View Workout (Anthony Belber)

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NXN SE Regionals Community Race, etc

November 30, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: mid 40s

Comments:
Woke up after too short a sleep, ate a hotel breakfast and accompanied a couple runners to the course. Jogged some of Matt Ishimaru's warm up with Zeke and Aidan. Stretched off and on over the next couple of hours. Ran lightly during Matt's 9:00am race to cheer him on to a two second PR. Ran another easy 1.5 miles with Jason 30 minutes before our 10:30am race. Did some drill (and no striders!) before lining up to race the community race for my first time.

Got out briskly with the 600m opening downhill, decided to step ahead of the Gonzaga coach at the half mile mark, and worked my way around four other people over the course of the last two miles. Generally pleased with my focus during the race. I was still running with my usual "old man" composure, but I stayed relatively aggressive throughout. I worked the flats well, I leaned forwards on the downhill, and I maintained good form and focus on the uphills. I can't say my legs felt fresh or eager, and I certainly lacked turnover, but I never "settled" into a pace. I also competed well enough to satisfy myself. (It helped to know the Gonzaga Coach was somewhere behind me and I enjoyed getting the better of the diminutive sixth grader whom I passed at the halfway mark and re-passed 200 meters from the finish after I'd let him pass me 200 meters before that. Wore my grey and yellow road racing flats as my spikes seemed too uncomfortable. I finished 15th out of 89, and was the first person over 40. It would have been nice to slip in under 18:00, but I'm pretty happy to be racing with this kind of focus despite a fall where my focus wasn't on my own training. It is always a great joy to be racing a cross country course and a privilege to sweat on the same grass as my remarkable team which sealed a great season with a 12th place TEAM finish at the meet! I finish the Leaf Season with 96 leaves (in second place behind Aidan Pillard who caught 104)! A promising rookie!