Club Nats

Saturday, December 8th

USATF Club National XC Championships
10K - 31st Place - 32:47

So here's my rundown of the weekend...

I have to say it was a weekend of mixed emotions. Prior to the race, I was constantly going back and forth between being extremely excited that I would be racing some of the best athletes this country has to offer and seeing how I measure up, to feeling terrified of getting out there for the same exact reasons. This is a usual mixture that I would get at a big race, obviously heightened at this level.

The race itself was like nothing I've ever experienced... 450 runners slinging themselves through 6-8 inches of mud while trying to stay upright and not get trampled by everyone around you. At certain points in the race, I was going as hard as my body could fathom and probably would not be under 5:10 pace. I consider myself a strength runner and pretty powerful, meaning I have a long stride and I use a lot of force with each strike of my foot. In this stuff, that all seems to just go away. My legs were working harder than usual and seeing less result. After 3 miles, my legs were extremely heavy as the lactic acid filled them quickly and all I could do was just hang on, trying not to lose any spots. In the 5th and 6th miles, I made several attempts to move up and catch what seemed to be a sea of runners in front of me. I knew that 20th place could only be a maximum of 80 meters ahead of me, yet it seemed an impossible distance to make up. As it was, it would take me a good half mile to close a 10 meter gap with some of these guys.

As I'm writing this, I realize this sounds like I'm complaining about the race and will finish by saying I wasn't happy with how it went. That's not what I'm trying to say at all. I am actually very happy with my race and I think it is about where I should have been in that field. What I am trying to say is it's not the race feeling that I had envisioned in my mind those thousands of times in workouts and long runs over the last several months. I would always picture myself in a great deal of pain, but running down athletes and pushing past people at a fast paced rhythmic aggression, not inching by someone at 5:20 pace and feeling like my feet were giant suction cups. So to sum things up, I am happy with my race and know that I ran hard the whole way, not giving up anywhere along the way. However, I never felt that rush of excitement that I so longed for, that thrill that I thought I'd have while hanging onto a pack of runners in the last mile, flying around the turns and sailing into the finish chute feeling that I had just pushed my body to the absolute limit.

Also in a race where there are so many people and the places are so close together, a good runner can never be fully satisfied unless he wins the race. Knowing that top 20 was 16 seconds away and top 10 was 30 seconds away, being able to see these people just a few yards in front of you after 10 kilometers of shifting back and forth... you just can't help but think, "I could have picked that up somewhere on the course", "I could have worked just a little bit harder to go around that guy in the 5th mile", and so on.

Other emotions throughout the day included extreme spikes of excitement and admiration for our NB Boston ladies. These women are truly incredible. I had to restrain myself from blowing all my energy during their race as I watched Erin and Jess charge up into the front pack. I've seen up close what these ladies have done this year and I know how hard they had to work to get here. I am proud to say that the women were 2nd as a team and Erin and Jess placed 5th and 7th respectively. I simply cannot praise these women enough.

The rest of the evening kept with the theme of emotional swings with such moments as meeting new people and having great conversations with other northeast connections... witnessing a guy get thrown against a wall and tasered... singing along with Journey and Jon Bon Jovi... having to leave the party early because of drunk idiots and over aggressive cops, forcing us to drive around for an hour trying to find a place to continue the party... spending time with Mark and Katie at the hotel and bar...... followed by other happenings that would leave me in various states of turmoil as the evening came to an end and the rapidly approaching morning flight was just a few short hours away.

Since returning from Ohio this afternoon, I've had a couple good phone calls that have helped iron out some of these emotional spikes, but still leave me feeling that there was something to be desired in West Chester, Ohio. Something that we'll have to remedy in the near future.

Looking ahead, I'm taking a little break here before indoor and then starting up again with a new season and possibly a new format to the blog.

Stay tuned.