DCL Championship Results, 10/27/23

Many Wayland athletes raced well at the DCL Championship meet, held in unseasonably warm temperatures at Franklin Park in Boston. The varsity races were led by Will Jackson for the boys and Arya Samaratunga on the girls side. Both finished in the top 20 of their respective races, with Jackson in 12th overtaking multiple runners in the final mile and Samaratunga in 20th. In the 9th grade girls race Ainsley Jay finished a strong 8th. 

Franklin Park has been the site of cross country races since the late 19th century; the current layout dates back to the late '90s. There have been results online going back to 1997 which I've consolidated into an all-time list. This is the most comprehensive such list for any course that WHS has repeatedly visited over the years. Note that after his effort today, Jackson now occupies the top spot on the boys 5k list out of over 200 athletes, while Samaratunga ranks among the top 10 of almost 130 athletes for the girls 5k results. In addition there were multiple athletes who improved on their previous best for this course, in some cases by an impressive amount. 

The season continues into November with next Saturday's Frank Mooney Invitational, which features a shorter race for 9th graders with a 5k for 10th-12th grade athletes. The top upperclass runners from Wayland will sit this meet out. 

overall results - note that while the varsity races have been split into separate Foley and Thorpe division results (Wayland is in the Foley division), the entire league ran together in the varsity races and these placings were used for determining awards (top 15 got medals).

splits for WHS athletes

DCL Championship, 10/27/23

Meet Site: Playstead Field at Franklin Park, Boston.

Bus Time: 

12 PM - note the bus time. Athletes listed below (and only those athletes listed below) will be dismissed after 3rd period. Remember that you're responsible for any work in classes that you miss.
 

Meet Schedule and lineups:

2 PM JV girls 5k - Rice

2:30 PM Varsity boys 5k - Caddoo, Jackson, A. Narvaez, D. Narvaez, Reece, Tan, Wightman

3 PM 9th grade 3k - Jay, Wang

3:20 PM Varsity girls 5k - Bell, Ciciarelli, Liu, McCormack, Samaratunga, Yee

3:50 PM JV boys 5k - Z. Goldstein, Goode, Han, Markey, Newland, Sebastianelli, Wheeler

4:30 PM Awards

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: partly cloudy, temperatures in the low to mid 70s NNE winds 5-10 mph.

• The varsity and JV 5k course has three loops; the first loop starts on the Playstead field and goes around the ball fields and White Stadium. The second loop goes part of the way around the fields and stadium before heading away from the field area for a climb up and over Bear Cage Hill. On the other side of Bear Cage Hill the second loop rejoins the first loop, behind the area of the starting line. The third loop covers the Wilderness and Playstead field. See maps below.

• The 9th grade race course is the first two of the three loops described above and shown on the maps below.

• The top 15 finishers in each varsity race, the top 8 JV and the top 7 9th graders will receive trophies.

• Wayland will be in box #4 at the starting line.

• If this is your final meet of the season, bring an extra change of clothes and after we return to Wayland you can change out of your uniform in the field house and return it to one of the coaches.  

printer friendly version of course map here

• Return time to WHS is approximate, but we hope to be back between 6:00 and 7:00 depending on traffic 

What to bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• water bottle
• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival). If you're running in a later race, bring a snack to have when we first arrive at the park to tide you over until your race. 
• folding chair if you want something to sit on while changing shoes

For parents:

• There's a small parking lot at the corner of Circuit Drive and Pierpont Road; there's also a larger lot further down Circuit Drive, as well as on-street parking on Circuit Drive.
• If you're going to be at the meet and would like to take your child with you when their race is over, please let one of the coaches know either in person or via e-mail.
• The area just beyond the finish line is a good place to see the race at various points, as the runners pass by this spot repeatedly.

Week 10 Training Plan - 10/23-10/29

What is Lactic Acid (Lactate)?

Lactate threshold training 

Lactate meter

Norwegian Training

Marius Bakken on training

Men's 1500 meter final, 2023 World Championship (Norway 2nd and 3rd)

Norway's approach to youth sports

This week is the beginning of the final phase of the season, kicking off with Friday's DCL Championship meet at Franklin Park. More information will be forthcoming on this meet which will require an early dismissal from school. As in years past, there will be a karaoke contest on the bus ride home. Submit your song choice to the coaches for approval in advance. The maximum group size for the contest is four people. It would behoove you to practice your song beforehand.

With the end of the season drawing near, we've entered the peaking phase of our training. The proverbial hay is in the barn and from here on out it's a draw down of training volume, which is achieved in two ways:

• a reduction in the length of most daily runs.
• a reduction in the number of runs per week. This is achieved by taking an additional day per week off from practice. This week that day is Tuesday.

I'll explain in more detail at practice Monday how this tapering process will proceed. In the meantime here is the plan for this week:

• Mon 10/23 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by progressive run as follows:

Group A: 36 minutes (12 minutes easy-9 minutes fresh-9 minutes good-6 minutes easy)

Group B: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy-12 minutes fresh-12 minutes good-8 minutes easy)

Group C: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy-15 minutes fresh-15 minutes good-10 minutes easy) 

• Tue 10/24 - off.

• Wed 10/25 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length run with 3-4 sets of short reps at the end on top of the aqueduct.

Group A: 24-28 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 40-44 minutes

• Thu 10/26 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate intensity including hill drills on the aqueduct near Cedar Crest Road. Warmup followed by a short length run with two sets of short reps at the end on top of the aqueduct.

Group A: 24-28 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 40-44 minutes

• Fri 10/27 - DCL Championship Meet @Franklin Park. The meet starts early which will require dismissal after 3rd period class. You're responsible for any work or tests you might miss as a result of this. More information forthcoming. This is a medium length day, including warmup and cooldown running it should add up to the following:

Group A: 32-36 minutes
Group B: 40-44 minutes
Group C: 48-52 minutes

On the bus ride home, there will be the tenth annual edition of the Golden Microphone karaoke contest.

• Sat 10/28 - Medium length run at an easy to moderate intensity. For those that are interested we will be meeting at Lincoln Station at 10 AM for this run. This is an excellent opportunity to check out the trails in the Mt. Misery area, as well as Adams woods. To avoid getting lost on the trails, download the Outerspatial app on your phone.

Group A: 32-36 minutes
Group B: 40-44 minutes
Group C: 48-52 minutes

• Sun 10/29 - off

Dual Meet #5 Results - vs. Weston, 10/18/23

Under cloudy skies that wouldn't seem conducive to being outside but made for good racing weather, the WHS teams finished the dual meet schedule on Weston's course at Burchard Park. Both boys and girls Weston teams are among the top Division 3 (small school) teams in the state, and this was reflected in the team score today. They're also among the few teams Wayland faces that race in a tactically sound manner, which made some of the individual battles more compelling to watch unfold. In this context there were some noteworthy results. Apart from seeing how the Wayland team stacked up versus their opponent today it's also interesting to look at how Wayland runners who raced here in 2021 (the most recent visit to this course) have improved in the intervening two years. In addition, today represented the sixth time Wayland has raced on this particular course since it was established in 2017 (the course was used twice in 2020), and over that time a somewhat decent sized sample of WHS runners have raced on the same course. The day's results can be seen here while the all-time list for WHS runners at Burchard park can be seen here. 

Dual Meet #5 - vs. Weston, 10/18/23

Meet Site: Burchard Park, 269 Concord Road Weston Ma

*NOTE: the meet is NOT held at Weston High School* 

 

Bus Time 2:45

Time Schedule:

4:30 Combined JV race (boys and girls together) - N. Goldstein, Goode, Han, Kotzampaltiris, Libenzon, Ma, Maali-Pohl, Munford, Nagalla, Newland, Rice, Sebastianelli, Srivastava, Wang, Xu

Boys race to follow (no later than 5 PM in all likelihood) - Caddoo, Ciccarelli, Z. Goldstein, Jackson, A. Narvaez, D. Narvaez, Reece, Wheeler, Wightman

Girls race after that (likely by 5:30) - Bell, Ciciarelli, Jay, Liu, Samaratunga, Yee

Course Map: 

• The varsity course is 5k in length and consists of two loops. The JV course cuts off the northern section of the loop, making the length just under 2.5 miles.

The 5k course covers about 1.2k of grass, 3k of dirt trails/dirt road (with a few sections where there also is some gravel on the dirt), and 800m of asphalt (mostly sidewalk and a bit of the driveway which gives access to the parking lot). If you're wearing spiked shoes they should be fitted with blanks or 1/8" pyramids. The course is fairly flat. The athletes will run about 200 m across the grass fields before hitting the trails, 2 times a 2.4k loop in the trails, then a 200m finish back across the field

Trails are quite wide, should be no issues with passing except for one 40 meter stretch (which is run twice, near the mile mark and then at about 4k).  

 
Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: mostly sunny, temperature around 60 degrees. Light winds from the north 5 mph. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.
• It's expected that during the race you will wear the uniform assigned to you.
• You'll need to wear your assigned bib number. This is the last time we'll be using these numbers this season, if you want to keep your number as a momento feel free otherwise dispose of it properly. You can keep the safety pins as well. 
• There will be a course tour soon after we arrive.
 
What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes  

• racing shoes if you have them  
• warmup clothes
• water bottle - including a larger (24-32 oz.) bottle if you have one  
• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

For parents:

• As a reminder, the meet is NOT held at Weston High School.

• Spectators at the field can see the first 300m, a 300m section in the middle of the race, and the last 300m without having to leave the ball field area. 
• There is parking next to the baseball fields where the course begins and ends.

Week 9 Training Plan, 10/16-10/22

This week features the final dual meet of the season, with a visit to Weston and their course at Burchard Field. In addition, on Monday we'll be doing the final long run of the season. From here on out the length of the longest run of the week will be cut down as we taper down to the end of the season. Finally, on Saturday we'll have what will most likely be the final optional practice at Lincoln Station of the season. 

Monday 10/16 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a CLR.  The route of today's run is TBA. The overall length of the run is listed below; remember that there are four cycles of easy-fresh-good, making for a total of 12 segments.

Group A: 48 minutes (4 minute segments)
Group B: 60 minutes (5 minute segments)

Group C: 72 minutes (6 minute segments)

Tuesday 10/17 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short run followed by high knee run-throughs and bounding over cones. The cones will be set up on the softball field. We will again be practicing running around tight corners. Total length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Wednesday 10/18 - Dual Meet #5 vs. Weston at Burchard Field. More information on this meet will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. Remember that today should be a medium length day including warmup and cooldown jogs. 

Group A: 36-40 minutes
Group B: 44-48 minutes
Group C: 52-56 minutes

Thursday 10/19 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length recovery run at an easy to moderate intensity with hill drills. We'll be doing the hill drills near Cedar Crest Road on the Hultman aqueduct. The length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Friday 10/20 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by either a short length run (Group A: 26-30 minutes, Group B 32-36 minutes, Group C 42-46 minutes) for those attending tomorrow's practice at Lincoln Station or the following workout:

Group A: 6 minute jog warmup, 9 minute progression run with first 3 minutes at 60% effort, next 3 minutes 70% effort, last 3 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 6 minute jog cooldown. 

Group B: 8 minute jog warmup, 12 minute progression run with first 4 minutes at 60% effort, next 4 minutes 70% effort, last 4 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 8 minute jog cooldown. 

Group C: 8 minute jog warmup, 15 minute progression run with first 5 minutes at 60% effort, next 5 minutes 70% effort, last 5 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 8 minute jog cooldown. 

Saturday 10/21 - Either a short length run (Group A: 26-30 minutes, Group B 32-36 minutes, Group C 42-46 minutes) for those not attending today's optional practice or the following workout meeting at Lincoln Station at 9 AM:

Group A: 6 minute jog warmup, 9 minute progression run with first 3 minutes at 60% effort, next 3 minutes 70% effort, last 3 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 6 minute jog cooldown. 

Group B: 8 minute jog warmup, 12 minute progression run with first 4 minutes at 60% effort, next 4 minutes 70% effort, last 4 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 8 minute jog cooldown. 

Group C: 8 minute jog warmup, 15 minute progression run with first 5 minutes at 60% effort, next 5 minutes 70% effort, last 5 minutes at 80% effort. 5 minute break then 3 sets of 3x300 meters with 200 meter recovery jogs. First two sets at race pace, last set faster than that. 3 minutes between sets. 8 minute jog cooldown.

Sunday 10/22 - off

Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational Results, 10/13+14/23

The Twilight Invitational, held since 2011 in the evening hours at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth, has become the most popular event put on by the Mass. State Track Coaches Association (MSTCA). Its popularity is such that in 2018 the meet was split into separate nights for larger and smaller schools. For the first (and hopefully last) time Wayland had athletes racing on both nights. Wayland's enrollment ranks among the smaller schools and the WHS teams would thus normally compete in the night for small and medium sized schools. The meet director had made the offer for smaller sized schools to switch to Saturday's large school division if they desired. When a bus was unable to be procured for Friday's small and medium school night, I switched the team into Saturday's meet instead. In order that 10th graders would be able to attend both the meet and Saturday's ever-popular 10th grade semi-formal, just the sophomores went on Friday in the WHS "booster bus" which has a 15 passenger capacity including the driver--enough for the 10th grade crew but not for the entire team. 

On Friday six WHS sophomores competed. Matthew Tan continued an upward trend for him by running a solid time in the 10th grade boys race and taking initiative from the start. He was joined by Leo Ciccarelli, Edge Wheeler and Noah Goldstein, while Yathartha Srivastava and Arya Nagalla ran in the novice race that started the meet. On Saturday, Wayland returned with a larger contingent. The most noteworthy results included Ainsley Jay finishing in the top 30 in the 9th grade girls race and Will Jackson finishing in the top 40 in a very deep and competitive boys varsity race that featured some of the top teams in the state. Jackson's time would have placed in the top 25 on Friday. Arya Samaratunga had a strong effort in the girls varsity race. The boys varsity team, led by Jackson, finished 15th of 20 teams, and probably would have placed in the top 10 at Friday's meet. 

Splits for WHS athletes

overall results for Friday

overall results for Saturday