Getting back to business

It hasn't really been the kind of season I was hoping for so far this year. Going into a senior season, one hopes they won't be sidelined by injuries for the first month, only getting back to their freshman form with three races left.

I've been battling some Illiotibial Band (IT Band) issues since the beginning of the season, keeping me from participating in many team practices, and limiting my running to only a couple of days per week. As any athlete can tell you, being apart from your team can really get to you, missing out on big events because you physically can't do them. Luckily, I've been able to keep active through cycling, but it's still taken its toll.

Dinner.

Another thing an athlete can tell you is that when you pull them out of athletics, it will affect them in their daily life. For a student, this can mean classes, personal commitments, or just daily function. Trying to pull yourself out of a funk when you just aren't there is one of the biggest struggles you can have, and sometimes you just need to take a break.

This weekend, we hosted the VT Intercollegiate Cross Country championships, where after four weeks of disappointing races, I was able to finally break the elusive 28:30 mark again, having cracked it first at this race in 2013.

Now that I feel that I'm going somewhere with my training, it's time to figure out everything else.

One last shot - Senior Seasons Ahead

Well, here it is. Three years after I first moved into my double in Ryan Hall, I am slowly settling into the townhouse life on the other end of campus. It's been an interesting three years, ever learning how to be both a student and an athlete at the same time, and a large part of that learning happens when there is no school.

Summer break is the time when many students go off and work so that they can afford to come back to school, others do summer research, while some try to think nothing of the coming school year until it's time to start. As an athlete, I was thrown into all three camps: working at a camp to make enough money to get by for a few months of unemployment while I train and compete this fall and winter, research myself to find out how to not overwork myself both mentally and physically, all while trying to not think about the fact that these will be my last seasons as a college athlete.

A large portion of my time this year has been spent sitting on a bike. There's just something about it that makes me feel more free than my ski or running training. From central NH, it's hard to run or ski somewhere that leaves you with both a great workout and a feeling of having taken an adventure. On the bike, I have been able to test my limits and see how fast, far, and how long I can go for, taking me on some pretty cool adventures.

It is on these where I am able to really absorb what is going on in life. Decisions that need some time, I have found, are best made on the bike. Thinking about what is going to happen this year was a big one, like determining what my senior project is going to look like, how to best avoid my injuries (didn't work, already injured), and how to try and lead both the Men's Cross Country and Nordic teams this year. 

Whatever the case, the work has been put in, most of the decisions have been made, and all I can do is keep up and hope for the best over the next few months.

NE 10 Championship: One for the books

Well its been some time. Since my last post I raced rollerskis up Whiteface Mountain in NY, ran in four more cross country races, and nearly went crazy with the school work this semester. But I'm not going to talk about all of them. Too far gone.

James Buck/NE-10 photo

This weekend was what is possibly the last home cross country meet of my career, and man it was a good one. The Northeast 10 Championships looped their way through campus this past Sunday, with 300 runners from 15 teams from all over New England and New York converging on little Winooski Park for the second (or third) to last race of the season.

James Buck/NE-10 photo

It was a chilly but comfortable start, right around 50 and breezy. And it was a fast start, as we went through the mile in 5:03. The last time I went through the first mile in under 5:10, I struggled to hang on to a sub-30 finish.

Oh Boy.

Josh Kessler Photo

I managed to hang on to that 5:03 first mile and turn it into a 5:17 second, while flying by the hundreds of spectators that were lining the course. Never have I had a race with such an enthusiastic (albeit slightly confused) cheering section.

James Buck/NE-10 photo

In the end, my teammate Ross and I duked it out for a full 8k, with me in his step until the 7.5k mark. Thats where things got interesting.

Brian MacDonald photo

It had been since the Shacklette Invy since I had beaten Ross last, and with him in my sights the whole race, I wasn't going to let that opportunity slip by. I matched him as we were cresting the hill in Gilbrook, and we had the biggest kick for the last 400 meters.

James Buck/NE-10 photo

Ross and I PR'd with times of 27:02.6 and .7, where I finally came out on top again. It was an amazing race for 50th place overall, my best placing at Conference, and hope to improve even more going into regionals in a couple weeks.
Finished my 8k season with a battle, wouldn't have it any other way.