jamieestarr:

Someone gets new trainers and it’s as exciting as someone getting a new car.

(Source: baobabs2012, via beautifulday4running)

We got to the meet and two of the girls had already ran. They didn’t PR, but they weren’t far off at all. I think they were sick, so I don’t think there was much they could have done. Then another girl ran and I think she was close to her PR as well.

My Coach told me he was hyping my race up as the race of the day. I just kept thinking he was hopefully right. There were moments before my race in which I felt a little nervous, but usually I just felt incredibly excited and ready. My friend and I warmed up, did active, and headed to the line. I did like 2 striders, and the gun was off before I knew it.

I was probably in the bottom 20 for a good while. This just makes me feel bad for a lot of people. Honestly, it’s so much smarter to chill out and stay well-paced. Usually what people do is go out super fast then try to hold on, which just isn’t smart. I stayed relaxed and felt very strong through the mile. My goal was 5:35 and my coach split me at 5:35. I’m not sure if I was right on, but maybe he just wanted me to think I was. About halfway, we went up the one major hill in the race. I slowed down a bit and stayed comfortable up it. I just kept telling myself to trust my fitness. Once the downhill after it was finished, I got really excited because I knew it was almost al flat for the rest of the race. From there to the lat 1k, I picked it up slightly and continued passing people. I felt incredibly strong and fast.

At about the 1k, I stated to really push it and fight for every place like my coach told me to do. Around the lake for the last 600m of the race, this redneck guy with a ponytail was trying to block me. I would try to pass him on one side, and he went sprint for a second and put out his arm. I tried that about three times and he did the same thing over again! I literally said, “Dude, chill out!” I got so annoyed I sprinted like crazy to get ahead of him an did. The last straight was about 300m I think and I tried to kick the whole way.

Overall, I think I did very well. There was not a single moment in that race where I settled and didn’t try to pass people. Harry didn’t do as well as he wished, but I think he still PRd by a few seconds. Callum got around 17:50 which I think was perfect. Not too close to my time, but a good PR for him (Callum and I very friendly rivals). 

Stingers: running a specific distance around tempo pace then sprinting the last part. 

Today we did 4 500m stingers with the last 100m hard. My goal was to go 77 seconds for the 400, and I hit it almost perfectly every time. For stingers, it’s really important you don’t go out to fast because it defeats the whole purpose of the workout. Generally, they aren’t too hard, but you always feel really tired after the sprint. I hit 1:34, 1:33, 1:34, 1:31 for the 500s. I think it was almost a flawless workout. My legs starting getting sore towards the end, but I didn’t let that get me down. I guess we will do some major tapering before saturday’s race. Can’t wait! Keep on running everybody :)

Had a nice warm-up and active warm-up, but I was getting really nervous about the 2-miler. Inevitably, we just started it up. I had been feeling really good about this all day and knew I was going to do pretty well. However, I was still surprised when I thought, “Damn, this is gonna hurt…REALLY badly,” with less than a lap complete. We started out a tad slow, but it wasn’t a big deal. I just kept on my coach’s heels as much as I could. He would spew random encouragements like, “Let’s go to work Bigman.” Or “Today’s the day.” Or “Keep a nice rhythm.” We finished our first mile in the low 5:20s. Right around there, my breathing started to get pretty heavy. I couldn’t hear a single thing from my coach! I just kept trudging on behind him. With about 3 laps to go, these signs on the fence by the track looked kinda fuzzy and I thought to myseld, “That is not a good sign. Probably not getting enough oxygen to my brain.” I wondered how bad it would be if I fainted right there. Of course, I was over-thinking it.

With one lap to go, coach steps off the track. I was a little surprised because I thought he would run the whole thing with me, but it was completely understandable. In fact, it was a good idea. Right there, I picked up the pace a tiny bit. Coach was yelling inaudible words to me as I ran around the track. My body felt like it was going to give out, especially my arms. With about 150m to go, I just let my breathing do what it wanted and sped off (or what SEEMED like speeding off). I exhaustingly crossed the line in 10:42! A 45 second PR! HAHA. It was an awesome day and my friend got a 10:58, a huge PR for him too. I’m really glad that’s over, and now I’m incredibly excited for my meet in one week because it’s looking pretty auspicious right around now! Hope everyone is staying fit and continuing their running. Keep on running :)

Winter track officially started today, but I’m still training for Footlocker. Basically, I’m still in Cross-country mode. So anyway, we had a long talk on the bleachers where Coach laid down the usual, required stuff. He later told me he didn’t even mean for us Footlocker guys to be there, but instead just go run. After that, we got caught up in our really old coach’s talk. I’ve been running for 3 years and he thought I still had to hear his lame speech about running on the left side of the road and not to be stupid. I actually think it took shorter than usual.

After that, Coach told us we were to do a progression run: 30 minutes relaxed, 30 minutes moderate - cutting each mile time down a lot. So we started our really relaxed, our first mile which was only 2 minutes hard was 7:44. After that, we went: 6:51, 6:27, 6:21, 6:19, then 1:35 for the last 450m. It felt amazing, but I was breathing really hard in the end. Right now, Footlocker is looking very auspicious. I can’t wait! Hope you guys are keeping up on your running!

Today three of the four guys did 5x800m with 400m rest hard. I started at 2:45 and brought it down every time. They went like this: 5:45, 5:40, 5:38, 5:33. Before I started my rest after the 4th rep, my coach tells me, “2:28 on this last one.” I said to my coach, “My legs are really starting to killing me.” I don’t know why I said it because I knew that I was going to run the last one anyway. He wittingly replied, “Your lips are moving but I don’t understand anything that’s coming out.” I finally said, “I’ll do it,” and started my rest. I was thinking about how hard and how much pain I would have to go through to get this last one done with a good time.

As I come in to the end of my rest, I see my coach jogging in place. He says, “You better not let me beat you.” He decided to run with me in black dress pants and sock…just socks. We start off probably at about 1:20 pace and he says, “Well I’m not going in 1:20, ladies” (or something to that variety). He then blazes by us and I keep with him. At about 200m, the other guy drops off behind me. I start breathing hard, but I know I have to do EVERYTHING to stay with him. I didn’t look at my 400m split because I was too busy thinking of the pain to come. I drop back a couple meters and he slows down at about 300m to go. He starts yelling, “Come on Bigman, I’m wearing socks!”and “Let’s go Bigman! Where’s the courage?” I try to close the gap a bit, but I only managed maybe a fraction of a meter. With 200m to go, I am breathing really hard and I feel this weight on my stomach. My quads are killing me and are difficult to move, but I trudge on. I let my head roll back and try to quicken my stride. I exhaustively cross the line like how Bannister crossed the finish line when he broke 4 minutes and stop my watch: a time of 2:22, 4 seconds off my 800m PR. I bend over, hand on my knees and try to steal any breath I can. He said, “That’s for calling me an old wimp in your blog. Don’t think that wasn’t my motivation with 300m to go.” LAST TIME I DISS MY COACH ON HERE.

P.S. He said he was really tired too and was glad I dropped back on the second lap because it meant he could slow down too. I’m getting closer and closer to being able to beat him!

A.K.A. Do what your coach tells you to. If you trust your coach, do what he says. Most likely he or she knows what he or she is doing. When they say, “Run 40 minutes,” then they don’t mean 38 minutes. Nor do they mean 39 minutes. Not even 39:59. They mean 40. Even the little stuff like a couple minutes of abs, some strength, or just a few striders.

After running 40 minutes by myself today, it was a bit nippy (I was running without a shirt - felt AMAZING) and late and dark. So I thought, “Alright, well strides aren’t that important. I’ll skip them for today.” But then I said, “Whatever, I’ll just do two.” And then I do two and then decide to just do 2 more. After that, I realize what if Coach asked me, “How many striders did you do?” I would answer: 4, and he would think of how ridiculous that is. So I just finished up the 6 striders he assigned.

Coaches are there for a reason. You are on the team for a reason. You go to practice everyday for a reason. Don’t settle for less and just GET IT DONE. Hope your rests are going well and that you are doing/looking forward to indoor track!

So today it was REALLY lonely. Only 5 guys and 10 girls today. The locker room was noticeably quiet compared to when there’s 30 guys in there. So after coach gave a long, happy speech about how proud he was of the girls, we went off on a 50-60 minute run (60 minutes, I don’t settle for anything lower than the maximum). So the 5 guys plus coach set off. We started off about 8:30 per mile and Coach starts telling us about how much faster we should have been running throughout the whole season. Apparently my long runs should be like 7:30 and my regular runs like 8:00. Well, we have been going WAY slower than that, so I felt like I disappointed him and didn’t have a good season because of those slow runs.

So then he starts gradually picking up the pace and I can easily handle it. 30 minutes in, we have an average around 7:45 per mile and he heads back to school to only run 45 minutes (the wimp is getting old and of his element :P). So me and two other guys go the other way in plans of running 60. Well, from then on I pounded out the miles. I felt a little mad at my coach for dissing is (sort of) and myself for running slowly. So I really start hammering. I drop the other guys like crazy in just minutes. All I remember is my legs being tired but my mind, upper body, and lungs being so strong. I felt REALLY fast and like my form was spot on. So I get back at about 54 to poop (Everyone gets the runs now and then), then I head out to finish my 6 minutes.

I come back and I really wasn’t THAT tired. I show my average pace to my coach and say, “Happy now?” Haha. He said, “Look at you!” and was pretty impressed. But then I realized I should NOT be running low 18s if I can run that fast for an hour. I should at least be like 17:30! I just don’t know why I can’t race. Footlocker is going to be my LAST shot, so its there or never. If I don’t kill it and run through my comfort zone, I’ll be a failure for the season. But it’s a really flat course so I honestly think I can do it. I gotta get excited and pound out those miles until then! Keep on running everyone :)

P.S. Don’t let the end of XC season fool you! Running season never stops!

I’ll get straight to the point. I got an 18:09 and 19th place in the sub-varsity race. I was content with it and my coach seemed content with it too, so that makes me happy. I really really tried to go out at an even 5:45 pace (which would make a 17:45 5k) but I couldn’t hold onto it in the last mile. Right after the 2nd mile there is a HUGE, long hill and I really think that’s the killer. But it’s my second best run of the season and I’m glad I know I can run around those times unlike my 18:30s.

Other people: Our varsity girls got 3rd so they’re going to states which is really awesome. One of the girls got 15th too so that was a great race. Our top guy got 18th in his race, so unfortunately he isn’t going to states. But honestly, I think it could be beneficial his season is ending now, because it has been a long season and I’m sure his body is tired. One of the 8th graders on our team got like 18:01 and won the freshman race and that was really really cool. He is the future of our team. Also, we had a mini-tumblr meetup with justkeeprunning1 and runeatsleeprepeat. It was pretty WIN.

I still have Footlocker Nationals Extra race (haha not seeded) on November 27 so hopefully I break 18 there. I am REALLY sad the main season is over. I’m going to miss this so much. We had a team dinner tonight and it was so much fun and I’m just really going to miss being on this team :(

So one of the seniors on my team wrote this. Major props to C.J. for this.

Cross Country 2010 was amazing. So I wrote a cheesy little song about our season. I will never forget these memories and I hope none of you will either.

“Cross Country Boys”
* Follows the beat of “California Girls” by Katy Perry Feat. Snoop Dogg

Greetings runners
Let’s go jogging

I know a place
Where there are cross country runners
Run, sweat, cool down
Listenin’ to Wagdog and Towler
Doing tempo runs
Go to Kanawha Pool on Wednesdays
Boys
Break their backs
Doing skinny fights with Lauder

You can do other sports
But nothing comes close
To the team dinners we host
Once you practice with us
You’ll be running for fun
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross country boys
We’re unforgettable
Running shorts
Jog-a-lites on top
Running round the hoods
And even Deep Run Park
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross Country boys
We’re going on a run
90 minutes of fun
Watch don’t stop
Cross country represent
Now run your ass off
Oooooh oh oooooh

Infection in the woods
Vests shining in the sunlight
Scream
Like zombies
Running through a million spider webs

It’ll be done before you know it
But who can forget
All the Texas toast
Once you practice with us
You’ll be running for fun
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross country boys
We’re unforgettable
Running shorts
Jog-a-lites on top
Running round the hoods
And even Deep Run Park
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross Country boys
We’re going on a run
90 minutes of fun
Watch don’t stop
Cross country represent
Now run your ass off
Oooooh oh oooooh

Fork Union I’m
Fit and ready
Pick up the pace
My feet are gettin’ heavy
Running, dying, up the hill
Going fast cause’ I got the will
I’m almost done
Running toward the sun
Kick
Sprint
Having fun?

Pocahontas State Park
Competition ain’t weak
Everyone gonna PR this meet
Unless you fall
Or lose your shoe
Just go all out
Ain’t much to lose
Tuckahoe, and Pole Green
Last time for seniors to do these things

Our boys
Hangin’ out
In the tent
Chillin’ out
Music, numbers, spikes
No tights
Just free ball
One last time
Pole Green my last meet
Running at full speed
No chance to win
Just rep’n myself and Godwin

Cross country boys
We’re unforgettable
Running shorts
Jog-a-lites on top
Running round the hoods
And even Deep Run Park
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross Country boys
We’re going on a run
90 minutes of fun
Watch don’t stop
Cross country represent
Now run your ass off
Oooooh oh oooooh

Cross country
Conner, Richard, Harry, yeah
Cross country
Bigman, CJ, Fresco, ohh
Cross country

This has got to be a short post because I gotta finish reading Hamlet (EDIT: sorry, I write so much when it comes to running!):

Today’s plan was one tempo run of 2 miles plus 4x300m strides. He didn’t want the 2 miles to be fast, just to get breathing a little hard. However, I knew that the guys on our team would not take it so lightly when it came down to it (and I was no exception). After a  12 minute warm-up plus active, we jogged down to the neighborhood behind school. Coach said a good pace would be around 6:10, like I guessed. We started out well, and I felt strong so I tried to lead frequently. Our first mile was hit in 6:05. I knew the second mile was where the battle would occur. We came into our 2400 at 9:00, 15 seconds ahead of pace. We then went up a hill, and I realized on the downhill that it shouldn’t be too hard, so I planned on just cruising it in. Most of the guys in the group passed me, and I just let it be. I came into the 2 mile around 12:00, estimating the second mile at 5:55.

After that, I was on my way to the track to start the 300s when one of the girls who loves running more than me said she was doing another mile because she told Coach that she wants to do distance training. I got REALLY jealous and asked Coach if I could do the same. He gave me a plain “Yes,” and I got so pumped up. We started the mile and I stayed with her for about 800m. After that, it was go-time. I started to feel pretty tired with about 600m to go, but I just tried to stay on that pace. I don’t know my exact time (Roselyn, my watch, died out on me), but she got 6:08, so I was definitely around 6 or under. I never knew how much being allowed to do an extra mile would make me feel so good. I felt like a true distance runner :). Make sure the end to your cross country season is a good one and keep on running :)

I want to go to James Madison University which doesn’t have a boy’s team (not that I would be able to be on it if they did). So I will either

1. Join the club team. After a couple years I would take it over and make it AWESOME.
2. Run completely on my own. I’m no even sure if I would race or want that type of pressure I’ve had on me for so long.  I just kind of want to ENJOY running.
3. Join the ultramarathon club. My sisters told me they have one and I think it’d be pretty cool. I’m built for longer stuff anyway.

they also have a Marathon class that I want to take. Apparently you have to do a marathon during it as part of the class. I would fricken LOVE that class.

Plan today: 45 minutes with last 15 moderate (aggressive)

As soon as we started it, we picked it up a tiny bit. Apparently Danny (our #1 guy) wasn’t feeling very good,  so my friend and I dropped him quickly. I immediately took the lead and pushed the pace…a lot. I was breathing hard and I got a cramp during it, but I pushed through it. For the last 2 miles, we were apparently going 5:55 per mile…holy SHITS. That’s faster than the pace I ran at Districts. I am fit enough for a 17:30, but why can’t I run it!?!? I’m getting really frustrated.

I then talked to my coach and he asked what happened. I told him I just wasn’t tough on the second mile (like almost everyone) and that they went out incredibly fast. My first mile was 5:20. He told me that was a mistake. But I told him that everyone went sub 5:30 for the first mile, so it probably would not have been good if I started out 5:40 like I wished. Well, next race no matter what, I will go out slow. It doesn’t matter my place, I will be patient. I am fit enough to do AWESOME, I just have to be steady. That includes going out patiently, but then holding on to everything I have.