NYRR XC Championships

Van Cortlandt kicked my ass, and I only had to pay seven dollars for it. Way cheaper than a dominatrix.

This course is famous for good reason: it's really hard. The flats are quick, and the first mile psyched me into thinking, "Oh, yeah. I got this." Freshman hill (named so because when frosh run this course they all make the same mistake, they go out fast and get dropped by the first long hill) is long and hard, and had me at maximal effort 1/3 of the way into the race. Then it's a solid mile of brutal up and downs, where the ups were steep enough to keep me flat out and winded at a tortoise pace, and the downs are quick enough drops I couldn't turn my legs over fast enough to minimize the effort and braking.

When I came out of the woods (yes, I think the phrase, "out of the woods" originated here) I could see the finish, and picked it up. But there was a solid 1200 meters left, and I was spent. The seconds blinking off as the effort got harder and harder weren't much of an encouragement, but I pulled a kick from somewhere. I ended with 22:56 on the clock, and the satisfaction that I spent myself out there today.

So did all of my teammates, who ran great races today. Thanks, NBR. This is the beginning of something for me.