All year long I have said that I would skip the Minuteman Cross Country race this year. Its a tough course with lots of potential for twisting an ankle. Since my focus is road racing and my target races are a month away, I really didn’t want to risk it. However, never say never! After missing last week’s race due to my piriformis flaring up again, I was eager to get out there and see where my fitness level is. I had planned to use last week’s race as an indicator.
I arrived at the race with only 20 minutes till race start and still needing to pick up my bib and chip. I saw my teammates Tia and Amanda who asked me if I wanted join them in a warm up. I partially pinned on my bib and carrying my chip, I sprinted to catch up with them. (First mistake.) They were going a little faster than warm up pace for me yet I stayed close to them. (Second mistake.) I zoned out and followed them assuming they wouldn’t go too far out on the course from the starting line. (Third mistake.) When Tia asked if I thought we had time to make the small loop, my head told me no, but my mouth told her yes. (Fourth mistake.) We made a wrong turn and ended up on the big loop and had to run hard to the starting line. (Fifth mistake.)
At the starting line, I managed to get my chip halfway attached and reset my watch before the gun. I was pretty spent. I felt like I had already been racing. The night before the race I had discovered that it was a RRCA Southern Regional Championship race for cross country. I felt like I could potentially win the Grand Masters division given the quality of my training and how strong I felt. Now at the starting line I knew I had blown this opportunity with all the mistakes I made in the warm up, but I came to run and had no intention of quitting before I started! Time to regroup and just see what I could do.
I thought I started my watch, but somewhere during the first mile it started beeping to let me know it was shutting down. Ugh! What else could go wrong?! I hadn’t noticed, because my coach had asked me not to look at my watch for the first two miles and run by feel. I decided to wait to start my watch until the last mile so I could at least have some race data. (Unfortunately I never saw the 2nd mile mark so no data! )
My new race strategy was not to worry about who was passing me and just focus on running steady and keeping a good solid form. I was really mad at myself for my poor decision making. I have been running longer than either one of my two teammates have been alive. I know better! I should have stepped up and been the leader and took control of the warm up before it went south. I worried that I had cost my team precious points. Midway through the race, I knew I had to lose the negative thoughts and find a way to make this a meaningful experience.
As I passed other runners I spoke words of encouragement to them. There was lots of opportunity for this as there were still people running their first loop as I was running my second. When I saw someone stop running and start to walk, I would encourage them to come on as I passed them and remind them that they could do it! This became my mission because I was pretty sure I had been passed by everyone in my age group and would be going home without hardware.
This strategy paid off as it kept me mentally focused. Seeing others dig in and push a little harder motivated me to keep fighting too. Even though my legs felt dead, I still felt strong. I think all the lifting I’ve done this summer has really helped me maintain my form when I get fatigued. I crossed the finish line in 27:29 which I found to be ironically humbling yet gratifying. Sure enough, no age group award for me. Better than that, I ran well enough to score 3rd place in the Grand Masters division! What?! So thankful I didn’t quit before I started! I learned some valuable lessons and we had some good laughs about our warm up fiasco! (Race results can be found here.)
Cross country is so different that road racing. This was a slow race for most of they field. I guess because we don’t consistently train on this type of terrain, we naturally run a little slower as our bodies aren’t use to the variation in mechanics.
I always enjoy getting to run a cross country race as is takes me back to my running roots. I have been contemplating planning a cross country season and training with that type of terrain as my focus. There are a handful of XC meets here in Arkansas that have open divisions. Stay tuned!
Did you run cross country in school or have you run a cross country race as an adult? Tell me about your experience in the comments below!
