Hello flrunners! I apologize that it has been a while since my last blog. It has been an overwhelming past few weeks with school. I can’t believe the state-series meets are coming up. Time sure does fly by. I hope everyone has enjoyed the season thus far and has run some PRs!
Two weekends ago my team and I competed in the Flrunners Invitational. This is my favorite race, and it’s crazy to think that it was my seventh and last year competing in Titusville. This was the first race this season that I felt was a success for me. I’ve had a bumpy first half of the season, but everything is finally coming together. I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I’ve learned to go with the flow, and all will work out in the end.
The following weekend, we raced at the Southwest Florida Invite. This was a smaller meet, but I decided to treat it like a larger race. I focused on my watch and the cart in hopes to back up my Flrunners performance. I crossed the line in 18:12 and was very satisfied with the result. After constantly hearing and reading about how I peaked too early last season, and how I’ve been struggling this year, I have decided to use that as my motivation. I feel that I have not peaked yet and I still have big goals that I hope to reach come states and Footlocker. I’m working on different racing strategies and different pre-race routines to find the best result. This season is all about experimenting and putting your best combination and effort on the line at the state meet.
This past weekend my team and I competed at Pre-States. I had goals of winning and breaking 18 minutes. I fell slightly short on each of those, placing 2nd and running 18:00 on the dot. To me, this only motivates me even further and makes me more excited for the state series. I loved the course improvements and especially the cooler weather! Most importantly, I’m extremely proud of my team. The girls work very hard day in and day out and the number of people that have stepped up for our team is incredible. Out of the nine that raced, five of the girls were freshman, and three of them scored for us. From starting so young, I know how intimidating it is to race against the best when you are four to seven years younger than most of your competition. They are still learning how to race and handle the pressure, but I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished thus far. They helped our team place third for the 3A teams on Saturday, and only 10 points behind 2nd. This is a huge confidence booster for our team to make it to the podium in about a month!
Every race this season has brought many twists to make the 3A state meet that much more interesting. With Araceli, Karen, and Caroline producing amazing times across the board, 3A girls have proved that it is going to be a battle to the very end. Unexpected competitors and blazing times make for a very tough challenge November 9th. I am definitely up for that challenge and expect the unexpected.
