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My Last FOC :(

September 29, 2012 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Wet, overcast

Comments:
It's hard to believe that a year ago today I was running my first race after the stress fracture, and I somehow came through in 20:28. Yeah I got a stitch and wasn't really prepared, but really, 20:28? Anyway, my goal this year was quite a bit faster: to hit my FOC time from sophomore year, 18:20. It was gonna require a pretty substantial 22 second drop in wet conditions, but the Festival of Champions offers a lot of competition on a somewhat fast course, leading to lots of PRs and SBs. There's no denying that I was ridiculously nervous the entire day leading up to the race, especially because I was worried my legs weren't fully recovered from Thursday's workout, but I got through the first six hours of the day to reach the race itself. I went out in around 5:30, which is a fairly conservative first mile as far as FOC splits go, and continued moving up and picking people off. I did start a bit more affirmatively this time around, starting off around 10th for our team instead of 15th. By the time the second mile had passed I was up with Tristan fighting for either the 7th or 8th spot (it depended on whether we'd be able to beat Sean's 18:06 out of the freshmen race). I got the edge on him up the hill leading to the downhill finish, and didn't look back. I had a pretty strong finish and overall I felt like once again I wasn't pushed to full exertion, but I still managed an 18:05 or 18:06, which is a good bit faster than my sophomore time. That also barely beat Sean's time to peg me as the 7th runner behind Iain, who was 17:57 or so. I wasn't as excited as I thought I'd be though, because it immediately dawned on me how far behind I still was from where I would have liked to be my senior year, but it's nice to see that I'm progressing so fast. Each race I've picked off another person to move up our team, and with this huge SB I'm in a position to maybe penetrate the top 5 by States. The trick is going to be holding off Sean and Sam (Sam wasn't at the race) while challenging Iain. Next race I'm going to really have to push myself to run the first mile with Iain, which I think would be all it takes to let me pass him.

Anyway, as a team, I can say that now that I'm top 7 ;), we placed third overall, behind a Rhode Island team and Lewiston. Cape was right behind us, and overall it seems like they're the stronger team, but their 5th runner is pretty far back so he got displaced a lot. I fear that at states where displacement isn't as huge a factor Cape's front runners will drive them to a victory. Falmouth did run really tightly though, our top 5 had a 33 second split. If Bryce can really break through as our front runner I'll feel comfortable calling us the best team in Class B, for now I think we're the tightest team in the state and a clear competitor for a top spot come States. I'm getting ahead of myself though, for now I'll need to focus on continuing to move up the ranks, and maybe if it all comes together I'll have myself a PR by the end of the season.