So here is my narrative for the week.
Pre Race: I woke up with the guys at around seven. I was hoping for a little later, but the thermostat was broken and I could hardly sleep in the super bed all night. After eating my traditional canned fruit for breakfast (I had my peaches and toast the morning before), I realized the hotel did not carry the cereal that records are made of, frosted flakes. Thus I had to go on adventure to several gas stations around salt lake to find the breakfast that all pr's are fueled off of. I did find my frosted flakes, and paid a solid $2 for them. Pr's aren't cheap. Anyways, we partyed to some mariachi music (puerto rican gypsy), had an epic rubber band war, and made some coffee. The coffee was not drunk. I had a blast and life was prime. We got to the course, and I was set to make history. I watched a bit of the girls race, and warmed up (i.e. found a bathroom that didn't have a line, it took over 2 miles of running) and headed to the start. I was all the right kinds of nervous. I was set.
Mile 1: Gun goes off and things start out as usual. I get shoved to mid-pack, Luke's ahead of me and I make the first choice to move up. I headed up the first hill and laughed at all the people wearing spikes because spikeless saucony's are so much more legit. I hit the top of the hill and realized I was in oxygen debt and I had a flash back to wasatch (not a good flash back). I quickly regained composure and focused on that allowing myself to relax at the mediocre pace in the pack. I passed a bunch of kids, elbowed a pv kid (sorry, well I mean you did kinda take out Luke at region so we're all good) and eventually found my way up to dhills. I tried really hard not to, but I kinda lost control of form down that first hill, plus weaving in and out of kids on that plateau was not really all that smart. I was still a ways back and I hit The Hill comfortably and passed a bunch of kids cuz hills are bae. I latched on to Josh and Kale and Spencer. (5:15 split?)
Mile 2: This is where I had the most fun I've ever had at a state race. I had a few moments coming off of The Hill that I was totally and completely focused. It was incredible. Again my tactics were weak because I was never content to just sit on Kale and Josh. I found myself going just enough faster or slower that I burned a lot of energy passing or being passed. I moved up well through The Exterminator but I could feel my arms go (not a good sign, bad races happen when I lose my arms). I lost the mental battle right before mile two. I remember the exact moment. Josh had already slipped by a second, and then Kale went by me and I lost my focus, my drive.
Mile 3: It became all about that finish line, counting down the meters. Mr. Mayonnaise, Sage and Mr. Bear passed me and I was just dying. In the perfect race (1600m state track, cedar xc, 2.5 in to dixie xc) I am blasted by the pain but I retain a curtain amount of mental focus to carry me, on pace, preferably past people, to the finish line. I just didn't have that perfect race. On the upside, at 2.5 miles Harris was at The Critical Junction as usual and he told me something ridiculous like to pass 3 people. It was then I regained enough mental composure to pull my race out of the depths of despair and into pure pain mode. I love pure pain mode. It turns my masochist side on. I caught Mr. Mayo and Sage and we battled it out once we entered the stadium. Unfortunately, my unbeatable kick was beatable that day and I went from a possible 16:07 and 7th to a 16:09 and 10th.
Negative Take Away: I didn't have my perfect race that I'd planned and prepared so hard for leading up to it. I believe that with that perfect race I could've gone 15:40's, maybe even faster. That's a little disappointing. I couldn't have prepared any better than I did. I did absolutely everything in my power leading up to that race to have the race I'd dreamed of all season and went it came to crunch time I slipped for 800m. Who knows what made the difference between me and my time vs Josh and his time or Mr. Stansbury and his time.
Positive Take Away: In every respect this race was a miracle. Take a look at my logs in July, I had just hit my first 80 mile week and ran a 4:25 mile. An unprecedented injury occurred of surprising strength taking nearly a month of solid training out of what was shaping up to be a huge break out season (not that this year hasn't been). After recovering and getting back on track with a victory at Dixie I ran into even more difficulties. I struggled for a month with serious depression. I'm not trying to draw attention to myself, but to be perfectly honest, I hit lows that no one should ever be expected feel. The strange thing is, yet again, these struggles were basically uncalled for. There was no real reason to feel the way I did and yet I struggled. The point is, with the help of the Lord, I managed to pull off the fastest time in Cedar High history, a 10th place finish in the fastest 3A race ever, and have one of the best weeks of my life after spending a month of my summer injured and another month depressed. I couldn't ask for more. I am as pleased as anyone with my performance.
Future: My workouts indicate that I'm in for a pretty solid jump in performance sometime here. I am planning on pushing the limits of what's possible through the next 3 weeks building up to NXR and then attempting the impossible and qualifying for nationals. I may be attending Footlocker 2 weeks after or maybe NXN or maybe just rest we'll see how these next 3 weeks of the purest form of pain go :D
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