• April 6:  Jen St. Jean opened her season with a bang!  She ran with the seeded top ladies in the Sam Howell Invitational meet in Princeton, NJ on April 6.   From Jen:

Last night was my fastest season opener & earliest 1500 by a month. (see below season opener times over the last 4 years).  I thought I’d be in the unseeded section but squeezed into the cutoff of the seeded. I came in last but finished right with everyone. I haven’t gone this fast in practice, I’m just coming off base, my speed work has all been long, and I kicked cancer to the curb on Monday. This week was tough but I found my way to the start, the weather was beautiful & I ran brave. See, I can be happy when I’ve done all I could do. Several people asked about the stitches & inch long gash but I said, that was Monday. Today was a great day to do what I love. Oh and I was oldest runner by 15 years.

May 2015 4:48

May 2016 4:51

June 2017 4:44.9

June 2018 4:50

April 2019 4:44.1

They were much later in the season & not as fast. I haven’t gone this fast in practice & really thought I’d bombed it.

My stitches gathered more attention than my race. I have surgery again on Monday.

4:44.11

AG:  90.47%

Jen is already #1 on the CPTC best list ?

  • April 13:  Amy Kvilhaug opened her 2019 Season on April 13 at the Rider Invitational with an excellent 5:15.7 in the 1500m (81.52% age grade)!  This puts her #8 on the 40+ CPTC Outdoor best list.  Amy raced this one really well….going out calm and in control and then turning up the gears the last 300m.

I actually love meets at the beginning of season. It’s an opportunity to go in with absolutely no expectations or pressure. It’s a great reminder that if we could learn to approach every meet like this, we may give ourselves a nice mental edge as stress kills. I drove down to Rider with no time expectation. I just wanted a well executed race and to compete hard (especially late). When the gun went off, I settled behind three woman to gauge what the strategy would be. As the race developed, they pulled away a little early but I didn’t want to go out of my comfort zone and react too soon so I stayed put. I wanted to have something left for the final 300m where I had a plan to go as all out as I could. The women were starting to come back to me as the race progressed and at that point I knew I had a shot at beating them. With 300m left I picked them off one at a time, the last woman coming with about 100m left to go. It felt good to win the heat. This was my first time racing this distance and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

 

  • April 20:  Jen St. Jean raced the 800m at the prestigious Larry Ellis Invitational on April 20 in a blazing 2:20.51 (85.89 age grade) with very even and impressive splits (69.81-70.7)!

I’m glad I pushed through today. It is so easy to get in our own way. Last year, I said it was too early for me to go fast. So I did a 3 miler instead. This year, I’m embracing all the distances even though it might not make sense. 2 weeks ago I climbed a couple notches in fitness & then last week went on a family vacation and took 1 step back. I think this was good for so many reasons. My race wasn’t perfect but I felt unbelievably strong. I was cut off 2x but managed to propel myself forward after coming to a “stop”. I need to be more assertive & hold my ground. There were 11 in my race. I finished 30/38 in the unseeded section. After my race, I took 3 Umass runners on a tempo run with me. It was a great way to share thoughts & sweat some miles with them. This was my favorite part of the day. Thank you Maria for the snap & to tell me to get my head back in the game. Flagship for life.

 

          April 26:  Lisa Daley took to the beautiful historic track at the famous Penn Relays on April 26.  She earned a bronze medal in a very competitive field with a very fast time (especially this early in the season) of 13.31!

  • April 27:  Ivy Bell was asked to join a corporate 60+ 4×400 team and also represented well at Penn!  Their relay took home the gold in their age division and capped it off with a meet record!

My relay was a non-club team at Penn and it was a meet record.  The BBB(Better Business Bureau) did not sponsor us but provided shirts for a little visibility.  I was asked to jump in the Tuesday before the meet shortly after returning from my business trip to Italy.  I was completely untrained for it, but there is no 4 x 400 without a 4th and I thought it would be a great experience.  The weather was crystal clear and warm.  I got the baton around the track without incident, and had a blast.  My time was slow, but it was good to jump in for the experience.  We did medal…Gold, but we were the only 60+ W team and I believe the 2nd one in the history of the master’s relays At Penn.  After some research, I was able to determine the 1st was a CPTC Team, from 2011.  The team this year made up of one runner from Athena, 2 from Mass Velocity and me the oldest and slowest ran 5:21.37 .  My individual time was 1:27 not close to what I can run during the season, but was definitely worth the experience.

10          CPTC New Balance C              6:17.80 Marie-Louise Michelsohn, Deborah Barchat, Judith Tripp, Mary Rosado

  • May 4 Tom Farrell Invite:  Amy Kvilhaug took to her ol’ stomping grounds of coaching excellence at St. John’s Tom Ferrell Invitational.   She is on a PR ROLL!  Amy’s 800m PR of 2:28.11 (81.48% AG) puts her #6 on the 40+ CPTC overall best list and #5 on the outdoor list.  She also tacked on the 200m soon after the 800m and busted out a 30.49 (77.87% AG)!  Whoop whoop!
    • 800m – 2:28.11 – Nothing like a broken clock to really make it all about the race and running on feel. This race was a blur for me but when it was done, I left with a shiny PR. Gun went off and I scrambled for position. Got it and was able to run pretty freely. Heard 71 going through the 400m which means about 77 coming home. I raced hard but there is still part of me that thinks I could’ve been tougher the second lap. I finished strong down the final stretch, I thought. Got passed by a bunch of kids but I was pushing.
    • 200m – 30.49 – I was so late getting down to the starting line of this after recouping from my 800 that I thought (and secretly hoped) I wouldn’t be allowed to run. But I was and did run and what a good time! There is one strategy in the 200 and it’s to run your butt off from start to finish. Not much time to think. PR by default as it was my first ever 200!
  • May 9:  Louck’s Masters Mile:  Sue Pearsall.  Sue takes home the big trophy for the top overall finisher!
  • May 11 NB Boston Twilight:  Amy Kvilhaug (800m).  More PR’s for Amy!!  Her hard work and focus are paying off on the oval.
      • I had more nerves than I would’ve liked for this meet. I had glanced at some of the women (and young girls) running the 800m and times were so impressive. I was able to calm myself down with a plan that entailed enjoying the gorgeous weather and doing the best that I could. Once I found out I was in heat 2 (not the slowest heat) I strategized by saying I would hang onto the last place person for as long as I could. I came in seeded at 2:28 and all ahead of me were 2:16-2:21. I knew they were true seeds because in the registration we had to send proof of our times (which I liked). I was in the outer lane which I actually enjoy. Less of a turn and for a while you feel you are in the lead (haha). When we all water-falled and settled in after 100m, I was surprised to be right in the mix. My portion of the pack went through the 400 in 69′ or so, which I knew meant the next 400m was likely going to be a grind (with that kind of aggressive pace) but I was up for the challenge and ready to hurt. I did the best I could to hold on despite being pretty uncomfortable. As hard as it was and as much as I was dying coming down the final stretch, I never stopped pushing. I held my own at a competitive meet, PR’ed in 2:27.43, and walked away knowing that once I pace this distance a smidge better, I have the potential to better my time and ability to compete late. It was a well run meet and Bentley was a very nice campus too.
    • May 11 Dashing Whippets at East River Track:  Ivy Bell
      • 800m:  3:21.6
      • 400m:  1:29.6
    • May 13 Swarthmore College Invitational:  Judy Stobbe (1500)
      • They call these rust-busters for a reason. The cold 40 degree wet weather certainly didn’t help…along with the long drive which led me to a long warm up only to get cold before the race which started just before 8pm (usual bedtime for me!!  Haha).  Still I felt pretty flat and deflated in this race.  Not engaged, and I’m not really sure why.  I have been slowly building up stamina with longer runs and tempo’s which could leave me a little tired.  Also, I need to look at timing of lifting weights, as it’s always so hard with a work and travel schedule.  So, I ended up at 5:27 (87.95% age grade, so there’s that ?).
    • May 18 New Balance Twilight #2 Meet:  Jen St. Jean (800, rabbit 600 for 1500):
      • Jen lowered her 800m of the season in 2:19.91 (86.25% AG)!  And, we know even tenths of a second is a HUGE gain in this race.  Congratulations Jen!
      • Last night was great prep for my next race but the travel details were not ideal. Best laid plans I guess. The drive took a bit longer and after the porta potty & checking in, I had 40 minutes to prep for my first race. Usually my warm up is longer. The 800 was good but only a small improvement from my last effort. After my race, I confirmed my intent to rabbit the 1500. And as I was preparing, felt better than my warm up for my own race. The 1500 was a double rabbit so I was told if I couldn’t make the full 800 that the second rabbit would take over through the 1k. The night was beautiful & it felt good to go fast. It is still early and I know I need to be patient. Solid race workout & now we continue prep for the mile. Results: 800 2:19, 600 1:49. 
        • June 1 New Balance Twilight Meet #3 at Bentley College:  Amy Kvilhaug (1500m).  We need to just stop counting PR’s, because I don’t think I can count that high…but here’s another one for Amy!!

        New Balance Battle Road TC does a phenomenal job of organizing these meets. Bentley is a great location too. For how crumby I felt going in, not a bad result. I STILL feel like I could get a smidge tougher. I did accelerate last 300, or at least I felt like I did. Would love to be closer to 5…perhaps break it. Today was 5:09.99 (83% age grade) and a 6 second PR.  I’m still getting my feet wet with this distance as I’ve only done it twice.

        -Judith Stobbe