Boys DCL Foley Season Opener Results - 9/18/24

There was a lot of fast racing on the flat 3 kilometer layout at Bedford earlier today with the boys teams from the DCL Foley schools meeting for an unscored scrimmage. Ryan Foley led the way for Wayland in the varsity race, while Will Conley moved up through the field in the late stages to be the first WHS finisher in the JV race.

 Results spreadsheet from today's meet

Boys DCL Foley Division Season Opener - 9/18/24

Meet Site: Bedford High School, Mudge Way.

Bus leaves at 2:45

First race (likely JV) no earlier than 4:15, more likely 4:30ish

Lineups:

JV: W. Conley, Gandhi, Goldstein, Goode, Hopper, Jacob, Kheir, Lehmann, Mahli-Pohl, Markey, Potashinsky, Salahuddin, Sondey, Wheeler, Young, Yu

Varsity: Baker, Cicarelli, Fallace, Foley, Hopps, Narvaez, Spence

Regardless of which race a person is running, the runners with the seven fastest times on the day will receive credit towards a varsity letter as outlined on pages 6 and 7 of this document.

Course Map:

The course is and out and back with a loop in the middle kilometer; the first and third kilometers are the same ground covered in opposite directions. There will be a crossing guard at the crosswalk on Railroad Ave. As with most of the terrain in Bedford, the course is flat.

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: mostly sunny, temperatures in the low to mid 70s with light west winds 5-10 mph. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform. You won't be allowed on the bus if you don't have warmup clothes to wear besides your uniform.
• If you're wearing spiked shoes it would be best to have 1/8th inch elements or blanks, as there are stretches of pavement on the course.

• You'll need to wear your assigned bib number for DCL meets. After your race and before you leave, please return this bib number to the ziploc bag that holds the bib numbers and safety pins.
• There's no team scoring at this meet.

• There will be a course tour sometime soon after we arrive. I may be the person leading this tour.

 What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• plastic bag to store clothes and backpack/duffel bag
• 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:

• It's a quick stroll from the baseball field where the course starts and finishes to Railroad Ave where the runners pass by near the beginning and end of the race.

Week 5 Training Plan, 9/16-9/22

This week it's the boys turn to run in the DCL Foley Season Opener race, on Wednesday at Bedford. The girls will stay at the school and do the workout the boys did last Wednesday. This weekend is the second Saturday Invitational meet, The Frank Kelley Invitational at the Wrentham Developmental Center. If you haven't filled out the entry status poll for this meet please do so.

Monday 9/16 - 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, what happens from there will depend on how far you're going.

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 9/17 - 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  accelerations incorporating turns. 

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

Wednesday 9/18 - Boys DCL Foley Season Opener at Bedford HS. 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.

The girls team will be staying at the school and after a team warmup including BURPEES doing the following "tempo run" style workout. In this case, "tempo" pace is considered to be somewhere in the 75-85% effort level if you're running on feel (which you will be). After the team warmup the workout is as follows:

Level 1: 8 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 4 minute break, 8 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 2: 10 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 5 minute break, 10 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 3: 12 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 6 minute break, 12 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 6-8 minutes apiece)
Level 4:  14 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 7 minute break, 14 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 8-10 minutes apiece)

Thursday 9/19 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup 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 9/20 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length run incorporating 3 short sets of short repeats. These short repeats will likely happen 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

Sat 9/21 - Frank Kelley Invitational. More information on this meet in a forthcoming post. This should be a medium length day in terms of running volume, with warmup and cooldown counted in. For those not racing today, a medium length workout at mostly an easy effort level, picking up the intensity a bit in the last 10 minutes or so:

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

Sunday 9/22 - off

Girls DCL Foley Season Opener Results - 9/11/24

 This is the first time this meet has been held, and it seemed to be well-received by everyone involved. A chance to compete in a low key, low pressure environment. I was pleased with how people raced the course which had its ups and downs, and a confusing stretch in the woods. Congratulations to Dana for winning the JV race outright! The next meet for the girls team is on September 21st, which is an optional Saturday race at Wrentham Developmental Center. 

Results sheet from the race

Girls DCL Foley Division Season Opener - 9/11/24

Meet Site: Waltham High School Secondary Campus, 99 Jacks Way. Waltham. Note: Waltham has a new high school building nearby on Lexington Street, the meet isn't held at this new address but rather the site of the recently closed former Waltham HS building on Jack's Way.

Bus leaves at 2:45

Lineups:

JV precedes varsity. By rule the first race can't start until 4:15, it may be a little bit later than than depending on the arrival time of the other schools competing.

JV: A. Conley, Golanova, Kotzampaltiris, Ma, Sun, Wang

 Varsity:  Kiernan, Rent, Rice, Samaratunga, Tam 

Regardless of which race a person is running, the runners with the seven fastest times on the day will receive credit towards a varsity letter as outlined on pages 6 and 7 of this document.

Course Map:

The course begins on Harding Field, the turf field just down the hill from the former high school building. Upon exiting the field, runners climb the hill on Jacks Way before entering the woods on the left. The course then follows a loop in the woods (pay attention on the tour to which trail is the course and which trails are not). This loop in the woods is run in a clockwise direction, and run once for the 3k course. The map above, which says the course is 4950 meters, is for the longer version of the course which includes three loops in the woods. For this meet, the course will cover one loop in the woods. The course then returns to Jacks Way and then Harding Field where the race finishes, all in the reverse direction of the early stages of the race.

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: Mostly sunny, temperatures in the mid to high 70s with W winds 5-10 mph. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform. You won't be allowed on the bus if you don't have warmup clothes to wear besides your uniform.
• The Waltham coach reports that the course is not suitable for spike elements in your racing shoes. If you have spiked racing shoes the spike elements should be replaced with blanks or 1/8" pyramids. 
• You'll need to wear your assigned bib number which is the same number you wore in last week's meet. After your race and before you leave, please return this bib number to the ziploc bag that holds the bib numbers and safety pins. The ziploc bag is in turn kept inside the large red duffel bag.
• There's no team scoring at this meet.

• There will be a course tour sometime soon after we arrive. Pay attention to the loop in the woods as there are various side trails that are not used in the race course.

 What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• plastic bag to store clothes and backpack/duffel bag
• 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:

• Harding Field where the course starts and finishes is down the hill from the parking lot next to the former school building on Jack's Way.

Week 4 Training Plan, 9/9-9/15

This week the DCL meet schedule begins for the girls team while the boys team will be training through. 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. Those that can't make it to the Saturday practice will be doing the same workout on Friday.

On Tuesday we'll be discussing racing strategy with new athletes; returning athletes can attend if they would like to.

Mon 9/9 - Practice 3:30. 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)

Tue 9/10 - 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

Wed 9/11 - Girls DCL Foley Season Opener at Waltham HS. 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.

The boys team will be staying at the school and doing the following "tempo run" style workout. In this case, "tempo" pace is considered to be somewhere in the 75-85% effort level if you're running on feel (which you will be). After the team warmup the workout is as follows:

Level 1: 8 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 4 minute break, 8 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 2: 10 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 5 minute break, 10 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 3: 12 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 6 minute break, 12 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 6-8 minutes apiece)
Level 4:  14 minutes @ 70-75% effort, 7 minute break, 14 minutes @ 80-85% effort (warmup and cooldown of 8-10 minutes apiece)

Thu 9/12 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES, followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate intensity. 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

Fri 9/13 - Practice at 3:30. Team warmup followed by 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)

OR

Warmup followed by a short run at an easy to moderate pace for those doing the workout at Lincoln Station tomorrow.

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

Sat 9/14 - 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)

OR

Warmup followed by a short run at an easy to moderate pace for those who did the timed repeat workout yesterday.

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

Sun 9/15 - Off.

Vineyard Invitational Results, 9/7/24

The 2024 WHS cross country season kicked off in Martha's Vineyard for the first time ever, under cloudy skies with warm temperatures and some humidity as well. The course was quite flat, but with some stretches of loose sand that made for challenging footing. There was a lot of racing savvy on display, from both experienced team members and new athletes as well. This year's edition of the Vineyard Invitational had the most overall competitors since the meet's inception. Wayland was well represented on the whole, with the following athletes competing:

9th grade girls 3k (50 finishers): Mia Rent 2nd, Karis Tam 11th. Both won medals for finishing in the top 15.

9th grade boys 3k (75 finishers): Cyriaque Schaff 1st, Ryan Foley 3rd, Brandon Hopps 7th, Grady Spence 8th, Archie Baker 17th, Daniel Sondey 25th. This was a dominant display, with all six Wayland runners in the top third of the field, the first four winning medals, and Schaff winning by a large margin after waiting patiently in the top 10 during the early part of the race. 

JV girls 5k (101 finishers): Caroline Kiernan 14th, Cordia Wang 75th, Denedra Ma 80th, Amy Kotzampaltiris 88th. All four runners moved up well through the field in the second half, and Kiernan won a medal in her first high school race.

JV boys 5k (127 finishers): Will Conley 37th, Jamie Markey 39th. This pair worked together and passed numerous runners in the latter stages of the race.

Varsity boys 5k (124 finishers): Will Jackson 5th, Luke Chisum 11th, Owen Williams 12th, Matthew Tan 71st, Reese Migdal 80th, Morgan Fallace 90th, Leo Cicarelli 91st. The three seniors who led the way for Wayland each won a medal for a top 15 fijnish, while the rest of the group helped to ensure a 5th place finish out of 16 teams competing. 

All this and there was time to visit the beach as well before boarding the ferry to return to the mainland. 

Full results with times