Notes
This was a race in which I ran within my window. It would be silly of me to say I didn't go for it because I did. I got out in reasonable position and then by the 2nd k I was right where I wanted to be, in the lead pack. I responded to moves I wasn't complacent I was ready. My legs were a little dead from the initial sprint but I knew that was going to happen. Pretty much no matter what you need to be ready to press for a full 8k if you want to be successful in this kind of race. I wasn't really expecting the pace to be that quick that early but oh well. I was getting pushed around a little but that is expected. I rolled with the punches for the first half and just stayed put as best as I could. From prior experience I knew that a lot of the people causing all of the chaos in the lead pack wouldn't be able to keep off. This race was less of me passing people and more of just people falling off from the quick pace. The big lead pack split off into a lead pack and chase pack right around the 4k mark. I wanted so badly to go with. I knew that move was coming. I just feel like I didn't have the capability to pick it up because I felt like I was already at the top end of pressing. I am very happy to say that I never gave up throughout this race. Once we crossed the finish line into the last mini loop I picked it up and went faster than I previously was. I started to go faster again by the big tree right before the woods opened up for the finish line. On the home stretch I tried my best to kick again. I gave it a lot and my back was tightening so much. Sadly I didn't win the chase pack race. I was exhausted after that race. I was unable to stand unlike every other race this season.
I am going to be honest, the only thing that took the wind out of my sails was right around a mile left when I heard a john Carroll coach shout that his team was winning the race (or maybe it was before that). It was once again that I was disheartened because our team wasn't running well. I wanted so bad to win that race as a team. But even though I knew we weren't going to win I still tried my best to finished hard for us.
I wasn't really sad at all. I was angry and disappointed. The next paragraph is going to be my thoughts on how we raced. We raced stupid. We raced like we won the race before the work had to be put in. The national meet is full of very talented runners that need to be respected. For us to go out and have a team score of 68 at 1k is almost uncalled for. For us to go straight to the front is idiotic. Division 3 is not what was even 3 years ago. I'm just gonna say it, Morgan should not have tried to gap the field at the beginning. Getting out hard is one thing. Getting out hard and not settling in after the start is another. For all we know we were the reason the race was so stinking fast. We should've gotten out and then settled in and let someone else lead. Championship style races are won from behind. This race should serve as a lesson to those that aspire to race it next year. I'm not saying we would have won if we did that, but we for sure would have had a podium finish. Pamona ran a great race and had a historic performance.
No more next year for us, good luck to the future Knights. Don't make this race more than it is. It is a hard 8k, that's it.