Throwback Thursday: XC Days

Until the day I die I will let it be known that signing up for cross-country in the spring of my 8th grade year was without a doubt one of the biggest life changing decisions I have ever made in my life.  I remember it so clearly: track season had ended and I was planning to run again, so I told my mom "I want to sign up for cross-country so that I will be in good shape for track" and that was that.  Over the next four years I tried my patience and worked harder than I thought was possible, all resulting in a difference of [about] twelve minutes between my slowest and fastest 5k times.  While I chose not to continue with track, I did continue with my running outside of high school and all through college, during which I became more fond of the love side of the love-hate relationship that had originated fall of my freshman year of high school.

Since then, I've done several 5k's and three half marathons, with one I am conditioning for at the moment.  And tomorrow I will begin a challenge that I never thought I was capable of doing: the 904 Tour de Pain.  I know there are all sorts of people who can do the Disney challenges, with 4 races in 4 days or a 10k and half marathon back to back, but that is just not me.  In fact, my doing the Tour de Pain is so out of the ordinary that I feel a need to explain exactly why it is that I am doing it (the reasons itself make a lot of sense).  The three races include a 4-mile run, 5k and one mile "sprint," which are all appealing to me because they cover a wide variety of training distances that help condition me for half marathon season.  In my training plan, a 4-mile run is the shortest of the long runs and the second longest of the short runs, and it is a distance that I cover the most when going on a weekday run during training.  I plan to run the 4-mile run at a pace somewhere between my goal race pace for my next half marathon and the easy pace I [used to] do.  The 5k is one of the most typical race distances and one where you can accurately measure your speed in comparison to your goal race pace.  Most of my training runs for the TDP have been 5k or 4 miles.  The one mile "sprint" I feel will be my biggest challenge, mostly because it took all of my patience and energy during track season to break the 8:00 barrier and run a 7:43.  I have done some sprinting work as well as strength training in the form of leg weights and lunges, etc. to strengthen my legs and prepare for the shorter distance.

Ultimately I am excited for this weekend; it will challenge me beyond belief but I am looking forward to measuring my progress from this summer, getting a well-deserved medal, and taking some time off just in time to start spending entire days packing for the big move to DC.  So, cheers to a healthy race weekend and all there is to come!