Follow Cape Elizabeth HS distance star Liam SImpson as he blogs about his senior xc season. Simpson was one of the top xc runners in Class B last fall finishing 6th and leading his team to the state title. Liam was 33rd in the New England meet last fall, and is the 9th fastest returner in the region. Check out Liam in his quest to lead his team to another state title.
With two meets under our belt so far, It’s safe to say the the 2013 cross country season has officially began and is beginning to gain even more momentum. The first meet of our season was our home meet, one that we always look forward to. I was especially looking forward to this meet because I knew that it would be the last time I raced on our home turf. After a successful summer of hard training, I also thought that I might be able to clock a fast time, to put me up toward the top of the course’s list of times with such legendary names as Matt Rand and Graham Egan. However, due to the heat, humidity, and it being the first race of my season I only managed to run a 16:03 for the 3 miles. Still good for 12th on the list, but not anywhere close to what I had hoped to run. This somewhat disappointing first meet only provided motivation for me to redeem and prove myself throughout the larger and more important meets throughout the season.
Our second meet was wet, muddy, and 2.8 miles short. The Lake Region course was one that no one on the team had run before, and being that it was not a full length course, our coach made the decision to have our varsity top 7 run it as a modified tempo run, having the first 10 minutes of the race be at tempo pace and the remaining 5-6 mins be all out. Thinking that this race would be easy and over rough terrain perhaps not suitable for spikes, I brought road racing flats to race in instead. Upon arriving in the pouring rain at the soggy, grass and mud covered course, I realized that that was a major mistake. Other than not having proper footwear, the tempo/race went quite well. I managed to take the slippery turns softly enough to avoid falling on my face, and I think the wet run in the rain provided a good workout. The rest of our team also ran well and we managed to take home the win, so we all considered it a success.
In two weeks, our first big, important meet of the season takes place at the Manchester Invitational. We hope to prove ourselves against some of the best talent in the region, and set ourselves up for further big-meet success during the remainder of the season.
I hope everyone else is enjoying their racing and training as much as I am. I’m excited to see some familiar faces as the season comes into full swing and the meets get bigger.
See you on the trails,
Liam
Oh and shout out to Kyle because he told me to
