Sooooo, they had a major timing snafu. My official time came in at 17:50. Which I knew was not true. I'm wondering if it is because the start and finish were in different spots and we cross the original start timing mat again before crossing the actual finish timing mat. Anyway, when I crossed, the clock said 18:30 (which I was STOKED about) I asked those who had watches it that was correct and they said yes. I had started 3 rows back in the beginning of the race, so I figured the time should be pretty right on, if not maybe 2 seconds difference from the time I crossed the start mat.

Anyway, I really didn't want my time to go in so inaccurate, as much as I would have loved to run a 17:50. So we addressed it with the officials. I guess their solution was just tacking on an extra minute to everyones time. So now my official time shows as 18:50. Confusing. SO, for the record my official time is 18:50 my other official time was 17:50 and the time I believe to be most accurate was 18:30. ANd I need the most accurate information possible for training reference. Phew. But take that however you would like to.

Anyway, to the race!!!

I lined up and spotted a fellow teammate, D. She told me she was going for 19 minutes or so as she is more of a distance gal. I told her my plan was to run the first mile conservative, so not to pace off of me.

The gun fired and we were off. My plan, as I had said, was to run the first mile slow. I wanted to base all decision making in that first mile with this context. The second mile I was going to allow myself to push a little and then the third mile was go time, I was allowed to be reckless if I so desired.

Some girls made some moves in that first mile but I didn't respond. I just kept easy and consistent. It was really sunny out and I had to squint for the first half of the race as we ran into the sun. We made a big turn and I could see D pulling away. It was difficult, but I opted NOT to respond. Finally I hit mile 1 and began to push, just a little as a reward for holding back so well.

I was verrrrry slowly gaining on D now but was trying not to force a pass. We turned into a pretty stiff headwind but I kept at it. Right when we hit the mile 2 marker was when I passed her. She patted me on the back and said, "All 3 of them are within 100 meters. YOU GOT EM!" Which was funny because I was really in this to test my fitness and execution, not to race. But shoot, that was some motivation! So I pressed a little harder and slowly started gaining on the third place girl. Once I got close I could tell she was struggling. I passed her pretty easily and had the number two girl in my sights. We rounded a 90 degree corner and transitioned from asphalt to gravel. I executed a little better than she did and closed the gap. As I passed her I said, "Let's go! Tuck in behind me." ANd she did! It's always helpful to work together with someone towards the end of a race when it gets hard. Lucky for her, she tucked in just in time for a harsh headwind to hit. Damn. Lucky her! After about 20 seconds she made a really bold move. Sprinting and putting maybe 6 meters between us? It was too early and we were too far out from the finish so I did not respond. I just kept steady and eventually it paid off. She ran out of steam and I passed her. We hit one more tough 90 degree turn, this time from gravel to asphalt. I put some more distance between us and could now see the finish. I was struggling a bit now. I had been toying with the idea of positive self talk. What I did ended up being more like self degradation. Every step went "don't be a pu see, don't be a pu see" I was closing on the first place girl, whom I had completely forgotten about. We ran under the first "start" arch (which was confusing BTW) made a hard left and ran in to the finish arch. My cousin was meeting me for a cool down run post race and he just so happened to see me finish. I heard him say, "Gooooo Adrienne!!!" and it was awesome. I saw the time and smiled. I was behind the lead woman by about 6 seconds. D came in behind us in 4th place.


This was a really exciting race for me. I had an idea that I had been making improvements but the XC races don't really give you the kind of straightforward data that road races do. I was really glad I "HTFU-ed" and ran this rather than staying in bed. I'm really happy with how I executed according to my plan. Next time I just need to step it up and try to close that gap with the first place girl. I kinda slipped off the competitive drive and became complacent.


- Better warmup
- Compete with that girl for first. I don't know what I was thinking

Ran with my cousin and a few friends and finished just in time to make the award ceremony. I won some cool stuff. Then we went and got some beer in the beer garden! Mmmmmmmm


- Not a good warm up
- A little sick
- no taper
- Need to step up and be more competitive