Notes
Okay, this might be a little long so if you are reading this now, please read the whole log I swear there are good lessons that I have learned from this race that I want to share.
First off I have to give the shoutouts to the people that carried me through this 5k. The first one is obviously Sam, dude did an amazing job pacing and he made those two miles feel easy, so a big thank you to Sam for taking me to the promise land. Second, thank you to coaches and my teammates again I wouldn't have ran that fast and wouldn't be the person I am today without the amazing support and motivation from y'all. Lastly, to the most important person, the old Asian man blowing the grass next to the church during our warm-up. He was so kind and turned around TWICE for us when we ran past him and I told Spencer and Nick that in my log I need to give him a shout out on my 5k, because of his kindness towards us.
Now to the race. Like I mention before Sam made those 2 miles in that race seem easy. I talked to Spitz before and the plan was to trust Sam and just get lost and do no work behind him. I felt stiff at the beginning because my knee was kind of fighting me but then I got settled and relaxed. With 8 laps to go, I got that classic side stitch that Chapman loves making fun of, but honestly, I just fought through it because I was not going to make Sam go through all that work for me to blow up. So I stay attached and then when I saw 4 laps to go I got excited and made a move to the front to go sub 14:30. It was funny because every lap I would just tell myself how much time I need to beat Joe's 14:25 and that I could run those times. Also, with 3 laps I did something new where I shape my right hand to like I was holding a baton to remind myself I am running for more than myself and to be willing to push farther and not give up yet. Then the last lap I saw 13:25 and I told myself I need to go sub 60 to beat Joe's time, I wished I pushed a little longer in that last lap but not upset at all. So Joe thank you for motivating me for that race.
Okay for the lesson now, the first one is simply this Woody Kincaid quote that I have been telling myself all week. "You have to go into a race ready to run regardless of how you feel and you'll surprise yourself" - Woody Kincaid. I have been hurting since Wednesday and Chapman was worried that I was going to drop out of this because of my knee. however, I kept telling him I will be fine and just watch what I do. I just knew that when that gun when off everything will be fine and I can suppress myself and have a killer 5k. The next lesson is truly belive in the process my first ever 5k in college I went 19:03, my last 5k freshman year was 15:22. It has been a long roller coaster of a running career and I got to this point where I can do that time and feel good. I am not too worried and I know I can run faster, but at the moment I am relaxed happy and ready to roll.
Thank you all and have a wonderful day. You can all be great, just know that I believe in you and you should believe in yourself. Love you all