Monday: 7 Miles
Class B Championships. I've had both good and bad races at the outdoor class meets before. My freshman year I didn't race. I had a breakout year my sophomore, placing 2nd in both 1500/3000, running 4:10 and 9:09. I did awful last year placing 3rd and 4th, running 4:13 and 9:21. This year had a chance at winning both and PRing at both. I felt that the 1500 was a great opportunity to chase a fast time, but I likely wouldn't win against Conor Murphy's strong kick. In the 3K, I felt I had a good shot at winning but wasn't sure how fast it would be considering I would tired from the 1500. My goal in the 1500 was to go for sub-4, but a B goal of around 4:03.
1500
My coach told me the other guys would likely sit on me, so I might have to lead from the gun. Normally, I hate doing this but I've been thinking about soloing a sub-4 for a while now, so I wasn't going to worry about it. I figured Conor would push the pace because he went right to the front last week and said he was looking for a faster time. Tim usually doesn't do much leading, so I figured he would sit. Went out in a 63, which was a little fast but I felt good. I guess leading does take more out of you because I was already feeling sluggish in lap 2 and ran a too slow 66 for the lap. Conor passed me with 2 to go but slowed a little so I passed him back. Wasn't feeling good enough to correct the pace in the 3rd lap which I think was a 67. Conor passed me with 400 to go but I stayed on him for 200 meters. Tim got ahead of me with 200 to go and I wasn't aggressive enough and let him. I stayed in contact in Tim as Conor blasted away. I tried hard to get Tim in the last 50m but just didn't have the legs at that point to make a pass. Ran a pretty disappointing 4:06.03, not a bad time but nowhere near what I was going for. Definitely made a mistake not holding Tim off at 200 to go, which ended up costing me 2nd place. Even though I was fresh, felt sluggish during the race and just not how I want to feel when I'm going for sub-4.
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| Beat by .17. |
Felt so wiped out after the 1500. Sat down for a long time before I felt good enough to start refueling. Since this wasn't a major invitational and only a portion of the state was in Class B, the other events went by relatively quickly and I only had a little more than an hour of recovery (compared to 3 hours of recovery at Classical Classic, my season best). I still felt terrible and had no interest in running the 3000. I got into a more positive attitude and prepared to race, hoping I would feel decent. Conor wasn't running and the next guy was 12s slower than my season best, so I figured I should win. My coach never discussed a plan with, so I was going to at least attempt a fast time, trying to run 70s the whole time.
3000
Took the lead from the gun and went on a quest to hit 70s. I felt lousy immediately and wasn't thrilled going through 400 in 70 when I knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain. John O'Rourke said on me and I didn't like the sound of things when his teammate said "stick to the plan" which seemed like he was planning on winning and employing a sit and kick strategy. When my legs felt awful just a lap in and I hit a 72 for my second lap, I knew this was not going to be a good race. The chase pack caught up to us and Evan passed me as I was slowing. I tried to stay calm and switched to thinking I'd sit on them until 2 to go and then hammer the last 800 to hopefully just get the win. I ran 72s behind Evan for a while but felt absolutely terrible and was just thinking about dropping out the entire time. I really wasn't ready to hammer the last 800 but soon it was almost time. The next thing I knew John O'Rourke had made a huge move and was 30 meters ahead with Evan 15 meters ahead. I think my coach was expecting me to win because he started yelling at me to close the gap. I went around Evan with 400 to go and tried to push the last lap. John had way too much ground and was going too fast for me to catch him. I could still feel Evan right there and made sure not to let up and get passed at the end. John won in 8:58, I was second in 9:01, and Evan third in 9:02. Obviously far from an abomination but not a strong race at all on my part. Just felt so terrible the whole time that I never felt capable of pushing the pace. Glad I didn't totally bomb it and run a 9:30 or anything, but this was my race to win and I didn't.
Pretty crappy day. The 1500 was okay, but I wanted to run faster and definitely should have beat Tim. I don't care that much about such a slow time in the 3000 but it was pretty rough to get beat out there and barely even hold 2nd as my PR is 14 seconds faster than anyone else in the field.
Tuesday: 8 Miles
Recovering from Class. Looped around Ledward, West Beach Street and Margin for something a little different. Pretty boring to run from the same place all the time. Felt a little weak but not terrible.
Wednesday: 8 Miles
Superhot out. Ran a loop on old Hopkinton and potter hill. Didn't feel good early on but felt surprisingly okay throughout and maintained a 6:23 average pace. Last two miles felt much worse and I was hurting.
Thursday: 6 Miles
Hill workout, 2 sets of fingers. Super hot out again. Gave a strong effort and came out with a very fast 5:26 pace for 2.8 miles (400ft gain). Got super weak towards the end. Difficulty: 4/5.
Friday: 7 Miles
Really hot again and had no shade for protection. Did Mechanic out and back, which went by quickly. My legs felt a little beat. Took it easier and cut off a mile to rest up for Hendricken.
Saturday: 6 Miles
Hendricken Invitational. It's always ridiculously hot here (except last year) and this year seemed to be even worse. I wasn't too concerned and just made sure to stay hydrated. I was running the 1500 and going for a fast time, hopefully around 4:02/4:03. Sub-4 seemed a little too fast. Field seemed really stacked with Sean Meehan, Sam Toolin, Tim Champlin and Max DiMuccio. I was hoping these guys would pull me along to a fast time.
1500
I wasn't too aggressive off the line and it seemed like some guys were okay with pacing so I stayed back, not wanting to be stuck with leading immediately. This was a huge mistake. John O'Rourke went out to the lead, but because I was being so cautious, everyone was right around and I was boxed in really bad. After 200 meters, I wanted to pull right behind John but had room to maneuver up. Considering being really aggressive and pushing someone but didn't want to risk a DQ or anything like that, so I stayed put and looked for any opportunities. It had been Dominic Campagna as the one to my side where I couldn't move out and he finally dropped back, allowing me room to get around. Just as I started to move up, I heard the first split. 67. Well, I wasn't breaking 4 today. My coach said "Way too slow!" and once I processed how slow the first lap, I knew I had some work to do. Instead of moving up to 2nd, I went for the lead and picked up the pace a bit. We came through the 800 in 2:10, so I did correct the pace somewhat. I kept leading lap 3 but started to get a little tired and dropped a 66. Sean and Tim passed me with 400 to go. I was thinking I didn't feel good and was going to get crushed the last lap, but tried to push to stay with them. I managed to stay right on them. With 100 to go, I went for it and passed Tim which felt like the move that should happened at Class, but didn't. Sean won and I was 2nd in 4:05.68. This was a PR, but definitely not as much as I wanted. I was happy with how I raced, but I obviously could have ran a lot faster if the first lap wasn't slow. Closed in a 63 which is my fastest ever and a split I'm definitely happy with.
Was pretty tired after that, not looking to the 4x800 at all. Had a weird/uncommon problem of having a blister sensation of my feet because the track was so hot. Running around did not feel good at all for our feet. I was anchor again, but didn't feel that much pressure as this wasn't our top team nor was it a championship meet. Hendricken had a decent lead on us and we were neck and neck with Lincoln. A Lincoln guy yelled out to his teammate "Beat this Westerly guy" which was surprising because Lincoln's usually not that good. I was pretty sure I could beat the Lincoln guy without much difficulty. Unfortunately, he seemed to think it was a 400, passing me immediately and running pretty fast too. I wanted to go out in a 60 so I would feel good the second lap, but couldn't just give up the lead like that, so I was forced to go out in a 58. I passed the Lincoln guy with 500 to go but had nothing the second lap (because I went out in a 58). My legs turned to concrete and the last 400 hurt. Still split 2:02, so not bad at all.
Sunday: 7 Miles
Went hiking in the morning. Normally leave hiking for long breaks from school and certainly not during championship season, but since it was a third day weekend and I have a long bucket list for this summer, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get one out of the way. Of course, since it was championship season I wanted something relatively easy. I ended up choosing Mt. Tom State Reservation in Holyoke, MA. To me, this seemed like a 3-4 mile hike with moderate elevation gain. I went with Frank Li and Matt Brissette, two people who ask me to go hiking regularly but don't have any experience at all.
We arrived at the site around 8:30, no parking charge. I was pleasantly surprised how nice the area looked. There was a decent sized pond next to the parking lot and lots of pine trees. The forest looked full and attractive. The trail started off flat and gravel but once we turned onto the next trail, there was a slight incline. The trail was very enjoyable. The forest was really nice. After two miles we started to get up higher and our first of many spectacular viewpoints. The next portion of the hike was on the Metacomet-Monadnock trail. There was a scenic view every tenth of a mile and often the trail was just exposed, meters away from a long drop of a cliff. It was technical in spots and except for some steep but short ascents/descents, it was pretty flat and easy. The summit itself was terrible- covered in radio towers, graffiti and lots of concrete. The views were the most panoramic from here but it just felt the least natural. I alternated running and walking on the way back, taking the M-M trail back to the road before taking a short 1.5 miles trail back to the main area. I seriously underestimated how long this was (7.5 miles), but still had a blast as the trail was never too difficult but always had enjoyable terrain and many times, great views.
Later in the evening, ran 5 at Ninigret with Joe Gilfert, who I haven't seen in a while. Kept things fairly light, running a mild 6:50 pace. Joe fell back and since I was feeling good, I pushed the last mile but still felt comfortable, running a 5:35 last mile. Calling this 7 for the day because I ran part of the hike.
Weekly Total: 49 Miles
YTD Total: 710 Miles
Weekly Highlight: Nothing was too great this week. I had good workouts but okay meets. Both my 1500s were fine but could have been better.
Weekly Lowlight: Losing the 3000 at Class and feeling like that was a bit of a bummer. While it's not too big of a deal, it is a little disappointing to close out my last 1500 with the same time I ran in April. I know have the fitness to run much faster, but this will just end up being a goal I didn't meet.
States next week. Not too nervous yet. Looking to run a really fast time, hopefully in the low 8:30s. I haven't really run a fast 3000 this season, but I've also never been fresh for one either. I'll just have the 4x800 a whole 4 hours before, so I should be ready to go. I know the race will be ridiculously stacked, but I'm hoping for a top 3 finish. Jeffrey and Sean have both broke 8:40 already and Jack McMahon has run 8:40. I need to go sub-8:40 to get in a national qualifying time for the 5K.
