Notes
Ugh. I guess we all have races we are not too pleased with. Went out way too fast which was a dumb move in general for me and especially for a hot, windy, grassy course. Going into this race I was not in the best mental state since I have been a little sick all week and tired even though I think I have been going out of my way to get additional sleep. Waiting on the line for the start was awful because with all the people packed together it was so warm that I got a little light headed. After the first 400m I was way too excited early on in the race considering I actually had a great start. I honestly think I have much better races when I get trapped behind people because it forces me to pace the first mile (despite the fact that it is pretty annoying). The end of the race was extremely painful and I couldn't go with anyone near me. In the race I kept wishing that it was only a 5K and not a 6K. I was just continually slowing down for the whole race and watched people go around me. I'm thinking this was simply because I went out too fast. My time of 23:55.2 (timing system error, actually 13 seconds faster than listed time) was fairly slower than my time for the same course freshmen year of 23:31.8. I'm a little bummed because I have been doing much better this year, however I just need to not hang onto this. It was a tough day, definitely no where close to optimal racing conditions and everyone ran slow today. Hopefully I can get over my dislike for this course before regionals rolls around.
All in all it wasn't an extremely terrible race. Came in 20th overall. Got the first 6K out of the way for the season. Mentally tough day. Good confidence check. Only can get better from here.