View Workout (Jake Avery)

Return to Log

Section 4 championships

May 26, 2016 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Had trouble sleeping last night, not because I was nervous but I just couldn't get to sleep. So when I got off the bus at Horseheads I felt pretty groggy and just exhausted. It helped to start up the warmup, and I threw some cold water in my face and that woke me up. It was really hot out at the start of the meet but it got better as the meet went on. For our first warmup we found a cemetery with shade which was nice because you could get out of the heat. Ran for about 17 mins and after we clerked in I added on a few more minutes to get loosened up. Did a few drills and strides and was ready to go. I felt pretty sluggish and crappy warming up but you can't really dwell on that much. Sometimes I will feel great before a race and have a terrible race(Manhatten) and sometimes I will feel bad before a race and have a great race(sectionals). Actually a lot of the time when I feel bad before a race I have a good race. So I was confident going into the 4x8.
The gun went off and Ronan started us out. He feel a little behind Elmira, and it was Neil against Cardemone next, and Neil said he saved a little for the 3200, but they had a pretty big gap on us. Maybe 80-90 meters. I told Ian to just get as close to the Elmira guy as possible and I could hound down their last guys cause Elmira always front loads their 4x8. Ian got to about 50-60 meters behind the Elmira guy and I knew I could catch the guy. Ran a very solid 2:04, he might be our second best mid distance runner which is solid. I went out harder so that I could makeup some ground on the guy for confidence. I went out in 58 for 400 and already passed the guy. Kept creating a gap because the kid always likes to save it all for a last kick in the last 100. Passed by 600 in 1:27 on pace for a PR. Then Weishaar told me just to cruise it in because I had a big enough gap. Jogged the last 200 in for a 2:03. Cooled down for 12 mins afterwards, and I had no clue how close the mile and 4x8 were together because I only had maybe 45 mins in between the two events.
I didn't warmup for the 1600 and just used my cool down as my warmup. Me and Ian clerked in and just did some drills and like 2 strides and thought we were set since we just ran the 4x8. My legs felt a little heavy warming it but I thought that was pretty natural. We lined up for the 1600 and I really just cleared my mind. I wanted to be thinking in the moment when I was racing. I didn't want splits, I wanted to race instinctively. The gun went off and I got out hard to make sure I had good positioning from the jump, something that I could have done better in the 3200 last week. Brian and Peter from Corning were aiming at times to qualify them for the 4xmile at nationals so they went out hard something I anticipated. They were ahead by a good amount at 200, and I was in 5th Beijing 2 sophomores also. I knew that their pace was too quick so I hung back. Weishaar told me to move up but I knew my pace was good for the time being and I had time to move up afterwards. I was like 10-15 meters behind the leaders at least at 400. The pace slowed in the next lap as I moved up closer to the top pack. My legs felt heavy the first 2 laps, however after that the feeling went away and I was just focusing on racing. The leaders came through in 2:12 and I was at about 2:13-2:14. I moved right on the leaders with 700 to go and the pace slowed to a very slow speed. I got caught behind the pack and swung outside to make my move but I couldn't get around before 200 so I was patient around the turn and went from 5th to 1st with about 475 left. I wanted that win, and I knew it was time to step it up a notch. Last week I was reluctant to take the lead and went too late, that wasn't happening again. My pre-race game plan was to kick as late as possible but this move just felt right. I pushed from 400 left cranking the pace down the last lap. And created about a 30-40 meter lead for myself, according to people watching. Finished all the way through the line and I was pretty pumped. Very happy with my race and the fact that I just took over and ran my race throughout, I was able to control the pace to how I felt that last lap which was good. A 4:22 race where it was negatively split in very hot conditons is a good race for me, and I'm ready shave off a few more seconds. Did a 7 min cool down with Ian, and then headed to the track to see if I was running the 3200.
I was cramping a lot during my cool down so I wasn't sure how good I would be for the 3200, to be honest I didn't think I would actually be running it, I would do it if the team needed the points but that's another long race after 2 fast ones beforehand. I really didn't do much before the race, I had already ran so much, so I jogged around a little bit and did a few drills before getting onto the track again. I talked to Weishaar and he wanted my to keep it easy while staying in touch with the race. I was just in this race for the points so all times went out the window for me. I wasn't expecting a great race anyways because I just didn't know how much my legs had left after the first 2 races. I started out and it felt pretty easy, I hung around 5th, not going out too hard but still being in a spot where I could get the team some points. After the first lap I just started feeling bad. I realized that I can't do everything, and sometimes my body has limits. I knew I just had to grind out this race for the team. I have no idea what paces I was running at all but I was just trying to stay close with the top pack. Me and Silas caught up to Neil and we ran as a pack but I wanted them to keep moving up because I knew I was going slow. Silas got the memo as he began to chase the Corning guys up front. Neil was right behind me from there. I was trying my best to pace him to a good time but in order to get that he should I have gone with Silas. Halfway through dropping out crossed my mind because I felt really bad but i snapped out of to quickly because Neil and Silas wouldn't drop out so I had to hold my end up. With 2 laps to go I came close to the Corning guys, Cardemone was in the front and Silas was chasing him. Weishaar just wanted me to get the 2 Corning guys so I could get 3rd and 6 points so that was all that I was focusing on. With 400 left to go I made my move and passed both of them at he same and time and just didn't look back. I had no speed left in my legs so I knew I had to make my move early and squeeze down the pace. Finished a little behind Derf for 3rd which I was happy with, I was too focused on finishing the race to realize that Derf beat me, it was smart of him to keep going past me because he knew I wasn't in top shape. I'm not sure what time I hit but it's probably around 10:04. Cooled down with Ian for 12 mins then I added another 4 mins on the infield.
My legs were shot at the end of the meet and I was exhausted. I gave it everything I had and didn't leave anything. Got the team 26 points, which was all that I was going for. It was 20% of the teams points. I was disappointed that we lost by 3 points but we did much better than what was projected. So you gotta look at the positive side. I'm feeling like I'm in much better shape now and ready to run some big PRs. I'm satisfied with a 2:03-4:22-10:04 triple for today.