XC Winter Nationals

To quote the old Virginia Slims slogan"You,ve Come A Long Way Baby".
In 06 I ran my first ever XC Winter Nationals 8k,a semi respectable 29.25 to finish 59th in a field of 153 runners,fast forwarding 3 years and lite years in terms of performances and outlook I found myself relishing the challenge of this years XC Winter Nationals at Derwood Maryland.
Conditions were more akin to fall xc running than winter, 40 degrees and warm sunshine on a fairly firm footing 2k loop course.
Granted a xc race smack in the middle of my indoor season may seem a trifle out of place,but in fairness no more out of place than last weeks 4x400m relay at Millrose,400m,8k xc neither fit the profile of a 800m/1,500m runner w/ designs on a World Championship title come July/August but as "Dibble" says repeatedly it,s another step towards that and I could justify today as strenght base work.
On a loop course my concern was not to go out too briskly,rather than base my race on the actions of others I ran my own race and in the end it paid off w/ the proverbial dividends.
3.25 for the opening k I came through the first loop in 6.52,pretty much the pace I was hoping for,at this stage I lead the 8 man GPTC contingent only to be passed by Bob Rimkis b4 the first downhill,Bob and I had gone head to head 4 times last fall w/ a 2.2 record,I guess today was the old tie breaker.
Briefly Jeff Hayes challenged me on lap 2,usually when Jeff comes along side me he,s gone,not today I was able to repell his attack and also that of "Mr XC"Chuck although Chuck stuck around untill just past the 1k mark as I used the downhill to put some daylite between us.
14.10 at 4k,I always felt a time between 28.00-30.00 was there for the taking and I was feeling very much at home in the comfort zone,I was never far from the next runner ahead of me and equally never too far from the chasing runners,too often in xc races I wind up in "no mans land"not today.
18.00 at 5k,I felt I was right on pace,Bob was still w/in range which was crucial,my superior finishing speed would mean sweet fa if I allowed him too much distance and to help me in that I was now duking it out w/ Greg Caullier a runner I,d only ever bested once b4................in the 06 XC Winter Nationals at Van Cortlandt Park,very much game on.
21.30 at 6k and I felt I,d closed the gap on Bob,however he began to pull away from me at the begining of the final loop,I had to dig deep to stay in touch,25.23 at 7k I forged ahead of Greg Caullier on the downhill right after the 1k mark and that momentum seemed to thrust me forward,Bob had a good 10 meters on me and several runners between us but I knew entering the home straight it was going to be a dog fight to the finish line...............make that a {top}cat fight!!
Cheered on by my good friend Jules and several spectators I launched an all out attack in the closing 150m,it just felt like being on a grass track,this was"kitchen sink" time I wanted club bragging rights and by god I was going to have them,28.50 to Bob,s 28.51,shades of the final straight at Hartshorne again!!!
When the proverbial dust had settled my closing stats read 33rd/142 in 28.50.81,7th out of 34 in the 45-49 age group a big improvement on my 29.25 in 06 where I finished 59th out of 153 runners.
GPTC finished a highly respectable 5th out of 10 in the team scoring only a point out of 4th place,not too shabby.
W/ my work done for the day it was cool down time,talked to a good friend of mine Michael Strickland who,d finished 12th overall and my good friend Francis Burdett who I think finished 19th{Francis says he never reads my blog so does it matter if I short change him????}
Stuck around for the remaining races,saw the future of American middle distance running German Fernandez win the junior mens race and a branstorming finish to the mens 12k as Meb held off a fast charging Tim Nelson.
Home a little after 6pm some 13 hours after hitting the road,another Winter Nationals XC under my belt,another road trip w/ my club to look back and think fondly of and another step towards Lathi,a good days work if ever there was.