Run with the June Bugs 5k

I ran another cross country race this past Friday. It had rained heavily the previous two days, and when coupled with the fact that I'm in way worse shape than I was in October 2009 I knew I had no shot at my PR for the course of 18:02. But, there were standings points to be gained and I can never turn down an XC race. So I was all in.

I started out feeling pretty good, although I let Danny and the small pack of runners chasing him go pretty much right away. I knew the soggy ground and copious amounts of grass on the course would zap me at some point, and I had no intention of blowing up halfway through. So I stuck behind Jordan and stayed relaxed through the first mile.

The pack of four ahead began to decouple and I hoped to catch a couple off the back and sneak into one of the top spots, but it wasn't to be today. Jordan built throughout the race and finished third after he caught Danny, and I couldn't muster enough to catch some high school kid who died halfway and stumbled his way to the finish. Despite my best efforts, my last mile was pretty slow and I did my best to hold it together with Mark Whalley hot on my tail. I was able to hold him off to finish sixth, and fifth in the points as the high school kid ahead of me wasn't a member.

I was pretty happy with the effort. The time was terrible (over 19), but I definitely feel as though I've improved every race and I'm on the way back to something resembling respectable.