Milesplit Arizona Cross Country Journals
Billy Orman returns this season as the top runner in Arizona with a National ranking of 9. Billy had a great cross country season last year, making it all the way to Foot Locker Nationals and finishing 2nd at the Nike SW Regionals. Billy also posted some great times in track finishing the season with a 4:19.50 1600 at the Chandler Rotary and a 9:04.97 3200 at the Meet of Champions. He is set for a great season. Keep checking back as Billy journals about his final prep cross country season.
Billy Orman
(Sr., Tuba City)
Journal Entry #3 (November 11, 2010)
Hello again Milesplit readers. It has been a while since my last journal and I apologize for that. I’ve been really busy, mostly with homework. I haven’t done any more college visits since my last journal, though I am considering a few more in the next couple of months.
Before state, I had a few small meets, which I tried to run conservatively to avoid injury and avoid peaking too early. It was kind of sad running some of them since I knew I would never run those courses again.
(Photo left: Orman at the finish of the State Meet race)
Leading up to state I tried to maintain a weekly average of about 60 miles per week. My pace is very slow but you have to consider that Tuba City is at 5,000 feet and it is very hilly and sandy. But another reason for the slow pace is that my coaches have always emphasized the importance of avoiding injuries. But what works for me might not work for you so you should follow what your coach tells you to do. A typical week of training would be something like this for me:
On Sunday I would do a long run, usually 13 miles at around 9:00 pace.
On Monday we usually do some sort of workout. An example might be 5x800 at 2:30 pace with 7 minutes rest.
Tuesday we would run 5 to 6 miles at 8:00 pace. We would usually finish up with 6 strides on the football field.
An example of a mid-season Wednesday practice for us would be a 4-mile tempo run at 5:20 pace for me, slower for my team mates.
On Thursday we would run 5 to 6 miles at 8:00 pace.
Friday would be an easy day before a Saturday meet, usually 4 to 5 miles.
A typical Saturday would be a race. Usually we would do a mile warm up and stretch a little, then race. After the race, we were supposed to cool down for a mile or two but we usually didn’t. We generally ended up playing hacky sack.
I usually run 3 miles in the morning at 9:00 pace on most weekdays to keep my mileage up. Once or twice a week I also try to do some core work in the mornings. This year I have been using a DVD workout by Greg Macmillan; I highly recommend it. I also do some squat repeats once or twice a week, without weights. I do not do any weight training or cross training.
The state meet was a big meet for our team. We knew the competition was going to be a lot tougher this year with the addition of the 4A teams to our division. We had won the 3A title the previous 3 years so I think many people from our area had expectations that we would repeat this year.
(Photo left: Orman, Alejandro Montano (in blue) and Alejandro Valencia (back left) a mile and a quarter into the race at the state meet.)
It didn’t quite work out that way as our team placed 7th. But I still think our team did a great job. Other than Dennis Klain and me, seniors, the team is predominately freshmen and sophomores who had never run in a state meet. I think they all will do great in the next few years. Congratulations to Chinle on their impressive win. They looked great all season and they really deserved the victory.
Individually, I was very happy with my race. I had been looking forward to racing some of the guys from the south since we hardly ever get to race them. I was also hoping to run a fast time since the temperature was not predicted to be as hot as last year. Anyway, the race started and I decided to just stay behind Alejandro Montano since I knew he was probably going to be my main competition. Alejandro and I yo-yoed back and forth until about the 2-mile mark, then I managed to pull away. From there to the finish I just tried to maintain my pace. I had been a little nervous going into the race because I hadn’t really tapered, trying to avoid peaking before the big national meets. But I guess it just all came together because I ended up running the second fastest time I’ve ever run and getting a course record.
Thanks to Alejandro for helping push the pace throughout the race. He is a great competitor.
Also, congratulations to my friend Alejandro Valencia for placing 3rd and running a great time.
Many of you may be wondering why I wasn’t at the awards ceremony. First of all, I apologize and I feel very bad for not being there. I was actually waiting at the awards area for quite a while but nothing was happening so I decided to see the end of the division 2 boys race since I knew it would be a really good one. I didn’t hear any announcement about awards. Right after the division 2 race I headed back over to the awards area and they had just finished. I felt like a jerk. I never liked people who snub their competitors and don’t shake hands with everyone. Anyway, sorry everyone and congratulations to you all for running some great times.
Next on my schedule is Nike Southwest in Phoenix on November 20. I hope to see all of you there.
Arizona runners unite! Let’s win the border wars at NXN SW!
-Billy
