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Hey everyone!
The 2011 cross country season is officially underway! I hope everyone had a great week of training and enjoyed their first regular season race.
As a senior, I'm realizing that there are a lot of "lasts" that you encounter as the year progresses. Some of these "lasts" are more significant than others, such as the last race on my home course. The Maranacook course is undoubtedly challenging, to say the least, with numerous hills and trails that are rough and filled with holes and roots. By now, my teammates and I are accustomed our course's ruggedness, so by race day, most of our complaints about it have subsided. I can not, however, say the same for the visiting teams, who described it as "awful" and "pretty crappy."
When the gun went off, I surged just a little to get ahead of the field before settling into a steady pace. Coming into my first race, I decided that I would experiment with a new race strategy. I usually blast out of the start like a rocket, run a fast first mile, and then try to hang on for the remainder of the race. But this year, I thought I could maybe run faster if I attempted a more even pace. Starting out conservatively, I took my time up the hills and used the flats and down hills to gain speed. I went through the first mile in 6:22, just two seconds off my target pace. The second mile, though, contains more down hill sections than the first, so I knew that would be the mile to focus on. After the major hill at the beginning, I quickened my pace for the rest of the mile and ran my first negative split! The third mile begins with a long, gradual hill before going back downhill to the finish, although the last 600 meters or so is slightly uphill. These uphill sections are where I slowed my pace, which caused my third mile to be my slowest. Accelerating to the finish, I glanced at the clock as it changed from 19:59 to 20:00, which was a little disappointing because my goal was sub-20. I finished in 20:07, though, not far off my goal time and good enough for first place. I just wished that I had pushed the third mile a little more, because I felt pretty good when I finished.
Hovering by the finish chute and eyeing the clock, I waited anxiously for my teammates. I was thrilled to see two of my teammates, Caroline and Hannah, finish in sixth and seventh, respectively. Caroline is a remarkable runner who didn't get a lot of opportunities to train this summer, so it was nice to watch her get back into racing mode again. Olivia, our number four runner, also had a fantastic race, finishing in 15th. Our girls' team effort earned us a second place finish!
Overall, my last race on my home course was memorable--a good team effort, a successful attempt at a new race strategy, and, as always, plenty of course complaints from opponents.
-Abby Mace
