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CCCLXXV

September 21, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
The lovely Oatlands Invitational took place today. Due to risk of rain and thunder storms, the schedule got squashed together, making our (Sam, Griffin, Noah, Aidan, Tristan and me) race at 10:15. The arrival filled me with memories of last year's meet, only, to our delight the weather was probably 15 degrees cooler and cloudy. After jogging 2.5 miles of the course, dropping our bags and sitting around for a little while, we watched the JV upperclassmen race and the varsity girls (in which all seven of our girls finished 2 minutes apart!). Finally the time came to warm up, and we jogged another 5 minutes and went into drills, all taciturn. When we had made our final trips to the bathroom and completed moving dynamics, it was time to go to the line; I felt a few, foreboding raindrops hit me on the way over. My new Saucony Carrera spikes, which, I admit feel far more comfortable than the Nike Victories gave me some confidence, but my quads and hamstrings were undoubtedly sore. Having screamed run good twice and heard the starting shot gun, we set off with about 400 others. All the others quickly disappeared and I found myself alone, stuck behind a massive throng of bodies, but running with good form. I absolutely hammered the downhills and managed to get by a fair number of people in the first mile, at which point Mark told me 5:32. Relieved, I pushed the next quarter and went through the woods and up "The Hill" watching everyone around me decelerate. As I approached the 2-mile mark Jason yelled "keep working, keep your head up" where I heard 11:29 (first ever 3200m time) from an unknown voice. Now I employed the strategy of counting how many people I could pass, losing count quickly, but I think I caught about 10. The third mile definitely the most challenging, but my morale increased when I heard Sam yell 14:34 at 2.5. The next quarter I pushed, but felt quite weak during the last, hilly 400m. I forgot that the race virtually ended as soon as one turned the corner at 3 miles. But I had absolutely enjoyed the course, the conditions and the competition. I added up the cooldown and running around to cheer for people.