View Workout (Brandon Hahn)

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Regionals

November 12, 2011 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Mid-50, almost perfect but a little windy

Comments:
26:34. This was awesome and to be honest Friday/Saturday feels like a dream. I know before the race everyone was feeling pretty nervous because the stakes are so high, so I tried to go around and calm everyone down one-on-one. I will say though, once we headed over to the start line, I have never seen our team more confident and poised at a regional meet. Bobby's toast in the huddle just made everyone more excited and ready to roll.

I got out fairly well on the uphill and was in like 45th/50th once it flattened out. I started to gradually move up and stay with Max in the top group of 40 or so (people were being pretty conservative). For whatever reason during this time I had to do a lot of work to maintain my pace. I don't mean I was laboring more, but I had to move around people and surge and the like. Once we passed the turn after the mile, the front group of ~25 picked up the pace a little and dropped the group of ~10 that I was in. I made the decision to put on a 5 second surge to try and close the gap. I got up near them, but slowed down and started to lose them again. The chase pack that I had been in caught up to me and I settled in with them. As we came through the 2 mile, I was already too far behind the front group to catch them quickly, and my breathing was starting to get pretty bad. Once we got into the downhill, I heard someone yell to the Dickinson guy next to me, "Only 15 minutes of running left!" which made me realize that while my race had not been ideal to this point, I was still in good position and should try to move up a little. I caught a couple guys and a couple guys caught me. Reichert from E-Town passed me at around 2.5 to go, so I locked onto his back and stayed behind him all the way into the woods. I followed him up the hill as we passed a couple guys, then he started to drop me on the winding downhill parts. As we came out of the woods, I was in about 35th I believe (people were yelling numbers the entire race and it all blended together). My legs were starting to hurt a little at this point, but then I rounded the outfield fence and saw 20 guys with Hopkins painted on their chests, not even chanting "Hop" but just sort of screaming (I got the message) and it helped me pick up the pace. As I got into the final mile, I passed a couple guys on the uphill before my legs really started crushing. I knew that we were in great position at that point, and remembering how we lost our shot at nationals in the last mile of the race my junior year, I got in my head to keep pushing no matter how much it hurt. That sounds cliche and it is, but I knew what was at stake. Over the last half mile I passed Ivo from Haverford, and tried to reel in MacDonald from Dickinson, but he was a little too far in front. After the final downhill I just started picking it up and moving. As I got into the final straight the finish line seemed so far away and I thought "I'm never going to get there ever" and there was a line of guys strung out in front of me. I tried to dig down to get into that final dead sprint mode but my legs didn't have it. I feel like if someone had passed me there it might have sparked it but it kind of disappointed me either way. Anyway, I finished, turned around, saw Austin finish, then didn't see anyone else. We kind of stumbled off to the side and people started coming over and congratulating us but I had no idea what had happened as far as scoring went. Later on we got the official word and it was every bit as fulfilling as I had always hoped it would be (truly).

Now for the negative stuff. I know that we got the job done and that's all the ever counts, but I was a bit dissatisfied with my performance. If I had run a smarter race for the first 1.5 miles I think I could have finished in the top 20/25 by staying with the lead pack. For nationals I am going to need a better strategy for the first part of the race.

I am extremely proud of every Hop guy in the race. We knew what we had to do and we came out and took some teams to Pound Town. Thank you to all the guys and girls who came up to cheer for us. It was appreciated and I'm glad I could help make the trip worthwhile. To be a part of the first Hop men's xc team to qualify for nationals is gratifying beyond words and I seriously can't describe it. To be honest, I expected it to come earlier in my career, but the wait just makes me appreciate it more. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet that we finally accomplished the singular goal that has been the focus of this team for so long. I love you guys and I hope you have many more nationals in your future.

1 week until retirement, just have to go run nationals, NBD