Cicero North Syracuse (NY) senior Kate Putman has a big season ahead of her. The New Yorker finished 14th at the New York Cross Country State Class A Championships in 2021. During her junior season, she earned an indoor state title in the 1,500m before she finished fourth at New Balance Nationals Indoor in the two-mile, where she clocked the fifth-fastest time in the U.S. with a personal best of 10:15.18. We've asked the New York native to give us some insight on her training this season, and this is the first of a four-part training blog heading into cross country.
Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4
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Week 1 (August 15 - August 22)
Monday, August 15: 7 miles
To start off my week, my team and I met up at Green Lakes State Park to run together! We usually meet at Green Lakes twice a week to get on some softer/hillier trails. MileSplit NY was there to film some clips for a project they are doing with my teammate and friend Hannah Boyle. After we ran, I headed straight to PT to get some strength work in. I honestly love going to PT. The people I work with are amazing and it's so easy to trust the process with them. Later that day, my sister Gabby Putman and I went jet skiing with our dog Darby. She loves to sit on the jet ski and go for a ride!
Tuesday, August 16: 7 miles
Today, we had good weather for our run. It's always touch-and-go in New York. It can be rainy and 50 one day, then 75 with sun the next. Luckily for this run, we had six miles with some strides and 200s in the sun! Then about two hours after practice my fellow senior teammates -- Hannah Boyle and Marissa Navarra -- and I went to our Media Day at our high school. It's crazy to think that I started running with these two when I was in eighth grade and now we are a year out from graduating.
Wednesday, August 17: 8 miles
Today was a moderately long run day. We were at Green Lakes again to stay on some softer surfaces since most places around our high school are paved. Mother nature, however, was not in my team's favor -- seeing as one of my teammates got stung by a bee, two got chased by wasps and my coach got scared by a baby snake (he's terrified of snakes by the way). After practice, we stopped at this cute cafe on the way home for some breakfast sandwiches. My sister and I also went up north to see my aunt and grandparents. My aunt just got new trail horses (I am a sucker for horses), and my grandma is the best cook out there! So we stopped to do some horseback riding at my aunt's and then headed 10 minutes down the road to my grandma's for dinner.
Thursday, August 18: 7 miles
We had a tempo Thursday instead of Tuesday. We executed a one-mile warm-up, 4xmile tempos and then a mile cool down. I am excited to have my training buddy Hannah with me this cross season! Last cross country season, I lost 12 of my favorite senior guys who graduated and went to college, so it's nice to have my training buddy joining me for what looks to be a very bright cross season for my team and me. Later in the day, I had another session with my PTs. They like to work off of my training plan for that week so they don't overload my body. Since I had a tempo run today, they adjusted my strength plan off of that.
Friday, August 19: 7 miles
Easy run day! I got to run with an old teammate of mine today, Evan, who was one of the 12 senior guys that were like older brothers to me. I had 6x200s with some active recovery in between to average out to seven miles for that day. Later that day, I had the sports section of my senior pictures. I got to do some with my dog Darby, which was really special.
Saturday, August 20: 9 miles
Long run day! Gabby and I got up at 6 a.m. to catch the sunrise. We were able to get a jump start on our long run since we had a goat show to go to that day! The run went great, and we just did it on the roads around our house. We were able to get in a nice 6-mile loop, and then I just tacked on another three miles at the end. I am really going to miss these kinds of runs with my little sis.
I was able to take my girl Brooke Rauber's place in the ring today, as my sister and I helped out her mom (Coach Mom) with a local goat show! I showed Brooke's prized possession goat, which I was very stoked about. Overall, it was a great day and I got to have a girls night with my mom, too, since the rest of my family was fishing.
Sunday, August 21: 6 mile bike
Today was a low-key day with an easy six mile bike ride with Gabby. Afterward, we finished the final session of senior pictures and then capped the night off with a bomb fire.
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Total Mileage: 45 miles + 6 mile bike ride
This is the first of several training blogs written by various athletes as the 2022 cross country season begins to ramp up. Check out our training blog series page for more content.