Post State-Meet Thoughts

Well, the prediction business ain't easy.

I went on record as saying that Amherst could take down Brockton in the Boys Div I race. Oops. Big mistake. Brockton looked dominant. Amherst looked like they were never in the chase, and finished a somewhat distant fourth. Brookline finished second (I predicted them fourth), and Mansfield finished 3rd.

In the individual race, I picked Steve Czupryna to win -- but he finished third. It looks like I was, as Noah Jampol said, overrating the difficulty of the Western Mass course when I made my picks.

Here's how my other individual predictions went:

   My picks                 Actual
1. Czupryna                 Amirault
2. Amirault                 Gill
3. Polgar                   Czupryna
4. Gill                     Andrews
5. Collins                  Collins (I got that right!)

1. Amherst 98               Brockton 58
2. Brockton 101             Brookline 93
3. St. John's 121           Mansfield 99
4. Brookline 138            Amherst 117

Not a very good showing. Perhaps St. John's would have bailed me out if their top runner had not had to drop out. As it is, they finished 7th.


In the girls race, I did somewhat better:

   My picks                 Actual
1. Kasper                   Kasper
2. Barton                   Wetherbee
3. O'Laughlin               Barton
4. Bourdeau                 Karys
5. Karys                    Pancoast
6. Wetherbee                Smrcina

1. Amherst 98               Amherst 85
2. Newton South 127         Newton South 88
3. Dennis Yarmouth 148      Dennis Yarmouth 92
4. Haverhill 171            Westford Academy 147
5. Wachusett 178            Haverhill 162

The big over-achievers were Newton South and Dennis Yarmouth. Wachusett didn't do so well, just as St. John's didn't do so well in the boys race. Maybe I over-estimated the difficulty of the Gardner course!

All-State Girls Div I Preview

In the Girls Div I race, the team race should come down to three teams: Amherst, Newton South, and Dennis Yarmouth, in that order. The Newton South team is lead by freshman Kelsey Krays, who will certainly be looking for a top-five finish as an individual.

Standing in their way, however, is Amherst. Lacking a superstar, Amherst still managed to place six runners in the top ten in the WMass meet, and that kind of packing should make the difference in the State Championships.

On the other hand, South is very familiar with the Franklin Park course, having run it at Bay States, the Dual-County League championships, and the EMass meet. Is South stale at all after their big win last Saturday? If so, then Dennis-Yarmouth could challenge for the runner-up position. My predictions for the team scores in Girls Div I:

1. Amherst 98
2. Newton South 127
3. Dennis Yarmouth 148
4. Haverhill 171
5. Wachusett 178

Also: Concord-Carlisle, Cathedral (Springfield), Longmeadow

In the individual race, all eyes will be on Jess Barton as she seeks to defend her state championship. Standing in her way are Longmeadow's Emily Bourdeau, Wachusett's Kim Shooshan, and most dangerously, North Andover's Kirsten Kasper. Kasper had the fastest time at Franklin Park last Saturday, running 18:34.

Here's the way I see it:

1. Kasper, No. Andover
2. Barton, Newton North
3. O'Laughlin, Boston Latin
4. Bourdeau, Longmeadow
5. Krays, Newton South
6. Weatherbee, Dennis Yarmouth

Good luck to all runners on Saturday!

And the Winner of the All-State Meet will be...

Boys All-State Preview:

There will be a boys Div I team champion in 2005: The defending champs, Newton North, failed to qualify for the All-State meet. The heir apparent seems to be Brockton, the EMass Div I champions and the runners-up in the 2004 EMass championships and in the 2004 State meet in Gardner.

But is it a foregone conclusion that Brockton will win? What about Brookline and their 35-second spread from first to fifth? What about Mansfield, who went 1-2-3 in the EMass Div. II meet. What about St. John's from Central Mass.? What about Amherst, who won the Western Mass meet at Northfield Mountain?

And how will Dave Polgar and Doug Brecher fare as individuals against statewide competition?

Before I share my predictions, let me say that comparing the results from various meets in XC is exceedingly difficult. Eastern Mass. and Western Mass. championships are held on 5K courses, but the Western Mass. course is much harder. On the other hand, the mud at Franklin Park last Saturday definitely affected times. And the Central Mass. course is only 2.9 Miles. To compare results in a meaningful way, I went back to 2002, the last year that featurd this same arrangement of meets (same locations for EMass, Central Mass, and Western Mass; State meet at Franklin Park). I then compared average times for the top teams at each of their regional meets to the average times they recorded at Franklin Park at the State Meet. I then applied a "coure condition" factor to try to take into account the generally poor conditions of certain course on certain days. Finally, I combined all of this year's regional meet results into one, threw out the individuals (who don't score) and counted the finishers for each team (who do score).

I concluded that two teams stand above the rest: Amherst and Brockton, with Amherst holding a slight edge. After that, another three teams are very close: St. John's, Brookline, and Mansfield, with St. John's the most likely to nab the 3rd spot. Her are the numbers:

1. Amherst 95
2. Brockton 101
3. St. John's 121
4. Brookline 138
5. Mansfield 144

Of course, there will be teams that over-achieve and under-achieve. It will be interesting to see how close these predictions are to reality at the end of the day Saturday!

As for the individual race, there it's much easier to be swayed by knowledge of the individuals involved. It looks like Steve Czupryna has the fastest time of any of the major contenders in Div. I, with Mark Amirault next, and Dave Polgar 3rd. However, the EMass runners are probably not going to repeat the slow, tactical opening mile of last Saturday's race. I would look for Brockton's Kevin Gill and Jose DePina to be much more aggressive. Here's how I predict the finish of Div I

1. Steve Czupryna Chicopee Comp.
2. Mark Amirault Xaverian
3. David Polgar Newton North
4. Kevin Gill Brockton
5. Ryan Collins Mansfield

Others close to the front: Jose DePina (Brockton), Robert Gibson (Brookline), Andrew Mulvaney (South Hadley), Adrian Kun (St. John's), Blake Marcus (Amherst), Matias Carrasco (Brookline)

All-States... Back in the Day

I grew up in Western Mass. and ran track and cross-country for Amherst H.S. in the mid-1970's. For me and the other guys on my team, the most thrilling day of the year was the Mass. All-State XC meet. The first year that I went was 1973 when I was a sophomore. We drove down with our coach the night before the meet and stayed in a motel in Quincy. I think it was the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel or motel in my life, and it was very exciting.

In those days (long before the Internet), nobody in EMass knew much about the runners from Western Mass., and likewise, we had only a vague idea of the good runners and teams from Eastern Mass. We felt the Boston papers pretty much ignored anything that happened west of Worcester and we were always anxious to prove ourselves on a bigger stage. The course we ran was at Franklin Park, but not on the White Stadium side of the road, but on the other side, down by the ball field. The race started in a low spot and climbed for 300-400m at the start. We ran along the perimeter of the golf course for a long time, before circling back near the start, climbing some steep hills, crossing the road, and finishing in front of White Stadium. It was not a particularly good course for spectators, but it was fair and challenging for the runners. I never knew exactly how long it was, but I have heard people say that it was 2.85 miles. I can tell you, it felt a lot longer.

Another thing that was different then was that All-States was a single race for all schools, regardless of size. If someone won the All-State meet, that was the end of the debate. The split into Division I and Division II didn't happen until around 1990.

In 1973, we were a pretty young team and we didn't fare too well at All-States. Our top runner, a sophomore, was 26th or so. I was 86th. Still, it was a great experience. The next year, 1974, we were much better, and I think we finished 5th overall. The funny thing is, I don't ever remember thinking we could win the All-State meet. One reason was that we always lost the Western Mass. meet to Springfield Cathedral, which was a power in those days. Our top three runners were good, perhaps as good as anyone's, but we never did have the depth of the bigger schools.

The 1974 Mass. State meet was significant because it pitted two future legends of the sport against each other. That year, Wayland junior Alberto Salazar ran an unbelievable time of 14:09 at the Catholic Memorial meet. In the state meet, he ran against Chicopee's Dan Dillon. The two of them raced far ahead of the rest of the field, with Dillon winning a furious sprint at the finish, setting a new course record 14:02, to Salazar's 14:04. Dillon would go on to make the USA's World XC Championship team seven times in his career, while Salazar would set a US best in the 10K and a world best in the marathon. As for me, I finished far back in ninth and never quite made it to the Olympics.

The 1975 state meet was my last with Amherst HS. It was kind of an anti-climax for me -- my season had been affected by various physical issues, and I finished 25th, well off what I thought I could do. Once again, we finished in about 5th or 6th. We did beat Cathedral at the State Meet, though, so that was good.

Salazar won easily in 1975, and went on to have a stellar career at the University of Oregon. Dillon went on to run at Providence College. I attended Reed College, which didn't have any varsity sports. It would be many years before I ran competitively again.

Alumni News - NCAA Regional results

We've been trying to keep tabs on NNHS alumni throughout the 2005 Collegiate XC season. On Saturday, NCAA Div. I, II, and III regional qualifying meets were held all around the country. Here's how former Newton North athletes fared:

In the NCAA Div III Northeast Region Meet, sophomore All-American Liz Gleason placed 6th overall with a time of 21:50.9 for 6K to help Williams College place first and gain an automatic bid to the Div III National Championships. Wesleyan freshman Anna Schindler placed 88th overall, and 5th for her team with a time of 24:12.3. Full results

In the NCAA Div III Atlantic Region, Dan Chebot, a freshman at the University of Rochester placed 74th overall, and 6th for his team, with a time of 27:18, as the host Yellow Jackets placed 4th out of 32 teams. Full results

In the NCAA Div III Great Lakes Regional Meet, Joni Waldron placed 132nd and 4th for Earlham College with a time of 24:27 for 6K. En route, Joni set a 20-second PR for 5K! Full results

In the NCAA Div I South Central Regional held in Waco Texas, Chris Barnicle placed 13th overall and 6th for Arkansas with a time of 31:31 for 10K. the The #1 ranked Razorbacks won the meat easily and qualified for the NCAA Div I Championships November 21. Full results

How to run the 5K at Franklin Park...

Running the 5K at the EMass championships is a real test, not only of phsyical fitness, but of mental concentration as well.

The problem faced by all runners is how to manage the pace on a course that tends to run very fast for the first mile and very slow thereafter. It is easy to get caught up in the nervous energy of the start and run close to your mile PR for the first mile, and then fade badly in the later stages of the race. But because there are so many runners in the race, it is also easy to get stuck in a bad spot early, and spend the race trying to make up for lost time. What's a runner to do?

Physiologically speaking, one of the most important things ANY runner can do is warm up properly, which means thoroughly. Warm muscles work more efficiently than un-warmed up muscles for aerobic tasks. Failing to warm up properly and then sprinting off at the beginning of the race forces the body to tap anerobic energy sources way too early, and leads to dead legs long before the final mile. Of all the races in the year, this one is the one you must concentrate on your warmup, with a 15-20 minute VERY EASY jog, followed by stretches, flexibility drills, and eventually 4-5 strides. In cold weather, runners should still strive to have broken a sweat by the time they line up for the race.

Ok, so after warming up properly, and lining up, what's the best strategy for the start? At Franklin Park, the start takes all of 20-25 seconds, as you cross Playstead field and then take a hard right onto the path that curves around White Stadium. The goal for the start is to run hard for about 10 seconds, and then relax into a steady, almost comfortable pace. Running the first ten seconds hard can improve your place when the pack finally comes together by 30-40 places, but it costs very little in terms of energy demands (IF you have warmed up properly!). After that, continuing to run harder than your normal race pace simply wastes energy that will be needed later. Besides, at this point the main goal is not to be running super fast, but to avoid getting tripped or trampled. I always make a mental note that if I'm still on my feet after a half mile, I've had a good start no matter where I am in the pack. And if you do go down in the early stages of the race, get up quickly but don't try to get back to where you were all at once. Be patient, and settl in for a bit before you start moving up again.

Having survived the start, and having settled into a steady but unspectacular pace, your main goal in the first mile is to monitor yourself and make sure your breathing is even and your arms and shoulders are relaxed. The pace will be quick, and your goal is to let the pack tow you along without pressing. It's likely that there will be people passing from behind. Don't be too bothered by this. Likewise, if you are passing people, try to make sure that it is because they are slowing down, not because you are riding a flood tide of nervous energy that is fooling you into going too fast. The first mile goes by quickly.

The second mile begins with a second turn past the stadium and then up and over Bear Cage Hill. Even if you feel pretty good and are getting itchy to pass people, it is usually a bad idea to charge up the hill at a much higher level of effort. At this point in the race, the goal is to increase effort slightly going up bear Cage, so that when you reach the flat part at the top you are not in need of a recovery. Try to quickly regain your normal pace over the top of the hill, and stay relaxed as you fly down the other side. When you hit the bottom of the hill, with all the screaming spectators, it's time to really focus on what lies ahead. The absolutely best place to pass people is the stretch from the bottom of Bear Cage, behind the start, past the finish line, and up the narrow lane just before the wilderness. If you have been running the race well, this is where you start going by runners who went out too fast. Ideally, you will simply be running your normal pace, and others will be fading, but if you feel that you have plenty of energy, this is not a bad place to try to increase the pace slightly and see how you feel. The two mile mark is about 100m past the finish line, as you take the right hand turn up the back lane between the stone walls.

And into the wilderness. Here, all your focus shuld be on running the course well -- by which I mean, keeping your stride cadence the same, cutting the tangents wherever possible, picking efficient lines through the curves, relaxing as you approach the tight turns, and accelerating out of them. The Wilderness is technical. You need to think like an Indy 500 Race car driver, or a downhill skier. The final turn out of the Wilderness is very tricky. Swing to the left before you hit the turn, relax, and then as soon as you have made the turn, work hard to get your stride back. At this point, you have about 2 minutes of running left.

The finish at Franklin is amazing, with everyone hitting Playstead Field and going crazy. Don't sprint too early, but don't save yourself either. I never want anyone to pass me once I hit the field, and will pretty much kill myself to maintain my position around the two backstops into the final straight. Once you hit that final straight, remember that you have arms for a reason, and use them to try to get a few more seconds out of your body as you come down the straight and into the chute. Try to focus on someone in front of you and just concentrate on beating that person. Every second is at least one place, you you can't stop racing until you are through the finish line.

And then you can relax... No, not really! In fact, you will be herded like a steer into a narrow chute with a hundred other exhausted, muddy runners, surpised to find yourself still alive. Enjoy the feeling! Years from now, you'll look back on these moments and there will be no mud, blood, snot, or sweat, only the sweet and pure memory of the effort.

That's it, the Franklin Park 5K course!

EMass Class Meet Predictions

After a strange, foggy excursion to the wilds of Wrentham last Saturday, it's back to Franklin Park November 12th for the EMass Championships (also known as the "Class Meets, because the schools run in four different divisions, or classes, based on the number of students enrolled in that school). The EMass meet is for the top seven varsity runners only, and is the qualifying meet for the State Championship to be held Nov. 19th.

On the boys side, David Polgar and Doug Brecher are hoping for top ten finishes in what is always one of the most competitive races of the year. Polgar finished 3rd last year in the snow, and would dearly love to improve on that. He'll have a race on his hands trying to handle Brockton's Kevin Gill and Jose DePina, Xaverian's Mark Amirault, and Haverhill's Pat Fullerton. Brecher might not be quite ready to run with that crowd, but he's not far behind. Other North varsity runners include senior Noah Jampol, who wants to go sub-17:00 in what seems likely to be his final HS cross-country race, Seb Putzeys, Charlie Krasnow, and Peter Sun. It is not known whether Ben Chebot will be able to run, but if not, the seventh spot will likely be taken by Tim Abbott.

As for qualifying, the top five teams in Division I move on to the State Meet. Realistically, NNHS has only a remote chance to make it. In a typical year, teams need to have all of their top five runners under 17:30 to have a chance to be in the top five teams. The teams in Div. I with the best chance to move on include Brockton, Cambridge, Methuen, Brookline, Chelmsford, and Haverhill. North has an outside shot, as does Newton South.

Strangely, it will be the first race of the year at Franklin Park for the North boys.

Not so the Newton North girls, who competed in the Bay State Invitational last month. Unlike the boys, the girls are definitely making a run at a State qualifying berth. The team is led by defending Div I State champion Jess Barton (2nd in the EMass meet last year) and by Junior returnee Haleigh Smith, who has been running well all year. But the future hopes of the Tigers will rest on their talented group of freshmen, including Carolyn Ranti, Adina Hemley-Bronstein, and Nora Barnicle. While I don't know for certain the seven runners who will be competing, other likely members of the team are Jackie Faneuil and Szeman Lam.

Teams that have a good shot at qualifying for States include Newton South, Newton North, Haverhill, Weymouth, Chelmsford, and Lincoln-Sudbury.

One thing that is a big variable is the condition of the Franklin Park course. As of last Sunday, footing was firm, but uneven. Previous races in the rain have left the surface chewed up and uneven. I would venture the opinion that course seems to favor strength runners over speed runners right now. That should be good news for Polgar and Barton.

At the State Coaches Meet

A heavy fog blanketed Newton Saturday morning, as two buses carrying the boys and girls XC teams set out from Hull St. bound for Wrentham. Wrentham? Yes, overcrowding and a deteriorating relationship with community groups forced MSTCA officials to relocate the State Coaches meet from its traditional home at Franklin Park to the Wrentham Development center, not far from Foxboro Stadium.

While the course itself got mixed reviewes, the organization of the meet was excellent, and the weather cooperated to provide a great day of racing. Shortly before the first race of the day, the fog lifted completely, revealing wide expanses of field and farm. If anything, temperature were probably a bit warm, but in spite of that, a large number of Newton runners set 5K PRs on the mostly flat course.

The downside was that the course was pretty much a bust for spectators, who were able to watch the start and the finish but nothing else. It is not known whether the MSTCA will consider the site for future meets of this size. We are all hoping that Franklin Park remains available to HS teams for big meets.

On to the runners: let's start with the NNHS freshmen girls, who ran to both an individual and team title in the Div I freshmen race. Carolyn Ranti made it two for two in state-level races, following up her Bay State Invite win with the MSTCA crown. Despite some stomach problems, Carolyn's time of 12:47.9 for 3K was nearly five seconds faster than runner-up Alix Gregory of Marshfield. Behind the leaders, Newton's pack ran brilliantly, placing three more runners in the top twenty. Nora Barnicle (12th, 13:47) finished second for the Tigers in a breakout race, while Adina Henley-Bronstein (16th, 14:00), and Maalika Banerjee (19th, 14:06) were right behind. Capping the Tiger's scoring was Sophie Dover (38th, 14:30).

In the boys freshmen race, Daniel Hamilton was the Tiger's top finisher, placing 23rd in 11:48. Adam Hollenberg (13:52) ran his best race of the season to place 2nd for the Tiger frosh, while Jason Luttmer (14:35), Jon Lee (14:46), and Dan Ackerman (15:37) also ran well.

In the boys sophomore race, North had its greatest depth, and rode that depth to a 9th place team finish (out of 21 teams). Seb Putzeys garnered 10th place in a personal best time of 17:40 for 5K. Tim Abbott (53rd, 18:38) was 2nd finisher for the Tigers, just missing out on a medal (given to the top 50). An ailing Ben Chebot still managed to run 19:20 to help the team's cause, but his quad injury obviously slowed him from his usual 18-minute pace. Charlie Krasnow (83rd, 19:25) finished 4th for the Tigers, and Mike Dorfman recorded a PR 19:56 to break 20 minutes for the first time and finish fifth on the team. A number of other sophomore boys recorded PRs or seasonal bests, including Isaac Bleicher (21:05), Chao He (21:10), Tommy Moriarty (21:53), and Ben Reedy (22:26).

In the boys junior/senior race, Doug Brecher opened with a 4:53 mile and continued to lead through two miles before being caught by Mansfield's Ryan Collins. Unwilling to yield another place, Brecher held off a late charge by another Mansfield runner, Dan Cerqueira, and finished 2nd overall in a gutsy PR of 16:25. Behind Brecher, Noah Jampol finished 23rd (17:27) to earn a medal. Rounding out the top five were Jean Merlet (PR 19:16), David Goldenberg (PR 19:20), and Dan Swartz (PR 19:39). After the top five, the PRs kepts coming, with Stephen Bandini (20:17), Chen Chen (20:29), and Gabe Gladstone (20:37) running well in their final meet of the year.

Now it's on to the EMass championship meet, but only for the top seven runners (and alternates) for the boys and girls team. To the JV runners who are now done, congratulations on a great season marked by tremendous improvements and new personal bests. I'm already looking forward to next Fall.

Peaking (2)

"Peaking" is the process of training to be at your very best -- to reach your "peak" -- when it matters most, typically in the last few races of the competitive season. There are few things as satisfying as running a personal best in a championship situation.

There are two things you should know about peaking:

1. Peaking has both physical and a psychological aspects

2. Peaking sounds easy. But it isn't... trust me.

This is not to say that there isn't a reputable science of peaking, at least of peaking physically. In the 1970's, a physiologist named David Costill did a number of studies of collegiate swimmers. Costill's work showed beyond a doubt that when a period of intense training was followed by a period of recovery, athletes recorded their best times. In essence, that's all peaking is: training followed by recovery. The difficulty lies in knowing how much training and how much recovery is optimal.

In the 1950's, Arthur Lydiard developed a training regimen for a group of New Zealand runners who went on to achieve worldwide fame and Olympic Glory. Lydiard preached the benefits of large quantities of aerobic (low intensity) training, for a period of six months or more, followed by a relatively short period during which the athlete ran hill workouts, and then speedworkouts. The success of Lydiard's athletes was like a bombshell in the athletic world, and almost every distance runner now incorporates some form of Lydiard's methods in their training plans.

Perhaps the greatest example of Lydiard-style peaking was achieved by Lasse Viren, the great Finnish runner who won the 5000m and 10,000m in the 1972 Olympics, and then repeated the feat in the 1976 Olympics. Viren was highly unusual in that he never ran particularly impressive times in non-Olympic years, preferring to do nothing but build a base of high mileage. When the Olympics rolled around, he would reduce his mileage, begin doing structured speed workouts, and destroy his competition. The patience of the man is still astounding.

Before Lydiard, the conventional wisdom was that athletes needed to do speedwork throughout the year, and lots of it at all times. Even after Lydiard, not all coaches or athletes bought into the Lydiard system. This opposition was famously captured in the aphorism "Long, slow distance makes long, slow runners." There is some truth to this, and it's helpful to remember that Lydiard's athletes did their running in the very hilly terrain of New Zealand. Since all the runs were done on hills, they were not exactly easy runs. An athlete training with Lydiard would spend their Sundays running a 22-mile loop through the steep hills around Auckland at better than 6:30/mile pace. After six months of that, you bet his runners were fit!

They were also supremely confident, and this brings me to the second aspect of peaking, and the one that is most difficult to control. Peaking means being ready not only physically, but mentally as well. Ideally, the athlete's mental state reaches a peak of confidence and eagerness as the important races approach. But this is easier said than done! First of all, a lot of runners derive their sense of confidence from their last hard workout. For a runner like that, resting too much can wreck havoc on their belief in their abilities. It only takes a few days before the "edge" starts wearing off, and worries start setting in. Second, training well is a matter of routine and rhythm, and when one disrupts the rhythm (even to get some well-deserved rest), results are not always what one hopes.

The real key to peaking is to believe in both the training and the recovery, and this belief only comes about through absolute trust of a coach, or a trust in yourself developed over years of successful peaking.

Are there guidelines to follow? Sure. For one thing, don't expect to peak too often. If you think you can peak every couple of weeks, you're talking about something else, not peaking. A true peak is the result of a long buildup that allows the body to adapt to a significantly higher level of training. If you started training three weeks ago, don't worry about peaking any time soon... I generally try to arrange my training to peak twice a year: once in the Fall (October/early November) and once in the late Winter (March). In April, I start over again with a long buildup that lasts four-five months. It might seem like a long time to do nothing but train, but the broader the base, the higher the peak.

Another guideline is to be judicious in the use of anaerobic work. The thing is, some anaerobic repetition work is useful for a distance runner. However, it can be counter-productive to do too much of this type of work, since it is physically and mentally demanding and has diminishing returns compared with say, aerobic capacity work. What prevents you from running faster at 5K is your ability to use oxygen, not your ability to run without oxygen, as you would do in a 400-meter dash.

While SOME speedwork can be useful year round, in the early stages of a buildup, speedwork should take a backseat.

Peaking (1)

One of the most vexing question for any runner or coach is how to be at one's best for the biggest meets. Everyone has an opinion about how much work to do in the final weeks and days leading up to a big race, and often these opinions differ a great deal. Another question that is fiercely debated is how many races to run, and whether to limit the number of races within a competitive season.

Before I offer MY opinion on these issues, let's consider the NNHS season...

Official practice begins the week before Labor Day. This year, the first day of practice was August 29th. The first race, a tri-meet against Needham and Framingham, took place 15 days later on September 13. Including that first meet, the other seven dual meets, the league meet, and the State Coaches meet on Nov. 5th, there have been 10 scheduled meets in 54 days; one meet every 5.5 days. That doesn't count two fixtures in the calendar, the Brown Invitational (North's boys varsity ran there on Oct 8) and the Bay State Invitational (North's girls ran there on Oct. 1). That makes 11 meets in 54 days, more than one meet every 5 days.

So what's wrong with that? Aren't meets opportunities to get faster and get more experience racing? Why shouldn't we take the attitude that the more meets, the better? Well, some coaches DO take that attitude.

And some don't. The ones who don't counter-argue that too much racing a) cuts into the time available for building up endurance, as well as muscle and tendon strength for injury prevention, and b) leads to mental staleness and a lack of racing success at just the point when mental freshness is needed.

What makes this argument hard to decide is that different runners react differently to the stresses of training and racing. Also, runners sometimes skip races, or take them very easily. This is a luxury that the NNHS teams have enjoyed for years. The Tiger have many meets a year in which thet are so much better than their rivals that they can rest (i.e., train) their top runners, or just run relaxed and still win. For most of his Senior year, Chris Barnicle trained right through races without easing up on his other workouts, or running particularly hard in the meets. He wanted to save his best for the biggest meets. It's common practice among the better runners in the state. On the other hand, too little racing runs the risk of leaving runners less than sharp for the competitive pressures of racing. It's a really fine line, and the placement of that line is not the same for every runner.

I said I would offer my opinion: I think there are too many races squeezed into a short season, with inadequate pre-season for building up endurance and strength. It is maddening to me to have otherwise healthy teenagers waylaid with so many preventable injuries. But the occurrence of the injuries is predictable: they are the result of building up mileage and speedwork too quickly, without adequate time for the tendons and ligaments and muscles to get used to a higher training load.

I would argue that XC runners should, on average, race no more than once a week, skipping some weeks entirely. This is what almost all colleges do. Why do HS runners race far more often than college runners?

Among other things, racing less often allows a coach and a team to implement a true peaking strategy for the big races. In my next post I'll talk about what such a strategy might look like.

Racing... (It's not like training)

"Training was a rite of purification; from it came speed, strength. Racing was a rite of death; from it came knowledge." - John L. Parker, Once a Runner

I was thinking about the BSL meet over the weekend, wondering why some runners seem to rise to the occasion in big races, while others seems to run better in practice than they do when the pressure is on.

A few minutes before the boys varsity race, I mentioned to Noah Jampol that I didn't think a particular kid on Weymouth was going to run well, despite having beaten Noah in a dual meet and established himself as a favorite to crack the top twelve. Sadly, my prediction was borne out, as this kid finished 20th, well back of runners he had beaten handily during the season.

On the other hand, Noah ran extremely well, staying right with a pack of Brookline runners who had beaten him soundly only three days before.

As I pondered this, I made a list in my mind of things I have learned do NOT predict racing success in a big meet:

• Running impressive workouts the week before a race
  
• Running fast in races of negligible importance
  
• Running poorly in races of negligible importance
  

All the predictions made by all the most knowledgable observers can only approximate the dynamics that determine the result when very good runners race each other. On race day, at the appointed time, what matters most is whether an athlete is ready for the test. If they are truly ready in mind and body then the course (and its Brookline-esque hills) doesn't matter. Snow doesn't matter. The shouts of spectators don't even register. But if the athlete isn't ready, then all these things -- course, hills, weather, crowd -- become obstacles.

On the day of the league meet, there were surprises. Not all fast runners, ran fast or well. Not all undefeated teams remained undefeated. The races were not decided by taking a poll of what the coaches thought would happen. Thank goodness! Race day was more elemental than that: let's race and see who gets to the finish line first.

I think it's possible to learn how to develop "racing mind" that quality that allows you to do your best on the day it matters. Look at Doug Brecher, who has not always had his best races in his biggest races. He was ready on Saturday. It might not have been comfortable for his coches to see him cavorting with the Brookline kids, but he was clearly looking forward to the race, and that's a big part of being ready.

Ultimately, a runners needs to accept that the race will be a test, but not dwell on it. There's a fine line between wanting to perform well and fearing the consequences of performing poorly. When I prepare to race, I try to focus on the importance of gaining the self-knowledge that the race brings. If I do my best, I will learn something of great value, regardless of where I finish, or what my time is. I have learned valuable things from races in which I have run poor times. I don't disown those eforts.

As a coach, I know that I am responsible for designing a training plan that helps runners become fit enough to run races. But I'm also responsible for training my athletes to race, which is a different thing.