Junior Cross Country: A terrible season
Harriton guys in the pic: Sam, Finn, Leo, Joseph, and me. (Bill Shearn Photography)
Not going to lie, junior year cross country ended terribly. Although I did pr by almost 2 minutes, I didn't run the ties I was hoping to run. I had also gotten a cold in the middle of the season which downgraded my performance in several meets in the middle of the season. With the summer mileage I did, I was hoping to perform better, but disappointed myself at the end. In this post, I will analyze two categories: Invitationals and league meets. I will also have my conclusion at the end, and goals that I look forward to for my senior year.
League Meets:
Unlike Penncrest (who's in our conference), we didn't kick off the season with an invite. The Penncrest boys team ran the Northampton Invitational which is said to be "as flat as a track." 2 of their top runners went under 16 and many who ran low 17's last year ran sub 17. We started out our season with the scrimmages that I missed because of Japan. Our first official league meet was on September 4th against Conestoga, Garnet Valley, and Haverford. On top of the scorching humid weather, the course was terrible with 2 huge hills. I went out at 6:03, and finishing with a devastating 20:58(Not a great way to start the season.) I improved a little in the second league meet of the season against Penncrest and Strath Haven. With temperatures in the 90s, we had to delay the meet an hour back. The conditions were terrible and I finished with a 19:43.99 after going out in the low 5:50s. Our next meet was against Lower Merion and Upper Darby at Penn Wynne Park. I went with the lead pack and finished with a time of 18:07.27 after going through the first mile at 5:49. I was really comfortable throughout the whole race and was able to hang on with the lead pack. Then, I contracted a cold which affected me greatly for many weeks. I raced multiple times with the cold, producing horrible results. I ran a 20:42.91 at the infamous Rose Tree Park against Ridley and Marple Newtown on top with my cold and 90 degree weather. Looking back, I should have not ran and just rested the whole time. I guess I was just impatient and scared as I hadn't produced any good times. The next and final meet was at the flat Radnor course which we had to delay because of 90 degree weather (damn global warming). I went out in 5:52, and finished with a time of 18:58.78 (I must have still had a little bit of the cold left). Overall, my league meets were sub par and I'm hoping to run low 17's in most of them next year.
Invitationals:
My first invite of the season was the Cherokee Challenge two mile. I went out in 5:14, and then finishing with a slow time of 11:29.72. I had contracted the cold the day before or on the day of the PIAA Foundation Invite. From the start I was feeling weak, tired, and drowsy. When the gun went off, I couldn't even run fast. After going through the first mile in 5:45, I was already too tired to go and finished in a devastating time of 20:04. I had mixed feelings on my next invite: Paul Short. I went too out fast with the first mile being 5:22. I was hoping to run sub 17, but that didn't work out as I finished in a time of 17:39.6. I had to pay for being too impatient. Our varsity team (which I was in) got 3rd in the White Race, and we got ourselves a glass plaque. I was then placed in the JV race for our conference meet: The Central League Championships. We went out really fast, which made some of the JV runners slow down. I took the lead with my team mate and passed the first mile in 5:16. I felt good, but eventually after, the winner passed me and I never saw him again. At the 2nd mile, I went over the infamous hill, in which I was overtaken by 2 runner from Lower Merion. That was when I just lost all my energy, and I finished in a disappointing time of 18:29.2. I finished off the season with the PIAA District 1 AAA Championships. The race went out really slowly, ruining my plan of going under 17. I finished the race devastated with a time of 17:32.9.
Conclusion:
This season was good and bad, but mostly bad. Although I pr'd, it was a really disappointing pr. All the training I put in over the summer was kind of worth it when looking back. But when I think about it, my summer training was disturbed by travel, and also my wisdom teeth being taken out. With this in mind, I'm happy that we won't be traveling next summer, and I will have the whole summer to train (And also have an internship/volunteer). I'm also planning on running 2 or maybe all 3 of the Midsummer Night 5k series. I'm also planning on running the Media 5 Miler in August to test my fitness. I also hope that I can convince my coach and my team to run the flat Northampton Invitational on August 31st. Except for that, the only thing I'll need to do right now is to focus on indoor track and training more.
Results:
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