View Workout (David Dixon)

Return to Log

regionals. one last time.

November 16, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
going into the meet, i knew it would be a stretch for us to qualify as a team. i think we all did. we maintained our optimism, and were well prepared mentally. my plan was to just run my race by feel. it's worked in the past.
got out pretty hard, towards the front, but nothing crazy. there was a good amount of elbowing as i found my place in the first mile. worked my way up slowly and got comfortable those first two miles. 2mi (~10:00) it was still pretty crowded as we moved through the trails in the woods, but as we came around the turn along the road, i realized i could see the pace car, and just a small group ahead. at that point, someone told me i was approximately 20th. i didn't expect to be so far up so soon, but decided to stick with the pack and see what happened. the pack seemed to slow, and i continued moving up, and moved into the top ten around 5k (15:37). felt comfortable, and stayed within range of the leader through 6k. it seemed we were running a tactical race. shortly afterwards, we headed down the hill, and back up, and the albion guy had gapped the field by a bit. still within range of mount and wabash, but the guy from manchester and i had fallen back a bit. around this point, i realized that i was pretty surely going to nationals, but i had to keep pushing. made a move around the manchester guy through one of the turns, and struggled to catch up with wabash and mount. nordman was the manchester guy just behind me, and all his fans cheering let me know it. did my best to kick and maintain form in that last 400, but it hurt. crossed the line in 25:17.2
both during and after the race, i was kind of in disbelief of how well it went. i just felt really strong, and it felt natural to be racing up in the front. looking back, i could've been closer to those front guys to be able to react when they broke away, but i'm still incredibly happy with how it all happened.
as a team, we faltered. part of it is the lack of experience. and i wish i could stick around to help these guys and watch them succeed. it'll be hard without any senior front runners next year, but i guess it'll be trial by fire. they'll survive, and hopefully come out of it a great team by the end of season next year, or at least their senior year. regardless of yesterday's performance, i'm still proud of my guys and glad i got to share this experience with them.
thanks to everyone who came out to watch, i think we would've won 1st place in spirit. it meant a lot to have my family there.