You've got to want it to win it

This morning there was rain at our hotel in Moscow, but not at the course in Colfax which was awesome!  And the wind wasn't even that bad either.  With an hour before start time, we started our warmup.  We ran a little longer today because it was a little chilly, but also because we had the extra time.  We did our strides and warmup drills before going to our tent to put on our spikes.  The tents are really fancy, they each have a portable heater in the middle and a porta-potty for each team at the back of the tent.  We had to be on the line 15 minutes early, so we had plenty of time for strides.  Mack told me to remember to whisper to people as I passed them.  I knew she meant my teammates, and encouraging words, but I joked that I would say to girls from other teams, "I had a baby this year", as I ran by.  Too giggly for the start line.  I had to make myself not think of that when we were lined up for the gun so that I wouldn't lose it.  The boxes were wide enough for us to start in two rows of 5.  Which was actually really awesome because it helped us get out together.  Also because we were in box 1, so no one was to our left, and the first turn on the course was left.  We did a great job sticking with each other, and there was a group of 7 of us together at the k.  By the end of the first 2k loop, I was running next to Shay.  We just focused on keeping up with each other, knowing that we would be able to find our rhythm and work together to pass anyone we could.  The first big place to make a move for us was on the second lap, just after making the turn so that the wind would be to our backs.  When this part was coming up, I called to the team that the time to go was now.  I didn't see Shay after that point, but I knew Andrea was with me, and suspected that Jess was probably nearby as well.  It was from here on that Andrea and I helped push and pull each other along, as we switched places many times.  My 3k split was 10:20, so I knew that I had a good chance of finally breaking 21, if the second half went well.  Going into the third lap, Andrea had passed me and gotten momentum on the one downhill (it is literally a bump, not really a hill but it is enough to give you a rush going down it for the 3 steps) and caught a few girls.  I followed in her footsteps, and passed the same girls.  I ran by her side again, and kept giving her encouraging words and together we kept passing people.  Again when we got to the part where we turned and the wind was at our backs, Andrea had a good position to pass some more people.  I was boxed in, but once outside the curve I was able to pass the same people and run with Andrea again.  During that stretch of the course, Jess caught up to me and I could tell that she was really tired, but I tried to pull her along with me and work with Dre as well.  At this point, we could hear spectators from other teams saying "You've gotta get Utah" to their athletes, so I knew that we must have looked good and were wearing the targets on our backs.  We kept going, and focused on catching the people that the coaches said we would need to in order to place well as a team.  Mack pointed at an ASU girl and said I needed to catch her, and I was getting tired at this point, so I thought to myself that maybe on this one I would say "I had a baby this year", but it wasn't as funny in my mind as it was on the starting line, since I was really tired.  But I caught her, and Andrea caught her, and I'm pretty sure Jess caught her too.  Going around the corner with about 600 to go, Mack told me to catch 2 purple.  They seemed so far away, but I did my best to close the gap.  I caught another girl or two going up to the hill, and then there was some space between me and the next girls.  But I could tell I was gaining distance, and I caught one purple girl before finishing.  And I finally broke 21!!!!!! And so did Andrea!!!!!!  I was 39th, she was 41st, and Jess was 45th, also getting a PR.  If I am not mistaken, there were 7 maybe 8 PRs on the team today :) And we met our goal of having our top 5 in the top 45! And as a team, we took 5th!!! A huge improvement from the 9th place finish last year, and our first time placing in the top half of the conference.  It is amazing what can be accomplished with teamwork.  I can't imagine a better way to have ended my final Pac-12 championships for cross country.  

For cooldown I did 3.5.  I was exhausted and had a hard time keeping up with the team, and my foot was really starting to hurt.  I didn't notice it during the race, but it sure hurt a lot afterwards.  I iced it on the way to Lewiston in the car.