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CDVIII

October 26, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Sunny, 50s, PERFECT

Comments:
I never thought I'd cry at a cross country meet. We ran MAC Championships at Bullis, perhaps the best day of my running career thus far (and we still have THREE MORE RACES)! I watched Cool Runnings with the team at school the night before and tried to remove all the pressure and negative thoughts from my mind. This day had occupied a large place there since Sunday night. Everything felt completely normal and fresh. I saw this as just another race. Our varsity girls got third in the ISL and fourth in JV. Our freshmen sophomore boys dominated, with Josh and Harrison going 2,3! Gabe easily won the JV race, closely followed by Kravitz and Sam Klein, the latter of whom came in at 19:35. Their efforts got us the first two boys races. When 11:45 rolled around it came time for Sam, Aidan, Tristan, Jackson, Matt, Frankie and me to warmup. Although I wore five layers, it still took quite a while to get warm. We did our little tempo around the Bullis track after our drills, spiked up and went to the soccer field, doing four striders there, then the other four at the line, where Evan showed up and wished me luck. Jason kept yelling, "Showtime, baby!" And it seemed like people were cheering even though no race was taking place. Right before we started, I took one last look at Sidwell's squad two starting boxes away from us, and remembered my (Anthony's) plan, thinking about how badly I'd beat them. Of course, they went out ahead; I almost panicked when I saw Frankie and Jackson in front of me for the first 200m and next to me for another 200m. Then I realized how hard they were breathing and relaxed. This did not last long, however, because as we ran by the second soccer field, Mark stated, in a way that only Mark could say, "You need to move up." A few quick steps later, Jason castigated me: " LIAM, STOP PLAYIN' AROUND!" I will do summarily, Jason. As we entered the woods, I passed a few more, but still heard the freshmen's breathing close behind me. Going up the hill toward mile 1, Sam Klein screamed, "Liam, you need to work, we're not winning this!" Upon reaching the mile mark, I heard 5:26 and thought I was moving right on schedule. On one of the first downhills, I realized my solitude, but pulled closer to some Potomac guys, passing them and another Sidwell as we crossed the extreme edges of the parking lot next to the trailer. Descending another hill, I heard from Anthony that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to, but I needed to keep myself from "getting stale." I came to the next incline, as Jason gave me the incredibly useful advice that I should keep working. I was coming closer and closer to Sidwell's Campbell and Ben Charo. I may be mistaken, but I heard one of their coaches say 10:38 at the two mile mark and a different coach 10:39 for someone behind me. Thinking it was going well, I calmed my nerves again and honestly, shamefully thought, "Well, I only need a 6:00 to PR." But the desire to beat Sidwell returned and as we ran by the football practice field, I actually became giddy with the thought of freaking those two guys out. I did away with Charo quickly, but knew Campbell (to whom I would lose by three seconds, my only regret of the day) would prove more difficult. I battled with him back around the first loop, Jason bellowing at me all the time. I attempted to put together a good kick and Anthony told me, as others had a few hundred meters back, "This is the difference right here." I must have passed Armbruster, but do not recall doing so. I saw Boardman just up ahead as we turned into the final straightaway. I felt quite guilty passing him as he was clearly not doing well. Elated that the clock read 16, I finished the race and clumsily groped toward Aidan and Tristan. The next thing I knew, Darren removed my chip and for some reason A LOT of people were congratulating me. I tried to get the others to cool down, but we could only manage a jog back to the MHUT to put on our sweats. We watched (and participated a bit) in the awards ceremony, in which I got my first, major individual running award for coming in seventh. We stood in a long line as the announced the scores and I positively started bawling when I heard that Sidwell got second. Days like today are why I run. Ran good!