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PSB Invite

September 15, 2012 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
I was very tired last night, and tired this morning. Felt pretty sore in the legs when I woke up. After milling around I felt better, but my hamstring was still pretty sore overall. Not really what I wanted. I got to rest in the front seat on the drive down, and felt pretty comfortable. The weather was great out this morning, nice and cool, good to wear warmups. As we got to Erie though, there was a huge rain cloud sitting over the school. Classic... It never actually rained but it kept the temp nice and the weather perfect for raining. We got there with enough time to set up and get to the bathroom. Met up with Pops in the parking lot and we walked up to the top of the hill. The course was situated on two planes, there was a top portion and a lower portion that looped around the baseball fields. For the warm up we tried to go around the whole course and check it out, but there were high school kids running on it and we didnt want to get in their way. That left the wooded section unseen, and mysterious. On the warm up I felt ok, def hot with all the clothes. I put a liberal amount of Ben Gay on my hammy then put the sleeve on. It was a little tight on the warm up, kinda like the other easy runs. When we got back from the warm up, I kept stretching and rolling to keep it as loose as possible. The meet was kinda running behind schedule since the girls got off late. That gave us more time to put on shoes and stay loose. Still, got to the line in perfect timing for drills and striders. The other kids on the line were such scrubs it seemed, I thought that we looked a lot more professional... My hammy wasnt really bothering me at that time. I didnt let it get to my head and forgot about it. Honestly didnt do much mental preparation for the race. I knew I just had to go in there and run hard.

We were way off the the right side of the start line. As we all merged into go down the first hill, we didnt have great position. I was on the road actually, clicking and clacking. Once we hit the flat though, a good group of me Gabe Sergio Austin and Alex and maybe Dong all packed up and got a good position before heading into the woods. We held tight there, not letting people pass at all. Once we got out of the woods though, that was go time since we were kinda in the back in an odd spot. Me Gabe and Alex started moving up, and Alex actually took the lead of the pack when we came back down the hill. We had a few more people to pick off there. Once we came out of the woods a second time, I surged up to the front of the pack we were chasing down at the ball fields. Alex and I passed them, and I started to pull away from Alex actually on the straight away. I really started to feel good at this point and kept pushing up. Some kid in a black jersey passed me on the down hill, and I knew he couldnt get away from me, so around the fields for the last time I went hard to catch him and get around before the woods. At that point, there was a 10sec gap in front and a 10 sec gap behind me. THat kinda sucked, I didnt really pick it up or slow it down in no mans land, just tried to kep my position. I guess I was in 13th at that point. It was gonna be a big surge to get to that next pack, but since I couldnt see him, I couldnt gauge the surge. I was also getting tired in the legs and wanted to be done. I did pick it up a fair amount in that part, and was a bit closer to the next pack (or the kid that fell of that pack) at the finish. It wasnt the strongest finish/sprint since I didnt have anyone near me, but I finished a pretty solid race overall.

I was satisfied with my race. Close to PR time and a tougher course, and I took control of my pace and my placement when I needed to. At pretty much every point I felt controlled and strong and confident. Moved up through out the race too. Also, didnt get nervous or let my hammy effect me at all. I didnt like that last lap since I was alone, but I felt like I could have gone. My legs were tired and weak, but my cardio felt so strong.

Did a nice little cool down on the top of the hill. Hammy was tighting up there, but whatevs I raced well. We stopped over at the awards just in time to rake up the swag. Shirts would have been cool, but 59 cent medals are even more badass. Team did sick today too. I thought we could place a little higher, but a 45 sec spread or whatever and most people in the 27s is real legit. Also happy that Dad got to make it out and see my run a good race for once lol.

Essentials: Stretch roll

Didnt get much stretching and all in after the race actually since we rolled out to go to Wendys. I rolled a bunch though and will stretch through out the night to stay fit for a long run tomorrow