I didn't get the best sleep the two nights leading up to the race. This made me more nervous than ever, and I was scared. The morning of I woke up at 3:50, and couldn't fall back asleep. I ate a little cereal and a banana, read a book for english, and then get my stuff ready.
Warmed up with Alex about 50 minutes out. We ran some, then my dad (who surprised me and came to the race:)) brought our spikes and stuff to the start line. We stretched, and it was freezing! Rainy, and cold. Who thought California would be like this? They announced it different this year than they used to, so I was able to keep stretching, and stay by my dad so I could give him my shirt when we were close to lining up. We lined up, and Clayson said he forgot his chip. I looked down at his shoe, and then they said runners to your marks, and then the gun went off before I was even ready. I still was able to get out well. I was running, and halfway through the first loop I knew I was in the right spot. It felt easy. On the second loop, Joe Hardy started talking to me, and I talked back. I usually don't have any energy to talk in a race, but I was in the position I wanted to be, and I could talk. interesting.
We came across the mile around 4:54, and then I made a move to catch the leaders on the first part of the hill. This was a mistake, because it was done wrong. I went out too hard at the start of the hill, and quickly was in the front pack. I then just stayed in the same spot for the rest of the hill, and just kept running in the pack. On the downhill I held back too much, and just let people in front of me sometimes, and it still didn't feel like a race. Races hurt like Heck. This didn't hurt. On the second hill, I stuck behind someone, and just kept running. It still wasn't hurting. This is where I probably should've made a move.
Second mile was probably really slow, because then everyone sped up, and the pack was huge. Elijah said something incouraging, and gave me a high five. We ran up the hill, and Matthew and Johnny made moves to get to the front. I should've sped up here. I just kept running the same effort. It was starting to hurt. We hit the track and I was in fourth. I passed Elijah, and tried to keep the lead, but with 100m left my hamstring tightened up, and it hurt quite a bit. I slowed down because it hurt, not because I thought it'd be smart. Elijah, who was already starting to gain ground on me again, passed me and put a full second on me in the last 50 meters. I took 4th again, just 1 second slower this time though.
Good to qualify again, and still have my muscles feel so good. Kramer was 7th again, and Rory ran very well, but bearly missed out on qualifying, and took 11th. My calves and quads feel great, but my hamstrings were tight for the rest of the day, and on Sunday, but now(Monday) they're almost perfect.
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