Monday: River Road Mile
Tuesday: Easy run/pumpkin chucking and As
Wednesday: 300s
Thursday: long run
Friday: easy run and strides
Saturday: D3s!!
Every year, on the Monday before the State Championships, we take on the River Road Mile. No watches are allowed, you just have to run, with the purpose of seeing your speed come to fruition without running in accordance to a time. The goal is to run fast, but not try to run your fastest mile ever(it’s a workout, not a race). I’d say we accomplished just that, as we ran fast times, but didn’t burn out our legs or turn it into an overly competitive event. That being said, many on the team ended up with a PR. We continued the workout with a tempo 800, before running up the notorious (evil and miserable) Mascenic hill back to the school.
On Tuesday, we finally got rid of the pumpkin that was sitting in Amelia’s car for 2 weeks. The girls team wasn’t the only ones disposing of a victory pumpkin, as Smith had gotten our boys team one as well, after they also won at Derryfield School. We drove the pumpkin down Mascenic hill, then ran(ish) and carried the pumpkin down the Pipeline to a dam. At the dam, we threw the pumpkins off, and watched them smash on the rocks. The first time the pumpkin was thrown, it wasn’t completely broken, so Derek rescued it from the river, and returned it to the top of the dam. From there, we threw it off again. After some rock skipping and more pumpkin remnant retrieval we headed off to actually run. Some people had to drive back to the school, one due to injury and the other a bee sting. Of course, the one person who’s deathly(ish) allergic to bees got stung. In order to try and avoid dying, she drove back to the school with our injured runner and immediately took Benadryl upon arrival. It’s important to note that she was fine(ish), which was good since we needed her to race that Saturday. After practice, the girls team prepared apple pie and cookies for the next day’s Team Dinner, which was interesting, to say the least (bee girl was dying). We had to go get ingredients we had forgotten, then baked for the next 4 hours, making a mess and creating some oddly textured cookies. We packaged the treats up for the next day, knowing our part was done for the team dinner.
Wednesday we were back on the grind. Joined by some of our super cool Valhalla partners we took to the track for our last workout before States. Although 300s are never fun, the company we had made them fly by (so did having fewer reps). Keeping the pace from times before, we dropped down to completing a max of 8 300s. Allowed to crush the last rep, we got to watch as our athletes displayed the fitness they developed throughout the season (which was cool). After dominating our workout, we led our Valhalla crew through our D-Flex routine before heading off on cooldown. An hour and a half later, we regrouped at the Smith House for our annual team dinner. When everyone was settled in we helped ourselves to the immense amount of pasta Smithers had cooked 20 minutes before. After stuffing our faces with penne and garlic bread, we moved over into the living room for senior speeches. Squishing onto surrounding couches and chairs we listened diligently as the seniors (myself and Emma included) recounted the best and worst times in Cross Country. Some speeches were from-the-hip, while others printed and laminated, but all were well done. Taking a break for dessert, pie made the night before and brownies from Logan’s mom, we rejoined in the living room for the two final speeches given by the coaches. Smith, though promising a quick soliloquy, proceeded to soliloquize for over 20 minutes. Post speeches people dispersed into their own conversations. Some received financial advice from my mother, others hung out in my driveway until 10 pm. I personally took to completing my 28th design for the ChicknLegs Design Contest, and continued to do such until everyone had left.
On Thursday, we made the long trek to Derryfield Park for the last viewing of the course before States. After a squished and hot van ride over (that smelled of cigarettes), we hopped out and ran the course, ensuring to do two loops of the area by McIntyre Ski Area, knowing that is where the fatigue would really start to set in on Saturday. After finishing the course run, we did a couple extra finishes, then were off to head home. Nothing too exciting, although we did stop at the grocery store on our way home, and the boys, as per usual, each got a pint of chocolate milk.
On Friday, we had a pretty quick practice, doing a 40 minute run broken up by strides. The nerves were rising a little bit, but we tried to talk it off and build our confidence. It was also important that we had our ducks in a row, ensuring everyone had their uniform and racecar shorts ready to go. Surprisingly, Smith was very chill on Friday (which, if you’ve known him for any length of time, is a very rare occasion before any meet, especially States). Saturday was the big day, the State Championships. Despite almost having to leave behind one of our boys due to their lack of time management skills, the bus rolled at 9 and we arrived at Derryfield Park around 10, ready to warm up and race for 11:30. It’s safe to say we were nervous about a variety of things (mostly the race itself, although one runner brought 10 pairs of black shorts in case the racecar shorts weren’t “uniform”), but ready to conquer the day. We had an amazing fan base show up as well, with even a Mascoma mom making us hair ribbons, which was very kind. Outfitted in our uniforms, racecar shorts, checkered flag socks, and hair ribbons, we got to the starting line ready. The race was fun (lies), but difficult, which was expected, as just the heat itself affected our performances. Nonetheless, we pushed through, getting 5 runners in the top 26. We still weren’t sure of the results for at least 10 minutes post race, and most of us were doubtful of our performances (I 100% thought we lost). After the wait, however, Tim came over and told Smith that we had done it. Smith told us, and we were ecstatic, with most of us crying (absolutely sobbing) tears of joy.
We had worked so hard this season, and the past 4 years, and it was so rewarding to win. For the first time since 2006, the Mascenic Girls XC Team was the Division 3 State Champions!! In addition, it is Smith’s last year coaching, and Becka was on the 2006 winning team and helped coach us to our win, making the win that much better. The boys also did well, putting on 5 decent races. Though they were hoping for a higher place, they managed 10th, which was good for a young team. On the bus ride home, we celebrated with sparkling grape juice and a firetruck-led parade around town, which was super nice. Now we are onto MOCs!
-Amelia and Emma
