Guess what everyone? The season is pretty much here. Summer conditioning flew right on by. Those early morning long runs and drowsy afternoons are all over. No more late nights, beach days, or summer romances. As my coach would say, it is now “game on” and the Saint Augustine High Cross Country team is surely ready to get their game going.
Seven days a week we trained hard, clocking in hundreds of miles for the summer. We ventured all over our home town, making sure to change the location we ran from every single day. We even ended up out of state for a week at our annual running camp in North Carolina. The low humidity and high altitude served us well, and we returned just in time for the regular season to begin. We were welcomed back to Saint Augustine with record high temperatures and tough workouts.
The team prevailed though, and had a time trial race on the twenty fourth of August. The race went well, and has boosted the confidence of the team a great bit. With our varsity squad chosen, and a lot of training under our belt, we are more than ready for our first meet on the thirty first. We will be headed off to Ridgeview in Orange Park. Ridgeview certainly isn’t my favorite course, but it is a memorable one. The first time I ran there I lost my shoe in the first mile of the race and ended up running the rest of it with only one shoe on. I am sure I looked rather awkward as I hobbled my way through soft sand, and large roots. It was certainly a tough way to run, and my calves certainly did not thank me for it. I have high hopes for this year though, and I expect to finish the race with both shoes still on my feet! I am sure most of you are feeling the way I am. I cannot wait for the school week to be over, so that I can get out there with my team and truly show what Saint Augustine High is made of.
To those of you that have your first race this weekend, I wish you luck. If you have already raced by the time you read this than get ready for race number two. I hope to see you all out there. It is going to be an amazing season… I just know it.
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