Siena Invitational: Early season thoughts

Start with this. It’s early. It’s still September 8. It’s still, technically, SUMMER. Although today, it sure felt like the first hints of fall (no one, by the way, is complaining about that, after the roiling heat of the past few weeks!). So. Yeah. It’s early. Keep that in mind when analyzing both the women’s and men’s performances. In trying to be a glass-half-full guy, here’s my take on this: The women ran great, amazing, dominant, “sent a message,” as Coach Chuck implored the team … all on tired legs from hard training from the summer, preseason and the early season. These ladies are working hard and cranking mileage, hard workouts, hard distance, lifting, core, all of it. So, to be as dominant as this (top-5 in the top-10), while still in this stage of the season’s work … well, that’s a pretty good sign. A really, really, really good sign. Similarly, the men are cranking high volume and hard work, as always. They were instructed to take the first 2km of this course at a “chill” pace, which gapped them from the rest of the front of the field. They came on strong but not strong enough. The final team standing is not where we want to be, and now these men are armed with the knowledge of what to do to be better on this course and others as the season progresses. Two different outcomes at the same stage of the season, two different positive reflections. And why not? It’s September 8. We should remain optimistic and eager and ready to continue to work hard. But alas? After the meet, we took the time to “play hard” at a post-race BBQ at Jordan Casey’s house, hosted by her parents at their beautiful Ballston Lake residence. It was late-summer chilly but that didn’t stop men and women from jumping into the lake, or getting thrown into the lake, jet-skiing, and doing other such fun late-summer activities. So yeah. It’s early. The Casey-fest reminded us all that it’s still summer, for heaven sake! But the cool overcast day reminded us all that fall is rapidly on the way. All this work will have to go to good use as the days get shorter and the meets get more important.