Kate Putman of Cicero North Syracuse
Cicero North Syracuse (NY) Kate Putman has a big season ahead of it. The New Yorker finished 14th at the 2021 New York Cross Country State Class A Championships. During her junior season, she won an indoor state title in the 1,500m before finishing fourth at the New Balance Nationals Indoor in the two-mile, where she clocked the fifth-fastest time in the United States with a personal best 10:15.18. We asked the New York native to give us some insight into her training this season, and this is the first of a four-part cross-country training blog.
Monday August 15: 7 miles
To start my week, my team and I met at Green Lakes State Park to run together! We usually meet at Green Lakes twice a week to take on gentler/hillier trails. MileSplit NY was there filming clips for a project they are doing with my teammate and friend Hannah Boyle. After running I headed straight to PT to do some strength work. Honestly, I love going to PT. The people I work with are amazing and it’s so easy to hand over the process to 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 spin!
Tuesday August 16: 7 miles
Today we had good weather for our race. It’s always touch-and-go in New York. It can rain and 50 one day, then 75 with sunshine the next day. Fortunately for this race, we did 10 km with a few strides and 200 under the sun! Then about two hours after practice, my senior teammates — Hannah Boyle and Marissa Navarre — 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’re a year away from graduation.
Wednesday August 17: 8 miles
Today was a moderately long race day. We were again in Green Lakes to stay on softer surfaces as most places around our high school are paved. Mother nature, however, was not in favor of my team – having one of my teammates get stung by a bee, two were chased by wasps, and my coach was spooked by a baby snake (he is terrified of snakes by the way). After practice we stopped at this cute cafe on the way home for breakfast sandwiches. My sister and I also went up north to see my aunt and grandparents. My aunt just got new trail horses (I love horses) and my grandma is the best cook in the world! So we stopped for horseback riding at my aunt’s house, then we went for dinner for 10 minutes at my grandmother’s house.
Thursday August 18: 7 miles
We had a Thursday tempo instead of Tuesday. We ran a one mile warm up, 4xmile tempos, then a recovery mile. I’m thrilled to have my training buddy Hannah with me this cross country 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 workout buddy with me for what seems like to be a very brilliant cross country season for me and my team. Later that day I had another session with my physiotherapists. They like to work out of my workout plan for that week so they don’t overload my body. Since I had a tempo run today, they adjusted my strength plan based on that.
Friday August 19: 7 miles
Easy race day! I got to race with one of my former teammates today, Evan, who was one of 12 seniors who were like older brothers to me. I had 6×200 with active recovery in between for an average of seven miles for that day. Later that day, I had the sports section of my senior pics. I was able to do some with my dog Darby, which was really special.
Saturday August 20: 9 miles
Long race day! Gabby and I got up at 6am to catch the sunrise. We were able to get off to a good start in our long run since we had a goat show to do that day! The race went really well, and we just did it on the roads around our house. We were able to do a nice 6 mile loop, then I tacked another three miles at the end. I will really miss this kind of races with my little sister.
I was able to take my girlfriend Brooke Rauberit is 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 really enjoyed. All in all it was a great day and I also had a girls night out with my mom as the rest of my family was fishing.
Sunday August 21: 6 km bike
Today was a low key day with an easy six mile bike ride with Gabby. Then we finished the last senior photo op and then capped off the evening with a bomb shoot.
