Notes
STEEPLECHASE
Upstate Classic steeplechase, ft THE TLS P, SOC, Chrangelo, and NPF. Told myself I could run 10:15, but was skeptical even of that... haven't felt great the past few days and felt especially awful this morning. Pretty light warmup - just a 15' jog, lunges, leg swings, and 2 strides over a hurdle on the turf. Pretty crowded heat, I almost got stuck on the rail on the first turn but forced myself outside and got up to the front behind Sean, Chris, Pat, and an Oneonta guy. Felt great going over the first hurdle, great going over the first water barrier (the guy next to me ate it). First lap in ~79 feeling not bad at all, and with TWO PHONES being played by MC Benji! I ran pretty comfortably behind Pat, we came through 1k just under 10' pace I think. Not long after that Pat moved outside and let me pass, I moved up to 3rd and there I remained for the rest of the race. Not really sure about splits, I think I probably slowed down a bit in the middle but I'd like to think I picked it back up the last two laps. Hurdling was great for the most part, really wasn't stuttering much and was leading with both left and right legs (although much more comfortably with left of course). No problem on the water barriers, other than one where I clipped the toe of my trail leg but somehow managed to stay on my feet and get out quickly.
Great race, very fun, MUCH better than I expected. Faster than I opened my season either sophomore year or senior year, so I definitely think I can run under 10 minutes in May/June at the NBB meets and maybe even PR if the starts align. Almost definitely had more in me today, I just wasn't expecting it to go as well as it did and could have afforded to be a little more aggressive I think. CONFIDENCE is KEY!