The Liberty League Championships were a true test, an example of what real cross country racing is all about. While not as torn up as it was during last year's Regional Championships, the St. Lawrence course was definitely not in pristine shape by the time the men's race got started last week. We definitely got to face some great competition, and while not all of us had the races of our lives, there were some bright spots. I set a new personal best despite the tough conditions, and even though as a team, our performance wasn't top-notch, we still held onto 3rd place, which is where we finished last year.
Coming into this weekend, Albany provided us with the opportunity for a major boost in confidence, and I think we definitely seized it. Albany is a course designed to be fast. -- there's a lot of hard surfaces and not a lot of hills. In addition, the presence of Division I teams ensures that the race will go out quickly, and it definitely is the best tune-up for the first mile of Regionals, in terms of getting used to going out fast and in large packs.
One fact of cross country racing is that there can be some physical contact involved, regardless of intent. Albany definitely facilitates some pushing, shoving and trampling just because it requires a fast field of 200 to funnel through a gate within 400 meters of the start. While it's not necessarily fun to get cut off, hit, or stepped on, it was good for us to have it happen, to practice how to deal with the situation.
In terms of results, we saw personal bests pretty much across the board. We had four runners under 27 minutes, and seven more between 27 and 28 minutes. Even with all those times, we still placed 17th out of 24 teams, a testament to the kind of competition that exists across divisions in collegiate cross country in the Northeast. Seeing those times will definitely provide a spark to get us through October Break, as a number of us took a bit of time to train on our own. We'll be coming back together on Wednesday for practice, and then attempting to build on the last two weeks at Saratoga, a race that will provide a window into how we stack up against some of our regional rivals.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Being A Good Listener Speaks Volumes
Sometimes, I'm not as good of a listener as I should be.
You see, James, my coach, has a lot of sayings having to do with running. James lives running. He embraces the science of running (even though, as an Anthropology major at Vassar, I have a hard time seeing him embracing lab science in general), he loves quoting obscure running coaches from the 1960s, and he loves sending along inspirational videos of recent professional races. One thing James has said a lot is that September is for training, October is for...well...something, and November is for...something else. The point is, it isn't September anymore, and it's time for us to start thinking about something else in addition to training...and I think it's probably racing.
We'll be toeing the line at the Liberty League Championships on Saturday. As a senior, I know what to expect. For the second year in a row, we'll be at St. Lawrence for this race. Most of us have run this course before, and knowing about footing and terrain is invaluable. We'll be competing against the same five teams as last year: St. Lawrence, RPI, Clarkson, Union, and Hobart/William Smith. I've been following these teams' results over the last few weeks, and I know roughly where their top runners are. I'd be lying if I said I haven't developed some personal and team expectations for where I want us to be.
That said, on Saturday morning, when we're in the thick of things, everything goes out the window. A successful race is all about reacting to unforseen circumstances. Maybe it will be unseasonably cold...this is in fact a definite possibility in the North Country in mid-October. Maybe the race will go out faster than we anticipated. Maybe another team has been hiding their cards, and puts up a strong challenge at the start that we didn't expect. Maybe we'll stay together in big packs, maybe we'll have a few guys take chances and try to hang on someone else's pack. Responding to myriad situations is just as much a conscious as an unconscious effort, and I think one of my greatest strengths I've developed as a Vassar runner has been the ability to process what's going on around me and make adjustments mid-race. Racing isn't just about running fast, it's about relativity. I'd rather we come in first and run slow times because the conditions were awful, than come in 3rd with fast times on a beautiful day.
This blog has inspired me to cut back on the scouting, and focus on the big picture a bit more. Workouts have been going well. We feel ready. It's still October. Now is the time to begin racing.
You see, James, my coach, has a lot of sayings having to do with running. James lives running. He embraces the science of running (even though, as an Anthropology major at Vassar, I have a hard time seeing him embracing lab science in general), he loves quoting obscure running coaches from the 1960s, and he loves sending along inspirational videos of recent professional races. One thing James has said a lot is that September is for training, October is for...well...something, and November is for...something else. The point is, it isn't September anymore, and it's time for us to start thinking about something else in addition to training...and I think it's probably racing.
We'll be toeing the line at the Liberty League Championships on Saturday. As a senior, I know what to expect. For the second year in a row, we'll be at St. Lawrence for this race. Most of us have run this course before, and knowing about footing and terrain is invaluable. We'll be competing against the same five teams as last year: St. Lawrence, RPI, Clarkson, Union, and Hobart/William Smith. I've been following these teams' results over the last few weeks, and I know roughly where their top runners are. I'd be lying if I said I haven't developed some personal and team expectations for where I want us to be.
That said, on Saturday morning, when we're in the thick of things, everything goes out the window. A successful race is all about reacting to unforseen circumstances. Maybe it will be unseasonably cold...this is in fact a definite possibility in the North Country in mid-October. Maybe the race will go out faster than we anticipated. Maybe another team has been hiding their cards, and puts up a strong challenge at the start that we didn't expect. Maybe we'll stay together in big packs, maybe we'll have a few guys take chances and try to hang on someone else's pack. Responding to myriad situations is just as much a conscious as an unconscious effort, and I think one of my greatest strengths I've developed as a Vassar runner has been the ability to process what's going on around me and make adjustments mid-race. Racing isn't just about running fast, it's about relativity. I'd rather we come in first and run slow times because the conditions were awful, than come in 3rd with fast times on a beautiful day.
This blog has inspired me to cut back on the scouting, and focus on the big picture a bit more. Workouts have been going well. We feel ready. It's still October. Now is the time to begin racing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)