(Photo by Raul Ramirez)
Hello running world! I apologize since it has been a couple weeks since I last blogged, but I am back, don't fret.
This week has been a nice, typical race-week. In the beginning we did some mile repeats in the heat, which went well for most of the guys. It was great to see our 6-12 guys push and pace themselves well during the whole workout because just like any high-caliber team, we want depth. As the week rolled out, the exciting thoughts about Saturday morning became more realistic.
In no time, Saturday morning came and TPXC was more ecstatic than ever. Not only is it great to start your season, but to begin it on your own course was superb. However, after inspecting the course we all knew it would be a fun, wet race. Going into the race, Jesse, Chas, Patrick and I knew Steven Cross would be there, so we made some nifty plans accordingly: Stick with him.
As the gun went off, so were we. The pace was very quick for this small of a meet. I looked to my left and saw Jesse looking right at me with the same "here we go" expression. After the first 200 meters, things settled just a little bit. Chas took the lead for a minute or two, then Cross took it with Jesse right on him and Chas, Pat and I 5 meters back. I knew the pace was very quick and did not want to push too hard the first mile considering the muddiest part has not hit yet. 1k in was where it turned from wet to quick-sand. The softball field was alive and trying to suck off your shoes. Regarding positioning, nothing changed. We hit one mile in a 5:04, which was not too surprising. The top five still were pretty close until about 300 meters into mile 2. I turned around a corner to see Steven about 15 meters ahead now. Patrick, Chas and I caught Jesse with about 600 to go in mile 2. From that point we knew it would have been very tough to catch Cross considering he was about 30 meters ahead. We hit the super muddy portion again and it felt like I was going so slowly. The last mile hit, and Chas and I separated a little from Pat and Jess. We tried to close the gap a little bit, but with 600 to go we knew it was too late. Cross went one, followed by myself, Chas, Patrick and Jesse.
Overall, it was an enjoyable race that helped get off some rust.
