In His Own Words: Garrett Westlake

Hey Florida runners, first I would like to start off by saying that today is September 11th, and even though it is 11 years later I think that all of the victims should be remebered. I give thanks to all the men and women who gave their lives that day in order to protect and save others. They are my heroes, and my inspiration. Thank you, and you will always have a place in my heart.
 
I hope everyone has had a great weekend of racing! I had a race this past weekend in Lecanto. As mentioned in one of my previous blogs I read a quote to my team before the race starts and this weekend it was by Lance Armstrong. “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” I won the race in 16:05, and my teamate Joe Janson placed 8th and tied his PR. The real stars on our team were our number four and five runners. Although we are not a very strong team our number five was somewhere in the 19:40's which was a massive change from our time trial where our number five was at 21:30. It was without a doubt the most diverse cross country course I have ever run on. The course consisted of sidewalks, roads, trails, soft sandy hills, and finishing on a track. That was new for me. I dont think I have ever finished on a track for a cross country race before.
 
Later that day I made the trip over to the Katie Caples Invitational to watch my girlfriend Brittney Olinger run. It was also a new experience. I'm not used to watching the varsity guys race, because I am usually competeing in it. I was very impressed by all the runners that competed. I dont have a race this weekend, but I will be attending the UF invitational, so I'll be cheering for everyone there. Because I have no race this weekend my team and I's training will be a little more intense than other weeks, but im glad to have an off week, so I can get more training in for some bigger races. Anyways I hope everyone has a good of training and good luck at your races! Hopefully ill see some of you this weekend in Gainesville!