View Workout (Brandon Hahn)

Return to Log

Conferences

October 29, 2011 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
2 warmup, 3 cooldown. ~28:42 with no idea of splits.

I certainly won't be forgetting this race for a long time. Having never raced in the snow before, it was kind of new to me. But everyone was in the same conditions so I tried to ignore that fact. There was about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground at the start of the race (I estimate) and it was essentially a blizzard. Once I got my warmups off it was rather cold, but I just psyched myself up by yelling and the like. I got out reasonably well, in the top 15-20, right with Max and Budman and behind Haverford's pack. The pack started to move ahead before the 1k mark, but I was still doing ok. As I approached the mile, a pack of 3 Haverford guys moved in front of me. I stayed with them for another 800 meters or so but they pulled away. By this point I could already tell that the lack of traction was making me work much harder than usual. The snow was half-melted and it mixed with the mud to create a difficult running surface. Regardless, I kept it up as we got into the woods. Right after climbing that hill, Dickinson's pack of like 4-5 guys (plus that McDaniel guy Zamostny) moved in front of me. I stayed with them for a couple minutes but the hills were starting to take their toll and I was behind a little cautious on them. After the 4k or so, Repack (Gettysburg) and a couple other people passed me. I stayed behind them through the rest of the woods then passed them back on the massive hill before the 5k. They passed me back during the wooded segment, and around this time Swat's #2 caught me as well. I dug down a little and tried to pick it up on the final hill in the woods, but I didn't gain much ground. After getting out of the woods and having ~3k to go, I moved up another gear and really started moving. I had made it a goal of mine to not bitch out at this point in the race and I wanted to start reeling some people in. I passed a couple guys, and then got into the downhill just before the 6k, at which point I relaxed slightly. Right after this, Austin came up behind me, and then a Dickinson guy passed me. I heard Austin yell something to the effect of "Don't you let that Dickinson guy get away!" and it gave me the spark that I needed to surge again. I passed the guy back and stayed in front all the way over to the backstop (~4 miles in), and I started focusing on catching a few guys in front of me and getting up with Max. I realized that any kind of finishing speed would be neutralized by the conditions so I tried to keep the pace up. Something happened around 1200 to go though, and I started to fade a little. Austin and the Dickinson guy passed me and then I tried to stay with them. I was right behind Austin until about 400 to go when everything started to fall apart. It was an unusual feeling in a race because even though I normally am tired by this point, rarely does my form fall apart. I struggled in until the final straight where I tried to finish as hard as I could.

This was a sub-par race for me, in my opinion. I certainly think I let my team down by not finishing higher. It really bothers me that we lost to Swat by 4 points because I know I could have done that. And if I had stayed with Max maybe I could have helped us both to better races and we would have beat Swat. That being said, I think a few guys on this team really stepped up, and they deserve to be commended.

I hate to complain about the conditions, but I'm not a 120 pound 5k/10k runner (no offense guys), I'm a 145 pound mid-distance guy. I generally run well by generating a lot of power with each stride and getting momentum. That was really hard to do in this race, and I think my performance suffered. It just bothers me because I lost to quite a few people that have no business beating me. If we had beat Swat I would have rated this race "average" and giggled about the snow, but because we lost I have to look at my own performance a little more critically.

Looking ahead: I am 100% sure we are one of the best teams in the Mideast Region. I'm not worried about Swat because we will crush them en route to beating teams that are superior to them. I know that I need to step my game up and race a good race at regionals because my team is counting on me. I didn't come back for a 5th year so I could run a mediocre race at regionals, watch our team finish 6th, and call it a career. I came back to help this team be the best team in Hop history. We have a good game plan for regionals, and the training is in place. Now comes the execution. Getting everyone in the right mindset and ready to run their best race of the season is my goal for the next 10 days, and I need to be as positive as I can regarding this.

I've seen too many HopXC teams come up short at regionals because we lack the confidence to run as a top 3/4/5 team in the region. This year is different. The fluidity in our top 7 is good, but getting the right races at the right time is key. This starts with having the right mindset from here on out. As long as I can help prepare everyone for regionals, I think I have done my part as captain. Of course, I have to run my own race as well, but that's for me to deal with.