(Photo by Jeremy Danzie)
Hello FLRunners! It’s crazy to think we are just five weeks from the state meet. This season has flown by! My team only has one regular season meet left. Though I am excited to get into post season races, it’s definitely bittersweet, as they will mark the end of my first and last cross country season. Senior year is full of “bittersweet". There are a lot of things in high school I have taken for granted and it’s strange to think that this will be the last year I can do that.
This season has definitely had its ups and downs. Coming into any season, it’s easy to get swept up into really high expectations of huge PR’s and breakthrough races. At the beginning of the season I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform perfectly and it began to take its toll because as any athlete will tell you nothing ever goes perfectly all the time. Some days are perfect- like the 12 x 400 with 45 seconds recovery that my team and I pushed through this past Wednesday.
Inevitably, other days will not go so well. This season, I’ve definitely learned that the bad days don’t define the good ones and that you must move on when things don’t go as planned. Just take each day and especially each race as it comes, and keep your mind focused on what’s really important, which in this case, is the post season.
That being said, Florida is putting up some crazy fast times right now! I think we are all proving how tough we are, considering it’s usually about 80 degrees come time for the race, and that we practice in even hotter conditions. I’m not going to say that I like the heat this time of year because I would be lying. I will admit, however, that it is nice not shivering at the starting line because of rainy, cold climates. Some of our friends up north have an entirely different set of concerns, though personally, I think heat stroke is a greater danger than a little wind. Maybe I’m just biased.
All the races this past weekend were proof of how exciting the post season is going to be. I had a great time at Pre-States. The course is fantastic and the atmosphere was incredible. I just love being around other runners. At the starting line, no one else understands the butterflies in your stomach or the nervous energy in your legs better than those around you. The event made me realize how excited I am to be back on the course come November. From the beginning of the season, my coach has emphasized that every workout is targeted for the races at the end of the season, and I think most coaches have the same mindset. All of the work everyone is putting in across the state will culminate at exactly the right time making for a really great state meet!
There’s a quote I’ve been keeping in my head lately: “The best is yet to come". I’ve learned some important lessons through the season so far and I can’t wait to see what experiences this season will give me next. In running, there is always another goal to achieve, and I have no doubt that all of us will be able to reach some of those goals in the next five weeks.
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