The State Meet is the most important cross country meet of the year. With this in mind, the days leading up to the state meet were full of nervous excitement. I had ran my best time the week before on my home course at the Metro meet, with a time of 18:19. This PR was just what I needed to get excited and pumped for the state meet approaching in only 6 days.
The week before the meet consisted of my usual practice and training schedule, along with healthy eating. Practice consisted of speed workouts and distance runs, followed by light weight training at the gym. Healthy eating is also very important to me, and I compare this to putting gas in a car. Think of this: A nice, shiny car won't run well, if at all, if you put bad gas in it, and same goes for your body. Who would want to treat their body wrong by not feeding it the right fuel it needs to support it and stay strong?
Finally, having been preparing for this my whole season, it was time to head to Natchitoches. Every year since my freshmen year(I am currently a junior), my team and I attend mass the Sunday before the state meet. This year was no different. I packed Saturday night because I knew we would be leaving directly after mass. At mass, the priest blessed the team and wished us luck before we headed out the door to begin the four hour car ride to Natchitoches.
We reached Natchitoches at around 3:00 p.m., just in time to watch the Saints play! We cheered on the boys until halftime, and then left the hotel to run our pre-meet on the course we would soon be running on in less than 24 hours. While running, my teammates and I scoped out the course, and spoke of different strategies to use during the race for certain areas of the course.
Dinner was one of my favorite parts of the weekend...SPAGHETTI!! My team ate dinner together along with our family members and friends who came along to cheer for us at the race. We ended the night with a team meeting, and the lights were out by 10:30.
I woke up on Monday morning(race day) at around 7:30 with many thoughts running through my head... Today is the day....today is the day I have prepared for this whole season. I went down to the lobby to eat breakfast, which was a waffle, a banana and some eggs. Afterwards, I went back to my room and relaxed until it was time to head to the course.
I ate a light lunch at the course, a turkey sandwhich and some peanut butter crackers, while staying hydrated by drinking lots of water. The boys class 2A race was at 1:45 and the girls class 2A race was at 3:15, which meant we would have time to watch and cheer for our boys team before we needed to warm up. While watching a couple races before mine, I noticed that the times were off by about a minute, and I think this was because of the wind, which seemed as if it were picking up as the day went on. The boys team ran a great race with 3 boys placing in the top ten and placing 2nd overall as a team. I think with the guys team doing as well as they did, the girls and I became more excited to test our abilities and push our limits on the course that day.
My team and I completed our usual warm up, stretched, did drills, and then headed to the starting line. I could feel the nervous excitement everyone was feeling as we made our way to the starting line. I was getting more and more ready for the race as each minute passed. I told myself: Just run your race, give your best effort, finish strong, and leave it all out on the course. My team and I huddled up with a few minutes left before the start, said our prayers, and yelled out our cheer with confidence. We were ready.
And we're off! As soon as the gun fired, everyone made a dash from the starting line. I knew who my toughest competitors were going to be: Haley Johnson of Newman and Mallory Robichaux of Menard. These girls are awesome runners and I knew it was going to be a close race. The lead pack took off ahead of me, as I trailed behind. I didn't go out as fast as they did, and I knew I would have to work the next two miles to start closing the gap.
The wind made the race much harder, and I had a cotton mouth within the first 100 meters of the race. I caught up with the lead pack and crossed the mile mark with the group. Hearing the roar and cheer of the crowd energized me to keep pushing on, I was feeling good. The next mile was the same loop we had just completed and a few of the members of the lead pack dropped off by the time we hit the two mile mark. It was just three of us now. The last mile is a tough one, considering you are already tired from the first two miles, it also contains a hill. I stared to pick it up a little in the beginning of the 3rd mile, knowing I needed to have something left to finish on the track with. There was now just two of us, but number 3 was not far behind. I conquered the hill with what I had left, remembering to pump my arms as I went up. Haley Johnson of Newman started to pull away as we neared the track, and I fought with all I had left. This was it...the finish. As I stepped onto the track, I again heard the roar of the crowd as the top 3 finishers made there way to the finish line. I pumped my arms and rounded the curve as Johnson crossed the finish line, with Robichaux not far behind me. I finished with all I had left, and crossed the line with a time of 19:08.
I was very happy with my time, keeping in mind that many had ran about a minute off of their PRs. While exhausted and sitting in the 2nd place chair, I had the biggest smile on my face as my competitors and I congratulated each other on a job well done. I love the girls that I get to compete against because they are always so friendly and motivating. My coach hollered my name and held up a number 2, now I'm thinking "yes I know I got 2nd place", but he yelled back "The team, 2nd place!". An even bigger smile spread across my face as I heard the news. We have a young team consisting of 2 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 4 freshmen, which made me even more proud knowing all of their hard work and dedication had paid off.
This weekend is definitely one to remember, and I am so proud of my team and all of our competitors.
<p> If you would be interested in keeping a travel journal, please write to <a href="mailto:pat@louisianarunning.com">pat@louisianarunning.com</a>. </p>