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).
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| 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.
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.
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