Post Season.

It begins.

90% of the work is over, and we're basically only racing to prove to the other specimens of 3% body fat that we're better than they are. That we sacrificed more, that we WANT it more.

The C-M-S post season consists of 4 meets. Multi-Duals, Conference, West Regionals, and Nationals. Everyone runs the first 2 meets, but only the top 7 get to run Regionals, and only then if you do well there are you blessed to run at nationals.

Multi-Duals was last weekend. It's a unique sort of race. What happens is that everyone in the conference races each other, but it's scored out like a dual meet. It's a little difficult to explain, to I'll let the link do that for you.

For those who don't know, scoring works as such - each team scores their top5 runners. 6 & 7 can displace the runners from other schools, but they don't score themselves. So, 15-50 is a perfect score. It means you went 1-2-3-4-5-(6)-(7), and they had 8-9-10-11-12-(13)-(14). You could put a million people before the other teams 1st runner, and it would still only score out 15-50, because only 6 & 7 can displace.

Multi-Duals were held at La Mirada park, about an hour West of the Claremont Colleges.

The course is renowned for its difficulty. Enormous hills. 1 insanely steep fucker that is impossible to move up any faster than 7min pace, and another than is solidly steep but significantly longer.

Both of those. Twice. Plus the reverse of a long downhill to start the race. Just brutal, especially over the 8k distance.

But this is Multi-Duals. Time literally means nothing. It's place. Place means everything.

Today, I'm worried about 2 things. First, is placing in relation to other teams within my expectations. There are 110ish runner in the race, and anything worse than 15th would be considered a failure.

Second, my place on the team. As these two races (Multi's and Conference) are the essentially the deciding factors in the Regional and ultimately National squad, top7 is also a must.

Now, it may sound odd that I'm worried about being top7 on my team if 15th is the lowest I want to finish in the race. That means that our team's top7 are on par with the rest of the conference combined, right?


Right.


My task isn't an easy one it seems.


Runners have their strengths and their weaknesses just like (and likely moreso) than all other sports. My strengths are speed, speed endurance, and maintaining a rhythm on smooth courses. Hills aren't the problem, as long as they are gradual and the ground isn't too chopped up.

La Mirada......does not play to my strengths.

The hills are brutal. They sap the speed out of the legs. The ground is choppy, wet, slick, and muddy. It cuts the stride, throwing it off balance.

My task isn't an easy one at all it seems.

The wait is the worst I think to myself as I step off the bus. It's raining slightly. The dew is still on the grass as the teams set up their tents. It'll probably still be there when the race starts, when it ends. When we run.

I shuffle into my pre-race routine. That is - anything that wastes time. Just to calm me down slow my nerves. Yes, this course doesn't fit me. Yes, on paper I'm in a bad spot. But just because I'm not GREAT at something doesn't mean I'm not GOOD at it. Right? Right??.....

Convincing yourself on a foggy Saturday morning is a hard thing to do. La Mirada means "look" in Spanish. It's as if the course is taunting me. LOOK AT ME it says. LOOK what you have gotten yourself into. LOOK at the pain you are about to go through, just to fail. Just to disappoint yourself. LOOK. AT. ME.

No, no. Out. GET OUT.

I'm shaken by my own thoughts. No time, no time. I'm at the starting line. Not the right mental state to be in. Strides are done. We come in for final instructions. Finals words.

The thoughts of our team chanting together still ringing in my ears.

WE LIVE

AS ONE

WE RUN

AS ONE

EVERY DAY

AS ONE

EVERY MORNING

AS ONE

WE ARE

AS ONE

AS one

As one

as one....

I'm in the lead at the half mile. The leaders are timid to take it out. They watch each other as I float along. I don't like the huge packs of cross country. It's too dangerous. They can watch each other for as long as they want.

We're just passing the 1 1/2 point. There's no mark, but I know where it is. I'm sitting in 13th, right where I want to be. I'm relatively comfortable, sitting as our 6th/7th guy, just cruising with a teammate. Holding form as I try not to think about the pain that is to come. Focus on NOW.

We take a sharp right hand turn and I wipe my brow as I go by. I plant with my right foot as I turn...right. Mistake. It catches nothing. I'm in the air, horizontally. I hit the ground hard and roll, mud once spattered now caked along my right side. get up Get Up GET UP GET UP NOW

I'm trying to catch the pack but my legs are slow to respond. I count and I've (literally) fallen back into 17th within half a mile, as our 9th guy.

Not. Good.

I fight my way back. mile 3, 16th. Still 9th guy.

Mile 3.5, 15th, 8th guy.

Mile 4, 13th, 6th guy.

The last enormous hill is about 800m away from the finish. Literally the worst place to put a hill. We push up it. I move away from the Occidental runner that I'm with. A teammate passes me. I pass 2 teammates.

Turn right. Watch your feet. Finish. That's all I can muster to think.

It's over. I'm 12th. Our 5th guy. Our team didn't run the best race, but we won. 7-0.

One more like that, and it's on to Regionals.

Then Nationals. The thought gets me excited.

You're not there yet......

Go away. I'll be there.

If you fail next week.....

I won't.

Cross Country STRENGTH

My biggest weakness as a runner is undoubtedly my lack of strength over long distances. Guys who I would mop up on the track shitcan me on the daily over anything longer than 2k. So, my plan this summer was simple.

Run long distance, early and often. Up the mileage.

Now, there's a fine balance during summer training between the amount of miles one runs and the quality of said miles. If you do too much long miles, you may not get the speed you desire by the end of the season. If you do too much interval & tempo work, you may not get the endurance you want by the end of the season.

Well, I threw out a gamble this summer. I banked on my natural speed and just did as much volume as I could possibly handle. 75 mile weeks were my cap it seemed, as I could barely manage that. From a normal persons perspective, that's a lot. From a collegiate athletes perspective, that's a normal workload. Hence why I've been a bit behind these previous 4-5 years.

When I came into the season, I was totally devoid of any strength. The top guys were running 1k intervals in 2:46-7, and I was running them in 3:03-4, back at about 16th. They were doing tempo runs after long hard days in 23-4 minutes when I was doing them in 25-26. I was tired, beat, and my early grades suffered a bit.

But I had faith. My legs were 'empty' in terms of hard work, and I trusted that the rigorous program set out by Coach Goldhammer would get me there in time.

As we went through the season, I was running pretty well for my own right. I set bests here and there, I even ran 25:54 which is a huge personal best for me. Around the middle of the season, I was running those same 1k loops in 2:54-5, hanging around 10th-11th on the team. I was doing those long, 10mile hard runs at around the same placement as well.

And the work kept coming. Push today, catch my stride, workWorkWORK. Throw up maybe. Ice daily maybe. Stay injury free. It'll come. It'll come.

Please come in time.

And about a week ago, something clicked. Those 1k loops were now 2:45-47. I was up with the top few. I even LED a couple reps. Staying close on tempo runs, running 23:54 for my tempo, which I ran in 25:14 earlier.

Drifting along the grass at 5:35 pace, feeling like a dream. Smooth. SO smooth. It's coming together nicely.

And hey, this Cross Country shit doesn't feel too bad after all.