Week in Review

57 miles
15k on the track
27 points scored by Tanya and me
6th place team
6 AFDs

Wow, I didn't realize my mileage for the week was so low until I just added it up. Guess that's what happens when you only run 20 minutes one day and five miles another. Oh well. Obviously mileage wasn't the goal of the week; performance was, and for the most part I came through when it counted. I would've liked to place top 5 in the 5k and I may or may not be reliving the final 400 meters of the 10k on continuous repeat in my mind, but I realize objectively that I did everything I could and ran my heart out. Can't ask for much more than that.

Also, I just wanted to take a quick second to say thank you again to everyone who supported me this weekend, whether that meant attending my races or sending me a congratulatory text or something in between. This weekend's success was made possible by people who believed in me even when I wasn't 100% sold on believing in myself, and I appreciate that more than you all know. Thanks for everything you do.

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Post-Nationals Recovery

AM: 5-5.5 miles

Last night was a late one due to the meet, and this morning was an early one due to taking my parents to the airport. As a result of that (and probably, you know, the 15k worth of racing I completed within the past 48 hours), I was tired and heavy-legged on my short recovery run late this morning. I could tell Jordan wanted to put in a medium loop, but by the time we ran up Kings toward Selwyn I knew I was toasted. Instead, we looped back down Westfield to the bike path and trotted home at a leisurely clip. I plan on nothing else for the rest of the day except perhaps some time at the pool and a glass of wine or two. Time to relax and enjoy some much-needed recovery for the next few days.

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5k Results

6th place and 16:35 for All-American and a PR. Tanya 2nd in 16:20. With our powers combined, Queens women placed 6th overall as a team! Results

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D2 Nationals 5k Race Recap

AM: 3 miles
PM: 2 miles w/u + strides
5k race @16:35; 6th place
2.5 mile c/d
Total: 7.5-8 miles

After yesterday's weather fiasco and endless delays, I was feeling pretty recovered from the 10k and antsy to get back on the track tonight. That's not to say I actually was recovered--I knew that no matter how fervently I tried to convince myself otherwise, racing only 48 hours after a physically and mentally draining 10k would prove difficult. But I was looking forward to the challenge nonetheless. Fortunately the day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time to head to the track.

The first event for Queens athletes was the men's 1500m final. After failing to qualify for the finals indoors, Simon redeemed himself by diving for the line and securing a 6th place (and All-American) finish. Next up for us was the women's 800, which was changed to a two-section final after last night's weather. Maraya was in the first heat after entering the meet with the 17th fastest time. She, too, made Queens proud by running a season best (2:10-high) and finishing 12th, five spots above her seed. Tanya and I cheered her down the homestretch before heading up the hill to check in and begin our warmup. Deja vu in the form of a cemetery loop, only with more lighthearted banter and fewer nerves than two nights prior. My legs felt light and surprisingly fresh, although I had no idea how they would respond once I stepped onto the track. For all I knew, I'd already run the power right out of them with my intense (if less than successful) kick at the end of Thursday night's race. I would find out soon enough.

At 8:45 our group of 19 filed down onto the track. Ten of the 19 had also competed in the 10k, and one of the remaining girls had just run the 1500m final a few hours prior. Only a few of the athletes were fresh coming into the race--including defending outdoor and indoor champ Neely Spence from Shippensburg. We all toed the line on the backstretch, waited for the starter's commands, and then were off into the night.

Predictably, the first lap started as a crawl. A crowded, fiesty, jostling crawl. Remembering how I'd gotten boxed in at Penn, I swung around the first turn wide and was actually leading the darn thing down the home stretch before others picked up the pace. Still, our first lap was a pedestrian 83, and for a brief moment I wondered if this would be reminiscent of the 2.5 mile jog followed by a half mile sprint we contested at indoor nationals. I didn't have to wonder for long, as Spence quickly took up the front and increased the pace. I saw later that we split 78, 77, 77 to come through the mile in 5:15. This was quick for me (possibly a mile PR?) and considerably faster than I expected--I honestly hadn't planned on running sub-PR pace in this championship race--but as I was already off the lead group I couldn't give any thought to slowing down. Simply put, this felt hard from second lap, and after a mile I digested the sobering realization that it certainly wasn't going to get any easier. There would be no planning or strategizing or settling in like during the 10k. From this point on it would be me running as hard as I could and trying to catch as many people as possible without blowing up and royally embarrassing myself.

Honestly, much of the rest of the race is a blur, albeit a painful one. I think I remember passing through two miles in 10:35, probably around tenth place. I was well off the real race that was unfolding between Neely and Tanya, but I could tell that some of the girls in front of me were going to pay the price for going out too hard. I may not have been able to pick it up, but as long as I didn't fall off the pace I knew I would catch people. Sure enough, with two laps to go I was somewhere around eighth and still gaining, although I felt like I was about to die. After the race Jenna and Simmons would comment about how strong my kick was, but all I know is I kept telling myself that I was not going to get walked down before the finish like I did in the 10k. I finished utterly exhausted in sixth place and rather unexpectedly set a PR in the process. Admittedly, my previous PR of 16:44 wasn't that impressive, but as I've said before I never expect to run "fast" during a championship race--particularly this championship race when I had just raced a 10k 48 hours prior.

After the race Tanya and I took a few of the other girls--Neely, Sarah and Brenae--on a pitch dark cemetery cooldown. Along the way we noticed that the group of eight who finished as All-Americans tonight was virtually identical to the list that finished All-American indoors except for maybe one. At least we're consistent, I suppose. I know Tanya was disappointed about getting second (she was 16:20 to Neely's 16:14), but you can't argue that she had a phenomenal meet. Both of us were pretty pleased with how things turned out--especially when we found out that our combined 27 points had placed us sixth as a team! Turns out that's the highest NCAA finish of any Queens sports team in Queens history. Though both of us would be lying to say the team competition had been on our mind going into the meet, the result certainly ended up being the icing on the cake. Our last NCAA competition as Queens runners went about as well as we could've hoped. Thanks again to everyone who supported me this weekend, whether it was in person or through email or on Facebook. It truly meant a lot, and made me really appreciate having the meet right here in Charlotte. It's been quite a season, and I'm so grateful to have had you all along for the ride.

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The Waiting is the Hardest Part

AM: 20 mins. (2.5 miles)
PM: Rain...thunder...lightning

Wow, what a stressful day. Tonight was supposed to be our 5k prelim, but Mother Nature had other plans. Despite a morning and early afternoon of sunny skies, by 5pm the clouds had begun to gather. By 5:30 the rain was steadily falling and we heard the first whispers of a rain delay. Actually, the rain in itself isn't necessarily a huge deal, but lightning is an entirely different story. If meet officials see lightning, they must halt the meet for 30 lightning-free minutes before resuming. At 5:45 the first lightning was spotted and thus the first delay began. We had just arrived to JCSU from our hotel in Uptown, only to receive word that our scheduled 7:50pm race would not begin until at least 8:50. We returned to the hotel to wait. And we waited. And waited. The rain eventually abated, but the lightning just would not quit. Every 20 minutes or so we would receive updates of more delays. Finally, around 9pm, it seemed as though the weather would break. So again we piled into the van and again departed for JCSU...only to get the call halfway there that--you guessed it--proceedings were halted once again. We elected to continue to the gym and wait it out, but things weren't looking good. Just as we reached the gym the rain began falling again, this time in earnest. It seemed as though the meet officials were faced with three options: 1. Continue to delay until midnight or later and wait out the rain; 2. Cancel for the evening, then run prelims on Saturday morning and finals on Saturday night; or 3. Cancel for the evening, omit the prelims yet to be run, and run everything as finals on Saturday night. Just past 10pm, we got word that the committee had chosen door #3. Tanya and I were fine with this prospect, as it would give us an additional day of rest before the 5k, but it certainly did make for a crazy day (not to mention probably my lowest mileage day in months). It would've been great to get the word earlier in the evening so that I could've enjoyed some of life's simple pleasures like, you know, eating dinner; but overall I have few complaints about how this turned out. Now it's time to get my game face on for tomorrow night's 5k finals.

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NCAA Nationals 10k: Tanya 1st, Meagan 3rd!

Results

Article and sweet photo

Detailed recap to follow. It's late and I've got to rest up for the 5k prelim tomorrow!

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NCAA National 10k Recap

AM: 3 miles
PM: 2 mile w/u + strides
10k race @34:50
1 mile c/d
Total: 9 miles


10k start line

We headed over to the track at 6:30, just in time to catch the opening rounds of the steeple. Temperatures were above 85 degrees but it felt surprisingly nice in the shade due to the low humidity--44% according to weather.com. I knew the heat would take its toll on some of the distance runners, just as surely as I knew I wouldn't be one of them. I've lived in this type of climate my whole life, and I planned on using that to my advantage during the later stages of the race.

Around 8pm, Tanya and I ventured across the railroad tracks for our familiar warmup loop around the cemetery. The same loop as always, but of course the mood was completely different. It was almost surreal, warming up in the same place we've been dozens of times before, only this time with so much more on our minds. We were jolted back to reality on our return toward the stadium. About 100 yards from the tracks we heard the whistle of an approaching train; sure enough, the lights began flashing and the protective arms lowered. We were too far away to beat it, so we jogged slowly up to the crossing and waited for it to pass. Except that then it stopped. Like, came to a complete stop right on the tracks. For as many times as we've joked about getting stuck on the other side of the tracks during our warmup, we never expected it to happen tonight. After a few moments of hesitation we both scrambled up the side of the train, gingerly stepped across an empty boxcar and hopped to safety on the other side. If that doesn't get your adrenaline pumping, I don't know what will!

Ten minutes later it was go time. We filed down to the track with the other competitors and did some final pre-race strides. I was delighted to spot some familiar faces in the stands just before the start, including Caitlin and the CRC crew, Tyler and Denise, and Run For Your Life owner Tim Rhodes. (After the race I would learn that there were many other friends there too, and instead of forgetting to name them all, I will simply say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came!) Tanya also had some pint-sized fans, as most of her class from this spring's Girls on the Run session came to cheer. I would discover over the next 34 minutes that the single best part of hosting the meet in our hometown was receiving such an overwhelming show of support from friends and teammates.


Pre-race strides

At 8:40 sharp we were off. I don't remember much about the first mile except that it felt quick: 5:28. Though I could only speculate about the pace of the race, I didn't suspect we would run faster than 34:30 given the heat. 5:28 was a bit fast. At this point I had a choice; I could surge to catch up with the leaders--Slippery Rock's Jen Harpp had taken a commanding solo lead, followed closely by a chase pack of Tanya and Sarah Porter and a few others--or I could bide my time in the second chase group and hope they came back to me. It was a crucial decision, and one I had to make quickly. I stayed put.


The lead pack midway through the race

The second mile slowed a bit, and I heard the announcer say 5:34. At this point Harpp had been caught, but my group was still a solid 10-15 meters back from the leaders. I began to notice them coming a bit closer, almost imperceptibly at first. Jordan noticed it too, and I heard him yell from his spot on the backstretch to be patient and let them come back within the next few laps. We passed through 5k shortly thereafter, although I never saw or heard a split. (Tanya told me later that she heard her 5k split as 17:29, which meant mine was probably around 17:34-35). For the rest of the race I would neither see nor hear another mention of spllits, nor would I concern myself with it. I was here to race, not to set a PR.

Sure enough, within the next few laps the remainder of our chase group absorbed the lead pack. Now the group of contenders included Tanya, Sarah Porter, myself, Western State's Laura Kleppin, Missouri Southern's Kimi Shank and Dani Dell'Orco from Truman State. As far as we were concerned, no one else was still in the race. Surprisingly the next two miles were the most comfortable of the race for me as I settled in with the group. With six laps to go Tanya put in a surge, and none of us were ready to respond. I stayed tucked in to the group and let her go. I knew I couldn't wait until the last lap to kick, but I also knew I wasn't ready to drop the hammer just yet. Patience.

With two laps to go, our group was starting to string out just a bit. I sensed my chance approaching. At the 700 meter mark I heard Jordan yell at me to relax and go. I went. I thought about all the 12x800 workouts, all the hammers, all the miles that had prepared me for this point, and I trusted that my strength would see me through to the finish. If I could hold on, I would help earn Queens a 1-2 finish. At the sound of the bell, I looked up in surprise to see that Tanya was not too far in front of me. The lead she'd built over the previous mile was slowly eroding, and for the first time in the race I thought she might be fallible. I dropped my head and dug deeper. The backstretch came and went.

The final hundred meters of the race I have since replayed in my head at least a dozen times. I remember rounding the final curve, looking up to see Tanya ahead of me while simultaneously swinging wide to pass a lapped runner. I never in a million years expected to feel Sarah Porter also swinging wide, somehow emerging from nowhere to pass me on the outside. I had thought the rest of the group was history, and it caught me totally by surprise. I had no response. Should I have snuck a look over my shoulder a few meters earlier to make sure I was clear? Probably so, but at the time I was so intent on the finish and on trying to catch Tanya that it literally never crossed my mind to turn around. Instead, I crossed the line in 34:50--a second behind Sarah and about three behind Tanya. I had run my last 800 in 2:33 with my last 400 in 73 and it still wasn't enough.



Although I may not have enabled the Queens sweep, I suppose finishing with one National Champ and one All-American isn't half bad either. On paper, Sarah and Tanya have run 60 and 90 seconds faster than me respectively, so I consider competing with them as well as I did to be an accomplishment in itself. And they deserve all the credit in the world for making moves when I didn't, or couldn't, thus securing their finishes in the top spots. All in all, I feel like we put on a really fun and exciting race for the home crowd, which makes the outcome all the more rewarding.


Myself, Tanya and Sarah Porter

I'll close this recap by sharing a text message that my former coach Jeff "G-Unit" Gaudette sent me in November 2008, after I'd just committed to quitting my job and running at Queens. He said: "I believe you can be a national champion in the 10k!" I remember literally laughing out loud while reading it, as the idea was about as incredulous as anything I could imagine at the time. A year ago I was two spots out of qualifying for this race, and tonight I wanted to make sure I did not waste this opportunity. I did not win that national championship tonight, but I did compete my heart out and come closer than almost anyone else out there.

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