The summer is always a great period for running because I actually get a break from the frequent and stressful cycle of school running that many times has a complete lack of variety. After just half a week of running, this offseason is almost over. Indoor starts Monday, meaning the (mostly) boring cycle starts again. At least this week was enjoyable. After a fun little Rhody race, I had one more: the Pie run on Thanksgiving morning. I like racing on thanksgiving and this race seems like a good opportunity to update my 5-mile PR (I failed to do so in Bobby Doyle's brutal conditions), check out a good-looking course and hopefully enjoy another race.
Monday: 0 Miles
I wasn't sure what to do on this one, either a light short run or day off. I decided to take the day off because I was quite sore from the race the day before and I don't take many zeros during season, at least not in the second half.
Tuesday: 9 Miles
I hadn't run a road race since August and besides Little Rhody I also hadn't run any races over 5K, so I wanted to get some kind of a workout in to get a feel for what the target pace may feel like. I would've made it difficult but since it was only two days out, it was better not to go too hard. I also couldn't have done it Monday as it was the day after the race. I didn't like how tight this was (if the race was Saturday, I could've taken two days recovery from Little Rhody, run a hard workout Wednesday, then take two days recovery before Pie Run), but there were only three days between the two races. I also did enjoy racing on a weekday morning. Looking at Strava activities for the Pie Run, I also decided it would be a good idea to do some hill repeats in preparation for the 100ft climb at mile 3.5.
The workout was a short amount of descending intervals at the target 5-mi pace (5:20) w/short recoveries of 200m. 1000/800/600/400/200. I wasn't excited headed out as it had been cold and windy the whole day and my teammate dropped out of the workout (and ended up dropping out of the race as well) at the last second, so I was all alone. I planned on doing in this in the Misquamicut beach parking lot as I like to find a flat smooth and wide area when I do my track-style workout on asphalt. I've tried Ninigret and Avondale as well, both great options for workouts. What I didn't realize was how windy it was. The wind didn't seem bad heading down, but as soon as I started the 1K, it hit me hard. I had to work very to get past the brutal wind. Sometimes, I'd go with it which made the intervals easy, but I was pretty exhausted otherwise and for most of them I was against the wind. The stupid wind screwed the whole workout up and made it pretty much useless as it felt terrible and I wasn't consistent or smooth at all. I did hit all the splits close to 5:20 except the 200 where I was too fast. I guess the workout might be useful as preparation for a windy races. It was about 1.5 miles to the base of the hill (Ice Pond hill), where I planned to 4x50ft climb. I was surprised I had already gotten in 5 miles, but now was quite cold and not looking forward to it. The hills went quite well and I ran between 5:20-5:40 pace for all of them. Difficulty: 3/5.
Wednesday: 5 Miles
Rockridge loop shakeout. Not cold today, but I didn't feel like doing this. Felt smooth and comfortable at 6:30s pace (too fast but I got into a groove), but didn't really enjoy it.
Thursday: 8 Miles
Race day. Newport Pie Run. The 8:30 AM start was earlier than I was used to (the school races usually start between 11-1, so I hadn't raced this early since summer) and I had to wake up much earlier than usual. I wasn't super excited for the race, but it ended up being great. I loved the course, set-up, timing and awards. In additional, race conditions were perfect. Felt terrible pre-race and post-race, but besides some heaviness in the first mile and weakness in the last two, I felt great. Completely flat mile 3 was awesome as I just coasted comfortably at a 5:10 pace. I was surprised I managed to stay very consistent and I actually hit my A-Goal of 5:20 pace (B-Goal was Sub-27). Big PR of 26:41 and 4th overall, so I was really happy with this. I've been suffering recently in races, but this was actually enjoyable.
Friday: 8 Miles
Carolina trails in the rain. Nowhere near as fun as the previous day. First few miles were fun as we explored some cool single-track and double-track through pine forests, but got cold and tired of the lack of marking towards the end. Also got very tired, which seems to be a trend on these long (but not very fast) weekend trail runs.
Saturday: 13 Miles
Very fun Wickaboxet/Tillinghast long trail run with WTAC runners. Felt really good during the first 8 mile loop, but the two add-on loops afterwards were exhausting as my legs were getting very tired. Glad to get in a long run.
Sunday: 6 Miles
Early morning rocky neck exploration. Some fun trails, others were boring. Great scenic views at many locations and also ran the boardwalk and beach. Ran most of the trails and got on a few segments.
Weekly Total: 49 Miles
YTD Total: 2,112 Miles
Back to practices :(
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Start of Offseason and Little Rhody Runaround- Weekly Log: November 14 to 20
After a disappointing close to a somewhat successful XC season, the offseason has arrived. For many, regionals await in New York on November 26th, whether it be at Van Cortlandt park for the Footlocker race or Bowdoin Park for Nike. A few, possibly just one, Rhode Islander will likely continue onto to Nationals in December. While running well in regionals and then travelling across the country to either Balboa Park, San Diego for the footlocker race or Oregon for Nike seems like a dream come true, only 5 qualify for nike and 10 for footlocker, so that is a dream I am nowhere near capable of achieving right now. I certainly would like to take a shot next year, but as I have little to no chance of placing well at either meet, I decided to enjoy the offseason and run a few fun November races. The offseason started for me as it usually does: with a few days off.
Monday-Wednesday: 0 Miles. So nice to rest up and not have practice in the middle of the free time after school.
Thursday: 8 Miles. I wasn't sure exactly when to resume, but given that Little Rhody was on Sunday and I had 4 other teammates running it, I figured it'd be a good idea to do a course run. I was really looking forward to a big group run, but nearly everyone dropped out and it was less fun than expected. We still had a group of three and I felt very comfortable and enjoyed being out on the trails, so certainly worth it. I was a little worried I didn't know where to go, but the yellow markings were very easy to follow. Most of, but to get in some hard running I decided to run the last road section hard. I felt really good and was surprised I only ran a 5:06 pace. It felt fast, one second faster than last year's Rhody finish, and I correctly predicted that I wouldn't be able to hit this in the race Sunday (although I wasn't too far off).
Friday: 7 Miles. Decided to do a light hill workout, this time being on trails as the race on Sunday is on trails. Mix of hard uphill and downhill repeats in Champlin Glacier Park. Not any long hills, so most were short but steep repeats with many total repetitions. Did a variety of hills, so I can't really explain the workout here. Exhausting as I was out breath the whole time, but my legs weren't too tired. Difficulty: 4/5. Took a little longer as I did this with the same group as Thursday and we came up with the workout as we went along.
Saturday: 4 Miles. Local flat road shakeout before Rhody. A little chilly and windy at the start, but felt fine after a few minutes. Besides some heaviness, felt very smooth and comfortable running at a low 6:40s pace.
Sunday: 11 Miles. Little Rhody Runaround. Was a little nervous going in because of possible rainy and wet conditions. Was also a little nervous race day because it was windy and cold. Conditions ended up being excellent on the trails, which made it perfect for me to hit the time and place I wanted. Nice to have a race that wasn't very disappointing for once as I hit both my goal of second place and low 46s. The trend of big PR's and great races at Little Rhody continues.
Weekly Total: 30 Miles
YTD Total: 2,063 Miles
Another fun week next week, unfortunately the last of the short offseason. No practice and I get to design my own running schedule, which is nice. Probably a pace/hill workout Tuesday and the Newport Pie Run on Thursday where I'll be looking for a big PR. Short school week is definitely something to be excited for.
Monday-Wednesday: 0 Miles. So nice to rest up and not have practice in the middle of the free time after school.
Thursday: 8 Miles. I wasn't sure exactly when to resume, but given that Little Rhody was on Sunday and I had 4 other teammates running it, I figured it'd be a good idea to do a course run. I was really looking forward to a big group run, but nearly everyone dropped out and it was less fun than expected. We still had a group of three and I felt very comfortable and enjoyed being out on the trails, so certainly worth it. I was a little worried I didn't know where to go, but the yellow markings were very easy to follow. Most of, but to get in some hard running I decided to run the last road section hard. I felt really good and was surprised I only ran a 5:06 pace. It felt fast, one second faster than last year's Rhody finish, and I correctly predicted that I wouldn't be able to hit this in the race Sunday (although I wasn't too far off).
Friday: 7 Miles. Decided to do a light hill workout, this time being on trails as the race on Sunday is on trails. Mix of hard uphill and downhill repeats in Champlin Glacier Park. Not any long hills, so most were short but steep repeats with many total repetitions. Did a variety of hills, so I can't really explain the workout here. Exhausting as I was out breath the whole time, but my legs weren't too tired. Difficulty: 4/5. Took a little longer as I did this with the same group as Thursday and we came up with the workout as we went along.
Saturday: 4 Miles. Local flat road shakeout before Rhody. A little chilly and windy at the start, but felt fine after a few minutes. Besides some heaviness, felt very smooth and comfortable running at a low 6:40s pace.
Sunday: 11 Miles. Little Rhody Runaround. Was a little nervous going in because of possible rainy and wet conditions. Was also a little nervous race day because it was windy and cold. Conditions ended up being excellent on the trails, which made it perfect for me to hit the time and place I wanted. Nice to have a race that wasn't very disappointing for once as I hit both my goal of second place and low 46s. The trend of big PR's and great races at Little Rhody continues.
Weekly Total: 30 Miles
YTD Total: 2,063 Miles
Another fun week next week, unfortunately the last of the short offseason. No practice and I get to design my own running schedule, which is nice. Probably a pace/hill workout Tuesday and the Newport Pie Run on Thursday where I'll be looking for a big PR. Short school week is definitely something to be excited for.
New Englands- Weekly Log: November 7 to 13 (w/End of the Season Evaluation)
New Englands return to Ponganset for the first time since 2011. Great course, but disappointing not to travel very far for a regional meet. Fun going up to Vermont last year, not so much this year going to the same course for the third week in a row. After a disappointing but still decent Class, I was definitely looking for a much better State meet. Unfortunately, States was much, much worse so I wanted a comeback race in New Englands. Thinking back, I've followed up every bad race with a good one (except for a few in outdoor track, but I don't count that because I had a broken arm freshman year and was sick sophomore year), so I didn't see why that wouldn't be the case here. After all, I had just done it a few weeks ago (Avenger Invitational to East Bay Challenge). One of the most frustrating things was that I still hadn't broken 16 minutes in the 5K even though I felt ready to do so in July, so that was something I wanted to cross off the list as well.
Monday: 6 at the barn. Very sore from States the day before, but didn't notice that my legs were especially heavy, which was a good thing. Didn't really enjoy it. Ran through several overgrown trails and ugly ones.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. Track workout. Forgot my spikes for the first time ever, and wasn't thrilled to have the lesser grip of road shoes. 8x400 @ 73 (w/60s recovery): 73/71/68/71/69/68/68/68. Felt pretty good. Woke up without any soreness or tightness for the first time in a week and a half, but became heavy and tight at the end. Difficulty: 3/5. Definitely happy with how this went.
Wednesday: 6 Miles, Weekapaug run. No practice and I made a route in Weekapaug through neighborhood and the roads near the ocean. I definitely enjoyed the route and was happy with the overall pace, but was very heavy and uncomfortable for the majority of the run, especially at the beginning. It did improve in the last couple of miles, but I felt off the whole time.
Thursday: 5 Miles, track workout. 8x200 @35 w/60s recovery. About 33-35 on each. Felt easy before all-out 400 in a very disappointing 57. Also the first time I didn't win an all-out event in practice. Felt perfect first 200 but legs felt worse and worse after that and couldn't move them last 100m where I was passed. On the bright side, I recovered very quickly, wasn't even tired on the cool-down and my legs felt much better than expected.
Friday: 5 miles. Easy run at practice and I felt really smooth. I slowed down throughout, but it made sense with a strong headwind in the last few miles. Enjoyable and a confidence booster. Felt slightly off on the strides afterwards, but I wasn't concerned.
Saturday: 9 Miles, New England XC Championships. I had two to three goals coming in: All-New England (top 25), Sub-16 or Course PR (sub-16:08). If I made just one of these, I would leave somewhat satisfied. If I made none, I would leave disappointed for the third time in a row. My race was pretty bad. I got elbowed at the start and was pushed back as result. This made it much harder to get a good position at the beginning. My mile was decent in 5:00 (and top 25), but faded throughout and finished in 48th. Nowhere near as disappointing or devastating as States, but still very unhappy with how it went. Legs felt weak and wobbly throughout the race and didn't have anything to respond to the people passing me. The one bright side is that I did beat my terrible time from states, although not by much and my time here was terrible as well. My time of 16:21 would have placed me all New-England in both 2006 and 2011, but in this stacked edition it got me 48th.
Sunday: 0. Had fun watching the Avondale 5K. The people I watched seemed to either do well and stay consistent or completely blow up and run much slower than expected. Interesting race.
Weekly Total: 37 Miles
YTD Total: 2,033 Miles (cracked 2K for the first time ever)
End of the Season Evaluation
This season was the opposite of last (cross country) season in terms of success. Last season I ran consistently well in every race up until a bad new Englands race but only knocked it out of the park once (State meet). This season was ups and downs the whole way and ended in defeat. Last season was much better and while this is far from the worst season I've had, it's likely the most disappointing. I set out to break 16 at Sailfest 5k in July and still haven't gone under that mark over 4 months later of hard work towards the one distance. The season was going fine until Championship Season, with three disappointing races in a row at Ponaganset. I'll look at them below, grading each one, showing pre-race goals and giving positives and negatives.
Class Meet
Goals:
A Goal- Win/Sub-15:50
B Goal- Sub 16:00
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 2nd in 16:08
Pros: 2nd Fastest 5K Ever, 27 Second Course PR, 4th Fastest Time of the Day
Cons: Lost (again), No Sub-16 or PR
Rating: B
State Meet
Goals:
A Goal- Top 5/Sub-15:50
B Goal- First Team (Top 7)/Sub-16
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 8th in 16:27
Pros: Got out really well and maintained a good position for the first half, Briefly passed into 2nd on the downhill
Cons: Terrible time (slowest of the season for major meets and only a 2-second improvement over last year), no first-team, awful final mile, awful finish and nearly got caught by up to 10 people (If I was 10 seconds slower, I would've placed 19th)
Grade: F
New Englands
Goals:
A Goal- Top 25/Sub-16
B Goal: Course PR (Sub 16:08)
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 48th in 16:21 (8th from RI again)
Pros: Improvement over states
Cons: Got passed throughout, terrible start, terrible time, terrible place
Grade: C-
I want to get past this awful and disappointing trio of performances and move on to the next races, Little Rhody, a road race, and then the long indoor season.
Monday: 6 at the barn. Very sore from States the day before, but didn't notice that my legs were especially heavy, which was a good thing. Didn't really enjoy it. Ran through several overgrown trails and ugly ones.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. Track workout. Forgot my spikes for the first time ever, and wasn't thrilled to have the lesser grip of road shoes. 8x400 @ 73 (w/60s recovery): 73/71/68/71/69/68/68/68. Felt pretty good. Woke up without any soreness or tightness for the first time in a week and a half, but became heavy and tight at the end. Difficulty: 3/5. Definitely happy with how this went.
Wednesday: 6 Miles, Weekapaug run. No practice and I made a route in Weekapaug through neighborhood and the roads near the ocean. I definitely enjoyed the route and was happy with the overall pace, but was very heavy and uncomfortable for the majority of the run, especially at the beginning. It did improve in the last couple of miles, but I felt off the whole time.
Thursday: 5 Miles, track workout. 8x200 @35 w/60s recovery. About 33-35 on each. Felt easy before all-out 400 in a very disappointing 57. Also the first time I didn't win an all-out event in practice. Felt perfect first 200 but legs felt worse and worse after that and couldn't move them last 100m where I was passed. On the bright side, I recovered very quickly, wasn't even tired on the cool-down and my legs felt much better than expected.
Friday: 5 miles. Easy run at practice and I felt really smooth. I slowed down throughout, but it made sense with a strong headwind in the last few miles. Enjoyable and a confidence booster. Felt slightly off on the strides afterwards, but I wasn't concerned.
Saturday: 9 Miles, New England XC Championships. I had two to three goals coming in: All-New England (top 25), Sub-16 or Course PR (sub-16:08). If I made just one of these, I would leave somewhat satisfied. If I made none, I would leave disappointed for the third time in a row. My race was pretty bad. I got elbowed at the start and was pushed back as result. This made it much harder to get a good position at the beginning. My mile was decent in 5:00 (and top 25), but faded throughout and finished in 48th. Nowhere near as disappointing or devastating as States, but still very unhappy with how it went. Legs felt weak and wobbly throughout the race and didn't have anything to respond to the people passing me. The one bright side is that I did beat my terrible time from states, although not by much and my time here was terrible as well. My time of 16:21 would have placed me all New-England in both 2006 and 2011, but in this stacked edition it got me 48th.
Sunday: 0. Had fun watching the Avondale 5K. The people I watched seemed to either do well and stay consistent or completely blow up and run much slower than expected. Interesting race.
Weekly Total: 37 Miles
YTD Total: 2,033 Miles (cracked 2K for the first time ever)
End of the Season Evaluation
This season was the opposite of last (cross country) season in terms of success. Last season I ran consistently well in every race up until a bad new Englands race but only knocked it out of the park once (State meet). This season was ups and downs the whole way and ended in defeat. Last season was much better and while this is far from the worst season I've had, it's likely the most disappointing. I set out to break 16 at Sailfest 5k in July and still haven't gone under that mark over 4 months later of hard work towards the one distance. The season was going fine until Championship Season, with three disappointing races in a row at Ponaganset. I'll look at them below, grading each one, showing pre-race goals and giving positives and negatives.
Class Meet
Goals:
A Goal- Win/Sub-15:50
B Goal- Sub 16:00
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 2nd in 16:08
Pros: 2nd Fastest 5K Ever, 27 Second Course PR, 4th Fastest Time of the Day
Cons: Lost (again), No Sub-16 or PR
Rating: B
State Meet
Goals:
A Goal- Top 5/Sub-15:50
B Goal- First Team (Top 7)/Sub-16
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 8th in 16:27
Pros: Got out really well and maintained a good position for the first half, Briefly passed into 2nd on the downhill
Cons: Terrible time (slowest of the season for major meets and only a 2-second improvement over last year), no first-team, awful final mile, awful finish and nearly got caught by up to 10 people (If I was 10 seconds slower, I would've placed 19th)
Grade: F
New Englands
Goals:
A Goal- Top 25/Sub-16
B Goal: Course PR (Sub 16:08)
Goals Achieved: 0
Final Result: 48th in 16:21 (8th from RI again)
Pros: Improvement over states
Cons: Got passed throughout, terrible start, terrible time, terrible place
Grade: C-
I want to get past this awful and disappointing trio of performances and move on to the next races, Little Rhody, a road race, and then the long indoor season.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
States- Weekly Log: October 31 to November 6
AKA the week my legs felt super heavy. States approached really quickly and I was not feeling good about as my legs felt terrible all week, even on race day. Decrease in distance. I'm writing this a week late, so I shortened it.
Monday: 0. Instead of a complete day off, my coach wanted me to do pool running. It was boring, difficult and awkward. I went for 30 minutes then left, as I couldn't stand it anymore.
Tuesday: 5 Miles. 7 repeats on Park Ave, which usually is a good workout but my quads were so heavy and tight that it was awful. Felt and hoped that it would improve over time, but I was way off and slowed down quite a bit at the end of every repeat. Not fun. Difficulty: 4/5 (because of my legs)
Wednesday: 9 Miles. Distance run around town, including some Pawcatuck. Felt terrible and once again heavy going out but improved in the second half and was actually enjoyable after that.
Thursday: 5 Miles. Track workout, which I wrongly assumed to be the last hard run before states. 3x1000 w/90s recovery at 3:03 (73s)- 2:56/2:54/2:57, 5x200 w/60s recovery at 35 (31-37). We were originally supposed to have two 1K's, so it wasn't fun doing the third. Since they weren't any faster than I've done before, I wasn't too worried but it was still harder than it should have been. All over the place on the 200s. Difficulty: 4/5
Friday: 4 Miles. Another track workout, similar to what the freshman had before freshman states. Easy 200s before an all-out 400. 8x200 w/30s recovery at 36 (34-27). All-out 400 in 57, felt heavy and off, nearly getting passed at the end. I wasn't too disappointed with 57, just how it felt. Difficulty: 2/5.
Saturday: 6 Miles. Final run before states + warm-ups. Felt really good and smooth at first, but got heavy in the second half and the pace slowed down without it feeling any slower. Not good.
Sunday: 8 Miles. States. My tightness and heaviness was there, but some new stretch actually got rid of most of it. When it came time to race, it was gone. Got out really well, but faded badly in the second half. 8th overall in 16:27. Super disappointing as it was only two seconds faster than last year.
Weekly Total: 37 Miles
YTD Total: 1,996 Miles
Monday: 0. Instead of a complete day off, my coach wanted me to do pool running. It was boring, difficult and awkward. I went for 30 minutes then left, as I couldn't stand it anymore.
Tuesday: 5 Miles. 7 repeats on Park Ave, which usually is a good workout but my quads were so heavy and tight that it was awful. Felt and hoped that it would improve over time, but I was way off and slowed down quite a bit at the end of every repeat. Not fun. Difficulty: 4/5 (because of my legs)
Wednesday: 9 Miles. Distance run around town, including some Pawcatuck. Felt terrible and once again heavy going out but improved in the second half and was actually enjoyable after that.
Thursday: 5 Miles. Track workout, which I wrongly assumed to be the last hard run before states. 3x1000 w/90s recovery at 3:03 (73s)- 2:56/2:54/2:57, 5x200 w/60s recovery at 35 (31-37). We were originally supposed to have two 1K's, so it wasn't fun doing the third. Since they weren't any faster than I've done before, I wasn't too worried but it was still harder than it should have been. All over the place on the 200s. Difficulty: 4/5
Friday: 4 Miles. Another track workout, similar to what the freshman had before freshman states. Easy 200s before an all-out 400. 8x200 w/30s recovery at 36 (34-27). All-out 400 in 57, felt heavy and off, nearly getting passed at the end. I wasn't too disappointed with 57, just how it felt. Difficulty: 2/5.
Saturday: 6 Miles. Final run before states + warm-ups. Felt really good and smooth at first, but got heavy in the second half and the pace slowed down without it feeling any slower. Not good.
Sunday: 8 Miles. States. My tightness and heaviness was there, but some new stretch actually got rid of most of it. When it came time to race, it was gone. Got out really well, but faded badly in the second half. 8th overall in 16:27. Super disappointing as it was only two seconds faster than last year.
Weekly Total: 37 Miles
YTD Total: 1,996 Miles
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Class- Weekly Log: October 24 to 30
This week marks the first trip of three to Ponaganset to go and run a championship race. This Saturday contains all six class races, and while in some ways it should be the least important I'm most nervous for this once because I'll be contending for the individual title.
Monday: 6 Miles. Originally wanted to go up and watch freshman states (in east Greenwich), hopefully doing my run there as well but couldn't get anyone to go with me and didn't find a good running route. Ended up losing interest and not doing the entire run. Pumpkins neighborhood out and back.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. 7xNarragansett. Windy and crowded. Don't remember much about this one, so I don't have any additional details to post here. Difficulty: 3/5
Wednesday: 5 Miles. Had a math team meet later in the day, so running in the afternoon was not an option. 5AM run and decided to run Ninigret park as I didn't have interest in running local roads. Was not looking forward to a solo headlamp running in 30 degree temperatures. It wasn't fun waking up so early, but I got over it quickly and was now only not looking forward to the cold. I wore armsleeves and gloves and I was only cold in windy section. As I soon as I started running, I got completely disoriented and didn't have a clue as to where I was. It all felt like dark random pavement. It was little comforting finding the bike circuit and eventually I found the trail I was looking forward to. I didn't like the final route but will make sure to find the right path next time. It did feel very comfortable and was fun to get it out the way early.
Thursday: 5 Miles. 4x1200 on the track. The first three had 150 seconds recovery in-between and were at 4:52 pace, which didn't seem too bad as the recovery was good and I had done faster than that for longer distances with the same amount of repetitions. I figured the last one might hurt, but I thought I could get through one and two no problem. It started to pour late into the warm-up, which I didn't mind at first. Soon it started to get very cold, as it was only 40 degrees out and the rain kept coming down. My thin gloves did not help at all. The first of the 1200s went pretty well. First two were somewhat comfortable, although I was cold in-between, hated one windy section and felt off. The splits were really weird and they either felt slower/faster than they actually were. I was getting really cold towards the end and had a terrible last lap for the third one as my thighs completely froze/locked up and I couldn't move them as fast I wanted to. I was excited to be done with the 1200s, but unfortunately I had one more at 4:44 pace after a 5 minute break. I didn't have much confidence that I would hit this one as my thighs weren't feeling good and I was sure they would lock up again. Last one was brutal. On pace first two laps, but last lap was terrible again for the same reason. I also had breathing problems in the last two.
Splits: 3:39 (71/71/77) 3:34 (68/72/74) 3:39 (72/72/75) 3:38 (69/73/76). Difficulty: 5/5 (perhaps only because of the cold and the breathing and thighs problems that came with it).
Friday: 9 Miles. Ran a northern westerly loop, finally getting to explore old Hopkinton cemetery road and river road. Fun route and felt great. Pace was decent but very comfortable.
Saturday: 7 Miles, Class Meet. Avenger hurt me a little, but after a great race at East Bay, I felt I was ready to run a great race at class. I knew it would be tight, but felt I could pull off the win against Mars Bishop and take my first class title after being runner-up five times (including all three seasons). I felt if I could run low 15:40s, but even if I didn't have a great race I was sure I still be sub-16. None of that happened. One of the most disappointing races of my life. 2nd overall in 16:08. At first I thought I completely blew it and had an awful race, but looking at other times across the board I was #4 for the day, so I didn't seem as bad as I thought originally. Still very disappointing and nothing to celebrate. Now six-time runner-up and no titles. First mile went perfectly and felt great/confident, but everything felt apart after that. Felt exhausted and couldn't pull away or keep up. Maybe I'll do a separate write-up when the season's over.
Sunday: 11 Miles. Decent arcadia loop w/some WTAC members. Really tiring, but I was just coming off an intense race and ate or drank nothing that morning so was running on no fuel. Felt dead on the climb at first and didn't know how I was going to even finish. Overheated badly a few miles in, before finally feeling strong a long downhill stretch. Moved to the front of a spread out group and enjoyed the middle miles before finishing up very tired at the end on less exciting terrain.
Weekly Total: 49 Miles
YTD Total: 1,959 Miles (goal was 2000-one more week)
Monday: 6 Miles. Originally wanted to go up and watch freshman states (in east Greenwich), hopefully doing my run there as well but couldn't get anyone to go with me and didn't find a good running route. Ended up losing interest and not doing the entire run. Pumpkins neighborhood out and back.
Tuesday: 6 Miles. 7xNarragansett. Windy and crowded. Don't remember much about this one, so I don't have any additional details to post here. Difficulty: 3/5
Wednesday: 5 Miles. Had a math team meet later in the day, so running in the afternoon was not an option. 5AM run and decided to run Ninigret park as I didn't have interest in running local roads. Was not looking forward to a solo headlamp running in 30 degree temperatures. It wasn't fun waking up so early, but I got over it quickly and was now only not looking forward to the cold. I wore armsleeves and gloves and I was only cold in windy section. As I soon as I started running, I got completely disoriented and didn't have a clue as to where I was. It all felt like dark random pavement. It was little comforting finding the bike circuit and eventually I found the trail I was looking forward to. I didn't like the final route but will make sure to find the right path next time. It did feel very comfortable and was fun to get it out the way early.
Thursday: 5 Miles. 4x1200 on the track. The first three had 150 seconds recovery in-between and were at 4:52 pace, which didn't seem too bad as the recovery was good and I had done faster than that for longer distances with the same amount of repetitions. I figured the last one might hurt, but I thought I could get through one and two no problem. It started to pour late into the warm-up, which I didn't mind at first. Soon it started to get very cold, as it was only 40 degrees out and the rain kept coming down. My thin gloves did not help at all. The first of the 1200s went pretty well. First two were somewhat comfortable, although I was cold in-between, hated one windy section and felt off. The splits were really weird and they either felt slower/faster than they actually were. I was getting really cold towards the end and had a terrible last lap for the third one as my thighs completely froze/locked up and I couldn't move them as fast I wanted to. I was excited to be done with the 1200s, but unfortunately I had one more at 4:44 pace after a 5 minute break. I didn't have much confidence that I would hit this one as my thighs weren't feeling good and I was sure they would lock up again. Last one was brutal. On pace first two laps, but last lap was terrible again for the same reason. I also had breathing problems in the last two.
Splits: 3:39 (71/71/77) 3:34 (68/72/74) 3:39 (72/72/75) 3:38 (69/73/76). Difficulty: 5/5 (perhaps only because of the cold and the breathing and thighs problems that came with it).
Friday: 9 Miles. Ran a northern westerly loop, finally getting to explore old Hopkinton cemetery road and river road. Fun route and felt great. Pace was decent but very comfortable.
Saturday: 7 Miles, Class Meet. Avenger hurt me a little, but after a great race at East Bay, I felt I was ready to run a great race at class. I knew it would be tight, but felt I could pull off the win against Mars Bishop and take my first class title after being runner-up five times (including all three seasons). I felt if I could run low 15:40s, but even if I didn't have a great race I was sure I still be sub-16. None of that happened. One of the most disappointing races of my life. 2nd overall in 16:08. At first I thought I completely blew it and had an awful race, but looking at other times across the board I was #4 for the day, so I didn't seem as bad as I thought originally. Still very disappointing and nothing to celebrate. Now six-time runner-up and no titles. First mile went perfectly and felt great/confident, but everything felt apart after that. Felt exhausted and couldn't pull away or keep up. Maybe I'll do a separate write-up when the season's over.
Sunday: 11 Miles. Decent arcadia loop w/some WTAC members. Really tiring, but I was just coming off an intense race and ate or drank nothing that morning so was running on no fuel. Felt dead on the climb at first and didn't know how I was going to even finish. Overheated badly a few miles in, before finally feeling strong a long downhill stretch. Moved to the front of a spread out group and enjoyed the middle miles before finishing up very tired at the end on less exciting terrain.
Weekly Total: 49 Miles
YTD Total: 1,959 Miles (goal was 2000-one more week)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)