It's RACE WEEK. It is the last pre-season meet. So funny, the regular season is already over.
Somehow it's just beginning for me. I am not done by any means. 😥😥😥
Three weeks of good and productive training are behind me. I'm getting back into the rhythm. It was tough - but so much fun. I was generally able to recover well and quickly. Well, my priority besides training was also recovery (fueling what I can and sleep as well).
So it's off to week four...Race Weeek. yippie.
Monday - great, relatively short workout; I was hyped.
Tuesday - #it's going.
Wednesday 10/13/2021.
I woke up with cold symptoms. Sore throat and so forth. WHY ?!! But, don't panic on the Titanic. FSU did not turn against me :D LOL.
So, I just pushed through the short pre-race workout - but I ran humanely and in control. Less beneficial that day was the fact that it was raining and it was relatively cool.
At noon it went off to Tallahassee. A good 7h I could rest in the van, *only theoretically..
Thursday 10/14/2021
According to the motto: Stay optimistic; rest.
Shake out in the morning on the course and then chilled at the hotel. Luckily I was able to get to bed early. Sleep is always the best medicine :)
Shake out am Morgen auf dem Kurs und dann im Hotel gechillt. Zum Glück konnte ich früh ins Bett. Schlaf ist doch immer die Beste Medizin :)
Friday 10/15/2021
Race day! Pre-nationals!!! That means a lot going on, many universities, and many first-class universities were at the race! Really cool.
In total, over 60 universities got entered, so two races were held (just like the men's race). Our start gun went off at 9:45 am.
Race Braids ON POINT. Thanks @Gab.
Very late, when we consider that Tallahassee is also in Florida (even though it's up north). And we felt it - the hour difference was immense. When the sun came out, it was just burning. Everyone was struggling with it.
I felt better and more refreshed, thankfully; some relief. And it's GO-time.
My start was a lot better. My reaction and speed at the start are coming. YESS: Progress.
Unfortunately, I took the speed out too early. (Yep, in a field of 300 gals, that's to be avoided). Schwup di Wups, jammed in the back of the second pack and no freedom. - Oh crap. 🙄
I used my energy, for the most part, to somehow get ahead or pass them; unsuccessfully. I work even more against the girls instead of with them and using them. *note in the back of mind
But I'm learning. Not everything can work out at once.
Then everything took its course. I felt okay; the bite and drill were somewhat lacking.
Difficult to describe the course. I would not call him a friend of mine.
From the start, it goes down a long straight, like a horse race track. Then it gets a bit twisty with small ups and downs. At the end of the lap, it goes up a relatively steep hill. We had to run this lap twice. Definitely a challenging course.
At the finish, I ended up in 71st place (out of almost 300). I was a good 1 minute faster than last time, but still almost 2 minutes away from what I was aiming for.
The girls performed well. The team is improving from week to week. Peak will be in 2 weeks, for sure ;)
But: I am happy with the race. It is progress.
I can take some positive, as well as negative things from the race. The important thing for me is that I can handle such meets much better. I don't have a big panic anymore as I did at my first meets. And if I add self-confidence to this "positive feeling", it will definitely be good ;))
SO, now it's time to recover. And then the countdown starts for our Conference Champs on 10/30-21 !!!! #goowls
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