ENTRY #6
The end of one season is the beginning of the next. Although my cross country season ended on Saturday with New Englands, I like to think the next cross country season begins now. A runner can never plan out goals and ideas for a season too far in advance.
Three weeks ago was the state meet, and it feels like it was just yesterday. I was extremely nervous for this meet because it was the crux of the season and the most important meet we trained to peak for. Many miles and hours worth of effort are spent everyday throughout the three months, just to be given one shot, five kilometers, or 20 (give or take 2) minutes to race the state meet. Perhaps that seems like a lot of pressure, but luckily one race does not define an entire season.
The day before the state meet, since my coach was held up at a meeting, we took over and established a new annual pre state meet tradition which consisted of overly enthusiastic runs through unusual places. Our level of excitement was definitely high for the next day, and things were looking bright.
The state meet was emotional. Personally, I had a fine race. I was expecting to run with a large pack, but to my surprise things were a bit more spaced out. I even managed to run more controlled splits than in the past. But, team-wise, things were rough. Late the night before we found out our number two (but sometimes number three) would not be running the next day. So, heading into the race we were down a key runner. It was a shock, and we all (including our # 2) tried to not allow that to get to our heads, but that same excitement we generated the day before had diminished, and even a couple of my teammates were beginning to lose hope in winning the state title or qualifying for New Englands. The #2 runner of course never wanted us to lose hope, so for the most part, everyone bounced back for the race with the thought that it was our job to step it up just for her. After I completed the race, I hung around at the finish anticipating the finish of my teammates. I was impressed with them all. But after a few minutes, one runner still had not finished. It was a DNF. My team was sad, not because it hurt our chances of winning, but because over the past three months we all became extremely close and to see one of us not finish is hard because we all understand how important racing is to us. So, we finished that race without two of our top five runners, definitely not the ideal state meet roster, but to our surprise we placed second and qualified for New Englands. I was extremely happy to hear that our team would have one more race together.
New Englands was a fun and intense race. This year my start was not as fast and aggressive as the year before which allowed me to pass a handful of people throughout the race. Then, with roughly 400 meters to go I was in 24th place and knew it since I heard numerous shouts. But, someone passed me. And then with less than 100 meters left another girl attempted to pass me, and I knew if I let her then I would not make top 25. So, I somehow managed to sprint even faster and the two of us, being neck and neck, caught up to that other girl who passed me not too long ago, and the three of us crossed the finish line at the same time. At the end I realized I placed either 24th, 25th, or 26th, but I had no idea which. So, I still went to the awards ceremony, knowing I may or may not be awarded. Sitting there right before announcing top twenty five was a frightening moment. Yet, I placed 24th and I felt relieved. In the end, it was only .08 seconds separated us three. My team also managed to have a good day placing 22nd, but most importantly we had our entire varsity team finish the race, which I found was the best way to finish the season. As most seasons, our season had a fair share of ups and downs, but it was definitely an exciting one.
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I hope everyone enjoyed the cross country season. Good luck in the upcoming winter season, and good luck to those running Footlockers in a couple of weeks!
