Frank Kelley Invitational results, 9/30/23

 A select group of Wayland runners made the trip to Wrentham Developmental Center, the first of three visits WHS will be making to this course during the season. The conditions, overcast and cool, wouldn't seem great for being outdoors but it was near perfect cross country weather. While there was rain in the area yesterday, the ground had drained reasonably well and the course, almost entirely grass, was running quite fast. 

A comparison to the results of last year's meet shows a couple of things. First, there were a lot more athletes competing in this year's edition of the meet compared to a year ago. Anywhere from 60% more finishers to more than twice as many depending on the race. Two of the boys races had over 300 people in them, which is getting to the limit of what the course can handle. This made for very competitive and deep races across the board, front to back. The other thing that stood out is that Wayland athletes who competed here a year ago enjoyed improvements in their personal best time on this course, in some cases by an impressive amount.

To put today's races in context it helps to look at the all-time list for Wayland athletes at this venue, which has been in use since 2010 with a year off in 2020 due to the pandemic. Viewed in this light there were some exemplary performances today. Will Jackson ran the second fastest time for boys on the 5k course, and Arya Samaratunga is firmly in the top 10 for girls with her first try at the 5k after having raced the 3k course in the past. Amy McCormack is in the top 20 in her first 5k cross country race ever. On the 3k course, Sofia Ciciarelli improved her time of a year ago and moved into the top 10 for WHS athletes, and Leo Ciccarelli ranks in the top 10 for Wayland boys.  

splits and times for WHS athletes

overall meet results:

boys 5k

girls 5k

9th/10th grade girls

9th/10th grade boys

11th/12th grade girls

11th/12th grade boys

Frank Kelley Invitational, 9/30/23

Live Results link

Meet Site: 

Wrentham Developmental Center. The address is 131 Emerald Street, however the race course is located a little further down the road, in the large field at the intersection of Emerald Street and Shear St. This is across the street from the William A. Rice Recreation Area.

Bus time 9:30 AM

Remember, no eating on the bus. 

Race Schedule and Entries:

11:30 Boys Championship 5k - Caddoo, Jackson, D. Narvaez, Reece

12:00 Girls Championship 5k - McCormack, Samaratunga

1:00 Boys 9th/10th grade 3k - Ciccarelli, Wheeler

1:20 Girls 9th/10th grade 3k - Ciciarelli, Jay

1:40 Boys 11th/12th grade 3k - Z. Goldstein, Goode

2:00 Girls 11th/12th grade 3k - Libenzon, Rice

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: Showers likely, temperatures in the low 60s with winds NNE 10-15 mph. Bring clothes that will help keep you dry in the rain (leave the cotton sweatpants and sweatshirts home). Have dry clothes for after your race.
• Numbers will be assigned to you specifically for this meet; these numbers have an RFID chip attached to the back side which interacts with a conductive mat at the finish line to record your time. The meet director has asked athletes who aren't racing NOT to wear their bib number if standing near the finish line; doing so can cause a false reading by the finish line mat. Also, don't crumple or fold your bib number. 
• Report to the starting line 10 minutes before the start of your race; in past editions of this meet the officials have been known to start races a few minutes earlier than the posted schedule. 
• If you're wearing a stopwatch while racing, putting your arm up to hit the button on the watch while crossing the finish line can cause the RFID chip to be blocked by your arm, and your finish might not be recorded. In other words, don't press the button on your watch when crossing the finish line.
• The meet staff has asked that no one do their warmup or cool down among the buildings of the Wrentham Developmental Center, where patients are housed. Aside from the course itself, you can warmup and cool down on the ball fields across the street.
• Medals will be given to the top 25 finishers in each race.

Course Map:

• The course is fairly flat, with some roll in places. There are no long and/or steep hills. The course is almost entirely on grass. The 5k course is three loops. The 3k course ends after the second loop (yellow on the map above). The 5k course repeats this second loop. Both the 3k and 5k share the same first loop, which is the circumference of the large field where the course is situated. The second loop has two incursions from the edge of the field into the middle. Typically at this meet there are large digital clocks at the mile and two mile marks. 

What to Bring:

• Uniform
• Everyday training shoes
• Racing shoes if you have them; this is a course for spikes, 1/4" or 3/8" elements
• Warmup clothes
• Water bottles - filled

•  Folding chair

• Snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

For Parents:

• There's $10 parking fee for each car.

• Dogs aren't allowed except for service animals.
• No grilling, cooking, or fires are allowed at the meet site. 
• Snacks are welcome, but due to allergy concerns the Athletic Director has asked that any snacks be individually wrapped and ideally have the ingredients written on the label. 
• We hope to return to WHS by 3:45 PM, possibly a bit earlier.

Dual Meet #3 results - vs. Boston Latin, 9/27/23

The third meet of the season had a lot going on. With more than a few members of the team dealing with illness it was a select group of WHS runners who made the trip to Boston's Franklin Park to face Boston Latin. The boys varsity race was a lopsided affair in favor of the hosts, who are among the top teams in the state for Division 1 (large) schools. Will Jackson led the way for Wayland followed closely by Luke Chisum making his season debut. After captain Daniel Narvaez came through Matthew Tan was next with a strong charge over the last mile followed very closely across the line by Leo Ciccarelli to round out Wayland's scoring five. Adrian Narvaez and Ben Caddoo completed the top seven. Many of these runners will be racing again this Saturday and wanted to leave something in the tank for that effort. 

In the girls varsity race things took a turn. Latin had only three runners on the starting line, meaning they wouldn't have enough finishers for a scoring team. Regrettably, multiple Wayland runners either took a wrong turn by mistake or inadvertently omitted a portion of the course. As a result Wayland didn't have enough runners complete the course to have a scoring team either. When this many athletes experience problems navigating the course the issue can sometimes be down to the marking of the course. However, I can vouch for the time and effort that the Latin coach puts into getting the course marked and flagged. In the end the issues Wayland runners experienced on the course were a failure of coaching. Seeing important parts of the course beforehand was de-emphasized in hopes that having access to a course map ahead of time would suffice. This won't be repeated on the team's next visit to this venue in a month's time for the DCL Championship. 

The final race of the day was a combined JV race on a shorter course 3 km in length. Edge Wheeler led the way for the Wayland boys while Anna Munford ran well in representing the girls team. 

We're on to Wrentham Saturday. 

results including splits and times

Dual Meet #3 - vs. Boston Latin, 9/27/23

Meet Site: Playstead Field at Franklin Park, Boston. Fun fact, there have been cross country races held here for over a century.

Bus Time: 2:45 at the earliest. While it's possible the bus won't be available until 3 PM, be ready for an earlier departure just in case.

Race Schedule, first race no earlier than 4:30 likely after that:

Varsity combined (5k) - Bell, Caddoo, Chisum, Ciccarelli, Ciciarelli, Jackson, Libenzon, Liu, McCormack, A. Narvaez, D. Narvaez, Samaratunga, Tan, Yee

JV combined (3K) - Z. Goldstein, Goode, Han, Maali-Pohl, Markey, Munford, Nagalla, Newland, Sebastianelli, Srivastava, Wheeler

Meet Information:

• Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, temperatures in the low to mid 60s with WSW winds 5-10 mph.
• The course has three loops; the first starts on the Playstead field and is a loop around these fields and White Stadium. The second loop also goes around the fields and stadium and features a climb up and over Bear Cage Hill. The third loop covers the Wilderness and Playstead field. 

• The 3k JV race incorporates the first two of the three loops shown on the maps below. The 5k course includes all three loops.
• In the past, athletes from various DCL schools (including Wayland) have gotten lost in the third loop of the course. This section is labeled "The Wilderness" on the maps below. Upon arrival, I will be leading everyone entered in the varsity race on a tour of this section.

• Return time to WHS is approximate, but we hope to be back between 6:30 and 7:00 depending on traffic and what time the first race starts.

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:

• 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. 
• The area just beyond the finish line is a good spot to see the race at various points as the runners pass by repeatedly.

Week 6 Training Plan, 9/25-10/1

This week is the only one of the season to feature two meets, a dual meet Tuesday at Franklin Park against Boston Latin and the Frank Kelley Invitational Saturday at Wrentham Developmental Center. Many of you will be participating in both of these meets. This requires some adjustments both to how the rest of the week is structured and how the meets themselves are approached. Regarding the structure of the week's training, with no practice on Monday and the two meets scheduled, the rest of the week consists of short length runs. The long run is skipped this week and brought back next week.

As for how the meets are approached, racing all out over the full 3 mile/5k race distance twice in four days is a really bad idea. Thus one of the following scenarios will be in play:

• Running the Wednesday dual meet as a controlled effort, basically a workout rather than a full-on race. Details on this will be forthcoming. The idea behind this strategy is to have something left in the tank for Saturday's meet. 
  
• Running the shorter 3k race distance at the Frank Kelley Invite (FKI). 9th graders who compete at the FKI will be running the 3k. Most JV athletes who race the FKI will be running the 3k as well.
  
• Only competing in one of the two meets. This would apply to people who can't make the Saturday meet, and also to anyone intentionally held out of Wednesday's meet. If you're only competing in one of the two meets this week, it should be a full-bore race effort.
  

For planning purposes, please take a minute to fill out this survey regarding your availability for the Frank Kelley Invitational on Saturday. I need to receive a response from every member of the team by Monday evening. 

Here's the plan for the week ahead:

Monday 9/25 - No organized practice. If you're not observing the holiday and would like to go for a medium length run on your own that would be fine.

Tuesday 9/26 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. Upon your return to the school we'll be doing high stepping run throughs (high knees) and bounding over cones on the softball field and a few "fly zone" accelerations incorporating turns. 

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Wednesday 9/27 - Dual Meet #3 vs Boston Latin at Franklin Park. More information including a time schedule, lineups and a course map will be forthcoming soon. Remember today should be a medium length day in terms of total running time, including warmup and cooldown. For Level 1 and 2 athletes this will impact how we approach the course tour which doubles as a warmup jog for most people. 

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Thursday 9/28 - Practice at 3:30. Team picture (bring your uniform) then warmup including BURPEES, followed by a short length run with hill drills. The drills will be done on the Hultman Aqueduct where it intersects Cedar Crest Road.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Friday 9/29 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length run at mostly an easy effort. Save the last 8-10 minutes of the run for two sets of short intervals on top of the aqueduct.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Saturday 9/30 - Frank Kelley Invitational at the Wrentham Developmental Center. More information including time schedule, lineups and a course map will be published on this site by Friday morning. Remember today should be a medium length day in terms of total running time, including warmup and cooldown. This breaks down as follows:

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

If you're not participating in the meet you should do a medium length run on your own, with the last 1/4 of the time spent running at a good to hard pace (80-90%).

Sunday 10/1 - of, if you took Monday off and would like to go for a medium length run today on your own that would be fine. 

Dual Meet #2 Results - vs. Waltham, 9/20/23

In the first of two home meets this season, both the girls and boys teams had well executed races that resulted in wins over the visiting Waltham teams. Under sunny skies, the ground was in many places waterlogged thanks to the rainy weather of the past few months including from Monday's storm. This made the course run slower than it would if it were dry underfoot. Note to self, bring an extra pair of socks to the next home meet in two weeks. 

The girls raced first, and at the mile mark it was a very close race with Waltham leading 27-28. With just under a mile to go, the score was still 27-28 but in favor of Wayland. In the final stages there were various place changes among the two teams' top five runners, almost all of which favored Wayland and this resulted in a final score of 23-32 in favor of Wayland. Leading the way for the second meet in a row was junior co-captain Arya Samaratunga who held off a hard charging Waltham runner for a closely contested first place position. Just behind the Waltham runner was 10th grader Sofia Ciciarelli, with the top three finishers separated by 2 seconds. Senior Amy McCormack ran well on her own for almost the entire race finishing well ahead of Waltham's second runner (and everyone else behind that). Rounding out the top five for Wayland were 9th grader Ainsley Jay and senior AJ Bell, both of whom passed Waltham's 4th and 5th runners in the second half of the race. Seniors Selena Liu and Michelle Yee rounded out the varsity seven for Wayland. 

In the boys race, junior Will Jackson and senior captain Daniel Narvaez quickly put the rest of the field in arrears and consolidated their hold over the top two places the rest of the way. For most of the first mile, Waltham held places 3 through 7 and were winning the meet definitively despite Wayland holding the top two places. Once the course went into the woods and headed uphill to the aqueduct things changed with seniors Kyle Reece and Michael Wightman leading their teammates Ben Caddoo and Matthew Tan through much of the Waltham pack. Leo Ciccarelli rounded out the top seven in his second cross country race ever. In the end Wayland took the meet by a score of 24-33.

splits - if you recorded your 2 mile split on your watch send it to me

Dual Meet #2 - vs. Waltham, 9/20/23

Meet Site: Wayland High School. The first of two home meets this season.

Start Time: First race 4:30 PM unless you hear different from me. Girls race will precede boys, with the girls race likely starting around 5 PM assuming the boys race goes off at 4:30. Please arrive no later than 3:15. We may need help setting up the course.

Girls race - Bell, Ciciarelli, Jay, Kotzampaltiris, Libenzon, Liu, McCormack, Munford, Samaratunga, Wang, Yee 

Boys race - Caddoo, Ciccarelli, N. Goldstein, Z. Goldstein, Goode, Han, Jackson, Maali-Pohl, Markey, Nagalla, A. Narvaez, D. Narvaez, Reece, Sebastianelli, Srivastava, Tan, Wheeler, Wightman

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: sunny, temperatures in the low 70s with ESE winds 5-10 mph. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.
• Don't forget your assigned dual meet bib number. At the conclusion of your race, please remove the bib number from your jersey and return it to the large ziploc bag where the bib numbers will be stored between meets. Leave the safety pins on the corners of the number.
• Be prepared to help out with setting up and/or breaking down the course before and after the meet. This mostly involves the placement or removal of cones and small flags. You may be asked to help by one of the coaches or one of the captains. 

 
• Course map

• course description

• Soon after the teams from Waltham arrive, there will be a tour of the course, likely separate tours for boys and girls to keep the size of the tour groups manageable. Wayland athletes that are new to the team are required to join the course tour; any returning athletes who would like to join the course tour are welcome to tag along.  

• Once the course tour has begun, all balls, frisbees, etc. will be put away for the duration of the meet.

What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• plastic bag to store sweaty clothes

 • water bottle - including a second (24-32 oz.) bottle if you have an extra

• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

for parents:

• If you stand near the start/finish line area (just off the corner of the student parking lot, near the JV baseball field) you can watch most of the first half mile and the last half mile of the race.
• Snacks are welcome, but due to allergy concerns the Athletic Director has asked that any snacks be individually wrapped and ideally have the ingredients written on the label.

Week 5 Training Plan, 9/18-9/24

This week features the first of two home meets, versus Waltham on Wednesday. Here's the plan for the week ahead:

Monday 9/18 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by progressive long run. The length of the run has increased a bit over previous weeks, as outlined below. The plan for today is for everyone to head to the Hultman aqueduct and then west into Framingham, what happens from there will depend on how far you're going. For many people the Getchell Trail will be part of the route today, there's a map of this trail in the "maps" sidebar on the right of this page:

Level 1: 36 minutes (12 minutes easy - 9 minutes fresh - 9 minutes good - 6 minutes easy)
Level 2: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy - 12 minutes fresh - 12 minutes good - 8 minutes easy)
Level 3: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy - 15 minutes fresh - 15 minutes good - 10 minutes easy)
Level 4: 72 minutes (24 minutes easy - 18 minutes fresh - 18 minutes good - 12 minutes easy)

Tue 9/19 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. Upon your return to the school we'll be doing high stepping run throughs (high knees) and bounding over cones on the softball field and a few "fly zone" accelerations incorporating turns. 

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Wednesday 9/20 - Dual Meet #2 vs Waltham. More information including a time schedule, lineups and a course map will be forthcoming soon. Remember today should be a medium length day in terms of total running time, including warmup and cooldown. 

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Thursday 9/21 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES, followed by a short length run with hill drills. The drills will be done on the Hultman Aqueduct where it intersects Cedar Crest Road.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Fri 9/22 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by either 

Level 1 and 2: 6-8 minute warmup jog, 2x7 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 2 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 6-8 minute cooldown
Level 3 - 6-8 minute warmup jog, 2x9 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 3 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 6-8 minute cooldown
Level 4 - 10 minute warmup jog, 2x11 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 4 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 10 minute cooldown

The good effort portion of the workout (the pair of long repeats at 80-85% effort) can be done on the practice field loop of the home course or in the neighborhood just beyond the edge of the school fields that includes Charena, Cameron, Kelsey and Clarence Roads. The break between this and the short fast repeats is a jog/hike to the top of the aqueduct. There is a possibility we might do the short fast repeats on the track instead if it's available.

OR

a medium length run at mostly an easy effort level, picking up the pace a bit in the last 10 minutes of the run:

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

Sat 9/23 -  For those attending the 9 AM Lincoln practice, warmup to Mt. Misery field loop followed by 

Level 1 and 2: 6-8 minute warmup jog, 2x7 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 2 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 6-8 minute cooldown

Level 3 - 6-8 minute warmup jog, 2x9 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 3 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 6-8 minute cooldown

Level 4 - 10 minute warmup jog, 2x11 minutes at a "good" effort (80-85%) with a 4-5 minute break, 4 sets of (200,100) at race pace on top of the aqueduct, 10 minute cooldown

OR

for those who did the timed repeat workouts yesterday, a medium length run at mostly an easy effort level, picking up the pace a bit in the last 10 minutes of the run:

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

Sunday 9/24 - off

Dual Meet #1 Results - vs. Newton South, Acton-Boxborough 9/14/23

The 2023 slate of meets kicked off Thursday under sunny skies at Cold Spring Park in Newton. The meet against Newton South and Acton-Boxborough was pushed back a day due to the venue being double booked. This change was serendipitous as it meant avoiding yet another rain-soaked afternoon in a summer full of them. While there were some puddles on the ground in the woods the conditions were generally quite favorable for racing. 

Both of the day's opponents from the DCL Thorpe (large school) group compete in Division 1 (large schools) at the MIAA state tournament. Both teams for both genders are ranked among the top teams in the state for Division 1 in a popular preseason poll. The WHS boys team is ranked in the Division 2 poll, based on last year's results and who was lost to graduation but was missing the top two returning finishers for this meet. As such, the outcome of the races, separately tabulated meets versus both opponents, was a foregone conclusion. For many WHS athletes this was their first opportunity to run a high school cross country race, the experience made it worthwhile. Returning athletes had the opportunity to gauge their early-season fitness after a summer of training. 

The girls varsity was the first race and Wayland was led by junior co-captain Arya Samaratunga who was followed closely by 10th grader Sofia Ciciarelli. Amy McCormack was the third Wayland finisher in her first ever race, and 9th grader Ainsley Jay was next also running her first high school race. The scoring top five was rounded out by senior AJ Bell, another rookie, who was chased across the line by senior co-captain Selena Liu. In the girls JV race Sasha Libenzon led the way with a strong effort, followed by senior Anna Munford and 9th grader Cordia Wang.

The boys JV race was next and Wayland was led by another first timer, 10th grader Leo Ciccarelli who was locked in from the get-go. He was followed by 10th grader Jamie Markey who has already shown impressive improvement from last fall. Senior and WHS superfan Giovanni Sebastianelli, running cross country for the first time since his middle school days, was the next Wayland runner across the line. 

The last race of the afternoon was the boys varsity, where Will Jackson led the way followed closely by senior captain Daniel Narvaez. Seniors Kyle Reece, Michael Wightman, and Ben Caddoo rounded out the scoring contingent. 

A note on the results themselves, which were a mixed bag to say the least. Some of the girls JV runners (including from Newton South running on their home course but for the first time ever) got misdirected near the end which caused confusion at the finish line. The results sheet provided to us was a dog's breakfast with some athletes recorded twice. For the boys JV race we were provided with a results sheet that listed places but no times. The officials responsible for transcribing the results are being contacted by the Newton South boys coach, but there's no assurance we'll ever know the times for the JV runners. This is a shame as that information is very helpful in planning for future races. This is a topic I'll be bringing up at the end of season coaches meeting. 

Meet results

How cross country meets are scored

Dual Meet #1 - vs. Acton-Boxborough, Newton South at Cold Spring Park in Newton 9/14/23

Meet Site: Cold Spring Park, 1200 Beacon Street, Newton MA. The meet is NOT held at Newton South High School! 

Bus Time: 3:20 at the earliest, it might be a few minutes later than that. If possible, put on your uniform under your school clothes or change into it before the last period of the day. In addition if at all possible visit the bathroom before we leave.

Start Time: TBD. Depends on our arrival time. First race will be no earlier than 4:30 and most likely will be more like 4:45 or even close to 5 PM.

Order of races is as follows:

• Varsity girls - Bell, Ciciarelli, Jay, Liu, McCormack, Samaratunga, Yee

 • JV girls - Dale, Kotzampaltiris, Libenzon, Munford, Wang. The JV girls race will start when the varsity girls racing have completed the first of their two loops in the woods, in other words these races will overlap. This is done to make certain the meet is completed before sunset.

• JV boys - Ciccarelli, Goode, Han, Maali-Pohl, Markey, Newland, Sebastianelli, Srivastava

 • Varsity boys - Caddoo, Z. Goldstein, Jackson, D. Narvaez, Reece, Tan, Wightman, Xu

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: partly cloudy with temperatures in the low to mid 70s, 5-10 mph winds from the ESE. No one will be allowed on the bus wearing only their uniform, have warmup clothes to wear.
• You'll need to wear your assigned DCL bib number for this race; afterward, please return it to the ziploc bag the numbers are stored in for use at future dual meets.
• This is a "double dual" meet meaning there are three teams contesting three separate dual meets: Wayland vs. Newton South, Wayland vs. AB, and AB vs. Newton South.
• There are two different courses in use at this site; the varsity boys will run a 3.1 mile course, while the varsity girls run a 2.7 mile course. The JV courses are patterned after the varsity course for each gender. Newton South is the only DCL school with separate courses for girls and boys (it's a long story). 

• Both the girls and boys courses start with a short loop on the soccer fields near the entrance to the park; note these loops are different for the boys and girls courses. Each course then proceeds to a loop in the woods. The loop is run once for the JV course and twice for the varsity course. The woods loop for the boys course is longer. Both courses then finish back on the soccer fields where the races begin. The courses are relatively flat, with only small changes in elevation.

Girls varsity course (2.7 miles):

The girls JV course omits the second loop in the woods, and finishes with a repeat of the full loop around the open field near the park entrance that is done at the very beginning of the race. The girls varsity course finishes with a quick sprint to the corner of the open field after completing two loops in the woods. The girls course is marked with orange cones.

Boys varsity course (3.09 miles):

Boys JV course (2.1 miles):

 

The boys course is marked with white blazes.

• There will be separate course tours for the boys and girls courses; make every effort to attend the appropriate tour for the course you'll be racing. For the girls, a course tour takes precedence over doing line drills as part of your warmup.

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)
• folding chair if you want something to sit on while changing shoes

Information for Parents:

• The course is NOT located at Newton South High School; please see above for the address of Cold Spring Park where the meet will be held.

Week 4 Training Plan, 9/11-9/17

SK videos: straightforward, informative (and long, skip to 16 minute mark), and really dumb

This week features the first of five dual meets with other schools in the Dual County League. That will be on Thursday, at Cold Spring Park in Newton vs. Newton South and Acton-Boxborough. The long run will be done on Monday and the other major workout of the week will be Saturday for those that are able to make it. The Saturday practice will meet at the Lincoln Station parking lot. 

Uniforms will be distributed at the end of practice starting on Monday; remember that athletes must have the user fee paid or a financial waiver approved before receiving a uniform. The uniform is school property and is to be worn only on meet days. The uniform consists of a singlet (sleeveless jersey) and shorts. All athletes must have a singlet in order to race; if you prefer you can wear your own shorts but they must be solid black in color with no stripes or trim.  

There are three race-related topics that will be covered in practice this week in advance of the meet on Thursday. These topics are racing shoes, race day warmup and cooldown protocols, and racing strategy. The talk on racing strategy (i.e. tactics) will be at the end of practice and is mandatory for new athletes; returning athletes can attend if they would like to. Ideally we would have talked about shoes last week, but the delayed practice start times due to last week's high temperatures made that impossible. It will be hectic but we'll get this important material covered.

Mon 9/11 - Practice 3:30 at the high school. Warmup including BURPEES followed by cyclic long length run. This is the same idea as a cyclic long run only shorter in duration. The total time of your run will be broken down into 12 equal segments. The first segment is run at an easy (40% or so) effort. The next is run at a "fresh" (60-65% or so) effort, and the one after that at a "good" (80-85%) effort. Then the easy-fresh-good cycle is repeated three more times.

Level 1: 36 minutes (3 minute segments)
Level 2: 48 minutes (4 minute segments)
Level 3: 60 minutes (5 minute segments)
Level 4: 72 minutes (6 minute segments)

We plan on distributing uniforms at the end of practice today.

Tue 9/12 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. Upon your return to the school we'll be doing high stepping run throughs (high knees) and bounding over cones on the softball field and a few "fly zone" accelerations incorporating turns. The hope is to continue distributing uniforms as needed today.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Wed 9/13 - Practice at 3:30 at the high school. Warmup including BURPEES, followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate intensity. At the end of the run we'll do 4-5 run outs of about 80 meters at race pace. Anyone who hasn't yet gotten a uniform should get one today.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Thu 9/14 - Dual Meet #1 at Cold Spring Park vs. Newton South, Acton-Boxborough. The bus will leave (hopefully) by 3:30. More information on this meet will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. Today is a medium length day in terms of how much running you should be doing overall:

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Depending on what level you're training at, this may mean either a very short or rather long cooldown jog after your race.

Fri 9/15 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short run at an easy to moderate pace. In addition we'll be doing hill drills on the Hultman Aqueduct between Cedar Crest and Pine Ridge road.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Sat 9/16 - Optional practice 9:00 AM at Lincoln Station- Timed progression repeats of 3 minutes in length, followed by a separate set of 200 meter repeats with a 200 meter jog recovery. Each 3 minute repeat should follow this pattern: first minute fresh, next minute good, last minute hard. The recovery after each repeat is 2.5 minutes of very easy jogging/fast walking. After finishing the last 3 minute repeat, take about 5 minutes break for water and then a series of 200 meter repeats at an intense (faster than race pace) effort. Number of reps as follows:

Level 1: 3x3 minutes, 3x200 (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 2: 4x3 minutes, 4x200 (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 3: 5x3 minutes, 5x200 (warmup and cooldown of 6-8 minutes apiece)
Level 4: 6x3 minutes, 5x200 (warmup and cooldown of 8-10 minutes apiece)

Sun 9/17 - Off. If you were celebrating Rosh Hashanah yesterday, you can do yesterday's workout today on your own. 

Week 3 Training Plan, 9/4-9/10

Please note that due to the forecast high temperatures, practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday has been pushed back to 6 PM. Insect repellent is recommended. If getting back to the school at this hour is not possible for you, please let me know and attempt to follow along with the training as outlined below in your own neighborhood to the best of your ability. Please avoid going home and trying to run on your own earlier in the afternoon when it will be at or close to the day's high temperature. 

Mon 9/4 -  Practice at 9:00 AM along the Mass Central Rail Trail, meeting where the trail intersects Plain Road. Parking is tight here, please carpool or ride your bike over if you live close by. Abbreviated warmup followed by a progressive long run:

Level 1: 36 minutes (12 minutes easy - 9 minutes fresh - 9 minutes good - 6 minutes easy)
Level 2: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy - 12 minutes fresh - 12 minutes good - 8 minutes easy)
Level 3: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy - 15 minutes fresh - 15 minutes good - 10 minutes easy)
Level 4: 72 minutes (24 minutes easy - 18 minutes fresh - 18 minutes good - 12 minutes easy)

The trails of the Jericho Town Forest in Weston are a good option today, if you're concerned about getting lost on the network of trails you can stay on the rail trail instead. If you'd like to give the trails of the Jericho forest a try I'd recommend printing out a copy of the map linked in this paragraph. 

Tue 9/5 -  Practice at the high school, 6:00 PM. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. Upon your return to the school we'll be doing high stepping run throughs (high knees) and bounding over cones on the softball field and a few "fly zone" accelerations on the track.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Wed 9/6 - Practice at the high school, 6:00 PM. Warmup followed by a medium length run at mostly an easy effort. The focus today should be on staying relaxed and keeping the effort easy and under control. This is active recovery.

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Thu 9/7 - Practice at the high school, 6:00 PM. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. We'll be doing hill drills (high knee running and bounding) along the Hultman aqueduct between Cedar Crest and Pineridge Road.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Fri 9/8 - Practice at the Wayland Free Public Library, 6 PM. Warmup followed by EITHER a series of timed pickups if you're NOT going to be at the optional practice in Lincoln tomorrow:

Level 1: 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 5 minute jog.
Level 2: two sets of 3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries throughout, including between the two sets. Warmup and cooldown are each a 5 minute jog.
Level 3: 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 6-8 minute jog.
Level 4: 2 sets of 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 10 minute jog.

The 4 and 3 minute pickup(s) is/are at something slower than race pace, like an 80-85% effort. The 2 minute pickup(s) is/are at race pace (90%) or something close to it. The 1 minute pickup(s) is/are at faster than race pace. Fast and relaxed. Ideally the recoveries are a slow jog, although Level 1 athletes might find it better to walk a portion of the recovery interval. We'll do this workout along the rail trail.

OR, if you are planning on attending the optional practice in Lincoln tomorrow, a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Sat 9/9 - EITHER a medium length run with a series of timed pickups in Lincoln (meet at 9 AM in the Lincoln Station Parking Lot), around the field near Mt. Misery as follows:

 Level 1: 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 5 minute jog.
Level 2: two sets of 3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries throughout, including between the two sets. Warmup and cooldown are each a 5 minute jog.
Level 3: 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 6-8 minute jog.
Level 4: 2 sets of 4 minute-3 minute-2 minute-1 minute pickups with 3 minute recoveries. Warmup and cooldown are each a 10 minute jog.

The 4 and 3 minute pickup(s) is/are at something slower than race pace, like an 80-85% effort. The 2 minute pickup(s) is/are at race pace (90%) or something close to it. The 1 minute pickup(s) is/are at faster than race pace. Fast and relaxed. Ideally the recoveries are a slow jog, although Level 1 athletes might find it better to walk a portion of the recovery interval.

OR, if you did these timed pickups yesterday, a short length run on your own at an easy to moderate effort level:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Sun 9/10 - Off.