When I broke my arm in the spring, I got lazy and stopped my weekly logs for a month and never wrote my May weekly logs. I'd rather do it now that wait until the end of the year when I forget even more.
Weekly Log: April 24 to 26 (2nd Half)
This is where I left off. I did my usual weekly log up to Thursday.
Saturday: 0 miles (I thought I would have done something but nothing on strava)
Sunday: 8 Miles, Avondale Run
Weekly Total: 35.5 Miles (I might have run Saturday without the watch but not sure)
Weekly Log: April 27 to May 3
Monday- Wednesday: Instead of running on Monday, I broke my arm and didn't resume running until Thursday.
Thursday: Just a mile to see how I felt.
Friday: 1.5 miles, starting to work back up to what I had.
Saturday: 3 Miles beach and road run with Dad.
Sunday: 4 miles beach and road run with Dad.
Weekly Total: 8.5 Miles
Weekly Log: May 4 to 10
After this, I'm guessing here. I stopped wearing the watch because of my cast, and I didn't blog about it, so I'll take what I can off Dad's blog (when I ran with him), but the mileage total are really guesses now.
Monday: 0 Miles (Switched Casts)
Tuesday: 4 Miles
Wednesday: 4.5 Miles (I remember this one. There was a track meet that day, ad I wasn't in it. It was home and I had to do my run earlier. This run and Tuesday were both awful because I had to laps around the track.)
Thursday: 5 Miles. I convinced my coaches to let me run on the roads today and it was so much better. Timothy drive loop.
Friday: 3 Miles. Returned to track meets. I made the first meet of the season on April 14, and that was a home meet. I missed the April 28 EWG meet, then the May 6 Westerly Meet. The Coventry meet was supposed to be April 7, but it was postponed once, then again to May 8. I ran the 1500. The first 2 and half laps, I was behind my teammate and a Coventry runner. I passed both with 500 meters to go and pushed the last lap. In the last 100 meters, my coach yelled that a runner was gaining on me. It was last 100. I was spent. I tried to pick it up but it didn't feel any faster. About 3 seconds from the finish line, I don't hear anyone approaching me and I think I've won, but with 10 meters to go, the Coventry runner passes me. I gave a final surge forward with the rest of my energy, but it didn't matter at that point. I lost by fractions of a second. I had a great time, especially for my first time back. I never got it (they put times slower than me in the newspaper but left me out), but I assumed it around 4:36. Losing that way was so disappointing though. It happened to me only one other time: 7th grade division championship 3K. In that race, I led the whole way only to again be a passed by a runner who I thought was farther behind me. At least this one was just a dual meet.
Saturday: 5 Mile Rockridge loop with Dad. (I only know this because he puts weekly logs, thank god for that.)
Sunday: 6 Miles, Charlestown Beach run with Dad. (A Disappointing one too, not only was it high tide, but they had no scones when we came back and it was my first time there)
Weekly Total: 27.5 Miles (I was coming back to my regular self)
Weekly Log: May 11 to 17
Monday: 5. I really don't know, but I'm guessing the day before a meet, we just had a normal distance run. I'm not sure if this is the run where I start to run with people again or a later one.
Tuesday: 4 Miles, my first big meet of the season. Southern Division Championships and it was home.
Results. A bunch of warm-ups and cool-down and one of those rare ones where I ran 3 events. First up was the 4x800. I was the 2nd leg (I think). Ran hard, passed a few guys, and a 5-second 800m PR of 2:10. Next was the 1500m, which was the next distance event after that. I was afraid I wouldn't get a ton of recover but there were enough heats of previous events and unseeded 1500s that I was well rested. I felt good and I started good. The first 900 meters of the race couldn't have gone better. I hung right with the lead pack. The last 600 didn't go so well. I was probably one pace for a PR, but I slowed down. I not dropped from the lead pack, but everyone else in the race passed me except for my teammate. Disappointing, but not an awful time. 4:29.9, 8th of 19. The nice thing about having a cast was that I didn't have to run the 3K, which was my best race but extremely hard and tiring (not fun). Instead I ran my first open 800 of high school track. This time I was in the unseeded heat (because I hadn't done it before) and it was much less eventful than the previous race. I don't run my 800s (at least those in freshman track meets) very smart, but for some reason I've never changed my plan. At the 400, I was in 2nd, 2 places behind the leader (NK). My first lap was 62 seconds, but my 2nd one was 70 second. I was passed by a Chariho runner in the last 100m, and I had no strength to attempt to stay ahead. I finished 3rd in the unseeded heat, with a time 2:12, and 14th overall of 25. Not a bad day at all.
Wednesday: 6.5, my first strava post since broken arm. I used my phone and ran with it. My hands got sweaty and it started to slip so I put it in my pocket. Even though I have really loose pockets, it somehow worked. That was a good run.
Thursday: IDK. I think I had a workout or something. Let's go with 4.
Friday: Again, who knows? Friday would be a normal run, so probably 5.
Saturday: Classical Classic. 4.5 Miles. Another great meet.
Results. The nice thing about this meet was they broke it into sections: small schools and big schools. Westerly is considered a small school, and that's a very good thing, because it means I can actually win awards. In big schools, you got all the fast La Salle and Hendricken runners who lap you. I had the same three events as last time. All the freshmen events went off, and there was little recovery between the freshman 15 and the freshman 8, so I was glad I didn't run either. This time in the 4x800, I was third. Again, I passed a bunch of people (it was combined with another 4x800), PR'd (2:09) and we ended up 4th of 5 (top 6 got medals though). The small schools 1500 came a while after. (Like 2 hours). The 1500 didn't go as well as I hoped. I ran the first 300 neck and neck with 2 other people, but I was in the outside lane. It wasn't smart running the extra distance so I ran faster, passed them, and moved to 1st. This was my big mistake. Running ahead of them, at a pace faster than my PR pace, really took a lot out of me. They hung behind me until there were 500 meters to go, then passed. One was from Smithfield, one from Scituate. I tried to stick with them the final lap, but they pulled further and further away. The last 100 meters came and I was passed by another runner-a Portsmouth guy. For a second, I felt like I was about to pass him back, but I didn't have in it. 4th overall, 4:27.8. The 800 came a long time after that. After lots of waiting, it finally happened. I ran the same way as last week, and started way too fast. I think I was top 3 or 4 after 400, but I was passed and passed. Coming down the final stretch, I was in 6th and Top 6 get medals. As lame as the medals were, I really wanted a 3rd one and I barely held off a Narragansett runner. (the one I lost to in the middle school divisionals 3K by less than a second).
Sunday: 5 Miles, overgrown town forest run. My first time there, and I liked it (except that it was overgrown).
Weekly Total: 34 Miles
Weekly Log: May 18-24
This week I really don't remember. Except Saturday.
Monday: 6 Miles
Tuesday: Hill Workout, 5 Miles.
Wednesday: 6 Miles (Total Guess)
Thursday: 4.5 Miles
Friday: 5 Miles (Actually on Strava)
Saturday: 4 Miles on trails near Barrington high. (where another meet was that I didn't run)
Sunday: 0
Weekly Total: 30.5 Miles
Weekly Log: May 25- 31 (Best and Worst Week Ever)
Why best and worst? All because of Tuesday's meet. Freshman states. I had a perfect freshman states record going into it: won all 3 events I did. I was almost positive I was going to lose that record, because suddenly all the other freshman got faster than me. Worst, because I was extremely nervous Monday and Tuesday. Best, because of my huge success in it.
Monday: 4 Miles, freshman only practice before the big day.
Tuesday: 5 Miles, Freshman States.
Results. After lots of nervousness (On a list of how nervous I was before races, this would be No. 2, after XC Freshman states), the meet was finally off. The warm-up was awful. It was hot with plenty of direct sunlight, and I didn't feel good. They called the 4x800. Fortunately, the sun went away. Our lead runner went off, and I was even more nervous. I didn't feel great and I was running in 4 and half minutes. I was third leg. I got the baton, booked it, didn't feel fast but passed lots of people as usual. 6th place for the team and a PR for me (2:07) . Plenty of recovery before the 1500, and plenty more time or nervousness. The 4x800 didn't mean that much, but this was the real deal. My coach laid out a plan: stick with the leaders the first two laps, pass them, and hang on for the rest of it. It was a good plan. I was right up with the leaders the first two laps. From my perspective, the race was between me, a toll gate runner, and an EG runner. They went back and forth with the lead. Lap 3 came and the EG runner was leading. As I tried to pass for the lead so did the Toll Gate runner, and the EG runner picked up the pace. I was dead and I just couldn't run that fast. I hung with them for another lap, then started to drop. With 300 to go, it was pretty obvious I wasn't winning this one. I finished 3rd of 48 and picked up a new PR of 4:21. The next race was my other chance at winning. The 3K. It is not fun, running both the 1500 and the 3000 in the same meet. It finally happened, and this time the race was between me, the guy from Toll Gate and an unknown Bishop Hendricken runner. I led immediately. Already 200 meters in, I was really uncomfortable. 2 laps later, they were still right on me. With about a mile to go, they were both right behind me, and my coach yelled to pick it up. It worked, I did, and they didn't stay with me. I didn't know at the time, but the Hendricken runner dropped really far back, and the Toll Gate runner was 18 seconds behind me. 1st of 25, new PR of 9:20. I felt so dead after, and then I had the 4x400 which was the next event. I thought, there's no way I'm even going to finish this thing. I anchored to get more recovery time and it went a lot smoother than I thought. 61 seconds, and no passed me. The result of letting no one pass me was another 6th place team finish- which meant another medal. And these were nice medals. 3 New PR's. A great day.
Wednesday: 2 miles, Stonington dual meet the day after. Just a 4x400. 58.5 seconds.
Thursday: 5 Miles.
Friday: 5 Miles.
Saturday: 4 miles, Hendricken Invite. I relaxed when we got there knowing that the 3K is one the last events and it was all I was running. Nope. I found out it's actually one of the first. I go out on a hot, sun-exposed warm-up and again, don't feel very good. I am so nervous and worried at the start- but I actually did well for a hot race. 9:25 time, 7th overall (just missed award).
Sunday: 0
Weekly Total: 21 Miles (but fast ones)
And that's it. See
Weekly Log: June 1 to 7 for the continuation.
Freshman Track Recap
Now that I'm caught up on mileage, I never wrote about my track season. Part of this (the track recap, not the may mileage) has actually been a draft for two months, and one day I felt it was so late that I decided I was never going to finish it. But I will now.
My PR's over my track seasons
Indoor
4x400m- 58.5s
600m- 1:35.2
4x800m- 2:15
1000m- 2:49
1500m- 4:25
1600m- 4:51
Mile- 4:53
3000m- 9:24
Outdoor
4x400m- 58.5s
4x800m- 2:07
800m- 2:11
1500m- 4:21
3000m- 9:24
My primary event in indoor was 3000. In outdoor it became the 1500m due to an injury. Here's a table of my progression in the 3K. Time and pace are last two columns. PR's are underlined.
 |
| A picture of the start of the last 3000 I did as a freshman. I finished 7th. |
And I also won a few races. They are below.
Indoor
RI Classic Freshman Mile- 4:53
Southern Division Championships 3000m- 9:27
Freshman States 1500m- 4:25
Freshman States 1000m- 2:49
Outdoor
Freshman States 3000m- 9:20
Next, a ranking of every track I raced on. (Indoor and Outdoor, Worst to Best)
7.
Yale (Indoor). The main reason I didn't like Yale track was because it was banked. It was the first time I had run on a track like that, and I constantly fell like I was going to fall over or that I was running funny. I also felt the vibrations of everyone running on it and the room was extremely crowded. I placed 121st in the race I was in, and each race had a lot of people in them.
6.
URI (Indoor). URI's track wasn't banked but I still wasn't a fan of it. For some reason it made me cough a lot and it just didn't feel right.
5.
Coventry (Outdoor). I can't explain why I didn't like this track. It just didn't feel right and wasn't a good experience.
4.
Providence Career and Technical Academy (Indoor). I didn't love this track, it was just much better than Yale or URI. I did most of my meets there, and I really got used to it.
3.
Conley Stadium (Outdoor). Apparently this is the name of the track where the Classical Classic was held. It's the first track that I like in this list. It was in a good location and felt good.
2. Westerly (Outdoor). Of course, I was glad to have so many meets at my home course. The track is great, and feels perfect. I had a hard time choosing between this and No. 1.
1. Bishop Hendricken (Outdoor). I was stunned when
I saw the Hendricken track for the first time at the Hendricken Invite. It's a great track and turf field is really nice. I guess the reason this beats Westerly's track is because it's not out in the open near busy roads and cars like Westerly's is.
And Lastly, My Top 5 Races of both seasons
5.
JV States Outdoor: 4th in 1500 with 2nd fastest time of 4:23
4.
Last Chance Meet Indoor: 2nd in 3K with 2nd best 3000 time (and best 3000 indoor time) of my life
3.
Division Championships Indoor: 1st in 3K with a PR of 9:27 (4th best), 5th in 1000
2.
Freshman States Indoor: 1st in 1000 with PR (and my all time best) of 2:49, 1st in 4:25 (3rd best 1500)
1.
Freshman States Outdoor: 800 PR, 1500 PR, 3K win and PR of 9:20
Thanks for reading.
