Elise Dunshee
Week 12
Sun. Nov. 2nd-
Workout: A 30 min. recovery run with Carly.
Following Sectionals, Maria, Sarah, Lindsay, Kendall, and I are looking ahead to this week of training before we find out if we made Feds, while Carly, Grace, and Will prepare for States on Saturday. This could be our last week of training, and we need to really work on running strong workouts and being prepared for whatever ends up happening. We hope that we had a strong enough season as a team to earn a Feds bid, but all we can do this week is train and wait and hope for the best!
Mon. Nov. 3rd-
Workout: 5 by 800m hill repeats on the Inner Loop with 1:1 recovery. Then a short GC to begin the recovery process.
Today we really needed to push through a hard workout and work on our strength running. A lot of us were not feeling totally recovered from Sectionals, and the cold air was causing some breathing issues, but I was proud of how well everyone really put their issues aside and kept pushing the workout. This kind of workout will definitely benefit us looking forward.
Tues. Nov. 4th-
Workout: A GC run with Sarah, Maria, and Carly in the neighborhood next to the high school.
Today was the Indoor Track Preseason Meeting, so we were on our own for a GC run. Sarah, Maria, Carly, and I did a run together, and definitely enjoyed the beautiful, warm fall weather. These are the kind of fall days I love; warm, sunny, with lots of brightly colored leaf piles to crunch through. We will definitely be wishing for this kind of weather when it starts getting colder in a few weeks! After our run, we did some strides and sprints on the track, with Maria good naturedly celebrating when she outsprinted Carly on the first sprint. On our way back inside to get our bags, we crashed the Indoor Meeting for a few minutes. It's so weird to think that Indoor will be starting so soon, I'm excited for track, but I'm not ready to be done with cross-country quite yet!
Wed. Nov. 5th-
Workout: A 16 min. tempo run on the Woods Loop, a 10 min. recovery run, and some long strides and sprints.
A strong workout today. Shortening the tempo a little helped us to really get into a strong pace, and I think that we've gotten a lot better at holding a fast tempo pace since even a few weeks ago. My legs got a little tight in the middle of the run, but I then focused on driving my knees and arms more and running strong. I then tried to relax, regroup, and finish faster. Taking a mental step back and refocusing helped me to be able to pick up the pace and finish out the workout strong.
Thurs. Nov. 6th-
Workout: 30 min. GC, strides and sprints.
After the nice weather at the beginning of the week, the rain and cold today was an unwelcome surprise. We'd known that the forecast for the weekend was some nasty weather, but the sun and warmth of Monday and Tuesday had left us feeling optimistic. We warmed up inside because it was rainy, but then we ventured out for a quick GC, followed by strides and sprints in the rain.
Fri. Nov. 7th-
Workout: Step-up 400s on the track.
With Carly, Grace, and Will en route to States at SUNY Canton, Lindsay, Sarah, Kendall, Maria, and I ran our own workout at the track. After warming up, we did a step-up 400 workout. Although we haven't done this kind of speed workout in forever, we handled it well and ran some good times. We pushed each other and went negative or stayed close to consistent on all of the 400s. As it began to get colder, and we saw snowflakes coming down, I began to think about how long we've been training. Since mid June, we've been working hard and striving to improve, and now look at us: running step-up 400s while snowflakes fall in November, running in hopes of continuing to Feds.
Sat. Nov. 8th- Rest Day
Race Day for Carly, Grace, and Will-STATES!
All morning I kept stalking timing sites for States results. When they were finally put up, I was so happy for our WG runners! Carly ran an all-out race and earned an incredible 5th place! Grace also had a great race, getting a PR and placing 53rd. Will also had a strong race, finishing 16th and earning a ticket to Feds! These three work so hard and it was great that they got the opportunity to race and succeed against so many talented competitors from all over New York!
Reflections on Week 12
THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER! On Saturday, after I found out how Carly, Grace, and Will did, I started worrying about Feds. I couldn't sit still and I just wanted to know either way. By 4:00, I had to get ready for a band concert that I was in, and I had just been talking to the other girls about how much the wait was driving me crazy, when I got a text from Lindsay. WE HAD MADE IT! We were all so excited and happy! To be able to compete in Feds in my senior year with the awesome group of girls that we have on our team is something that I wished for and worked for this season especially. I'm so proud of my team and how much hard work they have all put in all season and all through the past few years to make this become a reality. We couldn't have done it otherwise. I'm so lucky to have such a close, supportive team, and I'm so happy that we get to experience Feds for the first time together. This season will truly be one to remember, highlighted by the fact that we are the first and only WG girls XC team to ever make Feds! We now look forward to this upcoming week of training before our final team race of the season. We don't only want to compete at Feds, but to end our team season with some all-out, no-regrets racing that I know we're capable of.
Week 13 - Final
Sun. Nov. 9th-
Workout: Moderate Long Run in my neighborhood.
Mon. Nov. 10th-
Workout: An 8-10-8 Fartlek
A nice start to what will hopefully be an exciting week! Now that we've made Feds, we are so excited to train hard and then get ready for the race! Our 8 person group is starting to feel like a family, and I couldn't have asked for a better group to train with! Today we decided to do a fartlek run and postpone our quality workout day until tomorrow. That run structure worked well before Sectionals, and will give Carly, Will, and Grace another day to recover from the tough States race. It's still a really nice day for November, and we're hoping that the weather for Saturday will be as nice!
Tues. Nov. 11th-
Workout: 1 "Manhattan Mile," 12 minutes of threshold on the Woods Loop, another "Manhattan Mile."
We practiced early today, as we had the day off from school for Veteran's Day. The nice weather continues to hold out, and as we run through the woods on our warm- up, the bright sun filters down through the almost bare tree branches. Winter is coming, but I'm hoping that fall will hold on for a few more weeks! For our workout, we started with a Manhattan mile: running around the outer loop, through the mini hill circuit, staying controlled on the downhill, and finishing on a long flat stretch. I love Manhattan miles, because they contain all the elements of a race in a smaller interval. For the first one, we started off with a strong pace, but then worked on building and speeding up after staying strong on the hills. After taking a break and petting Coach V's adorable dog Harley, we then did a 12-minute threshold run in the woods. I've been working on running the middle of races stronger and trying not to worry about saving so much energy for the end, so I really tried to run this threshold like it was the last part of the workout. I got into a good pace, felt strong, and finished the number of laps that I was aiming for. We then finished up the workout with another Manhattan mile. Even though I didn't go negative from the first one, my time was only a few seconds slower. Overall, it was a really good workout for all of us, and will hopefully benefit us going into Feds this weekend.
Wed. Nov. 12th-
Workout: A 35 min. GC run followed by strides.
After our hard workout yesterday, we're beginning to recover and work out any soreness so that we'll feel good on Saturday.
Thurs. Nov. 13th-
Workout: A GC run with 2 loops of threshold.
It's snowing! There is a thin layer covering the ground and big snowflakes in the air! We warmed up inside today, and then ventured outside for the first XC snow workout this year. We did a GC run , trying to avoid any hills made slippery by the new fallen snow. Everything looked so pretty coated in white and we couldn't resist thinking about Christmas! After our GC, we met our coach at one of the trail intersections for our threshold. By this time, the snowflakes were falling fast, and even though we're high school students, you can never be too old to try to catch snowflakes on your tongue. So that's what we did during our break between threshold loops! That's one of the things I love about my team: they are so much fun and aren't afraid of looking a little silly!
Fri. Nov 14th-
Workout: Bowdoin course preview.
I finished packing this morning and then left my house to be at school at 10am to catch the bus. We were surprised to find out that instead of the "short bus" we had expected, we got a relatively new, full-size school bus. Our ride down to Bowdoin was comfortable, as we each got our own seats and could put our bags in another seat. We listened to music, talked, read, slept, and played games during the roughly 4-hour drive, and watched the scenery and weather change from a winter wonderland to the definition of a perfect fall day. After crossing the Hudson River, we finally arrived at Bowdoin Park. It was different than I had pictured, but was in a really pretty location. We GC'd the course, with Will pointing out the mile marks and telling us about the race, as he'd run at Feds with our boys team last year. The course is definitely hilly, but I liked it and thought that while it will be challenging, the downhill and flats at the end will help us to recover a little and finish strong. After previewing the course, we checked into our hotel and got ready for dinner. We were ready for dinner by 4:30, and weren't going to dinner until 7:30, so we hung out, watched "Say Yes to The Dress" on tv for awhile, and then complained about how hungry we were for the last 30 minutes before we left. Dinner at the Coyote Grill was delicious and fun! We all laughed so much, I'm pretty sure the restaurant was ready to get rid of us. Carly kept joking around and making faces while drinking her soda, and then continued her favorite hobby of telling Will that she's going to shave his hair off. It was great, and then we went back to the hotel and hung out for a while before going to sleep.
Sat. Nov. 15th-
After getting to sleep in a little in the morning, I woke up feeling excited, but also super nervous. We ate breakfast and then packed up and headed for the course. Arriving at Bowdoin, it was cool to see so many people there to run and to cheer. The weather turned out to be pretty good: about 42 degrees, sunny, with light winds. We warmed up, and all too soon it was time for our race. As soon as the gun went off, the race seemed to go by fast, but slow at the same time. I've been in some crowded and fast races before at Manhattan and McQuaid, but the Feds race was way faster and more crowded than I think I even expected. The path narrows down quickly, and I had gotten out fast, so I was able to stay on the outside and avoid getting pushed around too much. My first mile I was okay, but as I started my second mile, and the trail started to go up to the hill loop, my legs started to feel heavy and weak and I was fighting to keep driving my knees up the hills. I was slowing down and I backed off the hills more than I should have because my legs just felt dead. I was able to recover and stretch my stride out a little on the downhill, and then I put everything I had left into trying to build towards the finish, but it wasn't enough to make up for the time I lost. I'm definitely disappointed that I ended my season with that kind of a race, since I've been training and working towards a 20:00 5k all season, and I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to overcome my legs hurting and help my team more. However, I am so proud of my teammates and how hard they all raced at Feds. I'm happy that I was able to help our team get there. Having our West Genesee girls team make Feds for the first time was definitely the highlight of my season, and I couldn't have imagined a better ending to my senior season than racing with my teammates at Feds amidst great runners from all over the state. It was such a great experience, and one that everyone worked so hard to earn this season.
Reflections on Week 13:
This week was bittersweet. On one hand, Feds was so much fun and it was great to sit at the awards ceremony and clap as Will and Carly got medals (18th place for Will, 6th place for Carly) and to find out that our girls team placed 13th! We then enjoyed eating the food in the cute gift bags that Will's mom left on our bus seats, and had fun riding the bus home together. This week was also fun, because we had our XC Banquet. The food was excellent, the senior speeches by Andy and Megan were so great and almost made me cry, and the slideshow was fun to watch! It was a fantastic way to symbolically end our season. But, it also showed me how much I will miss this team next year. We were so close this year, and spent so much time together over the course of the season. Our small senior group was amazing, and I can't believe that we've run our final high school XC season together! My training group is like my second family, and I wish that the cross-country season could go on forever so that I can see them everyday! On Thursday, I realized leaving practice that I had run at CMS on the trails for the last time as a high school runner. I don't think that it will all sink in until next summer when I'm getting ready to go to college instead of going to Packet Night, running at the Erie Canal, and gearing up for the next Wildcats XC season. While I'll be ready to start this new phase of my life next year, I know that I will miss my XC family and will keep in touch with the amazing friends I've made over the years. I can't wait to see them succeed next year! Thankfully, I have Indoor and Outdoor to keep working on my running, enjoy time with friends, and just have fun and work hard at practices and meets. The past 4 years have gone by so fast, and I'm determined to make the most out of the rest of my senior running seasons!
Thanks: Thank you to my team and training group: For making me laugh, helping me through tough days, pushing me to be a better runner, cheering during races, and working hard always.
Thank you to my coaches: For believing in me and giving me the tools to improve and be a better runner. Also for putting up with my occasional tears this season.
Thank you to my parents: For encouraging me, cheering for me, dealing with my muddy shoes, and making me pasta pretty much every night.
Thank you to my fellow seniors: For being there for me the past 4 years. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together. I wish you all luck next year, wherever you end up.
Thank you to Milesplit: for giving me the opportunity to write about my XC experiences this season.