USATF Club XC Nationals

I've not had the motivation to write up this race for a variety of reasons -  a poor performance, an ensuing injury keeping me from running (and wanting to write about running), and being generally busy. But the race is now starting to fade from memory, and even the bad ones need to be documented (perhaps more than the good ones do), as there is always something for future-me to learn from.

Up through the Li'l Rhody Runaround in November, I'd had a nearly unprecedented stretch of good health and good fortune. That all came to a screeching halt almost as soon as that race was over. Here's how the next four weeks unfolded:

• Week of 11/15: Bad cold starting on Tuesday
• Week of 11/22: IT band pain out of nowhere on Mon; didn't run for 3 days and skipped Thanksgiving race. Cold turned to sinus infection.
• Week of 11/29: IT band improved; plantar fasciitis arose on Wed. Sinus infection lasted all week.
• Week of 12/6: That weird sharp knee pain that kept me out most of 2020 popped up on an easy run on Tues. Plantar fasciitis still there.

In most cases, this sort of lead-up to a race almost certainly would have caused me to skip it out of an abundance of caution. But this wasn't any race - this was the Club XC Nationals in Tallahassee, Florida. I'd already bought plane tickets, booked a hotel, and registered for the race. Not to mention, I'd committed to my HFC teammates that I'd be there, and, with only six guys registered, I didn't want to leave the team with an even thinner roster.

All of this intro is to say that I wasn't exactly going into the race with much confidence. In fact, my knee was so painful that I wasn't even sure I could run. I flew down the day before and tried not to catch Covid from the many gross humans packed in around me on the plane. I hadn't flown in quite some time and was astonished at the sheer volume of people in the airport, all with masks of course, though many with them only covering the mouth, especially in Atlanta, not that I'm judging...

The next morning, following breakfast with a few teammates, I caught a ride to the course and tried to calm my mind about the possibility of not being able to run. I figured I'd test the knee on an easy warmup. If that went well, I'd do some faster accelerations. If it was still tolerable, I'd start the race and then see how it went from there. I promised myself I'd drop out if it acted up during the race so as not to set myself even further back.

The race was held at the beautiful Apalachee Regional Park, a venue designed specifically for XC. 

With that, I went through those steps, checking each one off until I found myself on the starting line, ready to roll. Runners were grabbing water bottles (conveniently supplied by race organizers and stashed near the start) and mostly dumping them over their heads due to the high heat and humidity. Conditions were rough, especially relative to the cool, dry weather many in the race had grown accustomed to in the early part of December. I mean, the dew point was in the 70s, which would have felt stifling at any time of year. I reminded myself that I generally do well in these conditions and would try to use it to my advantage.

Off the line, the course heads out on a nicely manicured lawn, initially flat, then gradually descending. It's easy to go out fast, and that's exactly what most of us did. I checked my watch at one point, saw 4:50 pace, and forced myself to ease back and let the lead pack go. I ended up somewhere in the 40-50th place range as we entered the trails (also nicely manicured, first on grass, then on crushed shells). 

The plan was to run a steady 5:20-5:25 pace, which I knew meant letting many of my primary competitors go early and then hope to reel them back in. The letting go part was easier than expected, even with a 5:14 first mile, as I was already starting to feel drained from the the weather. The reeling in part was looking daunting. 

Not long after the start, the race had already strung out. I'm somewhere toward the back of the group in this photo.

The first loop is the longest and culminates in the course's one hill (which we'd run up four times). I was surprised by how much energy it took to mount its modest summit and made a mental note to take it a bit easier the next couple of times up.

I hit mile 2 in 10:43, right on target pace. It was also just before this point where I caught up to a big pack that included many of the main contenders in the 5K XC race back in September. Here, this was the chase pack, probably occupying the 20-30th place range, which tells you a bit about the tougher competition here than at that Franklin Park race. I remember feeling like I'd hit my stride a bit, now back on the gradually descending grass section again. I ran with this group for a bit as the pack eventually broke up, and I was with its leaders. I'd assumed this meant I was running pretty well, but mile three was a surprisingly slow 5:29, and that included the long downhill. This was worrying. I was keeping pace with those around me, but we were all evidently suffering in similar ways. The 5K was 16:52, and I was in ~20th place.

Chase pack descending at the start of the 2nd lap.

Somewhere in the fourth mile, I caught up to John Poray from Indiana Elite, who'd led much of the 5K XC race in Boston. He said something to the effect of "Deja vu," but I reassured him that I didn't think this one would play out in quite the same way. I wasn't being pessimistic, just trying to set expectations appropriately. We ran near each other for much of the rest of the race, picking off some guys but generally slowing down together. The next two miles were rough in 5:39 and 5:37. The fact that no one was catching us was incredible to me but reinforced how hard the conditions were on everyone. 

The sixth mile was something different altogether, though. My legs had gone numb, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I wasn't breathing particularly hard, but I'd started to lose my will to compete, which is something that never happens to me. Poray had pulled away, as had another guy (who turned out to be Jacques Sallberg - a past champion of this event). Up the mountain one last time (it felt like it was, this time), I got that cold feeling in my head that I've only ever felt when I'm about to pass out. I tried running with my head tilted down to get some blood back up there. I slowed almost to a walk, and another guy or two went past. 

When I got to the top of the hill, I got the legs moving again, and then, mercifully, I could see the finish, down the long grass slope ahead. I knew at this point that I'd make it, and I was even able to turn things over enough to pass back those guys who'd gone by me on the hill. The sixth mile was a 5:54(!), with the last 0.2 at 4:54 pace, for a final time of 34:38 and 14th place overall.

I didn't dramatically collapse at the finish, but I did slowly sit and then sprawl on the cool grass. I sat there with my teammates for 20 minutes, not wanting to move, drinking as much fluid as I could get my hands on. When I did stand, I couldn't believe how sore my calves were, likely from running 6.2 miles in the XC spikes I hadn't worn in six weeks. The calves would remain sore for a week, but the knee pain completely disappeared, and has not returned since. Weird. 

Unfortunately, the plantar fasciitis that had been mostly an annoyance in the weeks leading up the race was pretty bad afterward. It hurt to put weight on it when I woke up the next morning, and now as I write this, three months later, it's still sore. It has completely knocked out my indoor track season and is threatening to do the same to the spring race calendar. The last time I had this injury (in this exact spot on my foot, incidentally) was 2017, and I missed nearly seven months that time. I hope I've learned something from that experience and can be a better patient this time around

As for our team, we placed 8th of 20 teams, which was probably as good a result as we could have hoped for, given our lack of depth and the fact we didn't have our usual top 5 runners. Even if we'd been at full strength, we likely would have gained just once spot in the standings, as there was quite a gap to the top 6 teams. Full results can be found here, and the usual comprehensive write-up from the running prof is here.

Our illustrious Masters team, plus the superstar senior runner Bob McCormack (2nd from left).