Daily Note
(2 miles, 8 miles)
AM:
Ran 2 at a good pace
Ran around Alton
Hot outside
Hydrated well
PM:
Ran at Nationals
2-mile warmup (2 miles)
8k race in 25:09 for 55th (7 miles)
1-mile cooldown (8 miles)
Hot outside
Hydrated well
Pre-run drills
6 striders
My nerves really overwhelmed me going into this, however, the thought of failure frightened me so much that I couldn't let myself just give up. Once the gun went off my nerves subsided and I started to become calm as I fought for a good position in the race. The plan was to go out in about 100th place in the first mile and let other runners hurt themselves, I was 97th, right on track with the plan. The next mile the pace picked up by about 10-15 seconds, and I was only able to pass a few people. But in the third mile when we hit another big uphill again, even though the pace slowed down by about 15-20 seconds, I passed about 20 people and made a huge jump in places. The fourth mile was only a little slower, having to deal with the big hill at the start line again and some of the hills in the back of prairie, but I didn't pass as many people as planned. The fifth mile came along, what stood in my way from the finish line was a big hill, a small hill, and about 400 meters of flat right off of the last hill. I ran those two hills smart, passing some people on the big one, then patiently waiting on the second one for gaps to open up. Once I hit the top I picked up the pace to try and kick it in, but I wasn't able to accelerate as fast as I wanted to, until the final 200 when I saw a big group of guys I had finally gotten to the fast pace that I wanted, and blew past about 10 of the guys in the group. After reflecting on this race, I need to work on becoming mentally stronger when I'm under pressure, I also need to work on knowing where I belong in a race of that level. A big thing I need to do is calming my nerves, which I can do by just getting used to races on that scale.
Another thing that should be taken away from this race is to let it inspire you. Not my race or any one individuals race, but the race as a whole. The level of competition, the noise, the camaraderie and grittiness of the human spirit that is shown, let it be your goal to make it there next year. If we make that our team goal, then we will be able to make it there next year, but first you have to ask yourself, what are you willing to do to get there?