(photo Byron Horter)
Thoughts
on Kettering Firebird Invitational
October 1, 2016
It
was a nice cool day with a breeze. The
ground was wet because of a week of rain, but other than that the day was
nice. Lakota East arrived at the
Firebird Invitational by 7:30 or so and we set up camp right near the start
line. The guys began to warm up our
usual mile and a half warm up at about 8:50. The team stretched and we got out
onto the course for drills. At this point,
the course was a tad muddy and damp from the previous races. However, come race time it didn't matter, and
at the gun I darted to the front. I
wasn't very aware of my mile splits this race because I didn't look at the
clock. My goal was to take the first two miles out hard and cruise the last
one in. I went out in a 4:40 first mile
feeling pretty good, despite the hill that led to the one-mile marker. The second mile was more cross country styled
with the hill at the end and creek crossings in between. These parts of the geography definitely
slowed down my momentum, but I came through the two mile at somewhere around
9:40. Then I cruised in on the last mile
which proved even harder than the two before it because at this point I was
isolated from the field and the crowd. I
came through the line at 15:40, and wasn't exactly satisfied. I would've liked to run in the 15 teens at
this meet and break the course record if possible. I am looking to put this race behind me as my
team and I reach GMC's in two weeks and hopefully look to drop my season best
dramatically in front of a home crowd.
(photo Byron Horter)
Moment of the week: My moment of the week goes out to my
little sister Danielle, who was able to break 20 minutes for the first time at
Kettering which puts her 17th all time for girls at Lakota East. It was definitely a confidence boosting race
for her as well as the girls' team, who placed 2nd among a strong
field. They look to keep on getting
better for GMC's and beyond despite the adversity they've had to face this
season with injury. Now that they are
all healthy, they look to put in a solid week of workouts before GMC's. I'd also like to shout out the East Boys for
our 6th place finish among a quality field. I think we all realize we have work to do, but
we are still getting better and developing as the season goes on. Thanks also to my big bro, Dillon who came
down from the University of Toledo to watch us run.
