November 8th: Cross Country Final Race

Today was good.

We attended the final qualifying race for our league for Cross Country. If we got 4th place or higher, our entire team would qualify to elevate to a different league.

After the lunch break period, we filed into the vans and went to the race course, which was on a hill. The course had 2 smaller loops and 2 larger loops, and it was a 5k, like all races. Anyways, our Boy's Varsity team began racing at 2:40, which was a bit earlier than our past races. We arrived there with plenty of time, so we walked the course before our race started.

When I began racing, my watch kept prompting me to select which track I was on since it detected I was running on a track, so I was trying to fix that while running, which made me really behind at the start. After I finally dismissed the message, I increased my pace by a bit. Yet, I was still behind many people.

By the second small loop, I think I managed to make up my bad pace at the start of the race (although I forget now), so after the second small loop, I began the first large loop. At this point, I've run a mile in around 7' 55", which is pretty good pacing for me. The uphill was somewhat steep, but I kept making sure I was pumping my knees up high. 

After I finally got up the hill, my legs were pretty tired, but I persevered. The downhill was long but steep, so I was able to save some time. On the final large lap, I kept running, but after the uphill, some guy outpaced me. I tried to keep up with him, but I was experiencing some pain in my side. In the final stretch, I sprinted, and got a new PR of 24' 50"! I also got 25th place, which is 5 places higher than I normally get.

At the award ceremony, one of our Boy's Varsity got 7th place, so he won an award for being in the top 8 places. For our Girl's Varsity team, 4 members of the team got within the top 8 places, which was amazing! Congratulations!

After the award ceremony, we all went to get food from Raising Canes, and at 6:30, we arrived back on campus in pitch dark. When I checked the results from the race, the Boy's Varsity team got 5th place, which is unfortunate, because we won't be elevated to the different league, but one of our runners (Dario K.) got within the top 15 places, so he will be running individually in the different league. Our Girl's Varsity team got 1st place in the race, so they will also be elevating to the different league. Even though the Boy's Varsity team didn't qualify, we still need to attend practice and cheer them on in the races, which I'm happy to do.

Thanks for reading,
Issac