My title has two meanings, because this track season, I had to A) recover with a less than ideal fall cross country season and B) learn the steeplechase, my new event in which I fell down in as many races as I stayed upright. But I definitely grew as an athlete and the season reaffirmed my belief in the long-term and the value of patience. I'm very grateful that my season went by without injury and that I made serious leaps in my fitness.
My first race was a 5k at Davis, where I ran a terrible race. The only redeeming part was kicking down Erick Garcia and passing him on the inside.
My second race, a steeplechase at Sac State where I ran unattached, was a great introduction to the event. After I finished in 9:37, I was so fired up I wanted to race it again. I ran very conservatively, because I was worried about hitting the wall and injuring myself. Looking back, my form was absolutely atrocious at this meet, and I can't believe I came through without an injury. But seriously, now I was stoked for track season because I got to run the coolest event. And even cooler - I had run the conference qualifier in my first race!
Heading into April, I kept working on my hurdle form, which got a lot better once we got some alumni - Tim and Jessica Helms - to show us proper form and some new drills. At the Chico Distance Carnival, I went into the race gunning for the regional qualifier - 9:07. After going through 4 laps at regional pace, I even started to pick it up and pass people. But coming through the backstretch the knee of my trail leg hit the barrier and I was down in a heap. According to my coach, because I was in such a fog that I don't remember how it happened, I was on the ground for two or three seconds and then got up facing the wrong way. So I had to turn around and race again with a sore knee. And although I still managed to PR by 10 seconds in 9:27, I was pretty bummed that I hadn't been able to get the qualifier. The only good thing was that I didn't permanently damage my knee, I just got a major bruise.
The next week was Woody Wilson. I wasn't able to get my head into the race, and I was only able to run a 9:25 when I should have been up with the leaders. But this race definitely taught me to focus just on the race and not let other parts of my life get in the way.
And then came my best race of the season at the Causeway Classic - this was a serious breakthrough race. After the Woody Wilson steeple where I didn't put it on the line, I stepped up big time for this 3k. In the race, I actually executed tactically pretty well. After running :68, :70, :64, and :70 for the first four laps, I was right on the back of the second pack. With 1200 to go I was hurting and was right behind a teammate and a Sac State guy, but coming up to 1k to go I felt like the pace slowed so I just threw in a burst of speed to keep the pace at :70. With 600 to go I was in fourth, having passed a couple other guys I started pushing. The race up front had been between my teammates Jonathan Peterson and KC Cody as well as Sac State's Dominic Vogl. So I picked up the pace, trying to catch the Sac State guy in third, who was easily 50-70 yards ahead at this point I would say. So I really turned it on, and pulled even with him with 200 to go. At that point I had really started to run out of steam and I felt myself giving up. But I buckled down, ignored my aching legs, picked up my turnover, and gave it my all. I passed him on the turn coming in to the homestretch and kept going. I did look back twice, but I couldn't tell how fast I was going anymore, and I was worried I was going to lose right there. But I finished in third with a huge PR - 8:29!!! - and just felt amazing. The time converts to a 9:05 two mile or so, so I can be really proud of my time. My last 600 was a 1:37, and the last 200 was a :31!!! Nice finishing speed right there. What was even cooler was that the UCD guys finished 1-2-3 and my effort had displaced Vogl, making the team score even for the last event - the 4x400. Although we lost in a close battle, it was really cool to see my effort pay off for the team.
Flying down to Irvine was my first flight with the team, which was pretty cool. I really liked the outside water barrier, even though I made a fool of myself by almost falling in it as I warmed up. I felt really in control of myself in this race, and the conditions were perfect. Although we were on regional pace through 3 laps, I slowed down with the leaders on the fourth lap. Moving up from 3rd to 1st in the fifth lap, I knew I was going to have to really start moving if I wanted to get 9:07. I really went after it with 800 left, and after coming through in the lead at the bell, my legs really started feeling weighted down. But I kept driving, and was still in the lead coming up to the water barrier with 150 left. But going over I caught my trail leg and face-planted in the water. I got up quickly but was in second for good, coming through in 9:15. At this point I felt like fitness-wise I was ready for a sub-9:10 at least, but wasn't getting it thanks to all of my falls.
So after a week off from competing, it was time for Big West!! I was chosen to run the steeple with my teammate, Kyle Suarez, down in sunny Northridge. I couldn't believe that I was actually going as a freshman, I had never thought of myself as good enough. So I competed at 9:45 in the morning, and it was already in the 80s and I was sweating like crazy. We dumped a bunch of water over ourselves right before the race, and then off we went. I was in the second third of the pack for the first lap, and then surged through the water pit and pushed into third. I settled in there for a couple more laps, then pushed up to second place, right off the leader's shoulder. And it was cool, my form was so much better than the leader's that I would actually hurdle into first place over every barrier, and he would have to surge to catch up again! But with four laps down, Mike Powers and some other guy went by me into the lead. And I tried to go with them, but my legs just didn't respond. I got passed by three more guys in the course of the next two laps. I definitely didn't have my usual kick, which was disappointing, but considering my allergies/cold and the heat, I was pretty satisfied with my result. Looking back on the season, I am very happy with how far I've come, it's been a lot of fun.
So yeah, now it's two weeks off and then I start ramping up for cross country again. I have a lot of goals for this season, I'm amped to get training again.
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