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December 10, 2007

USATF XC Clubs Recap and a Desperate Cry for Some Motivation!

I intended to update this again a few weeks ago (after my 10K), but time literally ran away from - especially as our semester started to wind down (our final day of classes was Friday!). Before the spiral downward, however, the semester never fails to intensify and create all sorts of stresses . . . sometimes I wish I could ignore the whiny emails from students about grades. Most of all, I wish I could pick up the pace when it comes to reading the 90 ten page final papers that I have to read, and that I have to have graded by the end of this week. Ugh.

But on to running!! I cannot recall if I mentioned that my final competitive race of the season would the USATF National Clubs Cross Country Championships in West Chester, Ohio. I ran with Chicago's Universal Sole. We had four strong runners, which helped us finish 18 among 32 teams . . . we have a few more females on our team who could have helped us to a top 12 finish, but it's always complicated business putting teams together around peoples' "real lives" and work schedules. Nevertheless, our top two finishers, Erin Moffett and Jamie Krzyminski, totally rocked it! Erin finished in the top 25 and Jamie finished in the top 40. I followed about 50 seconds behind Jamie in 22:46 . . .

And I was absolutely SHOCKED to run 6:06 pace over a mud-covered, soupy, sloppy, but totally fun 6K course! It was an adult slip n slide out there and I am still trying to figure out how in the world I am going to dig the mud off of my spikes.

Race Recap
The morning started off fairly relaxing: B. and I took our time waking up. I hit the hotel treadmill for an easy 3 mile "shake-out" @ 7:30 pace. I showered and we headed to the race. I had a lot of trouble actually finding my teammates on the race course so I panicked . . . especially since we were supposed to meet up at 11:30 and warm-up at 11:55 (the race was at 12:45). I called everyone's cell phones . . . no one picked up! Needless to say, B. and I eventually found them, but it was too late for me to get in a real warm-up. I changed super fast, pinned my numbers on, and lined up.

As soon as the gun snapped, I knew we were in for some fun times. Snow and mud were soaring through the air, girls were slipping everywhere, and one woman even lost her shoe! This was cross country at its purest, most grass-roots level, and I could not wipe the smile from my face (it's worth noting that by the time we ran the flat, loopy course, 3 races had already been run on it . . . which also explains the woodstock-esque muddy pool we swam through).

I went out slowly in 6:07, but was actually surprised that I hit a 6:07 first mile because I wasn't breathing particularly hard and I wasn't running hard. I was just trying to stay on my feet. I didn't get passed by many girls and I didn't pass many - it almost seemed like the order we got out of the box in the beginning was the same order we stayed in for most of the race.

And the race FLEW. When they announced 800 to go, I was stunned. I have adapted so much to marathon training that a 6K feels like a warm-up. I was actually pissed: I didn't have a chance to crank up the power and pace and the race was practically over. Everyone knows I am useless over 200 meters so I just tried to maintain my place . . . I am not sure where I finished overall, but I was 92nd in terms of scoring points for the team (I have heard that there was anywhere between 250 - 300 runners in the field). This was an insanely competitive group of women!

A part of me is mildly curious about the "what ifs." What if I had tried to stick closer to Jamie out of the box - could I have run 30-40 seconds faster on this course? What if the conditions were different - would this have meant a string of sub 6:00s? But, I will not contemplate the "what ifs" - life isn't about the "what ifs" - it's about the "what is" and "what was."

Motivation
After all of the excitement above, and the excitement, really, since the PRs started falling in June, I am struggling to stay motivated :( I have reached a point where life is suddenly more complicated: I have my job to consider, further graduate work to consider, starting a family to consider . . . I am getting OLD! Just kidding ;)

But I am pulling myself in both directions. While I am pounding my head against a wall just to get myself layered up and ready to tackle to ice and freezing temps, I can still feel the fire burning in the pit of my belly. I want to run a sub 1:21 half in February and a 2:49 marathon in June . . . I wouldn't chase these times if I didn't think I could achieve them. BUT, I need to take a match to my heart and soul and light em up!

My running, of late, has been rather pathetic: 4-5 days/week. I am lucky to get in 40 miles/week, and all of my recent PRs have come as a result of sucking the fumes from my marathon training.

So I generally take Mondays off, but maybe I will toss in a few miles today (you know, to procrastinate from reading the 900 pages of work I need to read!), and try to fire up the heart once again. I don't want to get trapped in my current daze - it's toxic to all of my running hopes.

Posted by bridget at 2:13 PM | Comments (4)