View Workout (Jeff Elias)

Return to Log

DC/MD Private School Championships

November 12, 2016 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
What a day. I am going to describe my race and then will go on and describe the journey the last 5 months of training have been.
Originally, I was going to go out and hammer the first mile and end up with another less than stellar race. However, at the line I decided to stick with Levi, thinking that I could propel myself to a pr and a big race. That was my best move of the race. I kept with Levi for mile 1(?), which was slow enough that we could have a conversation as we rounded off from the first mile loop, but fast enough that I was breathing. We had held behind a group of GDS guys for the first mile, passed them at the mile mark, and didn't see them until the race had ended. After our conversation, Levi got away from me as we both picked up the pace. I caught him again on the big hill on the back of the course. By this point, I had been struggling through the second mile and though I hadn't doubted myself, I was mentally flagging and let Aziz pass me and Levi pull away at mile 2.2. Mile 2 was finished in 12:45, 15 seconds better than what I did at MACs. I kept in sight of them for some of the third mile, but I was now on my own. I began to give it everything my mind was willing to give. I continued to the final hill, which I have always struggled with. I started to give up at that moment, but finished the race. I swung into the final stretch. From the moment I saw the clock, I could see that it was at 19 minutes, but could not see the second digits. I assumed that it would waver and turn to twenty as I finished, just as it had so many times before. But this time was different, as I finished in 19:39. However good my race was, I still had a little bit more to give and I couldn't access it.

These last five months have been a wild ride. From the promise of my Oatlands race to the partial conclusion of today's race, I've realized a lot about being a runner. From June 7 until today, having run at least 4 days a week, I've learned still more. I can remember that first run on June 7 like it was yesterday. I have enjoyed many of them, others not so much. I think back to the run at camp where I woke up at 5:45 to run laps to fit in a 5 miler. I remember the 6.3 miler I did in Vancouver, racing through shady trails, with a second half that was basically a tempo. I think of the first run at Makemie with Mark and the Varsity A boys squad. The quintessential representation of this season, the long tempo run in October, belongs with that group as well. These runs represent my season in a myriad of ways. Through my Summer training and my early Fall training, I learned how I train best, the rules of pace-pushing(Don't do it), the importance of rolling and the need not to set goals that will make or break my season.