Sam Rich returns in 2021 as one of the top cross country runners in the United States. A year ago, Rich won his first South Carolina Class AAAA State Cross Country Championship and completed a season that saw him record seven wins and finish with a personal best 5K time of 14:52.51 at the RunningLane National Cross Country Championships. With national championship meets like Foot Locker Nationals and Team Nationals returning in 2021, Rich could contend for a title of his own. He remains one of the country's brightest talents. This is the third of four blogs in a series of training journals Rich will write for MileSplit this fall.
Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4
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Week 3 (August 9 - August 15)
Monday, August 9: 11 miles -- Mcalpine Creek Park, Dellinger Miles
Today we did a workout at Mcalpine, the Footlocker South Course, which is only about 30 minutes from my house. My teammates Ty and Josh went with me and we went early in the morning. We started with a two-mile warmup. I then did seven miles of alternating off and on. My splits were 5:33, 6:30, 5:25, 6:10, 5:12, 6:12, 4:50. I then did a two-mile cool down to get to 11 miles for the day. The workout felt really good and it felt great to get my legs moving towards the end.
Tuesday, August 10: 10 miles -- Founders Trail
Today was a recovery after yesterday's workout. I did 10 miles on a nearby trail. It was a good run and I just chilled with the boys at around a seven-minute pace.
After the run I went to the school for senior pictures. School starts next week, so senior year is coming up fast.
Wednesday, August 11: 4 miles + 6 miles (workout) -- Double
In the morning I ran a short four-mile shakeout because we were doing a workout with the team in the evening. It was an easy run with my teammate Spencer.
Tonight we had a two-mile warmup and then did a two-mile AT run. In the AT run I started off pretty conservative at 5:14 and then picked it up the second mile and split a 4:42 for a time of 9:56. I felt really strong during the workout. I finished with a two-mile cool down to get to 10 miles for the day. The boys are looking fit with their workouts, so the team is looking good.
Thursday, August 12: 8 miles + 3 miles -- Double
This morning I went to the Greenway and ran eight miles with my teammates Ty, Josh, and Spencer. We went on a seven mile loop trail and then added on an extra mile. The Greenway is a cool place to run as it has lots of single track trails, so it's a good place for an easy run.
This evening I did a three-mile shakeout to get to 11 miles for the day. It was really hot today, so I waited until after 8:30 pm to run -- that was the first time the temperature dipped below 90 degrees.
Friday, August 13: 10 miles -- Riverwalk
Today I woke up early and ran on the Riverwalk trail with my teammate Ty. This trail is a pretty hilly paved path that follows the Catawba River for several miles. It's a nice place to run and it is very quiet next to the river. I ran 10 miles and felt really strong.
Saturday, August 14: - 13.5 miles -- Dick Woods Road long run
Today I ran a long on Dick Woods Road in Charlottesville, Virginia with some of the University of Virginia guys. It was a pretty crushed gravel road with really cool views. It was also pretty hilly with lots of ups and downs, but an overall really cool run. I felt strong and averaged around 6:10 per mile. This is my longest run ever and capped off the highest mileage week of my life.
Sunday, August 15: Off
Today was my day off, as I normally take Sundays off. Despite 65 miles this week being a new high mileage week for me, I felt really good with the workouts and miles. Tomorrow we start school and official team practice. I'm really looking forward to having the whole team together again and the start of senior year!
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Total Mileage: 65 miles
