Notes
Jesus Christ, 3 races in 3 weeks. I can't believe I'm already halfway through the season. Before I even left for Parkside, Mark went into a lot of detail about the course here, especially the elevation. Once I went on the course for a warmup, I then saw how the hill was. It was gradual, but long, so my plan was to take the first mile very conservative, possibly 5:55 for the first mile, so I can use the downhills for my advantage.
The warmup felt good as usual, but since it was a morning race, I just didn't feel as good if I ran in the afternoon, but that's not under my control. I just got to do the best I can. Also, I lacked some key members in group 3, which were Sean and Dakota. So, I would just stick with Steve and hope we can push each other.
Once the race started, everyone took it relatively quicker than I expected, so I had to work the first mile a little harder than I wanted, but I was in no way tired or ready to collapse. Throughout the first mile and a half, Steve was just behind me, giving me the push I needed to stick with the group. Once I got through the 2 mile mark, I started drifting off and catching people, including Jon and Al. After the first lap, Lapp and Kelch were right behind me, which was really surprising for me, since they don't usually run with me. Regardless, they gave me a great push as well. Despite another uphill to battle, I conquered it without taxing my body too much. Once I got to the 7k, I really started kicking it and was right on Hearne's tail all the way to the finish line, in a time of 28:35. I was really shocked by the time because I thought I ran much slower than I expected and it was so close to my PR.
Despite how I initially felt during the race, I ran my second best time up to now, so I shouldn't feel disappointed. I now have 3 weeks to really improve and get in better shape for Regionals, which I hope is where I'll finally break 28:00.