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CMXXXIII

September 12, 2015 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Rainy and chilly during the race

Comments:
The ride up to Plattsburgh, NY seemed endless. Nevertheless, we finally arrived at an Econolodge and I bedded down for a fitful night of sleep. Since Thursday night, when I started to feel the beginnings of a sore throat, I'd been trying to flush out the illness with Powerade and tea, a strategy which met with some success; I feared the worst for the morning. The ride to McGill--farther away than I realized--felt like a bad dream, and I was hoping to wake up. After a thorough warmup, swelling with pride because my purple jacket, however, all systems seemed okay, if not at 100%, which eased my mind. We tossed tbear, and I didn't feel anymore nerves, probably because there was no pressure for this race at all. It comprised three, 2k loops around McGill's campus, with two surfaces, grass and cinder. It started gradually uphill, leveled off, and finally came "charging down" as Pete would put it, before restarting. During the first two laps, I felt nothing but confidence, an odd sensation in this context. I had a rhythm, I was going by a few people. The third lap was where I started to struggle, and my breathing went out the window. Even though I did manage to push the last 500m, I wish I had been more attentive to how little of the race I had left. If nothing else, I'd cite today as some tangible proof that I'm in shape, and reason to stop worrying about lackluster mileage last week and the week before. Another silver lining from today was that Pete asked me, "So did 6k feel like a long way?" When I responded in the negative, he said, "Ah, perfect, that means you got good training in." One has to cling to these things with a coach that talks so much less than Anthony. Cross country is still just as fun as it's always been.