SEC Meet

Yesterday marked the annual SEC cross-country meet. It was held right here in Starkville. I woke up yesterday morning ready to run. Knowing we would be competing against rivals Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and about 7 other SEC schools made me more and more anxious to run. Also, I knew my parents would finally get to see me race for the first time this season. That, above anything else, motivated me to run hard and fast. Weeks of high mileage and painful workouts were coming down to this very important meet. I had some high expectations for the race: I was expecting to get a faster time than I had from my previous meet and I was expecting my body to feel good, as it did in the last race. Neither of these expectations were met. I think both were very realistic and highly possible, but everyone has a bad race at some point.
I was very excited about racing after running in very cool weather last week. I knew that if the weather remained cold, it would be a good race. However, temperatures rose each day of the weekend until Monday at 10 A.M. when they reached mid-70's. Sounds perfect, but not when you have adjusted to running in the cold.
There is a hill on our course that makes every other hill I have ever run on seem flat. The course includes running up this hill not once, but twice. After reaching the top of the hill the first time, I knew I didn't feel good. My body was ready to quit well before the second time up this beast of a hill. Although my body did not feel the best during this race, I ran the fastest and hardest that I could. I know I couldn't have given any more than I did. Even with everything I gave, I finished the 6000 meter course in 23:36, 9 seconds slower than I ran at Pre-Nats. I wish I could have run faster, but I am in no way disappointed with how I did because I gave my all.
Having my parents there to cheer me on got me through the gruesome race. They have always been my biggest cheerleaders (and loudest, with the exception of Chad Beaumont). I was ready to cross the finish line just so I could find them and give them big hugs and thank them for coming. It made me very sad to see them leave. I wish we could have spent more time together, but I was so happy they came.
The season ends on November 15th, when we will race in Knoxville for regionals.