In His Own Words: Quincy O'Connor - Journal #7
Hello all! It has not been too long since my last article, but since then, I have put in a couple more days of great training, and ran my last regional cross country championship of my high school career; which went great. I arrived at the course midday Friday to practice on the course prior to the race Saturday morning, and was very excited for the race after walking and running the course. The course at Lecanto High School was very similar to many courses that I had run prior to moving to Florida. Much of the course was in the woods, and the course was certainly not the flattest course (though not overly hilly either), both of which play into strengths that I have developed after running in Western New York for most of my life.
The race itself played out just as I had hoped. Early on in the race Max Del Monte and I separated from the rest of the field, and we ran the majority of the race that way. After going through the first mile in just slightly over 5 minutes, and the two mile in around 5:12, the race began to pick up. I attempted to separate myself on two occasions, first moving up hill following the 2 mile mark, and again moving up the following hill about 400 meters later. Max however responded very quickly to both attempts, and we continued to run stride for stride. It was not until the downhill portion of the race, with a little over a thousand meters left to run, that I was able to separate myself from Max and push to victory. This was one of my best races all season, and also one of the most enjoyable races I have run. There is nothing quite like the feeling of battling over the course of 5 kilometers with a peer; regardless of the end result, I have always felt this to be the most exhilarating type of race.
This coming week will be rather low key for me in Celebration. I have a couple more key workouts to get in leading up to the state meet this coming Saturday, but nothing too intense. This week is all about staying relaxed and making sure that I am ready to roll again on Saturday! I’d like to congratulate everyone on their results this weekend, and wish everyone good luck this weekend! See you all there!
More On Quincy
Hello everyone! Another week has gone by, and it is incredible to be able to say that there are only a few short weeks left in my final season as a high school cross country runner. It will be bitter sweet in a few short weeks. This past weekend was the district championships. - 2011-11-10 13:33:00
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In His Own Words: Quincy O'Connor (Article)
Hey flrunners readers! Not a whole lot has been going on since my last blog a few weeks ago. I haven’t had too busy of a racing schedule in the past couple weeks so I have been focused on getting in some good workouts going into the championship season. I did run my conference meet this past Wednesday which went quite well. - 2011-10-31 14:24:00
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In His Own Words: Quincy O'Connor (Article) Hey all, it has been another rough but rewarding week. After missing four days of school for a trip up to NY the week before, there was a lot of work to be made up. It never seems that I have an overwhelming amount of school work, but I guess when you pile four days of missed work on top of an already full load, it can get hectic. It was nice to get it all out of the way and then be able to end the week with a race. - 2011-10-17 20:15:00
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In His Own Words: Quincy O'Connor (Article)Hello again all Florida running fans, it has been a crazy few days, all culminating in my racing at the Manhattan Invite in New York City on Sunday. This was my first trip back to the state of New York since moving more than a year ago; and let me say, it was great to be back. The race itself left quite a bit to be desired, however it great to be back and racing at Van Cortlandt. - 2011-10-10 11:09:00
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In His Own Words: Quincy O'Connor (Article)Hello again everyone. This past week has been one of the best this season here in Celebration; both training and racing wise. The team traveled up to Gainesville for the Mt. Dew invitational at the University of Florida, and raced better than we have as a team in a long while. Our average time of 20:18 is the fastest that it has been since I began at Celebration, needless to say, it was a good weekend for the team. - 2011-09-26 11:46:00
Hey all Florida running fans, my name is Quincy O’Connor and I am just getting underway in my senior year at Celebration High School, right outside of Orlando. After a great summer of running and some fun, I am now getting my final XC season underway. My summer this year was nothing too crazy, just building mileage. I was lucky enough to be able to go to camp in Flagstaff, AZ, which for all those who like to travel, I would highly recommend. I have never been to a city more perfectly set up for runners than Flagstaff; and I cannot think of a better place to train. - 2011-09-19 11:15:00