Another Shot at The Elusive Standard

After Albany, I said that I definitely wanted an opportunity to qualify again, but that I didn't think it would happen. A late-night text message from Coach Larios last night confirmed that it will indeed happen. A few of us will get a final shot at qualifying for the NAIA National Championship meet on April 25 in Nashville at the Country Music 1/2 Marathon.

I'm amped. This is an opportunity that I didn't think would exist, and an opportunity to race on a fast course, with a lot of competition, and really just overall a good situation.

Spring break was enjoyable. It was a week of super hard training, super hard relaxing (Coach Dawson's favorite quote, "Start on time, quit on time," kind of parallels the ol', "Work hard, rest harder" mantra), and really not much of anything in-between, excepting two races at the end of the week. The races went surprisingly well, considering that, while walking to the line, my legs were on fire from the lactic acid that had accumulated throughout the course of the week. It was interesting starting both races on the "other" side of the track, after four years of high school racing and starting at the finish line due to all distances being whole laps around the track. It felt a little different, but I, being a pretty adapting dude, got over it quickly.

Last week we took the 90 minute trip to Johnson City, TN for the Milligan Relays. A Thursday afternoon affair, with the small atmosphere and single-day format, it was like old times. We were truly kicking it high school style--I doubled the 1500m and 3000m and had to line up for the 3k only about 45-50 minutes after finishing my 1500m. We were treating it as a workout, though, and looking at it in that light, the meet went well. I won the (very) slow heat of the 1500m, by about 10 seconds (in a blazing fast time of 4:39), and then ran a 10:13 for the 3000. In both races, I was pretty aggressive, just seeing how things went, and really started tying up about 600m from the finish. It was a great learning experience, though, and Coach was really pleased with my aggressiveness. And, afterall, all of that was learned in a workout!

This weekend Ben and Wilbourn are both going to the Duke Invitational and a couple of us might end up heading over to North Carolina A and T for the 5000 at their invitational. Otherwise, next race: AAC Championships at Western Carolina.

Spring Break

Spring break began yesterday after classes, and, well, the campus has been pretty empty since then. The only ones around are the baseball team, who have several games over break, and a handful of us on the track team. The cafeteria is closed, so Coach Dawson and his wife have graciously allowed the remaining teammates to eat breakfast and dinner at their home for the weekend. That is one bright spot to the weekend thus far...otherwise, it's been cold and rainy, and I am very ready to make the trip to Florida. Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon will bring several teammates back onto campus as we're pulling out of town around 5 AM Monday morning. We'll be making a trip down to Daytona Beach, Florida, and crashing at Daniel Dunn's house for a couple of days and then on Wednesday we will transfer to Orlando where we will set up a base camp of sorts in a rental home only a couple of miles from the Wide World of Sports complex (which is pictured above).

The Walt Disney World Invitational itself is a Wednesday through Saturday affair, with the 5,000m race starting at 7:15 PM on Thursday, and the unseeded 1,500m race going off at 10:35 Friday morning. I was able to get some nice little training sessions in this week, so hopefully these races will be indicative of my fitness level, and I can move on and continue to aim for the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship meet in April.

Last Sunday I was able to visit Trinity Church in Asheville, and I think I may have found a church home for when I am at Montreat. The preaching is superb, the worship excellent, and the doctrine is sound. For the remainder of this semester I may only be able to go once or twice a month--the rest of the time I will either worship at Montreat Presbyterian Church here on campus or Grace Community Church in Old Fort, where Coach Larios and his family worship, as I have done up until now--unless I am able to continue to procure a ride to Trinity. Next year, however, I plan on bringing my car to school with me, which will allow me to worship there on a weekly basis and perhaps even become more involved.

Humbled

Saturday's race in Albany was a very humbling experience. It taught me that no matter how good of shape you are in, no matter how mentally prepared you are for a race, you must prepare for the worst. I thought I was prepared for the worst, but I quickly realized the errors of that line of thought around 2.5 miles into the race when I felt the symptoms of a need to take a pit-stop and hit the toilet. This is something that I've never faced mid-race. Obviously I continued to run, but I became more and more aware of the amount of energy it was taking to keep the poop in. I also continued to slip further and further from the pack, which dwindled from seven to three (Ben Hall, Jed Edwards, Andrew Hege). Finally, just before the 11th mile marker, I understood that I could make it no further, and I hit up a nice thick tree and, shall we say, popped a squat. I crossed the finish line in 1:24:2x for sixth place overall and fourth Montreat runner across the line. Wilbourn took the win and Hege fell off the pack and I passed him around 9.5 miles in. Wilbourn was the only one to hit a qualifying standard in the 100% humidity and 50 degree temps--a bit warmer then we are used to here in Montreat this time of year!

I would love a second shot at the Half. I feel that I am certainly fit right now, and an opportunity to race when everything--or even most things--go right (instead of everything going wrong), because I certainly don't think that 84 minutes and change is a reflection of my fitness level. I'm not certain that another opportunity to race the distance will come, however, so I must assume that one will not come and move on, changing my focus to my next race.

That next race comes next Thursday, March 19, in Orlando, Florida. We're taking a road trip to Orlando for the Disney World Wide World of Sports Track and Field Invitational, and I'm racing the 5,000 on Thursday and the 1,500 on Friday. The focus, obviously, is on the 5,000, and I'm antsy to have a good showing in that event. Whatever happens in the 1,500 is just icing on the cake. I've been told that the Disney meet is a very well put together event and a load of fun. We'll be spending a few days in Daytona Beach at the beginning of the week, relaxing and doing a service project or two, so I am looking forward to a restful time in the sun of Florida.

Look After You

It's been a while since my last update. The problem is, life got busy. School, work, and running got in the way. It's OK though, because I have a chance to update now!

I'm taking today off from training for the first time since before the semester started; January 11th was my last off day. It's a good "pausing point," I feel, for training, since we're less than a week from Albany, it's a good day for resting and recovering. To make it an even better day to recover, it's snowing super hard outside and the trails are bound to be pretty slushy and slick.

The last couple of weeks have yielded some really solid workouts that indicate I'm definitely ready to run fast in Albany. The latest was 2x3200m + 1600m on our cross country course. It was hilly, it was muddy, and it was generally not conducive to running fast. I went 11:37, 11:43, and 5:38--all told, that's 5:48 pace on a very slow surface for five miles. If I can knock that out for 13 miles on Saturday, I'll be boarding a plane for St. Louis and Nationals in May.

Yesterday was the Black Mountain Marathon/Mount Mitchell Challenge. The famous trail races start in Black Mountain, go through Montreat, and go up the trails towards Mount Mitchell (the highest point east of the Mississippi River). The Marathon (or "fun run," as they call it) doesn't summit Mt. Mitchell, but the Challenge goes all the way to the top and back--about a 38 mile endeavor. Ben, Daniel, Jared and I arose at 6:15 and hiked up to the first aid station, six miles into the race (although probably only 3/4 mile of hiking for us) and helped count bib numbers. Then we drove into town, and brought back some propane so that the people staying at the aid station all day would have some heat, as it was ridiculously cold and windy and rainy. This time, however, we ran up the 3/4 mile trail and then kept running up the course, completing our long run on the course that the racers were taking. It was pretty cool to be running past guys and cheering them on. It turns out they had to cut off the Challengers from completing the race because the conditions on top of Mt. Mitchell were ridiculous--two feet of visibility and hail, etc.--but about 20-25 guys made it through before they cut them off.

After our long run, lunch, and a nap, the four of us went down to the aid station which was actually on Montreat's campus (about 5k from the finish) and helped out there. The guys coming off the mountain at that point were all Challengers who had been able to summit, and they had crazy stories. "I saw three or four people get pulled off the mountain for hypothermia, but I know those weren't the only ones. It was crazy up there. Hail was hitting us, we couldn't see anything. The only thing that saved me was I had some dry clothes inside a ziplock bag in my pocket, and I was able to put those on once I summited so that I could be a little warmer," one runner told us. Absolutely insane. Yesterday confirmed my previously held suspicion that trail guys have some sort of disconnect in their brain. To quote Coach Larios, "trail runners are the pole vaulters of distance running." I agree wholeheartedly!

With less than a week to go 'til Albany, we'll be recovering much of this week, with a light workout or two just to keep our bodies feeling normal. I'll try to keep the blog and Twitter updated as much as possible throughout the trip. In the meantime, I leave you with a short video of my teammate Luke Copeland's cover of The Fray's Look After You in a recent Open Mic here at Montreat. It was dark in the room, so there isn't much to the video, but the audio is pretty sweet.