2022 USA Track Champs Predictions

 Last year, I made predictions on here for NCAAs, USAs and Olympics. I'll continue on with this year USAs and make predictions for events I feel confident about.

*Athlete has bye to world championships so 4 will make it

100m- Men

Winning Time: 9.80

1. Trayvon Bromell

2. *Christian Coleman

3. Fred Kerley

4. Marvin Bracy

200m- Men

Winning Time: 19.58

1. *Noah Lyles

2. Erriyon Knighton

3. Kenny Bednarek

4. Fred Kerley

400m- Men

Winning Time: 43.77

1. Michael Norman

2. Randolph Ross

3. Michael Cherry

800m- Men

Winning Time: 1:44.08

1. Bryce Hoppel

2. Clayton Murphy

3. Isaiah Harris

4. *Donovan Brazier

800m- Women

Winning Time: 1:55.87

1. Athing Mu

2. Ajee Wilson

3. Raevyn Rogers

1500m- Men

Winning Time: 3:32.76

1. Cooper Teare

2. Cole Hocker

3. Yared Nuguse

1500m- Women

Winning Time: 3:58.23

1. Josette Norris

2. Elinor Purrier-St. Pierre

3. Sinclaire Johnson

5000m- Men

Winning Time: 13:22.56

1. Grant Fisher

2. Woody Kincaid

3. Cooper Teare

5000m- Women

1. Elise Cranny

2. Karissa Schweizer

3. Emily Infeld

110m Hurdles- Men

Winning Time: 12.90

1. Trey Cunningham

2. Grant Holloway

3. Devon Allen

3K Steeple- Men

Winning Time: 8:11.14

1. Hilary Bor

2. Evan Jager

3. Bernard Keter

3K Steeple- Women

Winning Time- 9:08.76

1. Emma Coburn

2. Courtney Frerichs

3. Courtney Wayment

Weekly Log: May 30 to June 5

Getting back to training after realizing most of my track fitness evaporated with the two big down weeks and what remained doesn't carry over to longer/soft surface stuff at all. Workouts were rough this week but it's a work in progress. 

Monday: 7 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Slow recovery in Burlingame with the first post-run dip/swim of the year. Feels great. Still sore from Pinelands.

Tuesday: 10 Miles- South Kingstown, RI

Goal is do one aerobic workout a week to stay in decent shape for end of summer road races and into the fall as well as one hill workout to get ready for the summer mountain races. Weekends will be used to get used to technical/mountain trail running again and/or to race.

Today was aerobic day so I figured it'd be good to start with something simple and go for 4 miles tempo at 5:45 pace. I figured that would be conservative and doable. Chose to run the Kerri loop for this. Unusually warm day near 80 degrees, but good heat acclimation. Tempo was not great- felt off from the start and really had to work for 5:40s which is disappointing since I've felt strong doing 5:30s for longer in the past. I also haven't done much for summer workouts in the past, so it certainly could be the weather. Went 5:45, 5:43 and then 5:53. Totally fell apart on the small incline and was over 6 for much of the last mile, decided to call it at 3 but close harder to get the last mile under 6. Felt really rough all around- certainly hoping it gets easier. 5:47 average for just 3 which should be my target pace for my first marathon so not exactly a confidence booster.

Difficulty: 4/5. Should be a 1/5 but struggled today. Felt really heavy and weak on the cooldown.

Wednesday: 9 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Burlingame VG lollipop with some roads in there. Felt good today for the most part. Much cooler than yesterday.

Thursday: 10 Miles- West Greenwich, RI

Hill day. Yawgoo is a decent hill but isn't long enough to simulate the longer climbs (500-1,000ft) that I'll be doing in the actual mountain races so we did Plain Meeting House road instead. Not as steep but 8% grade for .75 miles and 300ft makes for a longer continuous climb. It was a really humid day and a struggle from the start. I figured 6 would be good, but completely died on the end of the second one and felt like quitting there. I started conservative going forward and accordingly it felt better. Started around 7:30 average (about 5:30 gap) then mostly low 8s/low 6s GAP after. Ended up doing 5 but adding on a hard downhill at the end which was really fast at 4:14 pace and felt out of control. The whiteface downs are super steep so any kind of simulation is good. Difficulty: 5/5. 

Friday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI

Grills perimeter. Pretty slow at 9 minute pace but just felt terrible throughout.

Saturday: 12 Miles- Amherst, MA

First mountain run of the year. There was a route I had wanted to do in the Catskills and was liking the cool weather over there, but I felt the route was a bit tough especially given the last of proper trail/mountain work this year. I decided to use the Western half of the Holyoke Range as kind of a tune up to get my legs used to steep climbs and technical descents again without having the full 4,000 feet of gain and being out there all day. Last year this weekend, I ran 17 miles with over 4,000 feet of gain in the heat of the catskills and struggled a lot. 

Woke up at 5AM, was hoping to be on the road around 5:30 but ended up leaving at 6. 2 hour drive got me there around 8AM. Filled up the pack, I brought a gel and energy waffle and was off. The route was 5-6 miles on the Metacomet-Monadnock trail traversing the Western portion of the range and return on less traveled side trails to make a loop. One nice thing about this route I had made was all the tough parts would be in the first half, meaning if I tired out later in the run, I would have to deal with fatigue over tough terrain. 

The first climb is pretty tough around 20%. Walking hadn't really been under consideration while mapping it out, so I forced myself to run through it but tightened up terribly and felt so uncomfortable continuing to run. The first summit was a little crowded so I continued on through the second summit and just past the mile mark before taking a break. Caught my breath, stretched out my legs which were super tight and continued on. The following climbs and descents felt a lot better and before I knew it I was approaching the final summit of the range- mt holyoke. The seven sisters are certainly tough terrain but all the climbs are so short it's not too hard to get through. I took a good break at the Mt Holyoke summit house, soaked in the view and fueled up as best I could. I only filled my bladder 2/3 of the way given this is easier for a mountain route. 

Descended off the ridge and turned onto the side trails, which were mostly empty compared to the popular M-M/NE trail. One observation I had was that there were very few pine trees up high on the near-1,000ft  ridge, yet many down here at the base level. Would certainly expect more up high. The dark was pretty dark in the dense woods. The route was intuitive enough for a while but then I didn't notice the blaze went two different directions and went .75 miles the wrong way to a trailhead. I got tired the last 2-3 miles but the terrain was easy enough to get through without feeling too bad. Busy road climb at the end was a bit tiring. Final stats- 2 hours of running, 2600ft of elevation gain, 12.5 miles, 10:00 minute pace. 

I had done a traverse of the full ridge in 2020 and my performance there seemed much better- multiple segment top 10s, feeling stronger generally and similar pace despite not having a big chunk of it on non-technical portions. But I had much more experience at that time with technical/mountain trails that year and at least slightly better aerobic fitness. Other than not being quite as trail fit as my 2020 self, everything else was a positive- I felt good for the most part, enjoyed being back out in the mountains, my ankle which was very unstable in 2021 felt strong and one thing I did better than 2020 was proper fueling: I finished with extra water and a gel whereas multiple runs in 2020 and 2021 I ran out completely which is a miserable feeling. Good first run- downhill ability seems okay right now and uphill has a ways to go but a lot of time to work on that.

Awesome park- Mass DCR does a great job with their state parks and this is always a fun place to go. It's a nice mountain training ground with steep climbs, technical terrain and nice view while not being a full day mountain commitment of a long, brutal route and 3+ hour drive. Mt. Tom and Mt. Toby are nearby and I'll likely want to explore them at some point. Places like these are great for early season (March/April) when snow is still covering any big mountain and a good introduction to technical/mountain running again as well. 

Sunday: 8 Miles- Groton, CT

Haley-Bluff. Slept in and ran around noon but the weather felt comfortable in the shaded trails. I was going to do the usual fire roads loop but decided to run on the bluff middle and outer singletrack instead and it was much more enjoyable. Pretty sore from Saturday.

Weekly Total: 65 Miles

Just building fitness right now. Getting to used to running hard again and running technical trails in the mountains. Not expecting to be too fit at any point this month which is fine. 

Bringing back weekly highlight/lowlight/movies watched!

Weekly Highlight: Return to mountain running with a healthy left ankle.

Weekly Lowlight: Struggling a lot with return to workouts.

Movies Watched: Top Gun: Maverick, *The Last Samurai, *Only the Brave, *The King, Ambulance

*Rewatch

All pretty good movies

Pineland Farms- Weekly Log: May 23 to 29

Monday: 5 Miles- Westerly, RI

Ran from the house, easy evening run. Weather felt nice and my legs felt really nice too.

Tuesday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Having serious eye irritation in response to spring allergies, so definitely not as comfortable running without contacts. Tried a workout- wanted 2-3 by 2 miles on the grass at roughly 6:00 effort to simulate pinelands. I started running on the fields only to notice it was really uncomfortable with how high the grass was. I shifted to running the .9 mile Foster Cove (gravel) but I was a little nervous as it'd be easy to run into people with the sharp turns. 

Got through the first one feeling solid, just over 6:00. Took what I felt like for a rest (approx. 4 minutes) and jogged back into the park as I saw some groups start going into the wildlife refuge. I really made it up as I went along on the second and despite feeling strong the first, the second felt terrible and the entire second mile I was grinding it out. I finished on the high grass field and the pace absolutely sunk there, but still 6:10 average for the full rep. Called it there, was a little disappointed. Tried 6x20s strides after on the grass to get some more work in but just felt completely gassed. Difficulty- 3/5. (Probably should be a 2 if I had felt better).

Need to make better decisions in workouts and not make it up as I went along. Hadn't decided on route or rest before and that definitely hurt me. Shoes were also way too tight but instead of loosening them and I just started the second one and my legs were really heavy as a result.

Wednesday: 9 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Vin Gormley loop with Dad and Brady. Felt solid through 7 and then my energy levels totally crashed. Fun run and enjoyed although it was a lot harder running without contacts today on the singletrack. Glad my ankle has gotten stronger as I feel like it would have really to easy to sprain with my poor vision. 

Thursday: 8 Miles- Exeter, RI

Afternoon Arcadia. Enjoyable but I didn't fuel well and felt weak. 

Friday: 6 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Pre-race at Ninigret.

Saturday: 17 Miles- New Gloucester, ME

Camped the night before at a nearby State Park. Got up just after 6am to eat breakfast and pack up. Arrived at Pinelands around 8:15 AM. I had only brought long sleeves and a singlet and opted to warm up in long sleeves as I didn't want my race gear to be soaked in sweat before starting. I knew the weather would be much warmer than last year (low 40s last year) but underestimated how upper 60s/high humidity would feel and got a good sweat going. Pre-race stuff including bathrooms stop took me a little longer than expected and I could have used another 5 minutes but nothing like last year where we barely had time to warm up. 

I stepped on the line and it looked like Patrick Caron would be my main competition. I really didn't know what to expect. I knew he was a good trail/ultra guy but without any singletrack or monster climbs, I figured I should be able to stick with him. I was a little worried about the down weeks coming in but figured I ran great last year off not doing a ton of training and track fitness should carry through here. I hadn't put much thought into the weather but realized after warming up that it was definitely going to be a factor. I hadn't ever raced in these trail shoes. I did a few slight pickups into race pace (basically slow strides) and decided they were way too tight so I loosened a bit then got prepared to go off. 

We were off soon enough and Caron absolutely sent it off the line. I wasn't expecting that all and was planning on a conservative start given the conditions and that it was 15 miles. But I came here to defend my title and it seemed silly to let the race go immediately. I tried my best to keep up but he was flying (low 5s for the first half mile) and then I knew it was time to call off the chase, slow down and relax. This effort felt closer to 10K and it was going to be a long day if I even tried to keep a manageable gap. I slowed down and kept the effort solid but more manageable. The toughest part of the course was a loop across the street that was pretty windy (as in twisty, not actual wind) and hilly. This year, we ran that first. I kept the pace solid through 4 miles but Caron opened up an enormous gap on me. I just had to hope that I'd run steady and he'd eventually come back but I wasn't feeling too great and I started to realize the win was probably gone. I had a similar gap on third and tried to run steady for hold second.

With the fast start and hot conditions, it didn't take long before I started feeling like trash and suffering. Mile 5 slipped as I started to really struggle on the uphills and feel weak. I knew it was going to be a rough and toned down the effort considerably and started to focus on trying to hold second instead of trying to run a fast time. At the mile 6 aid station, I stopped for 40-50 seconds to consume my gel and take several cups of water. I didn't stop once last year so this was definitely giving in a bit but at the same time not having any water or rushing through the water stop was a huge risk. 

I ran solid through the next 5- around 7 minute pace with a nice long downhill. Much slower than target pace/last year's but not quite slogging yet. I saw Caron go by in the other direction and when I reached his spot I realized his gap on me was twice as large as my gap on third. 

Cumulative fatigue, heat and hills got to me the last 5 and I crumpled. Could only manage 8 minute pace feeling very hot and with very little in the tank. The gel never really kicked in but may have prevented me from crashing earlier. I took a long break at the mile 10 waterstop. I twisted my ankle on some uneven grass immediately after but not really an issue. I noticed my gap on second was probably down to 30 seconds and closing. I tried to think of whether it was worth it to fight for second when he caught up and decided 4-5 miles was too far out to make a big move, but if he somehow didn't pass me until the last few I'd try my best to go with him. He closed the gap to within 10 seconds and I kept preparing for the pass, but somehow held him off for a full two miles. I came up to the waterstop with 1.5 miles to go and had a choice to get more water or battle for second. I chose the former with the race having already slipped away and being so overheated/dehydrated. He went right by the water stop and opened up a lead. I felt energized again for about 30 seconds and I thought I might be able to run him down but the fatigue quickly came back to me. 

We ended up finishing on a hill climb and there's no way I would have a kick against the second place had I skipped the water stop. I ran my slowest mile of the race here at 8:08 and just slogged it in. I finished almost a full minute behind second so I think I made the right call getting water. 

This was a pathetic performance and an absolute sufferfest. Caron actually ended up running slightly slower than I did last year so he might have fallen off a bit too. The conditions were killer and I wasn't acclimated at all, but I think lack of training hit me harder. I hadn't done a true long run in the past week and barely anything over 10 tapering for end of track/recovering from the last meet whereas my mileage was more consistent in 2021. I wouldn't say I had great preparation in 2021 but having some longer hard trail efforts with Shad Bloom and multiple FKT attempts was definitely better than flat track work into time off/low mileage with no intensity and only a few tune up workouts. Easily my worst 25K performance of the three and much worse than last year but need better aerobic strength and better weather really. Comparison of 2021 mileage and 2022 mileage before the race.

2021 prior 4 weeks: 58, 66, 61, 65

2022 prior 4 weeks: 60, 42, 37, 60

Sunday: 9 Miles- West Greenwich, RI

Tillinghast recovery run, similar to last year. Sore but felt better than expected.

Weekly Total: 63 Miles

Weekly Log: May 16 to 22

Getting used to running again, few light workouts.

Monday: 6 Miles- Groton, CT

Easy Haley Farm with Dad + Brady. Achilles felt really good today. Some strain in future runs, but never too bad. Hopefully past the worst with this.

Tuesday: 10 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Workout trying to roughly simulate a pineland farms effort. Pinelands is mix of dirt and grass, so I figured I'd workout on dirt this week and grass next week. There's probably better surfaces than this, but I chose from the Kettle Pond tower to Burlingame picnic area where Sanctuary road turned back to pavement. About 1.4 miles. Harder route than I thought- some tight turns near Kettle Pond and lots of potholes on Sanctuary road. I figured 6:00 effort wouldn't be too hard but I was wrong. Did 4x1.4ish with 3 minutes standing rest. The first one sucked and I strongly considered bagging the workout, but I got through and fortunately it got easier. Those three days off definitely hurt me. Difficulty: 3/5. Around 6:10-6:20. Doesn't feel like I can hold that for 15 miles, but definitely a slower surface here and I'm certainly hoping I feel better race day.

Wednesday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Flat roads near Charlestown Beach. Felt pretty good for 4 miles then I suddenly got really heavy and lacked energy.

Thursday: 10 Miles

5 Miles- Exeter, RI

Did 5xYawgoo Valley Hill (160ft in .3 miles) in the rain. Absolutely brutal. Good mountain training at 10% (more continuous climbing is better, but nothing like that nearby). Felt like quitting like the whole time, huge burn throughout the legs. Surprised my GAP for each rep was 5:20 pace or better, which is solid. We were going to do 5xSki slope hill for good Whiteface/Loon training but got denied access. I was a little salty about it but eventually moved on.

5 Miles- Charlestown, RI

"Cooldown" at Ninigret.

Friday: 9 Miles- Madbury, NH

Back in NH for 24 hours for graduation. Showed dad trails in Kingman Farm and nearby properties. Last time running here for a while. Acidotic Racing puts on a trail race in the property and I'd like to do it at some point.

Saturday: 8 Miles- York, ME

Wet loop on the technical Agamenticus trails. 

Sunday: 9 Miles- Stonington, CT

Mixed surface but mostly road- 2 miles on Barn Island fire roads, then roads back. Felt the heat after 5 miles- about 78 degrees. Struggled back but felt decent enough that it was tiring rather than miserable. 

Weekly Total: 60 Miles

Big jump, not really planned just a product of doing 7 days running instead of 5. Pineland Farms next week!

Weekly Log: May 9 to 15

Returning to running after a minor (hopefully) Achilles injury that forced a few days off and a week without any hard running. Some frustration/depression about very suddenly being done with track/NCAA running (likely) without being content how the races went but also happy being out of program that has had a lot of problems over the past year that have seen multiple people transfer out the school because of it. I stuck it out and am glad to be on the other side now, but there's definitely some "what if" scenarios that go through my mind. Mixed feelings overall, wanted a lot more out of the collegiate running experience but I'm also excited to try training/racing on my own and free from the issues that held me and many others back this past season. See the last post for more on that issue.

Monday: 0 Miles

Not sure if running was possible today, but decided on a bike ride and didn't even get that done as I was exhausted.

Tuesday: 0 Run, 20 Miles Ride- Dover, NH

Last activity in Dover. Explored roads to the North for the first time. A pleasant enough ride, especially for the first one. Was challenging. 16.8mph average which I'm fine with. Much better roads for riding around here than Westerly (Westerly conversely has better running roads though).

Wednesday: 7 Miles- Newfields, NH

Attempted a run, was a little nervous given how bad my achilles felt over the weekend/post-race but I wanted to get back into as soon as possible to avoid a complete reset and fitness loss. Did a lollipop on the rail trail with a singletrack section. Felt achilles a decent amount for 2 miles and considered turning around multiple points, but got through it and felt better in the second half. Not as great as hoped, but not as bad as my fears either. Good enough to at least easy run on. Given I couldn't walk without pain on Sunday, I'll take this as a small victory.

Thursday: 8 Miles- Northwood, NH

Back to Northwood Meadows SP to explore the parts I missed a few ago. Felt terrible on this one, legs were going lactic on a small climb in a field 2 miles and I was breathing hard so I stopped to catch my breath. Better after the break but HR/breathing was really high throughout and my legs were super heavy. Felt like I took 3 months off, not 3 days. Ran the big hill at the south end of the park- 350ft. Pretty gradual but any hill work feels rough right now after not doing any big climbs since last summer. Trying to get in as much elevation as possible to get in shape for Whiteface/Loon which I'll most likely do. It was in the 70s and felt pretty hot.

Friday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI

Typical Ninigret stuff with Keith. Felt much better aerobically but achilles was struggling today.

Saturday: 7 Miles- New Shoreham, RI

Tagged along on the trip to Block Island for Shad Bloom and ran the course just before the race went off. Achilles felt better. Very foggy and humid out there.

Sunday: 7 Miles- Exeter, RI

Mt. Tom trail loop, ran Mt. Tom trail entirely and back on the N/S trail dirt road. Achilles felt okay, not great and the climbing up Mt. Tom felt pretty rough. Glad I have over a month until the trail/mountain races as I am not anywhere near the shape I'd like to be.

Weekly Total: 37 Miles

It's not good mileage, but I'm also just glad to avoid a total disaster injury-wise and get right back into it.

America East- Weekly Log: May 2 to 8

After a long wait, my conference 10K debut was finally here. This was a meet I had been looking forward to for years as I felt I could excel in a longer distance rhythm event. I was honestly half expecting not to get entered after that rough 5K but I got through. I was intimidated about 25 laps but had long suspected this would be a strength for me. This was always a good opportunity for guys without sub-15 5Ks to score, but the field was absolutely loaded this year and even top 12 would be tough to crack. I felt nervous that my race target was faster than the 5K from last week for double the distance but just hoped coming down from mileage and fitness would carry me through. Unfortunately, I felt terrible all week and some cold symptoms made me feel like it wouldn't go well.  

Monday: 5 Miles- Stratham, NH

Explored the perimeter of Stratham Hill Park. Mountain bike-style singletrack. Didn't feel as bad as the previous day, but still lacking energy and congested. 

Tuesday: 9 Miles- Durham, NH

3x1K in 3:11, 3:05, 3:06 + 5x200m in 33, 34, 33, 32, 31. Legs were flat but felt much more comfortable than the past few days. Difficulty: 2/5.

Wednesday: 7 Miles- Durham, NH

Last trail day in Durham.

Thursday: 6 Miles- Durham, NH

5x160m + 5x80m hard. The 80s were basically all out and didn't feel right. Felt really bad/forced on everything.

Friday: 5 Miles- Burlington, VT

Pre-meet off the bus. Hamstrings were really sore from the sprints yesterday, just a poor decision to incorporate that after not doing them all season. Breathing pretty bad as had it been all week. Strides felt smooth enough but my achilles felt tender. A lot of foreshadowing what would happen in the actual race.

Saturday: 10 Miles- Burlington, VT

AM Shakeout- 2 Miles, still pretty sore

I was glad the coaches allowed the guys in later events to hang out in the hotel until 3PM, meaning we didn't have to wait around all day at the meet. I felt my meals weren't the best but ate what I could under the circumstances. Eventually it came time to race. Forest and I got through the warm-up and fortunately most of the soreness was gone at that point. 

Spikes on, lined up. Achilles still tender when wearing spikes but nothing I could do at that point. Best competition I had gone against all year as usually I'd be in a slower heat and not with the top guys. It was another pretty windy day so I wasn't sure how the pace would go out.

I felt good for a few laps, in dead last but with the whole field in one group. It didn't take long for a lot of things to go wrong:

1. Legs got really heavy

2. Stomach distress

3. Achilles strain/pain every step

but the worst issue by far was

4. Having a really hard time breathing

The pace actually felt comfortable in terms of energy (5:00-10:05), but the other issues and especially the breathing had me hanging on. I knew when I was breathing hard and pushing to stay with the group just 6 laps in that this was going to be a disaster. I pushed to stay with the group through 9, then disconnected after Forest went around a guy and I let the group pull away. 

This was without a doubt, the toughest moment in a race for me ever. None of those indoor 5Ks felt very good when I fell off with 11-12 laps left. But having the wheels come off with 16 laps left on an outdoor track (6400m), a distance greater than any track race I finished was a completely different story. There's plenty of races where I've thought about dropping out but was more of just a side thought "It'd be easier if I stepped of right now" and never a serious consideration. Here I was sure I was going to drop out. Was I really going to run 4 more miles having the feeling/pain of what is usually felt in the last mile?

The one other guy who may have given me some company fell hard on the track, yelled a profanity and dropped out meaning it was going to be a long solo effort for me. I kept giving myself time to think about it. "Get around the next turn and then you can drop out". "Wait until you get that patch of grass so there's a comfortable place to lie down". Once I got to that turn/patch, I kept running and then it was "Okay, another lap and then drop out at that spot". It was absolute suffering but after getting through the first few drop out points without dropping out, I told myself I'd get through 5K and drop out there. The cycle continued as I watched the lead group make progress on lapping me. I got through 5K. I didn't drop out. I was hitting consistent 85s, which is about my goal marathon pace. My stomach felt terrible, my achilles hurt every step of the way and it felt like if I went any faster, I'd tear it. My breathing became a little more controlled with the slower pace but still wasn't easy. 

Once I got 8 laps to go, I pushed the idea of dropping out to the side and became determined to finish no matter what the cost. Most of the field lapped me with 7 to go, but the pack finally broke apart there. I moved out for the lead pack as I didn't want to burden them with the extra distance and my race had gone out the window a long time ago. 

I eventually finished in 33:48, dead last by almost 90 seconds, lapped by every single person in the field and lapped twice by the leaders. I was still gasping for breathing upon finishing and struggled to walk. I feel my body betrayed me. Those last 16 laps were absolutely humiliating. I've fallen apart in plenty of races before but I've never been the one who is so far behind and is struggling so much he gets pity cheers from people who don't know him and the entire set of spectators cheers when he comes across the line. I've never finished last before. I felt defeated after spending all of March putting in near 80 miles a week and doing many solo workouts and runs at practice only to be brought to very few meets since the coaches didn't have any confidence in me and eventually finishing with this kind of performance. So much hard work for nothing. After walking around a bit, I realized my achilles was completely busted and over the next few days, I called a season and collegiate career. I think there's a good chance my body could have came back around for New Englands, but it was a enormous risk to to try to race in spikes again in just 6 days and not one I felt was worth taking.

A brutal way to end the season, especially given decent fitness that I wasn't able to capitalize on being held back from big opportunities and then feeling my absolute worst in the only ones I was given. The big upside is there's a long list of problems with the program/training/racing situation this year so I do think it will be much easier to race well next year.

Ultimately, this ended being another below average season. I think a lot of factors went into that, but the biggest issues were sitting out for three weekends where I was feeling good and then feeling off for the key meets. It was also pretty windy for a lot of the meets, but I guess that's just common in the region.

This was my last collegiate meet at UNH and while I'm disappointed about not improving much, I'm also very happy to get out the environment that caused that. I think it would take considerably longer to run well being in the program versus doing things on my own. I certainly don't think I'm an expert on training, but I do know that most of the training in Durham was not right for me. At the very least, I feel I learned a lot about different methods of training and injury prevention for myself that I can apply to my own training going forward.

I'm not done with track and plan to do at least one more year unattached trying to get my PRs faster. I at least would like to break 15 minutes in the 5K before moving to the roads/trails for good. I haven't ruled out running for another school and using my two years left of eligibility, but I don't expect to do that and will definitely not next year. The option does remain, however.

Sunday: 0 Miles

Wanted to explore Burlington but achilles wasn't having it walking, let alone running.

Weekly Total: 42 Miles

Double Race Week- Weekly Log: April 25 to May 1

Two meets this week. 

Monday: 6 Miles- Northwood, NH

First time exploring Northwood meadows. Calves still pretty sore from UMass Lowell Saturday. Before I started the run, I noticed I had an email. A few weeks back, our distance coach had told us we would not be racing at the Holy Cross meet this year. I was fine with that given how difficult 3 meets in 8 days would be especially after only getting to race once this year.

The email, quite surprising, had the subject "Holy Cross Entries". In the email, it read that some of us were entered in the meet and I saw that I (and Forest) were the 1500m. I immediately thought there was a mistake given the proximity to the race and given that this was a different coach that there was a communication error. After a few texts and messages, I realized that the expectation was that we were going to race.

This was an extremely frustrating situation that ended up being just one of many things that made this a stressful and unhappy last few months in the program for me. Just two weeks prior, I had contemplated quitting the team due to the lack of races I was entered in and lack of training partners. While I think I would have had better opportunities racing unattached, I ultimately decided against it due to the cost of paying for travel and entries myself. 

I thought about just not racing given how sore/fatigued I still was and given the upcoming important 5K on Saturday. It was a really stressful day suddenly having a race in less than 36 on my mind. In the end, opportunities to race in college are important to take because of the exclusivity. If I didn't race tomorrow, then I would go through college without ever doing a 1500m and missing the opportunity to race at another venue.

I knew hilly, possibly technical would not be ideal the day before a race but I had already drove the 20 minutes out here and just 5 minutes prior was excited to explore. I cut down from the original route but still got some decent hills in. The park was really nice and had some great singletrack sections. I made a mental note to come back for the longer route.

I went into the race having zero expectations still being sore, having run 13 miles on Sunday and being the shorter distance.

Tuesday: 9 Miles

AM 2- Dover, NH

Easy shakeout. Only did this because of the previous soreness. Mostly gone.

PM 7- Worcester, MA

This actually ended up being a fun meet just going down with the distance guys and Coach Casey, and being fairly low key with only a few other team besides us. The Holy Cross facilities were really nice and we hung out in their indoor football turf while we waited to warm up. Drizzling rain throughout outside. 

We ran loops around the parking lot for the warm-up as the school was on a massive hill. The track itself was actually quite worn down and had a high school track feel to it without much of a stadium. There was a fast URI guy in the 1500m, 3 of us from UNH and then a bunch of Holy Cross guys. I felt really tired/sluggish pre-race and was pretty sure I'd run terrible. I ran 4:37 indoors for the mile which converts to about a 4:19 1500m. While I'd thought I'd be better than that, I was really expecting around 4:14 and thinking even breaking 4:10 would be a strong race.

My start was absolutely horrendous. I'm one of the few collegiate guys who will start their GPS watch on the track, and it probably hurts me in a short but crowded race like this. Forest and the URI guy got out in the front, and all I could do was watch as I settled in near the back, having to put my hand out to prevent myself from crashing into multiple Holy Cross guys. It was tempting to stay in the back but the top 3 (Brendan Fay from Holy Cross, Ben Fleischer from URI and Forest) were getting some easy separation and that was my race right there. I had to make a much harder move than I'd like to pass most of the field and get into 4th. They had a bit of gap on me and I didn't catch up until 500m in. Still went out in 64. I felt extremely uncomfortable at this pace and was gasping for air. I've done so little speed work in the last 3 years that this felt brutal. I felt absolutely done with how challenging that first 400 was but tried to keep closing the gap and eventually got on it. When we hit 2 to go and I was in the group, I was committed at that point and would do my best not to lose this group. 

Closing the gap to the leaders

At 600 to go, Fleischer easily surged ahead where I noticed Fay and Forest weren't really changing  gears so I took advantage to move into 2nd. I tried my best to keep the pressure on, but Forest had a strong kick the last 200m. I fought as hard as I could and was surprised to come across in 4:06, Forest one second ahead. A genuinely good race, made the right moves, and ran a lot faster than I thought I was capable of. That one really hurt, need to have better speed to feel good in that event. Absolutely gassed/chest pain for a good while after followed by a headache. 

Two major things I've really struggled with this season are getting out well and the final kick. I got out terribly at Lowell and even worse here. While it doesn't seem like a big deal to get out well in races with 4+ laps, it makes it very easy to miss surges and difficult to get up to the front when a move is made. It cost me going with the lead pack last week and this week I had to expend a lot of energy to get to the group. That's probably worth a second or two and that's the difference between beating the guy ahead and breaking barriers. My final 400s have been solid (66, 67, 66) but that's a consistent effort throughout the lap rather than a wind-up needed to beat the guy next to you. Next track season, I want to work on speed early to get a stronger finish and feel more comfortable in the shorter events. 

While this was a good race at the time, the next two I struggled in and I think the lack of recovery between Saturday, today and the following 5K was too short and hit me really hard. I felt congested and semi-sick the days after and while it improved, I think it ultimately derailed the next two races which were the most important of the season.

Fun cooldown on grass trails with the team. Ate a bunch of pizza after.

Wednesday: 8 Miles- Durham, NH

Tired on trails, opted not to go for 10.

Thursday: 8 Miles- Durham, NH

1K in 3:03 + 3x300 in 50, 49, 48. Felt congested and chest burned. Respiratory system definitely affected from the 1500m. Difficulty: 2/5.

Friday: 6 Miles- Durham, NH

Pre-meet, short rose with Andrew and Forest. Finally felt good. The strides at race pace felt reasonable for a 5K effort. Forest said he thought he could run low 14:50s which I thought was a bit cocky. I thought a more realistic result was 15:10s. 

Saturday: 11 Miles

5K race at UMass Amherst.

9 Miles- Hadley, MA

Forest and I waited for 4.5 hours in the heat/direct sun (it wasn't that hot but the sun was beaming on us). Tried my best to hydrate, stay in the shade where I could. It looked really windy out so I knew that would be hard to race in. We eventually warmed up around 2:30 for a approximate 3:10-3:15 start (which was ahead of schedule). Went for 2 miles easy on a nice loop around the stadium area which was half gravel before heading over to the start. I was a little worried that the girl's 5K was going off when we got back from the warm-up but we ended up having plenty of time for strides. I felt okay, but certainly ready to go. 

Settled in the pack with Sam Mills and his pacer well out ahead of us (he was the class of the field with a 14:20s PR). We rolled through the 1K in 2:59- decently quick but feeling good. Somehow just a lap or two later, the Maine guy ahead of me got dropped from the pack and we were now gapped. I didn't feel good about this at all and went around but the gap was big enough that it'd take a while to close. Elijah Caret of Maine passed me after a little bit and I fell in behind him. We never really made ground on them as they were moving well. I felt like crap already through the 1600m in 4:50ish and knew this would be a rough one as I already felt like stepping out the track and dropping out. The UMass Amherst track was really hard and I felt my calves get really tight and lock up early. 

The rest of the race was rough. I stayed in it for another mile, a bunch of guys passed me but I went with them and we went around Forest who also fell off. I worked really hard to stay with it for the next mile then I just didn't have it at all to stay in the group. 3K in 9:21 then suffered for a slow last 1600m. I still had one UMass guy to work with, who sounded horrible and I went around but he saved up a kick and blasted past me the last 400m. So sick of the guys who are dying the entire race and then suddenly have a great kick. Forest ended up running 15:38 and beating me by a full 100m while I slogged it in for 15:54 for 9th. 

I felt absolutely crushed after this one. Sub-15 had been on my mind all season and while I wasn't expecting that at this meet, to be barely under 16 was a really tough pill to swallow. Especially when the other three races and the way I've felt in training indicates significantly better fitness (at least sub-15:10). I felt much, much worse than any other race this season (the 1500m hurt but that was the burn of a faster race versus just not having at all here). I'm still figuring out the track 5K but I'm pretty sure feeling like absolute trash before even going through 2K is not how it's supposed to be done. I actually feel I toughed it out really well and never gave up, I just had absolutely nothing today. 

After seeing the results, just about everyone ran pretty slow relative to their PRs including the winner Mills who ended up over 15:10 himself. That combined with the tough winds made me feel a little better, but I still think I should have been around 15:30 with the Maine group/Forest and not that far back. Given how bad I felt, I really think racing the 1500m 3 days after the last meet was a mistake and definitely hurt me in the long run. I got in a 3.5 mile cooldown but my calves were wrecked from the hard track. I ended up shaking that all out over the next few days but it came back to bite me a week later.

2 Miles- Durham, NH

An extra 2 here would make getting 60 significantly easier. I felt pretty weak.

My confidence was shattered after this race. I had felt strong all of March and April, so to run my first 5K in 15:54 felt like a enormous slap to the face. I really just wanted to go to a corner and cry after that. 

On a separate note, I wasn't happy that this was my first 5K on the season. I had "trained" all season specifically for 5K and 10K so it's truly ridiculous that I didn't race them until the final two meets of the season. While this race was disappointing, I probably would have felt much better about it if I had already run a fast 5K. Given that we had multiple semi-competitive meets we sent many people to, I should have had several opportunities at this distance at this point. It's unfair to give an athlete one opportunity to prove themselves at their distance and then have that opportunity on a windy day after racing twice in the last week. 

Sunday: 12 Miles- Durham, NH

Super rough run. Dehydration and sickness hit me really hard, plus my Achilles was really tight from the calf lock-up yesterday. Held it together for 9 then absolutely dragged back and slowed the group down big-time.

Weekly Total: 60 Miles