Monday: 10 minute warm up, 12x 200 repeats at goal mile pace, 10 minute cool down
Tuesday: 35 minute run
Wednesday: 10 minute warm up, 5x800 repeats at goal mile pace with jog rest between each, 10 minute cool down followed by core work
Thursday: off
Friday: 25 minute run
Saturday: TRACK MEET!
Sunday: 20 minute run
Training recap: This week we mostly did our speed workouts around the parking lots of the school, which was pretty boring most of the time, but it was better than trying to run 200’s in over a foot of snow. But you don’t really want to hear about my training… overall it was pretty uneventful. The real excitement happened at the meet on Saturday.
Meet recap: One of the most exciting things about this meet took place before the meet actually started. After the teams had done their warm-ups and before the 4x8 started, nearly everyone in the field house (which ended up being over 500 people) lined up at the finish line to walk a lap in protest against the MPA’s proposal to take away New Englands. It was overwhelming the number of people- not just athletes- who joined in. The energy and support that penetrated the air in the field house was incredible, and people near the front started clapping and chanting, and the noise spread throughout the crowd until more people joined in. I was near the middle of the pack, and before I even started walking the leaders had already rounded the first turn of the track. I had made a flag that said “SAVE NEW ENGLANDS” on it, and I started out waving it above my head until I accidentally hit some kid in the face… after that I kindof just held it out so it could be seen. I can’t even explain how amazing and inspiring it was to see such a multitude of people pulling together to support the cause. Even my parents, who usually like to spend as little time in the field house as possible, came to the meet early and walked with us. I am just hoping and praying that all these things people have been doing to raise awareness and to speak out will pay off. I realize that budget cuts need to come from somewhere, but at this point I can’t possibly imagine that the MPA would be able to follow through with this decision without at least a guilty conscience.
Actual meet recap: So this week I just ran the 4x8 and the mile. It was so weird to be done running before half of the events were even over, because each week I have either run in the second to last event (the 2 mile) or some relay at the very end. I kindof liked it, because I got the chance to actually watch and cheer on my teammates without being preoccupied with my next race. Anyways, as for the 4x8, I was so proud of how well the rest of my team performed. I’m pretty sure they all ran best times, or close to best times, so by the time I got the baton we were in a pretty good position. We had traded the lead with Brewer throughout the race, but we wound up getting first in the end. I think my split was 2:32xx. I was happier with my performance in the mile though. It was a loaded event- there were so many girls that they ran two heats for the B meet alone. That left me two heats of the mile to get nervous about my race and to second-guess myself for warming up too early. Everything turned out fine though. The race played out a lot like last week, with Brianne Dunn right on my tail for the first 5 or so laps. I’m not sure how close the race actually was in the end because I have always maintained that I will never look back over my shoulder while I am running. In the end though, we both ran faster times than last week, and I got under 5:30 with a 5:28. I’m glad that I have been able to keep running faster times each week, but it’s starting to sink in that we only have two more meets before the EMITL Championships and then States…. So I think for the next two meets I’m going to keep concentrating on getting my times faster. I’ve only run the open 800 once this season, so I’ll be in that for the upcoming meet. Other than that, I’m not sure what events I’ll be in, but it should be a good meet.