Dual Meet #2 Results

Both the boys and girls teams came out on the short end of a double dual meet versus Weston and Westford Academy held at Stony Brook Middle School in Westford. McKenna Kelemanik won the girls varsity race on a very humid and warm afternoon. Times and splits can be seen here. The next meet comes up quickly this coming Saturday, more information on that will be forthcoming tomorrow. In addition, please note the team pictures are being taken today.

Dual Meet #2 - vs. Westford Academy, Weston @ Stony Brook Middle School

Meet Site:  
Stony Brook Middle School, 9 Farmer Way Westford. Parents, note the meet does NOT take place at Westford Academy (the high school).

Bus Time: 
 2:30 at the earliest, hopefully no later than 2:45. Upon dismissal, change into your uniform and warmups and head to the pickup area.

Event Schedule:
• First race as close to 4:15 as possible depending on our arrival time; hopefully no later than 4:30

• I haven't yet heard from the Westford coaches about the size of their teams, but based on the size of Weston's teams it's likely there will be a separate JV boys race and one combined girls race. If this is the case the JV boys race would be the first of the day followed by the girls race and then the varsity boys. Lineups for the boys races would be as follows:

• JV boys: Bonner, Cerrato, Dines, Francis, Hess, Homyak, B. Levin, D. Liu, Marto, M. Matta, McGonagle, Nagalingam, Reese

• Varsity boys: Bonanno, Chen, Duffy, Dussault, Goode, Karle, Li, Troost

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: Mostly cloudy, temperatures in the mid 70s with winds from the SSW at 10 mph. Slight (20%) chance of rain. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.
• You're required to wear your DCL bib number during the race. This is a number in the 700-799 range that has been assigned to you by the coaching staff. A list of these numbers can be seen here. When the meet is over, remember to return this number to the ziploc bag where it will be stored until the next DCL meet which is next Wednesday. Leave the safety pins on your number.
• A map of Westford's course can be seen here:

 the course is 2.9 miles long and most of it takes place on trails in woods to the SE of the . The start and finish are on a track next to the school. Generally speaking, the course is a large loop with little overlap. Pay attention during the course tour as you will be almost 1.5 miles from the start/finish area at the course's farthest extent.

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)

For Parents:

• Don't forget the meet is NOT held at Westford Academy itself but at Stony Brook Middle School in Westford. 
• The one loop nature of the course doesn't lend itself to many opportunities to watch the runners pass by, alas. You might be able to see a bit more of the race from the rail trail near the track but be careful not to block the course if you do this.
• 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: 9/24-9/30

• Mon 9/24 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. Warmup jog to Sandy Burr CC followed by hill repeats. 9th graders and new athletes will be doing 5 sets of (60 seconds, 40 seconds, 20 seconds); returning athletes will be doing 6 or 7 sets of (60 seconds, 40 seconds, 20 seconds). The recovery after each hill is to turn around and return at a slow jog to the bottom. After each set the recovery is 2 minutes. After three sets the recovery is 4 minutes. All repeats should be at a 90% effort, and the 20 second hills should be run at a faster pace than the 40 and 60 second hills.

• Tue 9/25 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. 20, 30, or 40 minutes at a mostly relaxed effort, with 5x100m at race pace at the end of the run.

• Wed 9/26 - Dual Meet #1 vs. Weston and Westford Academy. More information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. As always, pay attention on the course tour. Everyone will do a cooldown jog of 10-15 minutes after their race.

• Thu 9/27 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. 45, 55 or 65 minutes at a relaxed effort throughout. If you're feeling up to it you can increase the pace slightly over the last 10-15 minutes. The Weston aqueduct heading towards Framingham is a possibility for today, particularly if it's been cleared of the rampant weeds and tall grass. Today's run is meant to be a gentle active recovery day.

•  Fri 9/28 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. 20, 30 or 40 minutes much of it at a relaxed effort, with the last 10 minutes spent running short intervals on top of the aqueduct. This is something we've done in the past but not yet so far this season. Cones will be placed every 50 meters along the top of the aqueduct and everyone will run sets of short (50-200 meters) repeats at varying levels of intensity, with race pace being the fastest of these. Those not racing tomorrow will be doing more sets of intervals and should head to the top of the aqueduct sooner.

• Sat 9/29 - Frank Kelley Invitational @ Wrentham Developmental Center. The bus for this meet leaves at 11:30. More detailed information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. The usual warmup and cooldown protocols for meet day apply.

• Sun 9/30 - off.

Dual Meet #1 Results

The first of four dual meets is in the books with a split result. The boys defeated Bedford on the flat and fast Bedford layout by a score of 26-30. Bedford had the top overall finisher but Wayland took three of the next four spots and Wayland's sixth runner finished ahead of Bedford's fifth to add to Bedford's point total.

On the girls side McKenna Kelemanik took over in the second mile after following the top Bedford runners the first mile. In the end she won by almost a minute. Bedford had superior depth and won the team race 22-37.

Results for WHS athletes including mile splits can be seen here. I was impressed with how well people approached the race in pacing themselves.

Dual Meet #1 - @ Bedford, 9/20/18

Meet Site: Bedford High School, 9 Mudge Way

Bus Time: 2:30 at the earliest, hopefully no later than 2:45. Upon dismissal, change into your uniform and warmups and head to the pickup area.

Event Schedule:

• First race as close to 4:15 as possible depending on our arrival time at BHS; hopefully no later than 4:30

• Girls will be followed by boys; one race for each gender

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: partly sunny with temperatures in the mid 60s at race time, east winds 5-10 mph. You'll want to wear more than just your uniform while warming up and cooling down. The temperature will start to drop by the time the meet's wrapping up. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.
• You're required to wear your DCL bib number during the race. This is a number in the 700-799 range that has been assigned to you by the coaching staff. A list of these numbers can be seen here. When the meet is over, remember to return this number to the ziploc bag where it will be stored until the next DCL meet which is next Wednesday. Leave the safety pins on your number.
• The Bedford coach says the tour will take no more than 30 minutes. It's imperative that you pay attention on the course tour.
• A map of Bedford's course can be seen here. It's quite flat, and about a third of it is on pavement. Start and finish are on the track encircling the football field. In total about 800 meters (half a mile) of the course is on the track. For those of you who raced at Bedford in 2016, note that the course has changed slightly since your last visit, with more of it on the track at the start and finish. The loop around the ball fields next to the track at the beginning of the course from two years ago has been cut out. 
• Given how much of the course is on pavement, shoes with metal spike elements aren't a good idea. If you have this type of shoe the spike elements can be removed and replaced with blanks, which are flattened in shape and screw in to the holes where the spike elements would go. If you have spiked racing shoes and wear them with the spike elements reomoved and without blanks to cover the screw hole you run the risk of pebbles or other debris getting into the screw holes on shoe's sole. This makes it impossible to reinstall spike elements in the future. If you need blanks for your shoes let me know on the bus, as I have a supply of them for team use.


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)

For Parents:

• The best place to watch the race apart from the start and finish at the track is near the tennis courts along Railroad Ave. next to the middle school parking lot. See the course map linked above.

Invitational Meet Availability Survey

The survey where you can share your availability for the upcoming Invitational meets in September (Frank Kelley Invitational, 9/29) and October (Brown Northeast Invitational, 10/20) can be found here.

Please remember to include your name with your response.

Week 4 Training Plan: 9/17-9/23

• Mon 9/17 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. Warmup jog to Sandy Burr CC followed by hill repeats. 9th graders and new athletes will be doing 3 sets of 6x30 second hill repeats; returning athletes will be doing 2 sets of 4x(60 seconds, 30 seconds). The recovery after each hill is to turn around and return at a slow jog to the bottom. All repeats should be at a 90% effort. Following the last repeat, return to the school. Some may return the scenic route via the Getchell trail.

• Tue 9/18 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. 20, 30, or 40 minutes at a mostly relaxed effort, with 5x100m at race pace at the end of the run. All new athletes will attend a talk on the optimal approach to pacing in races before warming up and doing the day's workout. We will be referencing this article by Steve Lane, boys coach at CCHS. Returning athletes are welcome to attend the talk as well, although it's not necessary if you're already familiar with the topic at hand.

• Wed 9/19 -  off if you're celebrating Yom Kippur or 30, 40, or 50 minute run with 5x15-20 second pickups in the second half of the run. We won't be meeting for practice today, this run is therefore on your own but you're welcome to get together with teammates if you can arrange a time and place to meet. The pace of the run should be comfortable/easy today; the pickups should be at about a 90% effort level with as much recovery as you need.

• Thu 9/20 - Dual Meet #1 at Bedford. More information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. As always, pay attention on the course tour. A map of the course can be seen here but the map doesn't do justice to the various overlapping portions of the course. Everyone will do a cooldown jog of 10-15 minutes after their race.

•  Fri 9/21 - Practice 3:10 @WHS. Practice 3:10 @WHS. Run to Keith Road via the Hultman Aqueduct and Cochituate Road (route 27) with hill drills on Keith Road. Following that, on to the Hultman aqueduct and possibly beyond. Total time spent running today should be in the 30-40 minute range for new athletes and the 50-60 minute range for experienced athletes.

• Sat 9/22 - Optional Practice 9 AM @Lincoln Trails. The address for the meeting point is 145 Lincoln Road and we'll meet in the commuter parking lot just beyond the small shopping center. The workout will be repeats on the field loop near Mt. Misery.  Those not attending this practice should do a 10 minute warmup jog, 3-5x4 minute repeats on relatively flat terrain at 85-90% effort with 2 minute recoveries, and a 10 minute cooldown jog.

• Sun 9/23 - off or same workout as what was posted for Wednesday if you didn't run on Wednesday.