Indoor Track.

With Cross Country finally over we move on to Indoor track.

KVAC's should be interesting. On the boys side, Brunswick returns after a rather impressive win last year. After losing 3/4ths of their 4x8 team. As well as a first and second place win in the mile (Geoghegan and Cassidy) and a first place in the two mile (Cassidy) They might not have enough to come back for a second win this year.
Edward Little had a strong first half of the cross country season, before succumbing to illness which held them back. Although they only had one first place finish at KVAC's last year, Connor Harris is returning this year, and has a good chance of winning again. They also racked up a bunch of points with plenty of Top 10 finishes.
After a very strong Cross Country season, it will be nice to see what the Mt. Ararat Indoor Track team can do. They had 5 first place finishes last year, and are only losing one of those athletes. As well as a bunch of 2nd and/or 3rd place finishes.

I think it will be between Mt. Ararat and Edward Little for the KVAC title.
Individually, in the mile and 2 mile I think that Harlow Ladd, coming off a late XC season injury, will probably win both, but hopefully will be challenged by Faisal Noor and I in both events. In the sprints, I'm guessing it will be between Hatke and Gary for the 55 and 200. For the 400 it could very well come down to a battle between MTA's Will Hirnak and Ryan Smith. The 800 could be a very close race between Brunswick's Mitchell Black and MTA's Will Hirnak. Last year, in a regular season meet, they battled it out with Black winning by .02

three wins and a first place.

KVAC CHAMPS!
Eastern Maine, this is our state.

The course was muddy and a mess, as were the people

We were ready though, we have been training for these weeks since August 16th, and this past Monday, October 11th we had completed our hardest workout of the year, intense workouts that all added up to 16 miles.

Standing on the line, we knew we had a job to do. It was my job to run a good race, and if possible, catch and beat EL's Faisal Noor. Nick and Jake had the job of catching Hussein of EL and Nick Demo needed to try and catch as many of the EL kids as possible. and our 5 Nate was going for Bourget. We were all trying to beat as many EL kids as possible. Luckily, our 6 and 7 are faster than any other teams 6 and 7 which means that if it ever comes down to a tie we win.

The race was tough. Going out, I was in a pack with Harlow (Mess), Eben (EA), and Faisal (EL) eventually they kinda dropped and it was Harlow and I going out, it felt kinda slow to me, but I knew the second mile would be a pain. Stupidly I looked at my watch shortly before the mile mark and thought I was going too fast, so I pulled up a bit behind Harlow and that's when I broke. After that even though I knew I should have been going faster, mentally I was having issues. I kept with Harlow until we got to the field at the top of the hill, then I got a bad cramp. As I came through the 2 mile I knew it was going to be a tough race. As we went back up the hill on the other side right before the blueberry fields Eben and Faisal got around me, I tried to stick with them but I was dead. When Evan caught up with me I knew I couldn't let him get around me. I ran with him and didn't let him pass. Luckily when we came out of the woods for the last 3/4 of a mile or so, my cramp got a little less worse, and I was able to increase my pace, as we crossed the football field I pushed myself into a fast fast run, almost a sprint. when I crested the little hill after the football field I realized Faisal was dying and I took off, I made sure to sprint through the line completely, and ended up losing to him by .2 of a second. Nick Parsons beat Mt. Blue's Jaron Jones but not Hussein. In the end it didn't matter, we beat all the other teams.

On the girls side we also won, by a ton! 27 points to the runner up of Brunswick 75 points.

For the JV races, our girls team also won, and on the boys side, while our team didn't win, we did have the individual winner of Senior Peter Burtt.

We got 3 plaques out of a 4 plaque meet, I'd call that a success.

four wins and a record.

Look out Maine here we come.

Yesterday we had the Mt. Blue Relays. Both our Boys and Girls A teams were going for the record, boys 58 minutes, girls about 70 minutes.

For the boys, this meant averaging about 11:33's per person, we were hoping this wouldn't be too hard, since I was going for a sub 11, and Jake was going for around 11 flat.
Starting off, Harlow Ladd, Will Lundquist, Chase Brown and I were running together. Lundquist led for the first 3/4 of a mile or so, I then made a move and got around him, with Chase right behind. I went through the mile around a 5:04, which I was happy with, and knew that if I could repeat it I would break the individual course record easily.
Coming down the grass slope shortly after the mile is when Chase Brown managed to get around me, I tried to go with him, and succeeded for a bit, but then he managed to get away. I did manage to hold on Harlow Ladd as we battled for 2nd. A couple of times going up the hill we gained a bit on Chase, but it wasn't enough, and as we all sprinted the last 200 meters or so, Chase managed to come in with a winning time of 10:43, I came in behind him with a 10:49, and Harlow right behind me with a 10:50. I handed off to our number 2 Nick Parson, and went over to receive my other number (a 2) because I also had to run the second leg on our d team.

My coach wanted my to run about 10-13 seconds slower on my second leg than my first, but I ended up just going out and taking it kinda easy and running about a 12:38, which wasn't too bad I thought.

When our number 4 Nate Mackenzie handed off to our number 5 Jake LeTourneau at a little after 46 minutes. this meant that Jake couldn't dilly daddle, and would have to run about an 11 flat. Unfortunately, Jake came in with the final time of 58:23, just 23 seconds off the record, if we had all run about 6 seconds faster, we would have been set.

On the girls side, our last runner, Emma Wood, came in at 68 minutes, 2 minutes faster than the record, breaking it easily.

Overall, both our Boys and Girls, A and B teams won Mt. Blue Relays, Next week, KVACs!

Brunswick

This is a bit late, I'm sorry.

Last Thursday Mt. Ararat ran at Brunswick, against them, Morse, Lawrence, and Mt. Blue. Going into the meet we knew our main competition would be Mt. Blue, they have a very strong 1-2 with the Jones' brothers. 

I started the race going out slightly conservative for the first 200 feet or so, until we reached the downhill, then I took off a bit to gain as much ground on Jaron as possible. I went through the mile mark at around 5:13 which was slower than at MTA, which was disappointing for me. but allowed me to really push through the second mile and go through at a 5:23, only 10 seconds slower. Going through the 2 mile, Jaron was around 9 seconds behind me, however shortly after the 2 mile mark, when you do a short loop that brings you around and back through the 2 mile mark, Jaron took a wrong turn, and ended up running around a 24 minute. At the end of the race going up the hill, I was in a ton of pain, and knew I just had to power through, and I ended up coming across the line at a 16:43, a 2 second PR.

After Jaron went the wrong way, Nick Parsons pulled out an amazing 2nd place running a 17:23. Jonah of Mt. Blue 3rd with a 17:30, and Jake 4th with a strong finish of 17:48.

The boys won the meet, 27 to 58.

On the girls side, Brunswick's Katie McMahon had an impressive race with a time of 19:20, just 2 seconds off her PR, and she was quoted after as saying "It wasn't actually that bad, I could have run faster, but it's tough since I didn't have anyone to push me." Running at FOC for her tomorrow should provide her with plenty of tough competition.

With Emma Wood and Katie Spies finally back, the girls reasserted their dominance to win 30 to 47, proving that while Brunswick might have a strong 1-2, teamwise they don't match up.

Our Course!

So last Thursday our race was at our home MTA course. For some reason, our coach invited Cony to the meet, so instead of just going for a good time, I was now going to have to fight off Will Lundquist.

Going into the race, besides beating Will, I was also going for a sub 17:31, which would get me the Junior Class record for our course for people on the MTA xc team (dating back to 1994 at least)
Since it was our course, I had spent the last 2 days planning on how I was going to run it. I knew that I always run a really good race on our course. (last year I ran faster on our course than I had at EL the week before) I also know that the first mile of our course is extremely deceiving as it is basically flat.
Will and I went through the mile mark at a 5:04ish, I knew that was fast, but I also felt really smooth and comfortable, and felt like Will was pacing which made it easier. When we got to the first mile, I "took off" and got maybe 20 feet ahead of Will, I then stuck ahead of him. When I reached this short steep sandy downhill near the mile and half cut, I took off and put more distance ahead of Will.

I went through the two mile mark slower than I would have liked, but sub 11, which is very good for me. Unfortunately the last mile is one of the last, you have to go up a paved hill, through a bunch of sand, and up a nice rocky hill. I personally love that last rocky hill, and is usually where I manage to lose or get by quite a few people there, and when you get over the hill it's all downhill.

I didn't have the fastest sprint to the finish, but it wasn't bad. I managed to come through the line at a 17:12. 9 seconds behind Will's record that he set just last year, and fast enough to put me as first for Junior's and by 19 seconds.

Our boys team won by a lot. Sadly, our girls team got defeated by Brunswick (for the first and only time this season) because our top 2 runners did not run.
After the race, around 7:30, my stomach started hurting, and by 11:30 I could no longer stand it, my dad brought me to the ER and I was diagnosed, well all they really found out was that it wasn't apendicitis. And I was dismissed around 6. On our way home, my dad decided to tell me that maybe I should get stomach aches again if it will cause me to run that fast.

The 17 minute barrier

This past Friday we were at EL. We knew that this was going to be our hardest meet so far, and possibly during the entire regular season. Both our guys team, and the EL guys team were evenly matched, and we knew it would be a good race.

Going in to the race my goal was a sub 17, and a side goal of beating Faisal. I knew to do this I would have to go out with Faisal, and then probably try to out sprint him to get me under the 17 minute barrier.

The start of the race was rather surprising. The starter told us "okay, so there will be two commands, runner set, and then Go." so we all lined up and he said "Runners set" then maybe one second later says "go" and that was it, we were all taken a bit by surprise, but still got off the line pretty quick.

At the beginning of the race, it was Faisal, Hussein, and I running together, and then as we crossed the driveway, Faisal made a move and I went with him. It was then Faisal running a bit in front of me, with Hussein falling behind. Faisal went through the mile mark at around a 5:02, with me close behind at a 5:10. I then pushed ahead and almost caught him, but then he managed to also push a bit after I had settled back into my pace. I came through the two mile mark around a 5:34 (much better split then last week) and by then he was probably 10 seconds ahead of me. I knew I had to make a move, and tried, but failed. Looking back, my coach was able to figure out my last mile was a 5:20, and the last .1 was about 41 seconds.

For those of you very good at math, that brings me in at a 16:45, second, but breaking 17. By quite a margin. Which felt amazing!

Looking at the team standings, our boys team got 2nd by 4 freaking points! we know though that in the future we can beat them, because our number 3 Jake, had a bad day due to allergies, and so next time we face them (KVACs) we should beat them easily.

Laliberte

This past Friday 23 teams gathered together to race over a 4k course including way too many hills.

Going into the race, I was expecting 5th or better. The reason for this is that I was seeded 5th, however I was hoping to beat some of the people seeded ahead of me. As we were warming up I noticed someone I wasn't counting on. Harlow Ladd, this kid came out of nowhere during outdoor track, and I was definitely hoping he would lose it during cross country.

After making us stand on the line for about 20 minutes we finally started around 4:10. Going into the start I didn't know what would happen, in a race I usually go out pretty fast, so I don't get boxed in, and then see what happens, but no matter what speed I go out at, there are always a couple of people ahead of me, Friday was different. I took off, and only 3 people went with me. The expected Harlow Ladd, Charlie Jones who I battled during the 1 mile this past spring in outdoor, and a newcomer from Erskine named Eben Hodgkins. Following close behind was Cony's Will Lundquist.

For awhile it was the 5 of us battling it out to see who would lead, when we took a sharp left heading up into the woods up the hill, Will was leading, but as we crested the top, I made a move around him and led for the rest of the first mile. Harlow, Charlie and Eben stuck with me as we pulled away from Will. I went through the first mile marker around a 5:34, and that's when Ladd made a move. Him and Charlie pulled ahead with Even still trailing behind me. I attempted to go to Ladd, but was not able to, it then became a race for third between Eben and I.

Every time that he made a move to pass me, I made sure to sprint past him the next chance I got, I hoped this would dishearten him and cause him to tire out. sadly it didn't work, and as we were going around the pond towards the final sprint, he got around me and took off. Sadly I had nothing left, and so was not able to sprint up to him, I ended up finishing 4th with a time of 14:12.

Afterwards at the awards ceremony we got the biggest shock of the day, when it turned out we had managed to win the meet! The way they score the meet is by combining the boys and girls scores, however if you score it individually by gender, our team would have one all 4 categories.

It was a great race for everybody, and we are all greatly looking forward to this friday at Maranacook.

Predictions

I'm not really going to be able to make any good goals for myself until tomorrow (mile time trial at the start of pre season) and after the Laliberte.

I do know that I'm hoping to start the season at the Laliberte running a sub-18, which on that hilly course I would be very happy with. If I manage to run a sub-18 at the Laliberte, then by the third meet of the season, on the very flat course of EL I would love to be close to breaking 17 minutes.

Now for team goals. As a team, we have discussed how we hope to do, and while some of the goals seem a little lofty, with hard work, and a couple of new people this year they are definitely achievable.

The main goal of the team is to win KVAC's or Regionals (both would be preferable) and from the looks of it that is very possible. In a recent me.milesplit article located here it is shown that we as a team are currently seeded 2nd for our region. The winning team being Brunswick, I don't know how many of the people on our team saw this, however the ones that did I believe most likely started training harder right away. The one thing that everyone thought was certain last year was that this year we would be able to destroy Brunswick as they lost Will and Liam. However, due to Patrick, George, and Benson being very close together in time, while they might not have someone finishing first, they will be packed tightly and still have a chance. The good news for us is that we are getting a couple of new runners, who will be challenging our current 3, 4, and 5th man, and will hopefully cause all 6 of them to work hard and be better.

Now I'm probably going to make a quick post with better self predictions after the Laliberte, and I'll try to keep you updated with anything surprising that happens during pre-season.

I'm a horrible person

Wow, so I haven't updated this since the beginning of outdoor, I'm a horrible person!

So I'm gunna try and start again, however it probably won't really take off until Cross country season starts again, I'm so excited!

Anyways. I've been training a lot harder this summer than last, which isn't hard since I didn't really run at all last summer.

This summer I've been running almost everyday, anywhere from 3 miles to 7, the main goal for me this summer is to train for the B2B which is in like 2 weeks, I'm not sure where the summer has gone!

I shall be posting again shortly (I promise) about what my predictions for the season are, and my goals.

Edward Little Tuesday April 20th

Hey all, sorry it has been so long.

Yesterday was our first outdoor meet of the season, after it was postponed from Friday. I was originally going to run the 1 mile, 2 mile and the 4x4, but then the meet was postponed so we were going to be missing more people. Unfortunately my coach took me out of the mile, so instead yesterday I ran the 4x8, 2 mile, and 4x4.

I was looking forward to running the 4x8 because I always loved running it at the beginning of an indoor track meet because it is a nice warm up. I also was lucky enough to run the anchor leg which I also love. Freshman Ryan Smith opened up the 4x8 running a 2:13 and giving a significant lead. Senior Colin Cundy ran second keeping the lead, and if anything widening it a bit, he also finished his leg with a 2:13 and passed off to Sophomore Nathan Jackson. He went out fast and managed to pull off a very solid 2:16 with the EL kid gaining on us just a bit. Nathan handed off to me and I went, I was followed closely by EL's Hussein Mohamed. He went out fast and managed to close the gap to a few feet. During the entire race he was right behind me and in the last 200 he passed me, coming off the last straight away I dug deep and managed to swing off the turn around and passed him, I sprinted to the finish to pull off a first place for our 4x8 team. I cooled down and began to wait for my 2 mile.

The mile was an interesting race. Colin Cundy ran was one of the 2 that ran it for us, and he did an excellent job running a 4:52 for his first sub 5 mile during a meet.

It took them about 5 minutes to decide whether or not they were going to run the 2 mile together boys and girls, luckily they decided too. My coach wanted me to run a 10:40 which meant a 5:20 mile split.

I went out pretty fast, and was leading for the first 200, then Liam Cassidy and another EL kid passed me. They pulled ahead and it was me and Hussein again, he tailed me the entire time. I came through the mile with about a 5:11 split, I tried to push it as hard as I could and pull away from Hussein but I wasn't able to, coming around into the last 200 Hussein tried to get passed me again, he managed to get ahead and I held on, then in the last 100 was able to get around and beat him to the finish once again. Unfortunately I ran a 10:43 which was 3 seconds slower then my coach wanted, and slower then I should have run anyways.

I then ran the 4x4 on the A team and ran a 62 split which wasn't too bad considering I had just run my 2 mile.

For team scores, it went the same on both sides

Edward Little

Mt. Ararat

Brunswick

Oxford Hills

It was a fun meet, and everyone on Mt. Ararat did very well, and we should have a great season!

Dartmouth Relays

Okay, so first just to say, this shall be long! and so I'm going to break it down into parts, so if you really want you can skip to the more fun parts!

Friday: Driving

So there were 10 of us who ended up going, plus a coach.

I rode up with Erin Fitzimmons in her car. Also in the car was Ellen Pinnete, Jessica Leeman (Squirrel) and Rebecca Merrit.

The drive down was a ton of fun, not an hour into the drive we got off the highway because our coach, had to pee. We got out of the car, and headed inside and who would we see, but Joe Hyatt our team photographer from last year!

He is there in his car, I swear!

We then got back in the car and continued on our journey. We definitely had the fun car. We blasted music, and there was a great time while we were listening to the beatles really loud, and all singing along... and it felt rather funny.

With another stop to pee (coach again) we finally arrived at our hotel.

We hung around there for about half an hour, and then got back in our cars for the drive to Darmouth College.

Friday: Meet night

So there were only 2 of us running Friday night, Me and Ariel, and we were both running in the mile unseeded.

We got there around 2 maybe 2:30 and I didn't run until 4, so it was way to early although I didn't know it at first.

I warmed up for awhile, and finally my coach made the smart idea for me to put my headphones in, and lie down to relax.

At 3:50 I headed over and got my number, i was in heat 3, seeded 5th

My plan for the Mile was to go out and PR, and maybe hopefully get a 4:50

That meant I would be running a 2:25 800, that wasn't impossible.

My coach had planned out every 200 split I would need and so he had found a place to stand near the finish line and he would let me know how I was doing.

The start was incredible, I was seeded 5th, and the guy next to me had never broken 5 minutes so I thought it might be a nice fast and easy start, I was wrong. The gun went off and he was throwing his elbows everywhere. I knew one of my ways for a good race was to get out start, so I had to push him aside and take off.

I'm so fast you can barely see me!

I came through my 800 at 2:26, about a second off so I tried to pick it up a bit. With a 400 to go I tried to pick it up, but it turns out that lap was a bit slow. I came into my last lap around maybe a 4:10, I'm not sure because I couldn't remember perfectly what the clock said. Either way I knew it was a bit slow and so I kicked it. I had been running with a group fighting for 2-4 and so going into my last 200 on the first turn i pushed and pulled into first. By then the number 1 runner had pulled ahead a bit and that is who i was going for. I picked up into my sprint with a 150 to go, about 100 earlier then usual but I had hope I could make it. As I pulled around the last corner into the last 55 I was in 2nd. Out of nowhere another runner comes out of nowhere sprinting into the finish, I dug deep but wasn't able to catch back up to him, I finished third in my heat with a 4:55.22 a new PR, although not the time I was looking for.

After the race, as I cooled down I watched Ariel Mcnett run her Mile. She was seeded a 6:03 but because she missed her heat, she ran in the slowest heat, and ended up running a 6:09

Friday: Dinner

Because Ariel and I were the only ones running on friday we were able to leave after Ariel finished. For dinner we went out to a restaurant called Molly's. While there we were sure to leave our mark

We let them know who we were!

and why we were there

I also managed to get this beautiful picture of Coach Holmes pretending to be a spawn of the devil.

After our fun dinner we went back to the hotel to relax. We ended up hanging around our room until about 11 when we settled down to sleep.

Our coach offered to sacrifice a bed for us

Saturday: Race Day

So now we get to one of the longest posts. Our first runners of the day were Erin Fitsimmons and Rebecca Merrit in the 55 Hurdles. Rebecca ran a 9.6 which was a PR and Erin ran a 10.46

We then jump forwards to the next event that we had people running in. The 400.

Ellen Pinnete and Jessica Leeman ran in it. Ellen ran a 1:08.78 and Jessica ran a 1:06.13

After that we had Rebecca running in the 300, we don't have the 300 in Maine, so it was an interesting race. She ended up running a 44:07 which as far as I know, is not bad!

During all this we had Timmy and Mckenzie jumping, and Randi throwing Shot Put. In the Long Jump Timmy jumped 20'-06''.75

In the Triple Mckenzie jumped 41'-00''.75

and Timmy jumped 42'-02''.75

Both jumped incredibly well, and I know at least Mckenzie PR'd

In the Shotput Randi threw 36'-05''.75 which was a foot farther then she was hoping for, and a PR

Continuing on we had Erin and Chloe running in the 800. Chloe was seeded 2:30 and Erin 2:35

They both did very well, and Chloe ended up edging Erin out by running a 2:34.80 compared to Erins 2:35.55

After that was the mile and 2 mile seeded. The mile was a great race for me to watch, and gave me times to

look for next year!

The 2 mile was an incredible race, Will and Jake ( a kid from somewhere else!) were 1 2 during the entire race,

until finally going into the last lap Will started pulling ahead and ended up running a very fast time of 9:18.70

Liam then ran in the next heat and had a huge PR by running a 9:36.64

After that we had the girls 4x400

Our 4x400 team was Ellen, Jessica, Rebecca, and Chloe. they all ran very well, especially considering they

had all already run and had been at the track for about 9 hours now. they ran a 4:28.12 which I found was

very good!

We were finally able to leave the track, about 10 hours later around 6.

Saturday: Ride Home

So we headed home, same cars as on the way up, but this time we were starving. It was a very fun ride home,

but I'm going to be quick. It was really a lot like the ride up, although for the last hour or so, we were all getting

pretty tired but we didn't want to sleep, because we didn't want erin to be alone, so Ellen plugged in her laptop,

and we listened to the Across the Universe soundtrack. We ended up getting home somewhere between 10:30-11:00

Overall I loved the trip, it was tons of fun, some great bonding, and I am very much looking forward to White Plains

this spring and Both of them next year!

Dartmouth Relays and my birthday

So first and foremost my birthday was yesterday, I'm 16 now! Look out roads here I come

I got a digital camera which i was hoping for, which means I will no longer have an excuse for not having pictures in these blogs!

and that is what leads me to my next item of interest

Dartmouth Relays

So I leave Friday morning for Dartmouth.

there are 8 of us going, and 1 coach.

I am running in the mile, which I think will be an amazing experience.

The coach that is going with us is hoping I will break 4:50, which I feel like is a good goal, but would involve me cutting off 6 seconds. I however do plan on going for it.

I have talked to some of our teammates and we are thinking about playing capture the flag in our hotel, with each team getting a floor, however there aren't many of us so it might not work out.

I am looking forward tons to the meet on friday, and am sorry I haven't been able to update you on our last 2 meets for indoor track.

States

Another year, Come and gone.

So i'm just going to start with saying, Cross Country is my favorite sport, You get to know your teammates really well and end up like a family.
This year, the entire team has been making phenomenal leaps in amazingness.

Now, I don't actually remember that much from this race, i don't know if thats a good thing or not, so this may be a short post.

Ms. Fournier told us to go out conservatively or else we would overwork ourselves in that first 400 meters. That is the last time i listen to her on something like that. I went out, not slow, but not as fast as i would have. And because we were in box 7, right in the middle, i got boxed in. So I had to make my way to the outside, and then i sprinted past people to get up higher in places. The race went kind of downhill from there.

I reached the first mile, and since i wasn't quite sure where it was I took the latter one, which was the marking on the tree, and clocked myself at 5:30. I figured, that for a first mile that wasn't terrible, although i wish i was doing better. I tried to push it there, however right before we came out of the woods for a second time, Jake, our number 2 runner passed me. I knew Jake was having an amazing race, he had been right on my tail the entire time, but I didn't plan on letting him stay ahead of me. So right before we came out of the woods i passed him back.


The section of woods where you go back in, and get to the 2 mile mark is where i failed. I had jake right behind me the entire time, and so i was able to keep a good pace, but i really didn't make any moves and i should have. I passed through the 2 mile mark at about a 5:40, which put me 18 seconds ahead of last week!!! This gave me energy and I started to make some moves. I passed the scarborough kid who had been pacing off me the entire time and continued forwards.

Next thing I remember is going down the hill before you take a right and go to the finish, i tried to pick it up around this corner, while holding some people off. As I continued down the stretch to the finish chute, i had nothing left, i kept trying to accelerate but just couldn't. A kid from windham blew past me, and i knew that was it, i couldn't let him get too far ahead. I began to accelerate all out, and just went kinda crazy




I managed to edge out the lawrence kid again by mere seconds and crossed the finish line with nothing left. I ran a 17:31, which I knew was incredibly well on this course, especially since my PR was a 17:27 at Belfast, however I was disappointed that because I had gone out a bit slower, I was playing catch-up the entire time and didn't have much energy. However I was incredibly impressed and proud of Jake, our number 2, who ran a 17:37 and PR'd by 30 seconds!




So, with another season gone, i'm wicked excited for next year, however am very sad at the seniors we are losing. Especially Stephen Purcell who began talking to me at the beginning of Indoor track, and really got me to know other runners. And Melody Lam, who also talks to me sometimes.
I am going to miss all the seniors, even if you haven't talked to me that much, you are great competition, and next year I will have fewer runners to run against.

Questions

So I know for me, and quite a few of my team mates ask ourselves many questions while we do our runs.
The main one is

Do other teams talk about us??

What I mean by this, is that, whenever we are doing our long runs, we talk about the upcoming meet. Like for KVACs we were trying to decide, obviously Will and Kelton and Jason are main topics, but other then them we usually discuss what people from there team we want to to beat. Like for the week before Mt. blue Relays, and KVACs we mostly discussed trying to beat Brody, he was our main hope at beating Mt. Blue. Earlier in our season it was more about beating Alonzo and Scarponi. The main question that we always ask each other on runs, is do other teams talk about us. I mean obviously we don't have fast runners like Will, or kelton, but we have decent ones, So we always try to figure that out.

Other then that the other question is
What do you guys do for a workout, cause whatever it is, it works?
Obviously for boys when i say it works i mean for will and kelton and jason, but they are just pretty awesome runners anyways.

So thats my mid week blog, i'll let you know how states go saturday night or sunday morning, I'm sure everyone is oh so excited for those posts. Good luck to all of you running in states with me,e i'll see you there!

Eastern Maine Regionals

Yesterday morning our team was greeted with bad news as we sat on the bus waiting for everyone to arrive. Our number 2 runner, Jake was running late because he thought that bus wasn't supposed to leave until 7:30 as supposed to 7:00. We called him up and he got in his car to head over. On his way he called again with the bad news that he had gotten in an accident and for us to leave without him. Luckily it wasn't bad he has just gone off the road, however he did total his car.

With that bad news we started off. We ended up being the 2nd team to arrive (Mt. Blue beating us by minutes because of our wrong turn) we all unloaded and went STRAIGHT to the bathroom! After we were done, we went out and walked the course. The conditions were much better then last year, there being a ton less mud, however the one big downside was that there was a lot of wind!

The girls race went first and it was pretty crazy. I know i shouldn't have been but when I saw melody out in front I was glad that she was having a better race this week then she did last, plus I knew our girls had it in them to win anyways. Going into the last half mile Katie from Brunswick pulled ahead of Kate by a couple of feet. But then they crested the hill Kate had pulled back ahead by quite a bit.

The girls managed to squeak by with a 4 point lead on Mt. Blue to win. Finally it was our turn. Approaching the starting line I was a bit nervous. We didn't have our number 2 runner, and Colin Swan was running instead. If there was a runner I would want running on varsity its colin, I don't know why, but when we did our strides having colin there next to me just felt right. The main worry was that without Jake we might not have enough to get in the top off. I was rather confident that I would be able to make it (being number 14 last week) but I was really hoping we would make it was a team, we have all worked our Asses off for this race and we deserve to all go no just one. The gun went off and I BOOKED it out of there. I think everyone went out a bit fast to counter-act the amount of wind there was. I was happy to hear after the race that Colin Cundy and Nick D. Were both RIGHT behind me for that first mile, and the three of us were very close behind Will, Kelton, and Jason.

My goal for the day was to run with Will Lundquist from Cony. I went out with him for the first mile (running a 5:15) but then he managed to pull ahead going up the long grass hill. I started to hurt my second mile and felt like I slowed down, but when i reached the second mile and took my split I was surprised, I had run a 5:58, one second faster then I did at KVACS, my only thought then was that I was going to have to run a very fast third mile if i wanted to run sub 17.

I really love the last mile at Belfast because it feels a lot shorter then it actually is. As I went across the bridge I had the Lewiston and Lawrence kid right in front of me. Those were the two I was going for. Going through the little dip roller-coaster is where I made up ground, and cresting that is where I passed the Lewiston kid. I managed to hold him off until taking the turn that brings us back around to the finish sprint. I could not get myself moving until i crested that hill at the very end. Then I started moving. I blew past the lawrence kid and ended up only 2 seconds behind the lewiston kid with a time of 17:27

I was happy with the fact that I got 17:27 and placed 12th which meant I moved up 2 places. However I was mad at the fact that I wasn't able to keep up with Will Lundquist or get a sub 17. However I am now ranked 32 in the state for class A, so if I run fast enough, i may have a small Chance at making it too New Englands, but that chance is very very small.

me ranting

soo i was really looking forward to Regionals tomorrow!! i have been getting TONS of sleep, and getting pumped
AND THEN THEY HAD TO GO AND POSTPONE!
MPA bugs me! a ton, last year we had the track issue, and now they wont let us run tomorrow...
and the forecast for tomorrow
47º and 10% of precipitation
so i ask you, why can't we run, I thought cross country was about running in all sorts of weather, in all sorts of conditions, and yet when its going to be only rain, they cancel, which screws up our training
so that was my little rant
i hope you enjoyed it
ill see you all in one week for regionals now i guess

KVAC

so yesterday for me was a BLAST! approaching the meet i wasn't sure if i was ready or not because i felt a bit tired and like I couldn't get my legs moving. I had decided to go out fast, the course bottlenecks pretty quickly and so you'll get boxed in otherwise. For some reason I felt like treating today like a USATF meet and not any of the others, which I now realize is a mistake. However I saw the girls start and the adrenaline starting pumping. The girls had a bit of a rocky start thanks to a bad command to the starter, but everyone got off okay. Watching Kate get first REALLY got me pumped. As we approached the starting line to do strides I mentioned to Jake, Nick, and Colin "I'm going out fast, I hope your with me" Jake had already sad that by the first mile we would the four of us be packing, but I wasn't completely positive about this, because usually the races start, i'm 4th for the team and I try to get people to rope onto me as I pass them.

So we did some strides, and on our final one we all circled close and did our chant. It was really nice to finally be at the wiked important meets. So we are on the line ready, the starter gives the command. and BANG off goes the gun. I BOOK it. I was up with the front group for awhile, Liam Cassidy didn't pass me until about where the 200 mark from the finish was (this is very good for me.) I kept close to that group, but more importantly didn't get boxed in at all, so I knew I was running as well as I could. I just kind of went with the flow for the first mile, surging occasionally, and making sure to push up the hills. I reach the mile marker, slap my watch so it will save the time and hear Colin Swan yell out my time "5:20 andy!" this got me wicked pumped and I surged a bit harder. This race was definitely my best so far, and I was having lots of fun. I'll skip ahead cause most of this part is a blur except i remember getting a bit of a cramp and slowing down a bit. Going over the bridge right before the long grass hill is where 2 lewiston kids passed me. I pushed it as hard as I could up that hill, and from the top of that hill to the 2nd mile mark was definitely the hardest part of the course for me. I reached the 2nd mile mark and heard "11:19" From Dakota who was there. I didn't get it, how did I run a faster 2 mile here then at the relays last week? I didn't care, I knew I still had the hardest part of the course left, however it was also a nice downhill before then, so i just let myself go with it. Reaching the hill I pushed, I pushed and pushed it up the hill and felt like I was going to die a the top. But I didn't, and so I kept going, and made it around and back onto the grassy section. As I reached the back side of the grassy field i made a quick look at my watch and saw 16:44, no sub 18 for me today I thought to myself. Either way I started to pick up speed, and when i crested the tiny little hill i starting sprinting, I tried to focus on what coach had told me about keeping my head in line with my body, and that entire time was the clock clicking upwards with the time, and as i got close i saw 17:43 :44 :45 and I crossed the line! I couldn't believe it, I had PR'd on the hardest course we had raced on yet! it was a great race for me, even if the rest of the team only had good ones. They have good enough ones for us to get 4th overall beating Mt. Blue! and giving us a chance next week if everyone else has a good race!

Race Day Playlist

So with KVACs tomorrow and Regionals and States in the upcoming weeks I have been turning up the music. I have a certain race playlist I listen to on the morning of the race, and some pump up songs the couple of days before.

To some, the playlist makes no sense, because unlike some playlists that just have a lot of really good beat songs.
My playlist starts out pretty slow, and slowly gets faster. Also most songs in it have a certain meaning.
1. Happy Ending -Mika
2. Fix You - Coldplay
3. Desperdao -The Eagles
4. If I should Fall Behind - Bruce Springsteen
4. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
5. In My Eyes -Sam R-P
6. Maho - Sam R-P
7. Sending Me Angels -Delbert McClinton
8. We Have a Say - Sam R-P
9. I don't want to miss a thing -Aerosmith
10. The Weight -The Band
11. Soulshine -Gov't Mule
12. 36 Days -Hawk Nelson
13. Letters to the President -Hawk Nelson
14. Jasons Song -Hawk Nelson
15. Centerfield -John Fogarty
16. Wonderful Day -OAR
17. Zero -Hawk Nelson
18. Happy Ending -Mika
19. Bring 'Em Out -Hawk Nelson
20. And of course! Chariots of Fire

so thats my list, I would love if i could find some better kinda of pump up music rather then getting focused music, but i still like the playlist!

A confusing post about an amazing sport

How do you explain to people about running. I mean almost anyone can go out and run right? well what am i supposed to say. It's just something indescribable. I mean all the sports out there have hard days, and they all complain. Now how am i supposed to tell them that when coach makes us do mile repeats as fast as we can and i feel like i'm going to throw up/crap my pants/faint...and yet wish we could do it for more than 40 minutes. Being on Varsity means that when we do 200s and 400s, everyone except us is done because they had to do 6 400s and 8 200s. we had to to 8 400s and 10 200s. I am dead tired, and ready to quit, but it feels so good! tomorrow is the hardest practice of the year, and everyone is complaining and worrying, and here i am thinking YES!!!!! SOO SOO EXCITED!!! AHHHH i just dont get it. I don't even know if people like Geoghegan or Cullenberg feeling like this. I don't know if there is a way to describe it, but I just get wicked excited about running. The weirdest part is that over the summer and on the weekends i have so many problems getting myself to get changed and go for a run, even if i REALLY REALLY want to!

so that is my problem issue how i feel about running,

oh and i get really annoyed when i hear like the Emma Wood (a very good friend) who is number 2 on the team being like, well i love it more then soccer but its still painful. And I find that really obnoxious cause although she IS someone who works really hard a practice, and she definitely deserves being one of the top in the state. I just don't quite get why I run really hard and although i think i am doing really well being first for the team, and like number 98 in the state. I just get soo annoyed with girls who don't have it easier, but to boys it feels like it is easier, cause i mean seriously how hard is it for the top guys to run an 18:30? not very, but for a girl? very hard and although i understand that, i just get annoyed, cause i mean if i want to be in the top 50 for the state i need to be running sub 17:30 by the end of the year!


so ya im done now I SWEAR! for those of you who suffered through and actually read everything congrats and for those of you whom are runners, please let me know how you feel about this if it made any sense to you?

The Relays

As I approached the line I began to worry. This entire race was based on me, if I did poorly our team would suffer. All around me I could hear people wishing each other good luck. Looking around I was surprised to see Alonzo running first for Morse. We went out strong, with me being in 7th overall. During the first mile all I could do was pay attention and worry about the mud. My first mile was a 5:34, which was my 5k first mile also, this gave me energy and as we headed back into the woods I passed Alonzo. Desperate to put distance between us. As I came out of the woods for the second time and looked to the left, I realized that Cullenberg was so "close" he hadn't even gone back into the woods for the last time. I was by now following a messalonski kid and was determined to pass him. The big strategy we had all planned was halfway up the final hill to push it. I passed the mes. kid there, and as we crested the hill I prayed he had nothing left. I knew that if he was able to push it a little harder I might not be able to stay with him, luckily he didn't and so I tagged off to nick with a 11:33 and in 5th place.
After the race we had the of course DANCE PARTY! I don't understand myself in the fact that I can't dance very well i think, and I barely dance at all at Homecoming, but put me in a group of Cross Country runners and I will dance my best (which is still pretty bad) After the dancing we went into the cafeteria and ate. we of course had to make our famous cup pyramid/tower. This year we used over 100 cups! afterwards we went to a rave dance party in the auditorium waiting for awards ceremony. I got fastest sophomore, we got third overall as boys. On the Girls side out MTA A team got 2nd, with our A, B, and C teams all getting top 10.
Overall it was a fun time and I am very excited for KVAC's next weekend!