Maranacook 8/29/09 - 9/4/09

Hey guys! The first week of the regular season has gone by and what a first week it was! I saw great times posted on courses all over the state. Things are looking really good. Since Laliberte I have felt very good about my training and race ability. I always come into a season a little unsure about racing because I haven't done it in a while. Laliberte showed me what it feels like to race again and I had high expectations for my season coming off the race.

Here is what my training has looked like since Laliberte:

Saturday August 29 - Big strength workout including core and back work.

Sunday August 30 - Long run (11 miles). Dad biked it with me.

Monday August 31 - Track work. 10x400 at 1:13 or faster (got to 1:11 and 1:07 at the end). 10 x200 rests. 1 mile warm up and cool down with stretching.

Tuesday September 1 - Warm up and core/sprint workout. 5 mile run then cool down.

Wednesday September 2 -  Track day.  Warm up run 3 x mile at + 20 over 5k goal pace.. 1/2 mile cooldown. 5 circuit strength workout.

Thursday September 3 - Easy day with team. 1 mile warm up + kickball. stretch and jog cool down.

Friday September 4 - Race Day. Course jog with wind sprints and then race: 16:57.

Maranacook -  Kickball Game - Shortly after discovering we didn't have enough balls to play dodgeball we decided we should play kickball. It was girls vs. boys and the game play was so intense. The lead changed hands so many times... I still don't know who won....  Eben kicked at the #1 spot and I kicked at the #2 spot. We wanted to get some speed on the bases early (I totally could have kicked number 4 with these jacked legs. My nickname is "The Boom-ah"). After the game we had to meditate for a little while cause were all so pumped after playing a game that intense.

Maranacook - Yeah so I liked the weather at Laliberte a lot more than at Maranacook. It was hot and sticky this time! I did a jog of the course with Eben Hodgkins, Jarrod Lenfest, Logan Merrithew, and Aaron Bengtson and we were all soaked and dripping by the time we got back. We basically hid in the shade until it was time to go cheer on the girls. The girls race went well except one of our girls had a problem with her foot and was in a lot of pain. She made it through 2/3 of the course but had to make it back to our team area mid-race for some ice. I also watched Abby Mace win by about exactly 2 minutes. When it was time for the boys race it had cooled off .25 degrees and dropped 1 percent humidity...(now at only 99 percent humidity...).

The race started off and the 10 teams there shot off the starting line. Luke quickly came up on my shoulder where he would stay for the remainder of the race. We climbed up the fairly large hill that is just a minute or two into the race and went into the woods. The first mile was apparently fairly slow. I thought I heard someone say 5:20 something. It must have been the hill cause I thought we took it out pretty fast. Luke and I stayed together for pretty much the whole thing. (Below)

We would pass each other  every once in a while but neither would let the other get ahead more than 10 feet. During the last 1/2 mile I tried to push pretty hard. We flew down that big hill again and went through the field and small woods section to the finish. Coming up the last rise and onto the flat field where we finish Luke kicked and pulled away to win by about 1.5 seconds. We were both under 17:00 which I was VERY happy about. I ran 18:18 on the same course last year.

My boys all had pretty good finishes. Most passed at least one kid in the last 200 meters. I like to see them finish strong. Eben broke 19 (18:59) which is also incredible. Jason Goggin came into the season with a 29:06 PR on a much easier course. He ran 26:44 yesterday.... I love seeing people break barriers like that.

Up next week - @ Belfast vs. Morse, Rockland, Belfast (duh), Lincoln, Winslow and Medomak Valley. Anyone else going for a PR?