Marathon training/Cross country season Days 18-39
Day 18, 9/22/18
Long run day. Ran it with Sam, Isaiah, and Elijah. Was really glad to have company, especially after Friday. I bruised my calf at a party I went to, we were playing capture the flag and I tripped, and someone tripped over my calf. I was fine for the game, but after the adrenaline had worn off, I was limping pretty hard. I iced my leg that night which helped, but it was still sore the next morning. But that wasn't the worst when it came to the run. I had gotten a sore throat on Saturday morning right before the run and that just made my run miserable. I couldn't breathe great, second half of the run I was coughing every 3 minutes or so, and I had a headache to top it all off. The run started off pretty fine though, although it was much slower than I usually run. Isaiah probably didn't mind, since I stuck back with him anytime he got behind. Talked about how bad it looks like we exert ourselves when we run, it was a pretty interesting conversation. Both Isaiah and I look pretty relaxed when we run, even if we are giving everything we have, whereas Sam or Jared both look like they are dying at the end of their races, or maybe a bit sooner. It doesn't seem to make a difference on who runs better, as Sam is a better runner than both Isaiah and I, and Jared is about my level, maybe a tad slower.
Day 23, 9/27/18
Hours before the Osseo-Fairchild Cross country meet. Supposedly this meet is the best of the season, but I have no expectations because I have a cough. It annoys me that a day before the cross country meet that probably shapes my future as a cross country runner, I'm hit with a cold, and it almost certainly will affect my performance today. Although yesterday, for my pre-meet run, I ran the 3 miles at a 6:58 pace, and felt great the entire time. Don't know why it was like that, don't know if I'll replicate that for a long time, but I was really happy with it. Faster cadence yesterday than usual, I'll focus on that today. Plans for this weekend is after work, to do my run around Chippewa and squeeze in a 14 mile run, assuming I'm feeling better by then. Can't let Harlan and Anthony be the only ones to go past a half marathon this year. More tomorrow, after the meet, and also with results.
Day 24, 9/28/18
Day after the meet. Got a 19:59, I was pretty happy with that. Started off the race really fast to help Sam pace out, and Jared went with me. At about 2k Sam passed Jared and I, Michael went along with him. The second half of the race was absolutely abysmal, I was heaving really badly and could hardly breathe, but the course was fast so I knew I had to keep going. With 100 meters to go, I saw Jared ahead, and the clock said about 19:38, and I saw Jared was slowing down, so I knew he needed to pick up pace some to get his time under 20 minutes, he has been so close to it in the past, and I knew that he wouldn't let himself if he was a couple seconds short. So I sprinted as fast as I could up next to him and tried to get his attention, because I knew he wouldn't let me beat him, and away he went. He finally got his time under 20 minutes, with 19:57. I was so happy for him, he finally did it, and I was glad I could be right there with him when he did it. Michael though, he normally finishes about 20 second behind me, beat me by 30 seconds, and what's more, beat his PR by 50 seconds. Absolutely insane, haven't seen a performance out of someone like that before, defying all expectations and then some. About to go out and do a team practice, I'm pretty excited. Will and I are going to rehearse a song to sing at the Perkins dinner, or maybe just to sing together for fun, and I'm really looking forward to that as well.
Day 27, 10/01/18
Monday, day before one of the worst meets of this season. I ran a 10 mile run on Saturday at 8:54 pace. Felt really good, I felt like I definitely could have gone 5 more with a little effort. Also today I ran a 3 mile run, took it nice and slow. Ran with the Hornby's and my sister, so that kept me back a bit. Much better idea to run 9:31 pace rather than 6:58 pace, at least before a meet. Had a lot of fun talking to Seth on the run, and I am pretty sure that Faith enjoyed her run as well. More later, with times from my meet, and how I was feeling for the meet.
Day 35, 10/09/18
It's been a while since my last log. Black River Falls went pretty ok, I finished with a time close to 21:09, and Arcadia was about 21:13. Nothing super special, but both times I wasn't feeling the greatest, I had sub optimal amounts of sleep before both meets. Home practices though have been doing great, running 8 minute miles with ease every run, (though some of the days I ran with someone so I went slower). Yesterday I ran with Ben from the Cross Country team, though it was slower than I like to run sometimes, it was really nice to have company for the run, especially since it was a wet and rainy run. Ben has complained to me in the past that he feels like his home practices are too slow, (10 minute pace or higher) but we ran at 9:30 pace for the entire run and he didn't seem winded at all during any of the run, except maybe when we went up some steep hills. Definitely would recommend running with a friend if you can, it definitely helps. Saturday is the end of Cross Country season, I will definitely be running this winter, I'm half excited for the season to end, so I can run all I want.
Day 37, 10/11/18
Two days since last log, and I leave for the state meet tomorrow, though the meet is on Saturday, we leave on a Friday and stay the night. I'm pretty excited, it is the last meet of the season, and weirdly the meet we have the best chance at winning. I'm hoping to beat my best time, or at the least break 20 minutes for the last time this season. I'm looking forward to the end of the season like I said in the last log, so then I can run however much I want. On a side note, I ran 5 miles yesterday on the treadmill, not the most fun thing in the world, but I did it. 5 miles, 40:41. Pretty good time despite the treadmill.
Day 39, 10/13/18
State finished well. 20:45 goal was to beat my time from my first meet, which I barely pulled off. (My time from Loyal was 20:52) most likely, this is my last cross country race in high school, which is kind of sad, but also really cool to see just how far I've come. I'll still be running as much as I can throughout the winter, to both prepare for track and for the Marathon in May. Long distances are so much fun, and I'll not be quitting any time soon.
Day 23, 9/27/18
Hours before the Osseo-Fairchild Cross country meet. Supposedly this meet is the best of the season, but I have no expectations because I have a cough. It annoys me that a day before the cross country meet that probably shapes my future as a cross country runner, I'm hit with a cold, and it almost certainly will affect my performance today. Although yesterday, for my pre-meet run, I ran the 3 miles at a 6:58 pace, and felt great the entire time. Don't know why it was like that, don't know if I'll replicate that for a long time, but I was really happy with it. Faster cadence yesterday than usual, I'll focus on that today. Plans for this weekend is after work, to do my run around Chippewa and squeeze in a 14 mile run, assuming I'm feeling better by then. Can't let Harlan and Anthony be the only ones to go past a half marathon this year. More tomorrow, after the meet, and also with results.
Day 24, 9/28/18
Day after the meet. Got a 19:59, I was pretty happy with that. Started off the race really fast to help Sam pace out, and Jared went with me. At about 2k Sam passed Jared and I, Michael went along with him. The second half of the race was absolutely abysmal, I was heaving really badly and could hardly breathe, but the course was fast so I knew I had to keep going. With 100 meters to go, I saw Jared ahead, and the clock said about 19:38, and I saw Jared was slowing down, so I knew he needed to pick up pace some to get his time under 20 minutes, he has been so close to it in the past, and I knew that he wouldn't let himself if he was a couple seconds short. So I sprinted as fast as I could up next to him and tried to get his attention, because I knew he wouldn't let me beat him, and away he went. He finally got his time under 20 minutes, with 19:57. I was so happy for him, he finally did it, and I was glad I could be right there with him when he did it. Michael though, he normally finishes about 20 second behind me, beat me by 30 seconds, and what's more, beat his PR by 50 seconds. Absolutely insane, haven't seen a performance out of someone like that before, defying all expectations and then some. About to go out and do a team practice, I'm pretty excited. Will and I are going to rehearse a song to sing at the Perkins dinner, or maybe just to sing together for fun, and I'm really looking forward to that as well.
Day 27, 10/01/18
Monday, day before one of the worst meets of this season. I ran a 10 mile run on Saturday at 8:54 pace. Felt really good, I felt like I definitely could have gone 5 more with a little effort. Also today I ran a 3 mile run, took it nice and slow. Ran with the Hornby's and my sister, so that kept me back a bit. Much better idea to run 9:31 pace rather than 6:58 pace, at least before a meet. Had a lot of fun talking to Seth on the run, and I am pretty sure that Faith enjoyed her run as well. More later, with times from my meet, and how I was feeling for the meet.
Day 35, 10/09/18
It's been a while since my last log. Black River Falls went pretty ok, I finished with a time close to 21:09, and Arcadia was about 21:13. Nothing super special, but both times I wasn't feeling the greatest, I had sub optimal amounts of sleep before both meets. Home practices though have been doing great, running 8 minute miles with ease every run, (though some of the days I ran with someone so I went slower). Yesterday I ran with Ben from the Cross Country team, though it was slower than I like to run sometimes, it was really nice to have company for the run, especially since it was a wet and rainy run. Ben has complained to me in the past that he feels like his home practices are too slow, (10 minute pace or higher) but we ran at 9:30 pace for the entire run and he didn't seem winded at all during any of the run, except maybe when we went up some steep hills. Definitely would recommend running with a friend if you can, it definitely helps. Saturday is the end of Cross Country season, I will definitely be running this winter, I'm half excited for the season to end, so I can run all I want.
Day 37, 10/11/18
Two days since last log, and I leave for the state meet tomorrow, though the meet is on Saturday, we leave on a Friday and stay the night. I'm pretty excited, it is the last meet of the season, and weirdly the meet we have the best chance at winning. I'm hoping to beat my best time, or at the least break 20 minutes for the last time this season. I'm looking forward to the end of the season like I said in the last log, so then I can run however much I want. On a side note, I ran 5 miles yesterday on the treadmill, not the most fun thing in the world, but I did it. 5 miles, 40:41. Pretty good time despite the treadmill.
Day 39, 10/13/18
State finished well. 20:45 goal was to beat my time from my first meet, which I barely pulled off. (My time from Loyal was 20:52) most likely, this is my last cross country race in high school, which is kind of sad, but also really cool to see just how far I've come. I'll still be running as much as I can throughout the winter, to both prepare for track and for the Marathon in May. Long distances are so much fun, and I'll not be quitting any time soon.
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