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Thursday, March 10th
We got up at 9:30am this
morning to make sure that we got some breakfast in. After a good breakfast, we
got our stuff together and headed for the Reggie
Lewis Center for practice. I had a 20
minute run, and then Tim (Hite) and I
really worked on getting our handoff down. I also stretched very well. When
we were all done practicing, we headed to Subway for a late lunch. We then
went back to the Reggie
Lewis
Center where we played cards while the coaches
attended a meeting. When they were done, we rushed back to the hotel to get
ready for the banquet. After Blood and Cowan fought over it for awhile, we
finally got our showers. I practiced my speech that I was giving at the
banquet while in the shower. It was good!
We had a rather difficult
time finding a parking spot at the banquet, but finally made it. It was nice,
and an alumni from our track team, Brian Wessner, attended the banquet
with us. The food was good, and things went fairly quickly. To my great
displeasure, however, I did not get a chance to give my well-prepared and
rehearsed speech. It ended up being a joke that the team likes to play on the
freshman whenever they make it to nationals. Following the banquet we shopped
a little bit in a mall near the parking garage.
When we returned to the
hotel, we started to talk about tomorrow’s race a bit, and what to expect.
Then we watched TV, and headed to bead. I have to say I don’t know if I’ve
ever been as nervous as I am right now, but I’m also really pumped and excited
to go after it tomorrow.
Friday, March 11th
I slept in for a little
while today and then got up for breakfast. We relaxed for a few hours before
we went to eat an early dinner (so it would settle by our race time at
8:05pm). When we got to the Reggie Lewis Center, we sat and watched a few
events, then warmed up and got ready to race. I was so pumped and ready to
go. During the first leg of the race, we had a major misfortune when Blood was
tripped up and fell. I couldn’t believe it had happened; it was like it was in
slow motion. By the time our second leg got the baton, we were about 75 meters
behind everyone else. It was tough running the race by myself, and I probably
didn’t run as good as I could have if I were racing next to people. Cowan
anchored really well, going out in 2:00 for the first 800 meters of the mile
leg. He actually caught a guy from Western, but had used all his energy making
up ground, and the Western guy out-kicked him in the
homestretch. I don’t know if I have ever been as disappointed as I was, and
still am, at the outcome of the race.
Saturday, March 12th
We got up and had an hour
run this morning, which was horrible because it was cold and rainy. It was
nice to get the run out of the way, though. We went out for lunch shortly
after the run at The Cheesecake Factory, and then went to the track to watch
the final day of events. Shortly following the completion of the meet we began
the long ride home. We hit a lot of snow in Massachusetts, but the roads
cleared once we hit Connecticut. We ended up getting home at about 2
a.m.
The trip was a great
experience, and I had an awesome time. The outcome was a tough one to swallow,
however, and there is nothing worse than coming home empty handed.
###LHU###
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