16:50. James breathes a sigh of relief after finishing 2nd in the Footlocker XC Northeast Senior class 5000 meter race at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. This race culminated a terrific senior year of cross country for James. However, it was the progressive build up of higher mileage weeks in the summer, as well as a consistent work-ethic, instilled upon us by coaches Steve McChesney and Matt Capstick, that led to James' success and incredible improvement.
For James, competitive running began at Brown Middle School under the supervision of running enthusiast and social studies teacher Mr. Shepard. The Brown Bears competed against the three other middle schools in Newton, as well some out-of-city schools including; Concord, Wellesley, and Needham middle schools. Most of the practice time was spent either running the 3 kilometer race course around the middle school fields, playing Capture the flag, eating Mr. Shepard's lollipops, and hanging out by the high school Track. Mr. Shepard's program was mostly about making sure that the kids were having fun with running, and to train us for our 3K races against the other middle schools. Mr. Shepard was notorious for his sideline screams of support during races. The team had practices three or four days out of the week and, for the most part, the team didn't do any exercise on the weekends. Mr. Shepard did a great job at getting the kids to decide to continue running in high school.
There were six of us who showed up as freshman for Newton South High School Cross Country (NSXC) in the fall of 2003: James Vance, Andy Greenspon, David Plotkin, Dan jih, Ben Paret, and I.
Picture: 14 Year Old James hanging out with me and Caitlin before our race at Goddard Park, RI.
During that year we learned everything about the sport of running from Steve, and we began our consistent training regimens. James saw improvement in his 3K time, finishing 24th out of 43 at the Dual County League Freshman Race. Three places behind David.
21 Plotkin, Dave 07 Newton South HS 6:53.5 12:50.77 17
22 Burke, Sam 07 Acton Boxboro Re 6:56.4 12:56.14 18
23 Reichlen, Kris 07 Wayland HS 6:57.0 12:57.18 19
24 Vance, James 07 Newton South HS 6:59.0 13:00.98 20
Picture: Freshman James running
James ran 12:51 for the 3K a week later at the Coaches Invitational, a PR after having run 10-20 miles per week. James would smile after seeing these results now, noting that 6:59 pace is now currently a comfortable pace at which he does most of his training runs. He runs back-to-back 13 minute 3Ks almost every day.
While James had success during his first high school season of cross country, he decided to play tennis in the Spring. James did not attempt the triad seasons (Cross Country, Indoor Track&Field, Spring Track&Field) until his junior year at Newton South.
Going into his Junior year Cross country season, James had built up to 30 miles per week during the summer. Knowing Steve's 40 mile/week policy for Varsity runners, upperclassman James understood that he had to keep training consistently, and run the workouts well given the 30 mile/week Base that he had from the summer.
His work ethic was noticed by Steve. James competed in his first Varsity Race in September of 2005. The race was at Newton South against fellow Conference competitor Westford Academy. This varsity race was very significant for James. From a racing perspective, James began to understand that he could compete at the Varsity Level. The race was also a marker for beginning of his commitment to training at the Varsity level. James knew that he could become a lot faster with smarter, consistent, and just more training.
Picture: James in the back of the pack: Stud Freshmen and Varsity runners doing a hill workout up Bald Pate Hill in Newton. (I took these pictures from Steve's Car, missed the workout due to injury and thus, a photo opportunity arose.)
Despite James' transition to Varsity, He competed in the JV Race at the Dual County League Championship, finishing 17th out of 124 with a 5k time of 19:41. A respectable time given the conditions of the race (A foot of snow on the ground of Franklin Park.)
During the season James trained with the varsity runners, as well as a large crew of talented freshmen runners. James often shared his experiences, and offered his leadership to the younger runners, particularly studs Ben Finch and Andrew Wortham who beat James in races and would end up being selected for Varsity positions at DCLs and the EMASS divisional meet over James later in the season. His leadership was noticed, as James was voted to be team Captain for the following year of Cross Country, alongside myself.
The week after the DCL XC Championship race, James competed at the Coaches Invitational, setting a Personal record of 19:02.4 for the 5K. This would be the fastest cross country time that James would run before his senior year for 5000 meters.
James was selected as an alternate for the Varsity squad at Emass. Unfortunately, the team missed the selection for the All State Meet by finishing 7th out of 38 teams at the EMASS meet. I finished 22nd with a sub 17, but the highlight of the day was Freshman Andrew Wortham's 17:28, a fantastic time for the stud.
James got to see a lot of competition during his junior year. He ran all three seasons, and consistently trained at 40-45 miles per week. During the Winter he often ran the 1000m, however, his favorite distance was the 2 mile which he got to race during the spring. James posted a 4:57 mile at the Acton-Boxborough High School track in the Spring, as well as a 10:43 for 2 miles at the Weston High Track.
Before the summer going into our senior year, the team sat down with Steve and discussed our plans for the summer and our goals for the Fall Cross Country Season. Our team had the potential to one of the top teams in the state. We would lose a few notable senior runners such as Kelton Finch, Scott Wehrwein, Brenden Olson and Nick Abele (Who won't say he's a cross runner), however, we returned a number of talented young runners, specifically the would-be sophomores, and motivated upperclassmen.
James was prepared to train at a new level. Going into his junior year he had run only 30 miles per week, and ended up running 19:02 for 5000 meters. This summer, he wanted to step it up and maintain a high level of training while staying injury free.
"I'm captain, I want to train, I know I can make an impact on Varsity."
Starting in June, James followed Steve's advised summer mileage plan. Since Steve could not meet with us during the summer, he told us at the meeting that Varsity runners should build up to running 50-55 miles per week by the end of the summer.
That is exactly what James did. He ran almost every day in the summer, taking only 2 days off. "I Just got into it, and never stopped." Advised by Men's Cross Country Coach Matt Capstick, James drank a ton of water, making sure to drink his fluids and stay hydrated throughout the day and evening, particularly before and after running. James performed static-stretching after every run, making sure to get his key muscle groups.
James and I even got a chance to meet with returning runners from Lincoln-Sudbury, Acton-Boxborough, and Concord-Carlisle to do runs throughout the summer. A friendly rivalry had been built throughout the past 3 years of competition, and many of the League's best runners knew the Varsity Athletes from the other schools by Name. The top runners in our league were just starting to become familiar with James' name after James' consistent year of racing. They would soon hear a lot more of it, and see more of it at the top of race results.
To James, the summer of training was hard, but not as tough as he originally thought it might be. Having a year of consistent running had made James a lot stronger. Running every day was not a strenuous task. His comfortable running pace quickened slightly during the summer, but his focus stayed consistent. He wanted to come into Pre-Season with an excellent base of consistent mileage, and ready to do work outs to get ready for racing.
James will attest to this, he has never been a small guy. In fact, he had a little bit of baby-fat on his face that stuck with him through middle school and his first year of high school. He has always had a bigger upper body, and bigger legs than some of the Varsity guys.
He came into Pre-Season at the end of August looking SKINNY. His facial features were more rugged and narrow, his slender arms lay by his side, without a shirt you could see his abdominal muscles protruding his skin, his legs were sharp, he had powerfully defined quadriceps and small but efficient calf muscles.
James was in shape. Much better shape than he ever had been. The week before pre-season began, James ran a Lydiard (equivalent of a tempo) workout on the high school track. In his trainers, he ran 17:40 for 5000 meters on the Track. A Personal Record run in a workout. James knew that he was now at a totally new level of fitness.
During Pre-Season we ran a number of workouts, including hills, Lydiards, intervals, start drills, finish drills. The Varsity group consistently worked out as a group. For one 4 mile Lydiard, I came through 3 miles in 15:45, with James and Andrew through in 15:58, and a group of guys in the mid 16:00s. Most of our training runs were run at a slower pace in order to recover from our workouts. Most of our workouts were very fast and very mentally and physically demanding.
Pictures: The Varsity at Brown Invite. From L to R; Sasha, Ben, James, Andrew, John, Me, Will.
Our team was thrown out to the wolves (actually the Warriors) for our first meet. We ran against Lincoln-Sudbury High School at our home course at Cold Springs Park. We would have rather saved this matchup for later in the season. Nonetheless, we competed. Our bodies were tired from the weeks of working out well. In the varsity race, James got out well and tucked into 5th place alongside Andrew, trailing the Big 3 of LS and myself. While James made up a lot of ground on me and the LS trio towards the end of the race, James maintained his position to finish 5th, Andrew 6th.
Results (~2.6miles): 14:01 for myself, 14:10-14:15s for the LS guys, James came home in the 14:30-14:40 range . A good first race. The LS guys ended up beating us, and we began our season 0-1.
The next big race was the 5k Boston Invitational at Franklin Park, taking the place of the "Bay State" XC Race for the season. Before the race, Matt Capstick pumped us up by giving us a range of times to shoot for (Ideally having our top 5 under 17 minutes), and told us to have faith in the training. We had a few weeks of good workouts and consistent running under us, and now was the time to start showing off the results of our fitness.
We went into the race, knowing that many of our league rivals would be racing and watching us. We went in very confident, but somewhat not knowing what to expect. This was our first 5k of the year, our first big test. Luckily we already had a race under our belt, and knew what race-effort would feel like.
The results of the Boston Invitational were phenomenal. Our team place 3rd out of 46, solidifying us as one of the best teams in the State. James finished 19th out of 320 with a time of 16:34. A Huge Personal Record. Almost 3 minutes faster than the best times of his junior year. James was also the 4th best DCL runner in the race, he beat two of the LS runners (Noah MacNeil and Jake Shoemaker) whom he had lost to just a week ago. The time, 16:34, also put James into the top 10 best time performances in Newton South History. The race was also a standout race for myself and for then Stud Sophomore Andrew. Andrew placed 32nd, outkicking LS runner Noah MacNiel, with a shiny new PR of 16:50. I placed 7th, with a PR of 16:10.
Just how did James go from a 19 minute 5K runner to a Top-level 16 minute varsity runner in one year? All the positive factors that I've mentioned about James have contributed to to it, but no factor stands out more than the summer training factor. James had all the tools he needed from his past years of training, as well as many lessons learned and advice given by Matt, Steve, Graduated runners, and running enthusiasts.
Picture: James kicks hard down the stretch of the Brown Invitational XC meet in October 2006. Another mid-16 5k result in the books.
Steve has stressed to us that Senior year of High School is all about giving back. James gave back to the team in myriad ways. From being a key Varsity runner on the course to his leadership off the course, James was a model of dedication and excellence.
Very importantly, he also gave back to himself. He proved to himself that, with hard work, goals can be accomplished and even surpassed. All the effort and energy paid off. James had an amazing experience and story of successful improvement , one that coaches dream of. That season, James proved his commitment to a sport that demands so much effort and energy, as well as a team and group of coaches that shared the mutual respect that he had for them. James' improvement was incredible to see first hand.
James continued to race well. Our team won the rest of our dual meets, going into the conference meet with a season record of 7-1. At the DCL meet, James placed 3rd, and our team won for the second year in a row. That day marked the end of my season, after spraining my ankle going down a hill, I hobbled a little way through the course before Matt and Steve physically made/ helped me drop out of the race. James and the rest of the boys took care of business. Knowing that they had a Lion down, they executed their race strategies perfectly.
James was supportive throughout the whole span of that injury. I will never forget how He, Coach Matt, and a group of friends and teammates showed up at my house that same night to just hang out with me and make sure I was feeling okay.
Since I was on crutches for the next two weeks, I got to watch the team continue training for the big meets. James took on the reigns as the top Lion runner, qualifying for the State Meet individually through the EMASS meet, and placing 25th at All States with a 16:53 at the Northfield Mountain course. Weeks later he would place 2nd at the Footlocker Northeast Senior race at Van Cortlandt Park in NYC with a time of 16:50.
His track season began well. James had his first ever Varsity win in a race at the first Dual Meet indoors. He would later run 9:52 for 2 miles, a 2:45 1000m, a 4:39 mile, and be a part of our stellar 4x800 that placed 3rd at the Class Relays.
Picture: James was the consistent 3rd leg of the NS 4x800.
James' story just goes to show you that with the right mindset, and a lot of consistent hard work, a young runner can see significant improvement over the span of a year. Summer training is not easy. It's not fun to go out for a run while your friends are going swimming or playing basketball... but neither is training itself. It's not all gold and rainbows. Consistent training is tough. You're tired, you're hungry, you'd rather relax, watch T.V., or be outside with friends. Getting out of the door is half the battle.
It's those miles when no one is watching you, no one cares, and no one knows who you are that will turn you into a different runner.
Ok, I exaggerated about the "no one cares" part. Your teammates and coaches and family care. You can use that as motivation, reminding yourself that you run for all those people who want to see you succeed. You may still be a "no name" in the competition world. I guarantee you, nobody from any of the schools in the DCL knew that James Vance would end up beating every single one of them in a race that fall. DCL XC champ Jimmy Tyrell from LS included, he had James' number (Dual meet, Boston invite, DCLs) until a bad day at EMASS saw him behind James in the results. Essentially, only you can make yourself get out of the house and run day-in and day-out. Those miles will add up and eventually running will feel easier. You want
to come into the fall season with a large base of miles to work off of. This will allow you to work out better, and recover faster.
I hope to see more developing runners experience the same improvements that James experienced. The take-away from this story is that any JV or young runner can have an impact on the Varsity level, and that impact will come if you dedicate yourself to summer training.
James and I are going into the final Team Cross country season of our lives. James will be a Senior at Johnson and Wales, I will be a senior at Brandeis. We'll both be racing each other at the 8K distance, and hopefully putting together a good group of memorable races off our own summer training programs.
If you ever want to find us, or specifically want to ask James about his experiences, come to Jon Waldron's Running group. Monday's and Wednesdays at 6:15PM at Cold Springs Park by the tennis courts. You can also occasionally find us at Newton South, Weston High, or CC during the summer for the Developing Athletes clinic.
http://www.developing-athletes.com/
Good Health, Run on trails whenever you can, and Always keep your dreams in mind!
