We got out of class at 12:40 on Thursday. The divisional (or conference) meet was being held about 1.5 hours away on a course that we ran twice last year. Both times, I did not do well. I wasn't really looking forward to this meet because of this. Strangely enough though, I really wasn't nervous throughout the day. Even when I thought about the meet, it didn't really affect me. This made me worried that I was going to do something similar to my last meets. Before, during, and afterwards, I kind of had a feeling of indifference, that I didn't really care that much. I would think about the race and I would not want to run it. Practices would be okay, but thinking about the misery and pain during the races made me not want to race. But I love racing, so I don't really get it. I was determined to care about this race though, because I don't have many left.
On the bus ride to the course, I had a discussion with JS about our childhoods. While eating some of my snacks, I noticed that it was raining outside. We had known the weather; it was supposed to be about 42 degrees but feel like 36 and it was going to rain. Looking outside at this weather though, from the heated comfort of the bus, it looked even worse than it sounded. But then I remembered that cross country runners are supposed to be tough. We are not soft people. And plus, I could tell all my non running friends about this and they would think I was amazing.
We arrived late, only about 45 minutes before the fresh/soph race. My coach told varsity to stay on the bus while everyone else left to set up camp in the rain. One of the people in charge of the meet apparently told my coach to make everyone warmup off the course so they could save it for varsity. It's not like anyone is going to listen to this though, because most of the teams don't run here regularily so they don't know the course.
My teammates and I stayed on the bus for awhile, only getting off to go for a bathroom break (they actually had real bathrooms because the course was at a multi level soccer complex). We did go cheer on the fresh/soph runners because it was their last meet for the year. This was our first look at the condition of the course and it looked a little muddy. More like a lot muddy, actually. While I was standing with JS while she took pictures (she is now the team photographer), we saw a couple of girls run by with mud all up one side, indicating that they had fallen. Everyone else just had mud on their legs, although we did see a girl with mud on her face. It was drizzling rain, the course was turning into a path of mud, and it looked slippery. And I was actually kind of looking forward to the race.
Varsity was supposed to run at 5:30 (although they were running ahead) so we began warming up a little before the JV girl's race. The freshmen didn't know the course so we made sure to do most of it, although it loops around a lot. Both the boy's and the girl's race loops around part of the course three times, so it was aready a mud pit by the time we began.
Our shoes were sinking into the mud and there were still two races to go before we raced. It was lightly raining out and it was cold. My pants were wet with mud up to my knees in the back and my new shoes had grass stuck all over them. The fresh/soph race results were about 45 seconds slower and more people were falling in each race. But this is cross country, so we were going to have to run.
After our warmup, we stretched under our little tent on the tarp. Our coach chose this time to give us his version of a pep talk. He told us that our times would suck because parts of the course were 6 inches of mud. He said it would feel like 3.1 miles instead of 2.5 miles and it would feel incredibly long. We shouldn't try to run preplanned times because we would get incredibly tired after the first mile. We shouldn't go out fast but we would catch people at the end. It was cold, rainy, and muddy, and there was a long gradual hill that we would have to run twice. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a peppy pep talk. Our coach was telling the truth, however.
Before we went to the starting line, one of my teammates called my name. She started laughing and told me not to fall like I did earlier in the season. Such helpful advice. We went to the starting line early because the meet was running ahead. I ran a few strides with my teammates before going back to our box (which was on the outside, what a surprise). And then we were told to take off our sweats. Then the guy told us we had two minutes until the race. It was in the mid thirties out so there was more than a few of us that were a little angry at this. I was only wearing my underamour like top under my uniform so it was a cold wait.
It was then that my teammate TM realized that she had forgotten her race number. She is just a freshmen but that is just something you don't do. This meant that she had to run back over to the tent or the bus and back while she still had her sweats on. When she made it back, most of us were on the line. A few of my other teammates helped her get her sweats off while she tried to pin her number on. I stood on the line and got ready to race. I wasn't trying to be mean or uncaring but it really was her problem. I still had my race to run and I didn't want to get off focus because of her mistake. So when the guy lifted his hand and was going to shoot off the gun, while TM was trying to pin her number on, I was on the line ready to go. She was yelling at him to wait but he couldn't hear her. He did make us wait a little though, because he said we were moving around too much. TM managed to get two pins attached to her jersey before the gun was shot off. But I was ready.
The first 200m of the course were actually not that muddy. It wasn't very wide however, so everyone was trying to get into position. I ended up a little farther than I wanted to be at the beginning but I remembered what my coach said about starting out fast. We ran up a little hill to the next level of soccer fields and there the mud began.
The mud wasn't that big of deal until we turned the first corner. The first corner itself was almost pure mud. There were flags all over the course that we had to make sure to go around so everyone was moving to the left in order to do this. We were all still in a pack so it was very crowded. And then a girl near me fell. All of us immediately tried to avoid her so there were elbows flying as we cut each other off. I felt someone spike me but it didn't really bother me. I was just trying not to fall.
We then ran the loop that had been raced on 12 times before us. Not to mention everyone that had warmed up on the course. It was a muddy mess which made it kind of funny. We ran down the hill to the next soccer field (making sure not to fall) and turned the corner, going around the flags, as some guy yelled that the corner was slippery. Obviously. And then the muddiest stretch began.
When running on a muddy course, most people would run to the side to avoid it. Except so many people had done this on the course, that there really wasn't anywhere to go. One side sloped down so it wasn't an option. Then there was the 15ft. wide mud path. On the side of that, there was slightly less mud and more water. While running on it, you would sink down and feel it seep into your spikes. On one of my steps, I could feel my shoe slip a little from my foot as the mud grabbed at it. When going back up to the other soccer field, I was grateful for my spikes so I could kind of grab into the ground. AK had been ahead of me until this point but I didn't freak out and passed her on the hill. I just felt confident that I could do it.
The next part took us near some trees and into more mud. I'm pretty sure it was raining during my race but I didn't feel it because I was more concerned about the brown stuff on the ground. I did pass this guy with a cowbell during this part though. Yes, a cowbell. He was cheering for everyone too, so I didn't figure out what team he was really from. I made it around the multiple soccer field loop though, and moved into a better position. I was ahead of a bunch of packs, but there was a pack about 10 seconds in front of me with most of the girls from one school. I was kind of stuck between the two groups by myself but I kept going and didn't move back.
We passed the mile marker sometime in the next section, but I didn't remember where it was and no one was yelling out times, probably because they didn't matter much. We began going down the big hill loop. AK told me last year to stride down this hill and somehow this always makes us laugh when we go to this course. I remembered what she had said and did my best to stride down the hill. I slowed down before I turned the corner though, because it was looking kind of slippery. I made it around without falling and ran a flatter part before going up more of the hill. You can't quickly power up the hill but you can't just go up slowly so it just sucks all the way around. Add this to the fact that the hill is only about 10ft. wide between a fence and a downward slope. The hill was pure mud and there was no avoiding it. I tried running on the edge for awhile but it didn't really make a difference. I made it though and didn't fall that far back. My coach just kept telling me that these girls were coming back to me and that I was going to beat some of them.
Shortly before the turn onto the third time around the soccer field loop, I realized that I didn't feel that cold. Then I looked down at my legs to make sure they were still there. Keep in mind that this was towards the end of a race while it was raining and felt like it was in the mid 30's. I was not thinking straight. My legs were still there though and they looked a little muddy. But as I went around that loop for the last time, it was really kind of hilarious. The conditions were so miserable that it was funny. And I was enjoying it.
I reached the two mile mark and remembered what my coach had told us earlier. It looks like a long way to the finish line but our coach said that we had to start kicking anyways. I ran down a slight hill and turned the corner. I was catching up to the girls in front of me. One of the girls pushed one of the flags out of her face so her teammate pushed it out of her way and it came around to hit the girl a little behind them right in the face. I avoided the flag. As we went up half of the long, gradual hill though, I didn't even try to avoid the mud. I didn't run through the center of the course, because it sucked you down like quicksand but didn't go out of my way to get away from it. Then I was up the hill and near the finish line. We had about 250m to go and I was getting really close to a girl ahead of me. I passed her with about 175m to go and then ran up a little hill to the soccer field where the finish line was.
This was no 400m finishing straight. It was 100m, but actually not that muddy. There was still a pack of girls ahead of me from the same team and I knew I had to try and get some of them. One of them was my grandma's neighbor (she absolutely adores these kids) and I knew I wouldn't hear the end of it if she beat me. I pulled out all the energy I had left and raced her to the line, barely getting there before her. The chute was backed up but both of us sprinted past the line. I ran into one of the ladies managing the chute and then some guy yanked me back by my jersey. Right after I had just finished a race. I wasn't going to cut and there really wasn't a way to cut so I'm not sure why this was neccessary. I talked to my grandma's neighbor after this, although she was a little too talkative for still being in the chute. She seemed a little mad that it was me who beat her at the line, but that is why I wanted to beat her anyways. She had a PR by 2 seconds though and I ran a 16:41, my second slowest time of the season. My coach had told us our times would suck and they did. After analyzing the results, I figured that I was about 5 seconds slower that I should have been but I placed 20th.
After getting out of the chute, I waited for my teammates. One of the freshmen beat both TM and AK which was a little surprising. I was talking to AK near the line when she looked down at my legs and told me that I was bleeding. I didn't really know what she was talking about until I looked down at the lower part of my right leg. Sure enough, next to all the mud plastered on my legs, blood had dripped down. I figured it was from the girl who had spiked me on the first corner, but I was pretty proud of it. My coach came up to me and after congratulating me, he said he liked my battle scar. My dad then took some pictures of me and my muddiness before I went back to camp and talked with my teammates. I put on most of my sweats and then ran over to my down as a cooldown. I talked to him and some other people for awhile, got a conference Tshirt that raised money for breast cancer research, and then ran back to the bus when I realized my team was leaving.
I ate my Subway sandwhich, harvest chedder Sunchips (which taste amazing after a race), and chocolate chip cookie. This was going to be my last cross country bus ride and I wanted to remember it. JS and I talked on the way home, and my coach even joked around with us. Looking around at a few of my teammates who had stayed to ride the bus, as we rode home, it was sad. We all share something that binds us together. I love knowing that we have cross country in common, that we all participate in one of the greatest sports.
Our team placed 5th out of 7th, and most of varsity didn't run that well. One of the freshmen really confirmed that she was hurt and is not going to run in the next weeks. My coach seemed okay with the results the night of the race, but on Friday, he was very angry. He acted like he used to act. He was almost 15 minutes late to practice and considered skipping out on us. The week before districts, the state qualifying meet. It made me remember why I like the newer version of my coach. Regardless of this, I want to remember these next days of cross country. Remember what makes the sport so great. Remember why I am going to miss this sport. Remember why I love this sport so much.
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