directions_run Run • Sept. 21, 2024, 6:25 p.m.

Richard Spring Invitational today. It’s a tradition at this point, splitting the race up. Prerace activities, start of the race, middle of the race, end of the race, post race thoughts both personally and team wise. Different preparation for this race, mostly due to sleeping in a hotel and not having access to the same environment that I would have at home. Great team bonding before the race really helped give motivation to the race. Start of the race was a battle but we were prepared. Being in the third row, I fought for what I could but the position was not great. Kept an eye out for cooper and Tarsi but could not find them. Little did I know that they were only around 10 seconds ahead of me, time I know I could have made up had I known they were so close. This is a failure on my part. Middle of the race was a drag, but it often is. Could very easily tell that everyone around me, including myself was feeling the heat and dust. The “Triangle” section of the race would have been the perfect opportunity to find Cooper and Tarasi. Even with myself fighting, I decreased my speed by 30 seconds from mile one to two. Absolutely no excuse for such a drop. Places did not change much during the second mile. After failing to find my teammates for the first ⅔ of the race I knew I needed to light a new fire to find them. Found Cooper in the last 400 and Tarasi in the last 200 but by then the race was over. Absolutely cannot be finding my teammates so late into a race. I recognize that had I found them ahead in the second mile, and called upon the proper strength to get to them, the three of us would have carried each other through the last mile. Personally, the race was a rough start with a late catchup. I also recognize that Tarasi and Cooper did not have the races they wanted, and that if they did, they would have been way, way further ahead in the race, leaving me, the fifth man, dragging down the team in points. It is absolutely not fair to consider this race a massive success simply from placement on the team. I am not upset with my race, but I am taking this as a lesson that there is no reason I should not be finding my teammates earlier into a race. I know that I can matter more to the team than just my own placement. I am still optimistic on the future of the team. We have a lot to reflect from this race but we will learn from it.