The trip to Spokane was great, and I was accompanied with some great people. So, when race day came it was going to be a familiar feeling. That morning, the weather was "perfect". I was and hoping for rain and cold miserable weather, but that wasn't the case. A nice 50 degrees and sunny skies would pave way for a great race. The gun goes off at 2pm and I had a feeling that 20 guys or so would be capable of making the two US teams. One being the World Cross Country team (6 guys) and the other being the NACAC team (5 guys). So, ideally, you want to be at least top 11 in order to be on one of those teams if no one declines. And that was the goal...
By the first kilometer I was in great position in around 9th or 10th place. We hit that kilometer in about 2:47, which was pretty quick, but I felt alright. I just wanted to stay there and hopefully other guys would fall apart and I would maintain a good position. The first loop was pretty quick and I was still in that lead pack. At that point I felt good but everyone else were feeling better. The pack starts to drift apart over the next few kilometers and I start fading and getting passed. The 5k came up in about 14:40 something and I was feeling it. As each guy came up on me I tried to go with them and surge just to hold on. But, that would not help as I still faded. I finally held on to 16th place as the finish was coming up. So I finished in 36:36 in 16th place. It was faster than last year and a better placing than last year, but not exactly what I wanted.
I kept thinking that I needed to be stronger so that I could hold on to the position I started off at, but ultimately that performance was the best I could do. It was a great race and I am now happy with the way it turned out. I originally wanted more from that race, but I can only take what happened and use that for next year and other racing in the future.
Next on the schedule is Stanford 10k and then the Country Music Marathon in April.
Results:
Video:
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