I have to say, I was not nervous coming into the race today. I guess the stress of running the time trial has (to some extent) numbed me to pre-race anxiety. Our team met an hour before the scheduled start (10:45 am), and began our warm up. We ran about three miles then circled up to stretch. It was pretty quiet; most of the team was mentally preparing for the battle ahead. We were allotted with box six, a space located in the middle of the starting line. About three or four minutes before the race, our team congregated in the box, anxious to get rolling. Some other teams were doing some ridiculous chants, jumping up and down and doing whatever it took to build up some adrenalin. Our team does none of this. Stated in Running with the Buffaloes, Wetmore wants us to be business like in our racing. We do the talking with our feet, not some silly intimidation chant. He offered a story: Clint Eastwood (in some western movie), walked into town, spit on the dog, killed everyone and promptly left. This is how he wants us to operate. Being my first ever collegiate race, I was amazed at the power a pack has. It felt like our team was a congragation of wolves, feeding off each others adrenalin just waiting to be unleashed. The gun went off and a mad dash took place. I did not wear a watch today because I wanted to run based off of feel, not time. By maximizing the use of sensory data, time is minimized. Additionally, this course is so sporatic in mile pacing that watching splits does no good. I settled in and just ran consistently, not getting too excited too early, but also putting the hurt in at the right time. My splits were (5:35, 10:35, 15:51, 21:43, 26:43). I felt much stronger than a month ago, which was shown by my time. I ran almost 35 seconds faster than four weeks ago, finishing with a total time of 26:43. Based off of this performance, I am really hoping to run pre-nats. Wetmore takes the top ten or so runners from the team, and I was number nine. Close, but I will take what I can get. A month ago I wanted to just make the team, much less travel to regional meets. This was an awesome experiece for my first collegiate race, unlike any racing I have ever done. The whole concept of a team really helps you perform to your fullest. I am really grateful to be in the position I am in.
Results: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3955&SPID=260&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=1251879
Race article: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3955&SPID=260&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=1251891 | 