I have a love/hate relationship with cross country. I love it, until 2:40 PM when all I want to do is lie down on anything, including the floor. I hate it, especially on Tempo Tuesdays (intervals of sprints that are the death of me) until I’m finished with my run. But what I hate the most about cross country is the meets. Especially the time trials.
In meets, you are competing as a team, as well as individually. But at time trials it’s you against every person on the team. Your “running buddies” are suddenly your competition. The person who pushes you at practice and keeps you going suddenly can’t give you encouragement cause she’s running ahead. One friend may be the difference between you being on JV or C-Team.
This year, I wanted to make JV. Having a good first year on C-Team last year, I thought it was time to push myself. After Picture Day when we ran the traditional Long Run, I pushed myself and ran the 10 mile race. I felt so accomplished and the aspiration of JV grew.
At practice, my “running buddy” Jenna and I pushed ourselves. We both wanted to make JV and since Jenna is a senior she wanted that accomplishment as well. Comparing our two mile times against everyone else’s, we would be on JV. Yeah, a couple people’s times weren’t on the page but I could just picture myself making the team. I was so close.
So at 6:30 AM I found myself with knots in my stomach and dreading the next two and a half miles. I didn’t want to run at all and felt stiff. I could already feel disappointment in the air. At the start of the race I immediately began breathing hard and couldn’t get into a rhythm. Around the one and a half mark, I started developing a cramp in my stomach and almost convinced myself to walk but continued on.
I had slowed down after my calves started to tire out and things weren’t looking good. People who normally wouldn’t, started passing me as I neared the finish line; I was slogging behind and my drive was gone. I spent the entire race trying to convince myself that I was tired and I should slow down even more but after sprinting to the finish, I knew I still had lots of energy in me. I got 35th and was really upset; I felt like crying. I knew I could have done better. I was 15 people away from JV.
At the time, it felt like I was running out of time already to make it onto JV. But I know that if I just continue working hard, that spot will be mine. I got 21:12 at the time trials and my personal record is 19:37 from last year. If I had run that time at the trials, I would have been two away from JV. So I know that I can accomplish my goal. I will improve. Watch out, JV.
Leave a Reply