View Workout (Joseph Kachovec)

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season summary

October 3, 2011 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
my bone density scan results came in today, not good, I was told today by coach that my season is officially over although it feels as though it ended in early July today was just realizing what had been written on the wall the entire time and i was trying to deny....I tried to argue for a little but if I look at it objectively it was the right decision. I don't want to get into details, I just know that I have to get more testing done and its going to be a pain in the ass to get cleared to race and I am not happy about it

Though I went down in flames this season I regret nothing I did. I literally think about what I could have done differently to avoid injury. I LITERALLY think about it everyday. I ran on grass whenever possible, I changed shoes, I took down weeks, I did not push the pace, I took FIVE months to build up milage. The only thing I would have done differently is to have taken a calcium supplement.

Just a summary of what my goals were for this season:
1.) Stay at 70 miles a week for the entire season
2.)Run to the farm with the group before the pink pig man night
3.) Race at calvin
4.) Race at UAAs

Looking back at some of these goals it seems ridiculous that the last goal was even there. There is no way around the point that where I am at today is nothing but a complete failure across the board. Even my makeup goal of “racing” was unattainable. However, I know that at one point I thought that it would be a long-shot goal. That’s what goals are supposed to be, something to shoot for to make you better, and those goals up there kept me out pounding every day. I know now that to at least get back to where I was I going to take a long time and more hard work. I know I have established a mental base to build off of and I know what it takes. Even with that being said, those were tough goals in order for me getting harder and harder and I know that even if I do put in the work there is no guarantee that I will achieve any of them. I have seen people on the team continuously work hard and just have bad seasons for one reason or another. I know now however that next cross season will be my final opportunity to come through on my words and put up. As for right now I will continue to work to get back in shape for track and stay healthy. I am still not cleared to “compete in varsity athletics” and I need to stay mentally focused and not get off track. This happened to me last year and it cost me about 4 months of solid training, I am not going to make the same mistake twice.

I talked with coach and a couple of you guys and people keep feeling sorry for me and trying to tell me ways that there was nothing that I could have done, ect. To an extent that is true, I worked my ass off last spring and this summer for absolutely nothing, not even a pit race at Oberlin. If I had to do everything over again I would do it the exact same way. The experiences I had last spring and this summer will stick with me forever, and even though I did not see an end result to all of my work, I still will have those memories and they will always have a special place with me. After failing to run through mononucleosis, I really thought about quitting running altogether. I didn’t talk about this with anyone but I thought about it every day. I was being a mental bitch, and coming back from winter break I decided. I was going to get in the best shape of my life and surprise everyone in the cross season. I could not be prouder of the decision I made. I literally will always remember all of those runs. When I got lazy and did not run during the day, I would make myself go out at 11pm in half a foot of snow and get the damn run in. I truly will remember all of those runs I went on, they were the runs where I told myself that I cannot give up, that I was better than that. Specific runs I remember in no particular order are:

1.)The run with Grogan where I got suckered into running 11 miles during a 40 mile week and my legs actually felt like jello for the first time in forever.
2.)The one “night” run I ever went on with Ben, in the snow
3.)The run where I went out at like 10pm, and then when I got back brandon and ben drove me to the greyhound bus station to take me to penn st. for a visit, proceeded to get stuck in Pittsburgh from 4AM to 9AM. This was a Thursday because the nuggets were playing the Celtics in their first game post-carmelo trade on tnt Thursdays.
4.)Running at the track near my grandmas house 8 -1.25 mile loops in sweatpants, boxers, and a sweatshirt in the rain, highschool throwback run the way I was dressed lol
5.)that one 10 miler to green where I got back to my dorm dehydrated, and then ate ribs and corn on the cob while watching the Celtics/heat game that decided home court for the 2nd round
6.)When I saw an OUT OF SHAPE kurt gilbert and convinced him to go 8.78 warrensville with me, got back to the dorm and everyone was gone at a track meet from our floor, felt like I was alone at my house
7.)My longest run ever of ~14.5 miles
8.) dragging pedro’s ass through 6.5 miles at roughly ~12 minute pace the day after and taunting him throughout the run to speed up
All the way to the last week of June where I literally was running on a stress fracture. I would limp around all day at work, come home and literally limp out an 11 mile run. I could barely even walk that week let alone run, but I still had the determination to run through pain. And by pain I mean PAIN, the first mile of my runs this week would take me roughly 20 minutes because I would have to keep stopping and start limping. Like an idiot I thought that my “knee” just needed to “warm-up?” stupid logic, but looking back on it, that was fucking badass. I was able to have my body get adrenaline going or something so that I could limp out an 11 mile run on a stress fracture. I told myself I was going to go all in this season and I truly did. Even after I forcibly had to stop one of my runs after 1 mile because I was literally screaming in pain/anger/frustration I still drove my ass the pool every day to try and salvage something for the season. Unfortunately things did not go my way, but I will always value the experiences that got me to the point where I am at today. I now know I cannot guarantee anything except that I will go out and give the exact same effort for next cross season, except next year hopefully will turn out better for me, and as a result help the team towards its goals as well.

“When you go through pain, sacrifice, losing, all that is for a reason. The reason for appreciation is that when you do win, everything you have bottled up, everything you have accumulated over those times of heartache, when you win you are able to let those things out. I will carry that moment to my grave, and its something no one can ever take from me.”

My season may be over, but the road to redemption starts now.

5 miles northpark alone in the rain, reflective run.....I am proud of what I have done, and I will be back.