Cross Country 2016

I dreaded the prospect of joining the CNW team for last weekend’s Pacific Northwest Cross Country championship -- the frantic high-speed start down a slippery grass hillside, the tight muddy corners, the lung-searing pain on the climbs, the self-conscious pressure of struggling near the back of the field in the fish-bowl setting of Lower Woodland Park's 6k course (3 times over a 2k loop).   

Maybe I could just find some charity race to boost my ego?   But like three years ago, I told myself to step up and mix it up with the hard-core master's runners.   I have been seeking to do more team events — the fun and camaraderie of contributing on a team is what essentially brought me back to competitive running this past decade.  And CNW's Master's team is a juggernaut - finishing either first or second place in nationals over the last 8 years.  During warmup I ask some of the CNW teammates about their overall racing program for the year and am struck again by their focus on cross-country — “I didn’t do any events in 2016 until the autumn cross-country campaign” one of the guys tells me, and another elite runners scoffs at the very idea of doing road races, concentrating only on track and cross country.

I want to make excuses about my focusing on triathlon, but I mange to bite my tongue.  Who cares?  It is all about cross-country today. 

My first kilometer is in 3:37, while my remaining 5k are all around 4-minute per kilometer pace.  But this is cross-country where even masters runners start too fast, and so I actually mange to struggle past other runners throughout the run.   

I had lower expectations this year.  If you lower your expectations enough you are bound to do OK.  And sure enough, my time of 23:50 - a 5-second improvement over last year - felt like a triumph.  I manage even to be in the top 7 for my age-division on the juggernaut team, though am still a minute behind the top 5 pack.