The ride home from our State Sectional last November was awful. We had finished 6th, one point from qualifying for the Group 3 meet. During the 30 minute drive south from Elizabeth, I tried to blame everyone else. In the end, all the blame came back to me. We had run poorly and should have qualified, but there was something missing. We had run 1000’s of miles, done good workouts, and prepared well for this race. We had averaged 17:33 at The Park at the Shore Coaches! All that work led to so much disappointment. I try to be positive at all times, so I gathered my thoughts for a short team meeting back at school. The meeting was tough, but I pointed out the positives and got the kids excited for Rich Greco, our lone qualifier.
I spent the next day or two reading 100’s of pages, from books to Internet message boards and I wrote 20+ pages of notes. I thought about what I was doing wrong and what I needed to change. Was it motivation? Was it physical? What I discovered had been right in front of me for years. I decided to start over in December.
With a new plan and better focus, my team and I have had a great 2 months.Last Saturday, at the Monmouth County Meet, we had some encouraging results. Galasso finished 2nd in the 1600 at 4:29.34 in his 2nd race since November. Add to that 3 kids under 10:40 in their first races of the season, and you have a great day. This effort is nowhere near where we need to be or want to be, but it is very encouraging. One of my sophs did not break 14 at Holmdel as a freshman and last year his PB in the 1600 was 5:50. He debuted in the 3200 at 10:38 on Saturday. Great day for him and our team. 15 out of 15 PB’s on the day.
Workout Week 2-5
Monday 2-5
The cold weather kept us inside for the first time. I hate running inside, but we have a set of great treadmills. My top kids did a 7 mile build-up starting at 6:30 and working down to under 6. It was better than trying to get something done outside. 8 miles total
Tuesday 2-6
We ran a total of 50 minutes today outside. It was a moderate run. 8 miles total.
Wednesday 2-7
Today we ran one of our staple workouts, 2-3 X 3200. Today we did 2 x 3200 instead of 3 due to the cold. It was windy and very cold. The rest was 2 minutes. Results follow:
Group 1 (senior and soph) 11:20, 10:49 (5:30-5:19)
Group 2 (7 underclassmen) 11:50-11:30
Group 3 (5 underclassmen) 12:10-11:55
This was a great workout! I could not be more happy with this workout considering the conditions. We are improving!
A New Jersey native, Sean McCafferty grew up in Bayville. A 3rd generation runner, Sean is the son of former St. Joes Metuchen, Brick and now Monsignor Donovan Coach, Alan McCafferty. As a 7th and 8th grader, McCafferty ran 4:43 for 1600 and 2:08 for 800. His 15th place finish as a freshman helped CBA win a Parochial A title. Injuries and the long commute to Lincroft led McCafferty back to Central Regional HS. While at Central, he finished 5th at the 1995 XC Meet of Champions and was 3rd at 3200m at the Indoor MOC after winning the Group 2 3200m. Upon graduation, McCafferty attended Princeton University. His running career fell short of expectations after a heart condition put him on the shelf. After surgery, Sean made a brief comeback and spent a year running for Rutgers as a graduate student. McCafferty is currently teaching Latin and coaching Cross Country and Track at Holmdel High School.