Little molehills!

So this last week has been an interesting week for me. It all started on Saturday, September 16th with the University of Delaware XC meet. I do love running XC, so I was excited to have a chance to run a good race against some good competition from Ole Miss and George Mason. The 8k at UD is extremely hills, rocky, and this particular day it was very muddy and wet. Perfect XC conditions! The course is a big loop and a small loop each with a 250 meter hill at about 30% grade. It is ridiculous. This hill is honestly comparable to the incline in Colorado Springs, CO. The race went out slower than I thought at only 5:01 at the mile (the only flat ish part of the course). After the huge hill, I got into the lead pack of three guys. One kenyan from Ole Miss (8:40 steepler) and a Mason runner who was 30:45 for 10k last spring. I rolled with them until the second huge hill, where I got gapped. I mostly attribute this to the lack of hill training I've been doing. Finished the race in 6th overall in 26:10. For this course, that's perfect. At the same meet last year (when I was only training for XC) I ran 26:09. After the race, I noticed that my 4th metatarsal was hurting from a spike that has evolved through the plate. I did not think much of it during the cool down, but the next morning, when I woke up at 4:30 to get ready for a sprint tri to help out Brick's Multisport, I realized my foot was really hurting. I did not want to let Brick's down, but I had to scratch out of the race and let it heal.

By Monday, my foot was feeling much better, but I still only swim/biked this day to give it some more rest. On the bike ride, I was doing a pyramid based fartlek on a flat course. It was at this point, when a car turned into me and my bike. The car was not going too fast, and thankfully, I did not have too many damaged and my bike was OK. I did get road rash, and my wrist is swollen to this day (Wednesday). I do not think anything is broken, but a lot of muscles are sore around my body from the impact of the car. I am feeling better every day, and have huge plans for my race in Buffalo this weekend. My goal is to win the race, and qualify for my pro card. Once I get that, I will be able to race the ITU race in Myrtle Beach. This post is entitled as such because all these little problems can really get to somebody, but I refuse to let it bother me. Rather, after a long strain of not- so- great luck, I know I am due for a big performance and lots of good luck!

I am very excited to race this weekend, and glad I was able to recover from this accident quickly.


Crossing the line at Nation's Triathlon...First time ever finishing with an American flag, and it was on 9/11. This was a huge honor!