Notes
Open race of the NXN NE Regional meet @ Bowdoin Park. More importantly, the Varsity took second in the Champs race and qualified for NXN Nationals! Ran incredibly, leading at the halfway mark, ended up losing to CBA but still got the auto berth. Awesome race to watch- so happy for them.
On to my race. Z and Rooney had made us custom jerseys for the open race- pretty cool. There were 5 of us- me, Pat, Christian, Eric, and Mikey D. I knew that the race was gonna be crowded and that the course was going to be tough. However, I was very excited for the race- hoping to run close to 18 minutes or better. My plan was to get out hard and settle in, then survive the hills and start moving on the way back down, catching as many people as I could. I also had the goal of focusing on racing the entire time, and really surging the last 1000 meters, knowing that it does make a difference.
When the race went off, I started out pretty hard, getting towards the front, but didn't feel terrible- it was a normal start, nothing crazy. I think that I made my first error during this part however. Seeing that I was toward the front, I began to settle in before the end of the field. When I did so, however, a number of people began to pass me, and I entered the narrower portion of the course further back then I would like. I expended energy trying to pass people in vain- it was EXTREMELY packed. The first mile felt very tough, but it was still slow- about 5:50 pace. I was in 5th at this point, just behind Eric. On the big hill, I tried to stick to my plan, letting as few people as possible pass me. It was difficult, however, and I definitely lost ground. When I finally crested the hill, however, I regained my focus, and began moving. I felt like I did pretty good over the rest of the race, trying to increase my pace and pick off as many guys as I could. I did pass Eric, although he caught me with about 800 to go and pulled away. Although I did a good job of trying to pass people in this second half of the race, I should have really gotten myself to go in the last 1000 meters, especially with Eric passing me.
Overally, it was a decent race. Placewise, and timewise, it was somewhat disappointing. A very challenging course. There's definitely some things I can take out of this race. I definitely should have waited longer to begin settling in, and established myself in a better position. I definitely lost focus in the middle segment of the race- I need to do better of staying focused and pushing myself- this focus can certainly be built upon in practice.
This was my last high school cross country race. Overall, I feel that I never really ran to my potential in Cross Country these two seasons, and am very disappointed that I never could make the top 7 in either year. Regardless, I look forward to running cross country in college, where hopefully I will have more success as I learn what it takes to focus for a cross country race.
I now turn my eyes to indoor track, which I am EXTREMELY excited for. Although I wish that I was better at XC, the fact is that I have always performed better on the track. I will probably finish out this week running with the guys before they head off to Portland, and then I think Z will have us take 10 days off. I have a few goals for Indoor Track, but the most important is to qualify for DIII's in whatever event I run- most likely the 1000, but possibly the mile. Z thinks that I can get down to about 4:40 in the mile outdoors. With that goal in mind, I would like to run 2:45 or better in the 1000, and under 1:36 in the 600. In the mile, I would like to run sub 4:50 (qualifying time). If I run a two mile, I think I can run in the 10:40 range.