Warmed up with Kramer and Elijah(great to be teamates with these guys, they are great athletes who are also great people) for about a mile and a half. I got my spikes, they were newer than the ones I used last week so my feet weren't going to hurt. I ran my race plan perfect for about the first 2.25 miles. I started out slow, in the back, and then slowly passed people. I came across the 800m slower than wanted, and started to pass people. I was pushed by some kid from the Northeast a bunch from behind, and I ran into Garrett, which sucked because we both almost went down. I had some trouble passing people that first mile, but knew it wasn't the end of the race. I was hurting more than last year. I came across the mile at 4:54, slower than wanted (goal:4:50, last year: 4:52).
I pushed the hill, and then stayed in a good spot. I was 5 sec. from the lead pack most of the race. I came down the hill fast, and then started having fun passing a lot of people. I stayed within striking distance of the front pack, who had started to break away. I was 7:20s at the 1.5 mile mark. Right where I wanted to be. The gap started growing though(Joe Hardy finally took the lead), and so at the two mile mark I had to start pushing it more to catch up.(Two mile:9:54, last year:10:00) I passed Thomas(my roomate, who take 7th at his regional, and took 13th, and became All-American), and then started passing Aaron.
Aaron was who I thought would win the race for sure, but he was struggling. I saw I was in 10th, and Aaron was right next to me, and started to pass me. I quickly made a move to hold him off, and tried to catch Joe who was falling off the pack. I passed him, but that wasn't enough. Joe won't give up. We came up the hill, and Joe had passed me again(just like Zach Perrin last year. almost exactly!). I passed him after the hill, and then cruised the downhill. I blew past the two northeast guys, and I just was trying to hold Joe off. With 200 meters left, Joe passed me, and I sprinted with him(like Zach last year), but he outsprinted me and two others, getting my goal of top-5 (Just like Zach Perring last year with top-10, although that wasn't my overall goal.) I passed Blair in the last 50m, and just tried to hold him off. Elijah beat me by less than a second, and Joe beat me almost by two.
Overall, I'm good with this race, but not 100% satisfied. It was a good race, and it hurt a lot, but I had a lot of sprinting left at the end and know I could've placed better if I made a move to catch the front pack instead of just Joe. It was a great experience, and I look forward to it next year. The west team destroyed the team title. We had 2(John, who was hit in the last 100 meters by the winner and pushed off balance), 3(Matt Maton), 5(Joe), 6(Elijah, who made a big statement after not making it last year), 7(me), 8(Blair), 12(Trevor), 14(Garrett), 16(Levi, who was sick), and 23(Kramer, who didn't have his best race. He was beating me at the start of the season, so he probably would have been top-10 if he had his race.) After I cooled down with John, and then we ran about 3 miles on the beach when we got back to the hotel.
Another thought, I just want to say thank-you to everyone whose encouraged me and helped me along the way. My parents and coaches have done so much, so I just want to thank them also.
| 