First XC meet = DONE!
…I didn't think I was going to make it.
About 30 minutes before race time, I started to get really horrible side cramps. This only got progressively worse. It was ridiculously humid; spectators were complaining just about having to walk around.
I began to get extremely nervous. Throughout the countdown, the only thing I could think of was that it was going to be exactly like the first year. And when the gun went off, I was in last. This continued until about the mile mark. As it turns out, the majority of the people in the race tried to go out way too fast. Those girls paid the price for it later on, but since I kept a steady pace for the first mile, I was able to pass them as their energy levels were already depleted.
That's not to say that it was a great or easy race though. My muscles began to go into spasms and suddenly get numb and weak (this has been an ongoing problem the past few weeks.) My body began to overheat; yet I suddenly felt unbearably cold. Every hill got more painful than the last. I could've thrown in the towel and used illness as an excuse, but I refused to. I pushed through until the end. Even when I was in tears from the pain up the final stretch, I still attempted to push my body to the limit in the finishing kick, in a desperate attempt to pass just one more person. Despite not doing so well, I was slightly proud of the effort. When I can't even walk straight after a race, when I feel like I could drop dead right at the finish line… I know I gave every ounce of strength in me to complete the race. And, despite being sick and all, I still ran faster than last year.
This seems to be a halfway decent start to the season. Hopefully, the Betz invite this week will be better. I calculated it out, and based on my progression so far, there's a strong chance I'm going to get an insane PR within the first month of the season. My efforts might actually pay off for once!
About 30 minutes before race time, I started to get really horrible side cramps. This only got progressively worse. It was ridiculously humid; spectators were complaining just about having to walk around.
I began to get extremely nervous. Throughout the countdown, the only thing I could think of was that it was going to be exactly like the first year. And when the gun went off, I was in last. This continued until about the mile mark. As it turns out, the majority of the people in the race tried to go out way too fast. Those girls paid the price for it later on, but since I kept a steady pace for the first mile, I was able to pass them as their energy levels were already depleted.
That's not to say that it was a great or easy race though. My muscles began to go into spasms and suddenly get numb and weak (this has been an ongoing problem the past few weeks.) My body began to overheat; yet I suddenly felt unbearably cold. Every hill got more painful than the last. I could've thrown in the towel and used illness as an excuse, but I refused to. I pushed through until the end. Even when I was in tears from the pain up the final stretch, I still attempted to push my body to the limit in the finishing kick, in a desperate attempt to pass just one more person. Despite not doing so well, I was slightly proud of the effort. When I can't even walk straight after a race, when I feel like I could drop dead right at the finish line… I know I gave every ounce of strength in me to complete the race. And, despite being sick and all, I still ran faster than last year.
This seems to be a halfway decent start to the season. Hopefully, the Betz invite this week will be better. I calculated it out, and based on my progression so far, there's a strong chance I'm going to get an insane PR within the first month of the season. My efforts might actually pay off for once!