and after the lead increased, I picked up the pace more. I was feeling pretty good at this point, but my feet were bothering me a little. I opened the gap more and more before picking up the pace the final mile.

1st overall in 16:46. Actually a pretty time considering not a lot of people break 17 here and I wasn't racing it, but I certainly would've preferred to run in the 15s. I certainly hope I have the opportunity to do so next year, as it's likely I won't race this in college. Full results here.

Thursday: 7 Miles, XC Dual #2 at Bradford Preserve.

I was surprised to find out that my coach decided he wanted me to run it all-out (earlier in the week he said just for the win), that boys ran second, and that racetime wasn't until 4:45. Waited around for an hour, before first warm-up then one later. I was actually a little nervous going in because the hill had been difficult for me in previous workouts and I didn't want anyone to catch up me. Chariho's top runner was not running, so that certainly gave me confidence towards the win. I wasn't feeling very good on any of the many strides we did, which also made me a little nervous. Soon, we started.

Our team was on the far right side of the starting line, so I had to cut across diagonally to get to the first flag. I went out hard at first so I could get a good position, but after I quickly took the lead I settled into a more comfortable pace. The field loops felt pretty good, both effort and pace wise. I felt like I was running a 5:10 pace which would give me a lead but not use up all my energy before getting to the trail. I wanted to have a good lead before entering the trail so I wouldn't having to worry about anyone catching me on the hill. The field was a little sunny, but it was a nice part of the course. I actually didn't mind doing a second loop. I figured the Chariho runners would be close behind, seeing as it was very early in the race, but they were far back. I picked it up a tiny bit before lap two. Went by the crowd again, around the field, and this time into the woods. That turn was a little sharp, but not the sharpest turn out there. I got my mile split of 4:49 which seemed absolutely insane, considering I didn't even feel like I was going out hard. Then I started the ascent.

Going in, I figured this would be brutal and the steepest section (first quarter mile after starting the ascent) certainly tired me out. A slight and short downhill before continuing the ascent helped me get back into a fast pace. Usually, this section drags on. I always see the sunlight from the upper field and think it's just ahead when I really still have a third of mile to go. It certainly didn't go by quickly this time, but before I knew it I was at the upper field. Even though I had a huge lead going into the woods, it felt like the Chariho pack were catching up to me. I enjoyed the upper field portion as usual, before crossing mile 2 (I heard the split as something 21 which means either 10:21 or 11:21, but both don't make sense because 10:21 means my downhill mile 3 was slower than uphill mile 2 and 11:21 means I ran a mid-6s 2nd mile and low 5s third mile) and finishing the final uphill of the course.

I took a right turn and started the descent. I felt a little out of control with the steep sections and sharp turns. I never pushed the downhills as much as I could have since I was already going so fast down them. That section went by quickly, and I soon came to the flat section before the field. This section drags on a little bit because I'm prepared to exit the woods after the downhill and forget this section is still here. I pushed this part and spilled out of the trails, back onto the field for a quarter mile to go. I wasn't feeling very strong at that point, but I still had a little left. I gradually picked it up and sprinted the last straightaway. I was surprised to hear my time was 16:55, considering I was expecting a high 17s, possibly even low 18s time. Definitely happy with this one. Felt great nearly the whole time. Even though I was worried Chariho runners were right behind me, they actually finished 1:27 behind (18:22).

Friday: 9 Miles, Northern westerly distance run. Based off a satellite map, it looked like there was a telephone line trail that went from Potter Hill Road to Boombridge. I couldn't find it, but instead got to run in two WLT properties I hadn't run in before: Wildwood and Flora Whiteley. Also searched for Anderson, but couldn't find it. Heavy legs.

Saturday: 8 Miles, Ocean State Invitational. I was a little annoyed that I would have to wait for four hours because of the time of my race. I wasn't able to get as much sleep as I wanted and still felt a little sore on the warm-up. I wasn't very nervous coming in, but that changed as more and more of my teammates ran while I waited around. I started to get pretty nervous around 10, two hours before my race. I had eaten at 9, and now was having to visit the bathroom frequently, as usual, which was pretty annoying. I finally warmed up, feeling soreness in one my thighs. I had to do my warm-ups a little early because runners had to be at the starting early, about 15 minutes before their actual race start. I was worried that I'd have to wait in a long line for the bathroom, but luckily I found a bathroom with no line a few minutes into my warm-up. I got back, put on my spikes, drank my last sip of water and headed over to the start. I recognized North Kingstown and Cumberland runners doing strides. Sam Toolin of NK would likely be the top RI finisher and I'd battle it out with Ben Drezek of Cumberland for 2nd. After about 10 minutes of waiting around, doing strides, and checking in, we were instructed to take our sweats and line up. They took the first runner for each team and had them run left to the end of the huge starting line. Last year I was the farthest runner to the left and this year I was the second closest to the left. Even after everyone was lined up, we still had to wait before we started. They introduced all the teams running, and everyone did a short stride when their team was called. Then we waited through the national anthem. I finally thought we were about to go, but then we had a few more minutes to do our final strides. Finally, everyone was back on the line and we awaited the gun.

We went out hard, but it wasn't an all-out sprint. I got out really well and was in the top 15 at the end of the field. I saw both Toolin and Drezek up ahead near the front. Pre-race, I thought the first mile would be awful with the combination of the very fast field lap and the soft sand trails. The pace was certainly fast, but it was actually much more comfortable than I had previously anticipated. I could pick it up if I wanted to, but wasn't feeling great and wondered if this wasn't my day. After the field loop, I was at the end of the lead pack. We crossed the road and headed into the woods. It was a little crowded and I was forced to step in a puddle. We ran by an awful soft sand section where there was several paths to take, went past the spectator railing and the mile mark. I didn't get my split or even see the mile marker sign, but I'm guessing it was around 4:50-4:55. I was in about 12th place and now towards the front of the chase pack. I could still see the lead pack in the distance, only about 50 meters ahead. 

We started the trail loop with a slight hill. It wasn't bad, but I still didn't feel like I had much energy. The ground was fairly soft and I didn't enjoy running on that. I found myself behind two Saint Anthony runners in black. Their coach kept popping and yelling out their places, which was helpful for me as I still had my top 10 goal in mind. The three of us were around 10th place. There was a section where I tried to push past one of them on an uphill, but he resisted and held me off. I was still behind the two of them in 11th place at mile 2.

I saw Drezek up ahead in 8th, not too far away but I could no longer see the top runners. We repassed the spectator railing and I recognized some people I knew. After the soft sand section, instead of going left where we entered we continued on and down a hill. I pushed past the Saint Anthony runners. One tried to stay ahead but I got a small lead on him. There was a steep but short uphill before the final third of a mile on grass. I slowed going up and was worried I might get repassed. I didn't feel very fast moving after that. I saw Drezek only 30 or 40 meters ahead and was definitely gaining on him. It wasn't until the last tenth of mile that I realized I had more left. I heard the Saint Anthony's coach yell "You're in 11th, go after this guy", which meant I was in 10th. I sprinted with the first good kick I've had since June (kicking is probably my biggest weakness in racing) and held him off. I didn't catch Drezek but was close behind. The clock ticked down from 16:00, and I crossed around 16:10. That was actually the first time all race where I thought about my time. I found out later I finished 9th in 16:09.98. A two second PR. Pretty happy with this one, but I wish I had pushed the last mile harder.

Did a long (3 mile) cool-down exploring some of Goddard away from the race course. It was peaceful and pleasant. Top 10 were featured in the awards ceremony where I received a medal and hat. Full results here.

Sunday: 9 Miles. Ran Pachaug State Forest for the first time. First three miles were awesome: started out on a pine trail with tall trees surrounding the trail. It was actually a little cold for once, which was nice. A brief confusing and ugly dirt road section followed, but the mount misery ascent was really fun. We went on the wrong path after that, and the rest of the run was tiring over mostly ugly stretches of trail.

Actual Results vs. Predictions

I made some predictions for the three races this week and this is how I matched up:
Prediction/Final Result

Stavros: 1st in 15:49/1st in 16:46
XC Dual #2: 1st in 18:02/1st in 16:55
Ocean State: 3rd in 16:25/9th in 16:09

To be fair, even though I was way off on all three, I didn't know I was running Stavros easy, there were no previous results to base off a prediction off of for the Bradford Preserve course and I didn't know I'd be in the Championship race when I made that prediction.

Weekly Total: 50 Miles
YTD Total: 1,695 Miles