Germantown Academy's Abbe Goldstein is fresh off a fantastic junior season. Last XC season, she was second at the PA Independent Schools Championship and 19th at Foot Locker Northeast. On the track, she ran PRs of 4:50 for the mile and 9:33 for 3000 meters. She was well-travelled this summer as she prepares for her final season of high school cross country. She reflected on her summer in the first PTXC Journal of the season. Read about her training and travels before the start of cross country camp with her Germantown Academy team.
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This summer was much busier than I originally had thought it would be, as summers usually are. After New Balance Outdoor Nationals, my family and I spent a week at the beach in Cape May, New Jersey, which was especially nice since it was one of my weeks off. Once we got back from the beach, I spent 5 weeks working as a ropes instructor at the day camp run by my school (Germantown Academy). Working in the woods at a 30 foot tall ropes course from 9-4 everyday is physically demanding work! I kept telling myself that it was like the equivalent of lifting. Because work started at 9, I would run after work at night, usually around 6:30. I just started off with easy runs, and eventually tried working in some fartlek, moderate, and tempo runs. After 5 weeks of working at the ropes, I was ready for my next part of the summer.
The past two summers, I have worked at
Camp PALS, which is an overnight camp for young adults with Down Syndrome. I go
to the camp in San Francisco, which is held at Santa Clara University. By
chance, I found another counselor to run with, which was really great for
getting my easy pace down, as it gets pretty hard to push yourself after doing
solo runs for 6 weeks. Because I was running with a college cross country
runner, I was able to run during the very little time available - which was at
10:30PM one day! PALS is always a great experience, and finding someone to
train with just made it even better.
My family flew out to San Jose to meet me after camp for vacation. My sister was doing a cross country camp at UC Santa Cruz while I was working at PALS, so the day that we picked her up, I ran on their campus. It was SO hilly, but great for XC training, as it was one ginormous hill up and then a great downhill back down. I think my time on the way back was a full 4 minutes faster than the way up. The next day was another really hilly run at the "Stanford Dish". It seriously felt like I was going uphill and then not going back down despite the fact that it was a loop! That day, we drove from Stanford to Napa to see our family friends. My sister and I got to run on a beautiful river path that went on forever! Side note: Vineyards are beautiful and fun to tour even if you can't fully participate in the wine tasting at the end and have grape soda instead.
The next day, we drove up to Eugene, Oregon to see Tracktown, USA! We somehow found a way onto the track through a building in the back despite the fact that the front gate was locked. We had many photoshoots there! Being on such a historic track and one of the biggest stages for Track & Field just further reminded me of my bigger goals and committing myself to getting there. We then ran on Pre's trail, where I found another running buddy to show me the way for a few miles! It always surprises me how large the running community is, and how much we take care of one another. Of course, you can't go to the U of O and not see Pre's Rock. This was a really powerful moment for me because there is a tradition to leave something at his Rock. We were going to leave without putting anything on the Rock, and then I realized that I had a headband from New Balance Nationals with me. That race was a really difficult one to come back from both physically and mentally, so it seemed fitting to leave a momento of it with Pre, someone who gave his whole life to this sport.
We were lucky enough to take a tour of Nike World Headquarters in Portland the next day, where we got to see the USA uniforms, Pre's original shoes, and more running memorabilia that only true distance freaks would love. PS: The track in the woods does not disappoint.
To close out our trip, we travelled to Seattle where along with visiting places like Pike's Place Public Market and seeing the locks, we had the beautiful Green Lake to run around with a 2.8 mile loop that was unfamiliar enough to do an 11 mile long run on and not get bored! After a long 3 week visit to the West Coast, I was ready to head home.
Once we arrived home, it was back to my usual running spots: a local park with a 1 mile loop, Valley Green, and my school. This summer really showed me the places that running will take you, the people you will meet through it, and how to trust in the process.
Preseason has started and I am so eXCited about the possibilities for my team this year. We have a smaller group than usual, but it is filled with more talented athletes than I ever remember being on our team. League Championships and States are definitely the end goals, and we are ready to work hard to get there. Go GAXC!!!
