Queens XC At App State

AM: 30 mins. ellip.
15 mins. core
PM: 45 mins. ellip.
20 mins. pool

Nothing of excitement today, so let's recap yesterday afternoon. It was then that I piled into the car with Tanya, Bennie (a new transfer on our team who is still ineligible), Chandler and Chandler's chocolate lab puppy Sanford to take a road trip up to App State for the team's second xc meet of the season. We left Charlotte a few minutes late after Chandler got off work late, and soon the drive became a race against time (and against other stupid people in our way) to make it to the meet before the girls' race started at 5. Once we realized that wasn't possible, we revised our goal to make it there by the time the girls' race finished. We made it to the parking lot at 5:20 and from there induced a mad sprint through the parking lot down to the course. I would imagine it was actually quite comical to watch--Bennie sprinting out of the car because he planned to run in the guys' race in less than 20 minutes; Chandler shouting "Don't run!" at Sanford, who had just been spayed the day before; then realizing it might come down to the wire and revising her command to "Okay you can run but just this one time!" I'm sure the dog grasped the nuances of her intentions perfectly. Meanwhile I too was running/hobbling pretty much the farthest and fastest I had in five weeks. In the end it was all for naught, as we arrived literally moments after our last runner crossed the line.

The good news? When the scores were tallied, the Queens ladies finished 5th place overall and, more importantly, two spots ahead of the perennial champs in our Conference and Region, Lees-Mcrae (we have a really sucky conference and region but that's beside the point). For the girls to do it today, especially when neither Melanie (5th girl) nor I were running, puts us in a pretty prime spot for when things get real in a few months.

After this we had a few minutes' break until the mens' race, which we spent chatting with Simmons and Jenna and trying to keep Sanford from running wild. The fact that Chandler's sole goal was to prevent her pup from running, yet brought her to a place where hundreds of people would be doing just that...may not have been the smartest idea. Oh well. Sanford was a crowd favorite and everyone loved her Queens shirt, even though it quickly become soiled from the damp and muddy terrain.

At 5:45 sharp the boys' race kicked off and, as expected, Mike shot to the front. Turns out that's pretty much where he would stay throughout the race; literally no one would come within 20 meters of him after the first mile, with the gap widening to almost 50 meters at some points. I swear, these guys should be embarrassed. He goes to a D2 school, remember? Aren't D2 runners supposed to be "babies," at least according to LetsRun? At any rate, as per usual Mike destroyed the field, although afterward he was pretty disappointed with his race and said he felt terrible throughout. Must be nice to have a terrible race and still destroy everyone. What I found most exciting was how well the other guys on the team ran together, finishing up with another two in the top 10 (Futsum and Oscar) and 8 in the top 40 (Simon, Matt, Nelson, Alex, Brian). The guys finished 2nd with 41 points behind Ohio State and looked strong doing it.

Overall, I left the meet proud of my team and more determined than ever to be back out there again soon. With over two months left before Nationals, I have no doubt we can continue to improve and see both teams have a fantastic race when it counts.