Chasing the DIII Dream

Also, that 10 should be a 19.

Good grief, why isn't there an edit post option?

OP I think you have talent to be good. Your high school PRs were faster than mine and I walked onto a d2 program. Hopefully you’ll be able to run around 28mins for 8k in XC early on in the season. I usually had trouble breaking 17:30 or 18 in 5k road race in middle of summer training just because I got through high mileage and it was super hot. I wouldn’t worry too much about summer races. If you’re putting in the miles and you show up in late August ready to train you should be good.

OP, as a former odac runner myself, I wish you the best of luck on making the team and improving as a runner. Coach Spaulding is probably the best in the odac when it comes to developing talent. He's turned several decent high school athletes like Mac strehler, Ian McDonald, and McKenzie Leroy into absolute studs by the end. You'll be in good hands.

7/7/19-7/13/19

Sunday

45:00 Exercise Bike (15.9 mph)

Monday

Run #1

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 30:36 (7:39/mi)

Run #2

7.5 Easy (Hilly) in 57:57 (7:42/mi) + 8 x 110y @ mile effort (18.25 avg.)

Tuesday

Run #1

4.1 Easy in 32:46 (7:49/mi)

Run #2

2 Warm-up

4 Moderate (Hilly) in 26:12 (6:32/mi)

0.9 Cool-down

Wednesday

Run #1

4 Easy in 31:41 (7:55/mi)

Run #2

5.5 Easy in 45:24 (8:12/mi)

Description:

Narrowly dodged being skunked 4 miles in.

200m @ 800m effort, 6 x 100m @ mile effort

Description:

I’m bad at math. Stopped at 4 x 100m before realizing I needed 2 more to get to half a mile’s worth of strides.

Thursday

Run #1

3.5 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:35 (7:54/mi)

Description:

Going to race a mile tonight. I’ll be happy if I can just break 5 off of base work.

Run #2

3 Warm-up

Mile Race in 5:06

3 Cool-down

Description:

Quite slow compared to my PR for this distance, but I’m not altogether that surprised when I consider the minimum of speed work I’ve been doing in this base phase and the fact that I’m in the middle of a 70 mile week. The fact that I wasn’t too strained aerobically during this is comforting. Happy that my legs’ comfort at higher speed was the limiting factor.

Friday

Run #1

3 Slow in 28:03 (9:20/mi)

Description:

Deliberately kept my heart rate in zone two. Planning on going for nine at a faster pace this evening.

Run #2

9 Easy (Hilly) in 1:11:13 (7:58/mi)

Description:

I’ve said it once. Well, more than once. And, I’ll say it many more times: my legs are feeling this mileage. 60’s and 70’s might as well be a different planet when compared to 30’s and 40’s, which is where I was not more than a few months ago.

Saturday

10 Long/Easy in 1:15:00 (7:30/mi)

Description:

Watch would not catch a GPS signal, so I bummed distance off a fellow runner.

Total of 66 mi

I know, I know: I didn't hit 70, even though I promised. I was close, though.

Maybe start to add in some 6:00 pace 20 min tempos instead of some of your moderate pace (6:30) work? Try to hit at least 90min for the LR as well.

Have you seen/felt progress in what your doing? How fatigued have you been?

- RS

Was going to ask, where’s the long run?

10 miles is still a long run for me. I count anything 10 and over as long. I had planned on 14 this past Saturday but because my GPS wasn’t working and I wasn’t familiar with the area I was running in, I stuck with another guy who was only doing 10. As you can see, the two weeks before I did long runs of 12.3 and 14.8 miles respectively.

RunnerSam wrote:

Maybe start to add in some 6:00 pace 20 min tempos instead of some of your moderate pace (6:30) work? Try to hit at least 90min for the LR as well.

Have you seen/felt progress in what your doing? How fatigued have you been?

- RS

In all honesty, those moderate miles last week would have translated to 6:00 pace on a flat track. The two mile loop I did that on is absolutely brutal as far as positive elevation change goes. Don’t worry, though; I’m planning on doing a track tempo at 6:00 pace this week, though I probably go for 25-30 minutes instead of 20.

I feel tired, but I don’t think I’m in danger of injury. Yet.

Good luck OP! I'm a former ODAC distance runner that competed against Coach Spalding back in the day. You have good times for only three years of running. With the passion you have it's very possible that you could develop into one of those absolute studs with a few more years of injury free training. No matter what happens with the W&L team I hope you choose to stick with the sport for many years to come.

I am also a d3 runner, (rising senior).

those times to get in are ridiculous. OP you have basically no shot at running a 16:30 5k this summer, and I say that not as an attack against you, but the coach. I'm looking to close in on 25:00 in the 8k this year, (which is a time any d3 college coach would love to have) and I would probably run around 16:30 in a summer race right now . hitting fast 5ks in mid summer just won't happen, with the way that training cycles works any race done in mid july is going to be much, much slower than sometime in peak october. I could see you running 16:30 for 5k in october, if your training goes really well all the way until then.

if I was coach at washington & lee I would definitely let you run on the team, an incoming freshman with your motivation isn't common enough to just dismiss to some arbitrary 4:3x standards this coach is implementing. I dont know anything about washington and lee in particular, but I have to imagine if you show up fit and ready to work and be forceful you will get on the team. it doesn't make sense to turn down a runner like you, especially since I see from last year W&L only had 5 runners sub 16 in the 5k, a 16:30 5k would put you on the top 6....

finally the note about incoming freshman struck me as bullshit, or this year is some insane year of recruiting for them. I know from my experiences that D3 coaches often extremely exaggerate about the level of their incoming recruits, probably because the level of commitment isn't there from the students.

good luck. I really hope you make the team. being on a team has drastically impacted my college experience and I hope you get the same, reading these posts I know you deserve it.

wondering aloud...

is there an all-state XC meet in Virginia this fall? or at least an all d3 meet where you could run as unattached? at least this would give you a 1 for 1 comparison how you stack up against their current roster.

7/7/19-7/13/19

Sunday

Rest

Monday

Run #1

2 Warm-up

2 x (5 x 400m) @ mile effort (1:16 avg.) w/ 200m jog between reps (1:10-1:30), 3:00 rest between sets

1.4 Cool-down

Description:

Legs don’t want to turn over. I feel, though, that it is because of the general fatigue that comes with adjusting to a higher workload. It’s only a matter of time (perhaps only a few months) before this becomes 2 mile pace, and I can string together 71’s for a mile. Heart rate stayed very low: a good sign.

Run #2

6 Easy in 47:24 (7:54/mi)

Tuesday

Run #1

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:05 (7:46/mi)

Run #2

7 Easy in 54:34 (7:47/mi) + 16 x 110y Strides @ goal mile pace (17.88 avg.)

Wednesday

10 Easy (Hilly) in 1:19:36 (7:56/mi)

Description:

Henceforth, for the purposes of my training log, 10 miles will no longer constitute a long run. The second half of this was ruined when I was hit by a serious Code Brown 5 miles in. Luckily, I held it together, but I was very close to making a detour to Fountain City Library to take advantage of their public restrooms.

Thursday

Run #1

2 Warm-up

6K Steady Tempo in 22:48 (6:06/mi) + 6 x 110y Strides @ 800m effort (16.67 avg.)

0.8 Cool-down

Description:

My former teammates tried to keep me under 6:00 pace as they did their mile repeats, but in the end, humidity overcame us all.

Run #2

3 Easy (Treadmill) in 23:17 (7:46/mi)

Friday

Run #1

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:04 (7:46/mi)

Run #2

7 Easy (Hilly) + 1 Moderate (6:28, Also Hilly) in 1:01:32 (7:41/mi)

Description:

This was my first run in the new balance fresh foam beacons. I never thought I would say this, but I think I have found a shoe that I love more than the Clifton 1's They are extremely light and feel fast and bouncy across a myriad of paces. I might even race an 8K in them.

Saturday

12 Long/Easy (Hilly) + 1 Threshold (6:01)

Description:

That’s a wrap. 70 miles this week off of 6 days of running. Really happy to be able to knock out a 6:01 mile with such ease at the end of not only a long run but also a long week. I honestly think I could race a 1:18 half in fair weather; maybe I’ll give that a shot when the humidity clears up. I think I’m finally hitting my stride.

Total of 70 mi

Does Rhodes really only require a 4:50 1600? I'm a rising junior in HS in Memphis, and I'm at 4:59 right now. If that's really true that might be a good option... Anyway, rooting for you! Keep putting in the work and it'll pay off.

Well, technically the standard to hit in their start of XC time trial is 10:20 for 2 miles. 4:50 is a rough equivalent for someone who has undergone suitable aerobic development.

Forgot to change the dates again for last weeks entry; should have been 7/14/19-7/20/19. Also, I'll be starting the week with Monday from here on out, so it matches Strava. Don't worry; Sunday was a rest day last week, so I'm not leaving anything out.

7/22/19-7/28/19

Monday

Run #1

2 W/U, 12x200m @ goal mile pace (35.17 avg.) w/ 100m jog between reps (35-45 sec.), 1.8 C/D

Run #2

6 Easy in 46:37 (7:44/mi)

Description:

Braved the rains and floods so that I might enjoy the first cool (albeit wet) weather Knoxville has seen in weeks.

Tuesday

7 Easy (Hilly) + 1 Faster (5:25, 147 bpm avg.)

Description:

Finished this run on the track and decided to pick it up the last mile. Ran fast but controlled, slowly accelerating into what felt just a little bit harder than threshold pace. I kept my eyes ahead, feeling out the pace and ignoring the data on my watch. To my surprise, I finished 4 laps in 5:25. I’m now stoked! All it took was some 60 degree weather to show me just how fit I’ve become. Maybe if I’d had these balmy conditions at Fireball, I would have gone under 17. I certainly think I can do it now.

Wednesday

Run #1

4 Easy + 2 Moderate (6:30, 6:20) + 1 Threshold (5:52) + 8x100m Strides

Description:

Nice little progression followed by 4 laps of strided straights and jogged curves.

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:34 (7:53/mi)

Description:

Giving my legs a break from the ‘crete and ‘phalt.

Thursday

8 Easy (Hilly) in 1:05:50 (8:13/mi)

Description:

A true recovery day; kept the pace above 8:00/mile. Heart rate data randomly decided to match cadence halfway through the first mile, inflating the overall average.

Friday

Run #1

2 W/U, 5K Steady Tempo (18:25), 0.9 C/D

Description:

Sweet negative splits; added bonus of helping my training partner set a PR for the distance.

Run #2

6 Easy in 47:54 (7:58/mi)

Description:

Revisited the course that made me queasy as an out-of-shape 20:00 XC 5ker my sophomore and junior years. It’s not so bad now. Ran the loop 3 times before doing another 3 laps of the soccer fields. Conditions were warm and buggy.

Saturday

11.5 Long/Easy w/ Pick-up Finish in 1:29:59 (7:49/mi)

Sunday

6.5 Easy in 51:02 (7:50/mi)

Description:

Rounding out the week’s mileage with some easy miles. Going on a day trip to King’s Island tomorrow, so I won’t have time to run.

Total of 70 mi

Another solid week of training. Stay tuned. I'll be racing an 8K on August 3rd and am shooting for 28 low.

Really enjoying your posts. I am a D3 runner at a midwestern school and was in a very similar situation as you last year. The coach let me on the team, and with some great coaching I actually dropped almost 25 seconds from my mile time over the course of the year. You definitely have the commitment and attitude most coaches would love to have. In the end, a team shouldn’t just be made up of the times its members can run. If for some reason the coach doesn’t let you on this year, I would encourage you to keep training and try again next fall; staying committed to your goal despite being turned away at first could be something really surprising and convincing for a coach. Anyways, we’re rooting for you—keep it up :)

Thank you. That really means a lot. It’s been tough putting in the work in this brutal southeastern summer, but I’m finally beginning to reap the benefits. I will for sure keep training even if I don’t make it this fall. (After all, I didn’t run freshman year of high school either.) My fall-back goal race is the Huntington Half Marathon in November. It’s pretty low-key and usually won in the 1:13-1:15 range, so I have a shot at placing pretty highly in it.

7/29/19-8/4/19

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

8 Easy (Hilly) in 1:03:53 (7:59/mi) w/ 8 Strides @ 8K effort thown in

Wednesday

3 W/U, 8x800m @ 8K goal pace (2:46 avg.) w/ 2:00 rest, 1 C/D

Thursday

8 Easy in 1:02:09 (7:46/mi) w/ 8 Strides @ 8K effort thown in

Friday

3 Easy +1 Threshold (5:57) in 28:46 (7:11/mi)

Saturday

Run #1

3 Easy in 24:00 (8:00/mi)

Run #2

2 W/U, 8K Race in 27:31 (5:32/mi), 1 C/D

Sunday

5 Easy in 36:54 (7:23/mi)

Total of 44 mi

This was a down week because I raced on Saturday. Now, it's back to the high mileage grind...

Nice 8K!

I was a D3 guy a long time ago, my daughter is one now- and I can’t imagine you aren’t going to be on the team also. Your commitment is just what a runner needs, keep it up, be patient, stay healthy, and there’s no telling how much you might improve.