Notes
Pretty crazy race today at States! Seeded 7th in the heat, walked away with a 4th place finish.
Race got out and once again eased myself right in the back. Made sure to give myself enough space behind the pelaton so that I could accelerate into the barriers like practice. Eventually things began breaking up and I just kept making passes. A good even paced race overall, I think I got out in an 81 and hit a few 84's but it felt consistent which I think allowed me to time each jump pretty well. Hurdling form and efficiency much much better than in the past. Was able to have a pretty nice finish that allowed me to get by two guys. I think I may have inadvertently developed a Nemesis in this race too. Ithica kid was throwing 'bows like crazy, and we kept going back and forth on each other. Eventually when I pulled in on him with 20 meters to go he tried to stick his arm out and stop me, but the thing was like a barn door. Honestly if he had just stayed focused on running faster instead of slowing me down he probably would have beaten me.
So yeah I think at this point the RPI steeple torch has been passed down to me. A pretty nice way to end Chapter 3 of this crazy journey through my college career. Coach brought up a lot of stuff last night that we need to work on coming into XC season next year, so just need a few weeks to start fresh and be ready to go again. He said 2 weeks but that might be too ambitious, we will see.