AM:
BYU. Warmed up about 2 miles. Strides and cheer with the team.
Didn't get a good start. Didn't feel warmed up enough. Once to the softball diamond I started to feel more warmed up and found where the Davis girls were. I used the downhill to catch up to them, then tried to stick with them. Mile was exactly what I wanted it to be, a 5:50. 2nd mile I slowed down too much, to a 6:44. Really it was once I fell off, again. I don't think I was focused enough and wasn't really in the right mindset. When the pain came (again about 1.25 into it) I didn't push through like I should've. 3rd lap/ mile I really lost focus and couldn't get myself to match people. It felt like 50 people passed but I know there's no way that many did. Bill said it looked like I had weights in my shoes, at least that's how I was running. I really just lost it mentally. Holy freaking 7:04. Coming back up for the last time I told myself I needed to start kicking, 600(ish) left. Got myself to pick it up 500(ish) left. Going along the grass above the track I picked it up a tiny bit more, and coming on the track I didn't think I just did. I used the downhill and it got my feet going, found myself actually kicking! It surprised me, but I liked that I was passing people. So I kept going. 200 left, I heard someone yelling for me to kick and I think it was Bill but I'm not sure, but I thought, why not go faster? So I did, pretended it was a speed workout and I needed to finish the interval. The last 300 was 57 seconds. I think that's the best finish I've had for Cross Country ever. And I bet it was a better kick than most of my track races last year.
Overall I was disappointed with my race. I wish the second mile I would've stayed tougher and worked when I needed to. If I could have brought that second mile down I bet the third would have felt a heck of a lot better because I would have been with the right people and would have been able to work with them. I am really happy with my finish though, now I know what it's like to kick and what it takes for me to start kicking. Maybe this race wasn't a good one, but I learned things that will help me for future races. I was also kind of tired before racing, probably because of the mileage this week. But I'm excited for State when we lower the mileage because this year I know it will actually work. I have been consistent with my mileage unlike all the other years and will continue to do so. I know it works for me too because whenever we dropped from high mileage during track sophomore and junior year I would have some of my best races. So I'm excited to finally do it during cross country.
Cooled down until I got to 10.
PM:
3 miles. Felt better than I did this morning, probably because it wasn't so hot. 7:33 average pace.
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