Week 6 Training Plan, 9/23-9/29

This week features the first home meet of the season, on Wednesday when Bedford and Waltham will visit. Please arrive by 3:30 and be prepared to help with breaking down the course (removing cones and flags) when the meet is over. There's also a second meet on Saturday, for 9th graders only. 9th graders will be getting an email on Monday about this meet.

On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. we're going to curtail the team warmup just a bit by omitting the runouts and instead do a series of "strides" at faster than race pace. This will occur between the warmup and the day's run. The details will be explained on Tuesday. 

Mon 9/23 - Practice 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by cyclic long length run. 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. Today we'll be heading east along the Hultman Aqueduct towards Weston, some people will be heading back the way they came while others will make a loop of it.

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)

Tuesday 9/24 - 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 short race speed runs incorporating turns. 

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

Wednesday 9/25 - Dual Meet #1 vs Bedford and 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. For Level 1 and 2 athletes this will impact how we approach the course tour which doubles as a warmup jog for most people. The team picture will be taken today at 3:30.

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

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

Sat 9/28 -  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:

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

OR

For 9th graders only, The Ocean State Invitational at Goddard Park in Rhode Island. More details forthcoming in a separate post.

Sunday 9/29 - off 

Frank Kelley Invitational Results, 9/21/24

The second invitational of the season yielded impressive results, with many athletes achieving new personal best time or setting a high level of achievement in their first try at the fairly flat Wrentham Developmental Center layout. The 9th grade races went first and were the only ones without rain. Everyone got to experience a delightful north wind that blew consistently at 10-15 mph with gusts over 20 mph. The ground had become quite dry over the previous month or so of dry weather and was soaking up the rain like a sponge. As the day wore on the footing got a little slippery but on the whole wasn't too bad throughout. 

There were multiple WHS athletes who won a medal by finishing in the top 25 overall. Mia Rent took the top spot overall in the 9th grade girls race, winning convincingly over two other athletes who comprised a trio far ahead of the rest of the field. The 9th grade boys race featured four medal winners, led by Ryan Foley in 3rd. Brandon Hopps, Grady Spence and Ryan Young also won medals. This is the most medal winners ever for a Wayland team in a single race at this meet. 

There were 3k races for both 10th and 11th graders as well, in the boys 10th grade race Mustafa Kheir and Iniyan Gandhi both raced well in their first time on this course. Cassie Sun ran a strong race in the 11th grade girls race passing multiple runners in the middle portion of the race, while Jamie Markey raced well in his first run on the 3k Wrentham course. Edge Wheeler improved on his previous best time from last year. 

In the Girls Championship 5k, co-captains Arya Samaratunga and Naomi Rice both had solid races in what was probably the heaviest rain of the entire day. The Boys Championship 5k had over 200 finishers and was front to back a very competitive and deep field. There were tightly bunched packs throughout and plenty of back and forth in the latter stages. Moving up steadily throughout the race, the duo of Luke Chisum and Will Jackson worked their way into the top 20 and picked off multiple runners (including the entire Concord-Carlisle top five) in the second half of the race. Matthew Tan raced with metronomic consistency to set a personal best by over 20 seconds, with Leo Ciccarelli and Morgan Fallace rounding out the team which finished 19th out of 23 teams. 

The Wrentham site has been in use in its current configuration since 2010, with a two loop 3k course and a three loop 5k course. As of today, there's a new top WHS performance for three of the four all-time lists. The link to those lists is below. 

Overall results by event

Results and splits for WHS athletes

All-time performance list for Wrentham Developmental Center 

Frank Kelley Invitational, 9/21/24

Live Results

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 7 AM

Remember, no eating on the bus. 

Race Schedule and Entries:

9 AM 9th Grade Girls 3k - Rent

9:20 AM 9th Grade Boys 3k - Baker, Foley, Hopps, Lehmann, Spence, Young

9:40 AM 10th Grade Girls 3k - none

10 AM 10th Grade Boys 3k - Gandhi, Kheir

10:20 AM 11th Grade Girls 3k - Sun

10:40 AM 11th Grade Boys 3k - Markey, Wheeler

11 AM 12th Grade Girls 3k - none

11:20 AM 12th Grade Boys 3k - none

12:00 PM Championship Girls 5k - Rice, Samaratunga

12:30 PM Championship Boys 5k - Chisum, Ciccarelli, Fallace, Jackson, Tan

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: Mostly cloudy, temperatures in the low to mid 60s, SSW winds 10 mph. Have dry clothes for after your race.
• Bib 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. 
• Remember that we have a meet day warmup and cooldown protocol. With the schedule set in advance, you should be able to time the start of your warmup accurately. Because people are racing at different times throughout the day, you won't be warming up at the same time as all your teammates. 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. 
• There are no assigned spots on the starting line at this meet, another reason to head over 10 minutes early to get a spot on the line. The group about to race should split in half and take turns holding the spot while also doing last minute run outs. 

• 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 around 2 PM.

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