Pilots 4th at Pre-Nationals

After a successful meet at the Roy Griak Invitational we took it relatively easy for about a week before having a very, very solid training-week with a 14 mile fast, hilly long run; a 6x1mile workout; and 5x1000m on the track. Before we knew it, three weeks had passed and it was time for my third race of the season: Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana.

We traveled pretty much all day on Thursday to get there. First we flew into Minnesota, the same airport as for the Roy Griak Invitational; then we had a second flight to Indianapolis; followed by over an hour in the car. Because of the 3-hour time-difference it was midnight by the time we got to our hotel! Luckily we had all of Friday to recover, and after sleeping in, a little morning shake-out, watching the livestream of the Wisconsin Invitational to see our men’s team finish 7th, and a course preview, we were ready to go.

At least… I hoped I was. I raced here in 2013 and ended up 176th (!!!) in 22:02 min. Needless to say, I knew this was a hard, competitive race! Although the course is not as hard as Roy Griak, it has some longer, gradual hills in it and it is hard to find a rhythm. I had also been battling a cold in the week leading up to the race and still had some congestion and a painful throat, and really hoped that wasn’t going to bother me too much.
Our team-tactics were somewhat similar to 3 weeks ago, although we didn’t want to go out quite as hard. My personal goal was to get out around top-30, and hopefully pass some people on the end. I got out quite well and then tried to find position. It was hard to focus, because girls were constantly passing me, while I was also constantly passing other girls. It wasn’t an easy race, and in the last kilometer, when just as with Roy Griak my teammate Parkes passed me, I wasn’t able to go with her. I was a little disappointed with that, as she was able to move up to a top-30 spot (28th) while I got 39th (in 20.52), but I think that when I am completely healthy I can definitely do a little better than today! Although the team didn’t feel quite as good as 3 weeks ago, we still managed to end up 4th overall, behind only Colorado, Oregon and Michigan but in front of Arkansas and Stanford, which means that Roy Griak wasn’t a fluke and we are in a good position to qualify for Nationals!

From now on, the weekly mileage will go down, as we prepare for the final three (hopefully!!!) races of the season. In two weeks we will battle it out with San Francisco and BYU for the Conference-title, and two weeks later we will fight for a spot at Nationals (which will be on the same course we ran today) at Regionals. I am very excited as both these courses are flat as a pancake – my favorite! I am curious what our team can do, and am enjoying this last XC-season as a Pilot to the fullest!