Notes
All League Meet at Silver Lake. Pembroke ran the top 14 guys- Ryan and Wes down to Jared Stack. I was really excited for this race, especially after a good workout Saturday. I hoped to PR, running in the 17:20-17:40 range, and place well for Pembroke. My plan going into the race was to get out controlled- 5:30s, and then pick off some people over the next mile, before bringing it home fast the last mile.
On the warmup jog on the course, my legs were feeling somewhat sore, but I ignored it and concentrated on the race ahead, building confidence.
When the race started, I got out well on the field and then settled in in the first quarter or so of the race. The whole first segment of the course was pretty tough; rolling hills and uneven footing. Once I got into the bogs, however, I assessed myself and decided that I still was feeling good, and that I wasn't as tired as I had at first thought. I split about 5:35 for the first mile. At that point, I saw Pat C ahead, and that he was flagging. I began to reel him in. At about a mile and a half I got him and began to move by him; he pushed to stay with me. We came through the two mile together; I could see Mikey D and Christian ahead, and tried to reel them in. Coner and Eric came up behind me and passed us both, and Pat also broke away from me. I got passed by a few more kids as well in the final 1000m.
This wasn't a terrible race for me. It was a course PR; I ran 18:17 here last year. My plan was working well for the first mile and half; I caught up to Pat and almost caught Mike and Christian. I see one error I made; when I caught Pat, instead of being obsessed with passing him, I should have just allowed him to run with me as I reeled in Mikey D, the next in line.
I have a theory about my racing this year. Partly because I had to take that week or two easy mid-season, and partly because of my stupidity in workouts, I had very few workouts where I practiced running faster while tired:i.e. workouts where I got faster as the workout went on. Because of this, I struggled during races to switch gears over the last mile and run fast. I really need to focus in the future on keeping my workout paces consistent or better yet getting faster as they go in. I will then be able to run fast at the end of a race.
This (unfortunately) was most likely my last XC race of the season. Z did say that I can run in the Open race at NXN Regionals, and I will certainly take him up on that offer. I will continue to train with the team, and if it turns out I do get to run at States or Regionals, I will be ready. If not, expect big things from me these coming Track seasons: DIII qualifications indoors and outdoors.