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.