EMass D5

I'm sorry for how rushed this is (I write a lot of these way ahead of time and post them all on the same day), but this morning was very stressful because I could not find my uniform. I ended up having to ask the team captain who no longer runs with us) if I could borrow his, which he luckily agreed. It was frosty and hopelessly windy today, to the point where I lost all feeling in my arms, hands, and ears during our warm-up run. And it was even worse during our strides because of how tired they made me, despite that they always felt easy in practice, but I shrugged it off as part of how nervous I was. The boys team had a reasonable chance of making it to the Mass All-State Championships at Stanley Park. It was all dependent on our 5th and 6th finishers (Brendan and Sam). When the gun went off, I bolted; my nerves all shot out adrenalin at the same moment. I felt great my first two laps (it was the first runners high I had ever had during a race). I crossed the one mile mark at 5:28 and the two-mile mark at what I thought was a 12:05 unknowing that the clock was 50 seconds fast. Because I thought I was so slow, I ran my heart out the last mile; I could feel my exhaustion catching up as I closed in on the last 800 meters. I kicked as hard as I could, passing 10 people before crossing the finish line at 17:14. Only losing to my top teammate by 6 seconds and beating Vincent by 28. I was met with hugs and high-fives from my parents and teammates. I was surprised at how I ran so fast despite feeling good for the vast majority of the race. The best news is that my top teammate, Tyler, Vincent, and I are all going to All-States next week. Unfortunately, neither Brendan nor Sam had a good day and as a result, the boys did not qualify as a team. On the bus ride home, I swear I had heard Vincent crying softly.

Post DCL & Upcoming

Franklin Park has been declared a success with a new record of 17:49 despite my shortage of kicking at the finish. Once again edging out Wayland's top runner by a fair 3 seconds. Although I finished after Vincent today, I still felt refreshed knowing that I am capable of running a sub-18 on a very slow course without killing myself. I noticed I felt so shortened at the end that I had to stop kicking with 100 meters left to go, and had to start up again at the 50 meter mark. I told this to the assistant coach and she said "that means you ran well." Even though I am excited that I ran what I did, there is still some disappointment about missing the all-school halloween assembly, it confused me on why this meet had to be on a Friday, when every other year it had been on a Wednesday. At least now I will get two more weeks off from meets while preparing for what is likely my last cross-country race of my high school career, the Eastern Mass Division 5 Varsity race in Wrentham, MA. Other than Barnstable, Wrentham is my favorite course even though a lot of people do not like it. Not only is it quick, but has a few small up-and-down hills, which most runners consider to be a disadvantage. For me, they give me an extra step (no pun intended) to pass other runners who have a tougher time with them (I only have a tough time with consistent long and steep hills). The only thing that deeply worries me is that the warm weather is expected to turn cold by the end of next week, and while I usually feel worse running in heat, I always end up running faster due to increased blood flow from a high body temperature.