Recap & Review

It’s been a few weeks since the last blog was written. Initially the plan was to recap NAIA’s separately, but now it’s going to be mashed in here.

For UBC the NAIA championships went extremely well. The girl’s team couldn’t have done any better. Coming into the race ranked first and finishing the race that was is pretty awesome. I’m sure most of them were nervous, but they lived up to the expectations and performed. Having 4 All Americans Canadians was an impressive feat. That being said all the girls ran well and should be congratulated on their team title!

Coming in ranked 5^th, I think the men’s team definitely had a chance to get on the podium. The conditions really played to our strengths, and with it being cold and mucky it was the kind of weather we are used to training in. When the gun went off, it was the last I saw of our team until the finish line. I wanted to situate myself in the front group of runners and see how it played out. I knew I was at a new fitness, but I wasn’t exactly sure were that would put me.  There was a few points during the race where I kind of though ‘alright, when are these guys going to drop me?’ That point never came. There were a few guys in the front group that surged here and there, which thinned out the group over the first 3 laps. Every time they would surge, they would gap me, however I would just increase the pace ever so slightly and would real them back in when they slowed. I made it to about 800m to go before they broke me, however I was able to finish hard, picking off one of the guys on the last hill and confirming a medal spot. Immediately after crossing the line my thoughts reverted right back ‘TEAM’ my head was immediately turned to see where our next guy was. Tim Hueby Booby was our next finisher in 26^th, getting one of them All-American plaques. Kudos to you sir, quite and exquisite run.  The team ran well and adding in the rest of the score we had 201 points total, 87 points better than last year. That would have placed us 3^rd last year, this year 6^th, which is obviously disappointing but what can you do. It was definitely a nice consolation winning the overall combined score and beating them San Marcos people.

The bus ride wasn’t too bad; Marek definitely lightened it up when he contradicted his no alcohol rule in a matter of minutes by popping the champagne bottle. We made it home in one piece, and were able to cap the whole trip off with a little team rendezvous at the Coppertank for a couple of adult pops.

For some people the season was over after NAIA’s, but for the real men and really manly women they chose to buck up one more time for the Canadian cross country nationals. Most people actually ran as it was at Jericho, which for those of you who may not know (like the 5 people not on the team that are reading this) is basically our home course. The week leading up to the race felt like and eternity for me, I just wanted to get the weekend and race. The combination of nerves and XCitement kept building over the course of the week and I really just wanted to get out there and finish off the season. The majority of my thoughts this week were of making the Senior national team, which before NAIA’s I have never seriously considered it.

The race it self was brutally painful. To look at 10km as just a distance, is not that daunting we run much farther than that on our off days. But for me racing 10km is another story; that is far! I’ve always done well at cross but I’m used to racing 800’s and 1500’s on the track, there is a gap between those race and running 10, 000m. Luckily running the race didn’t turn out to bad at all. I was able to stick with the front group for the better part of 7km and was able to hold on the last 3 to secure a top 5 finish and sport on the national team. In doing so I equaled my personal best through 8km and almost broke 30 minutes for 10km.

If somebody had told me that I would do something like this at the start of the season I would have just laughed. When we gathered for our annual training camp in Whistler at the end of August the coaches always hand out goal sheets, mine at the start of the season was top-15 at both NAIA's and Canadian Nationals. Things turned out much better than I thought, it proves that if you stay healthy and work hard the performances will come. Hopefully everything will go well the next few months, and this upward trend will continue on.

Thank to everybody that made it out both meets, especially everyone that made it down to Vancouver (Wa.), it was like running a race at home. Hopefully the recent performances by the UBC team will motivate them to strive further. There are many talented runners and as long as you put in the mileage the times will start rolling come the spring.

Thoughts on CIS and our last few days prior to NAIA's

This past Saturday saw the all of the Canadian schools, save us and SFU compete in the CIS Cross Country Championship, for those of you who don't know that would be the Canadian University Championship. Coincidentally we happened to be a workout the same time the race was going on. For the past 4 years, my routine on this day has been quite similar; wake up in the morning, check for updates about the race, get change then spend the whole time in transportation to practice on the social media outlets looking for any sort of updates I can find. Following that I'll be checking my phone throughout practice for any other updates about the races, this usually happens after warmup, and after the intervals before cool down starts. Unfortunately, we don't get to race the the other Canadian teams other than UVIC, whom may we race once or twice a season, and it's definitely not when our teams are both fit for Championship season. I know for me and some of the guys on the team it really interesting to see how the rest of the Canadian runners do, many of the guys running at CIS are teammates from back home, or old high school rivals. I would say the NAIA is much deeper than the CIS and we are thankful for the outdoor track season, however I know I would much rather compete against Canada's best university runners during the fall. More pride is taken being a Canadian and competing against the best from Canada. Though we may not get to run against the university masses, most of the strongest will make there way out to our home course at Jericho Beach, for the Canadian Cross Country Championships; for us UBC boys we will get a chance to mix it up with Canada's best, I think that we'll be turning a few head. The meet goes off on the 24th of November, and I encourage everyone who is reading this and not racing to come cheer on Canada's best, the race even feature some Olympians from the past summer.

That being said, we have one big meet to focus on before the Canadian Championships. The final UBC team race of the 2012 season will be the NAIA Championships, held in Vancouver, Washington. The race is scheduled one week prior to the Jericho, November 17th, the men go off at 11:45am with the women's team racing just prior to that at 10:30am.

The past week has seen us back from conference and the teams putting the last few miles in the legs before we begin our taper into these last two Championship races. Our the last few workouts have been pretty standard for us leading up to races, miles in the mud last Tuesday, some long repeats in the mud at Jericho on Saturday, and last night some 800's in the mud. Lots of mud, however everybody seems to be coming in to form when it matters most. Hopefully this training in the mud will pay off in Washington, as well all know that Jericho will be one giant puddle. The course in Washington has the potential to be quite muddy, and with the way the forecast looks, mud is definitely on the menu. Compared to most schools, who race on fast course all season, we have been banging around in the mud on Tuesday's and Saturday's for some time now, so I think its safe to say the team knows how to handle it. Throw it the cold temperature and the race looks to resemble a much more Canadian form of cross country.

Both teams are ranked in the top 5, the men being 5th and women holding the number 1 ranking. Not to put pressure on the women's team but they should feel good about their chances, especially after the regional meet where they put 6 women before San Marcos completed their team score. As long as the get after it and run hard Saturday the results will come. For the men the road to the podium looks a bit tougher. All top 5 teams are quite strong  and on any given day the team that races the best could take the title. The UBC men's team is deep, with the top 5 having changed several times through out the season and the pack usually having a small spread. The team is composed with veterans, Tim Huebsch and Luc Bruchet having run at the NAIA championships a combined 5 times prior to this year. Being the two Seniors on the team, they know more or less what is expected of them and how the races often play out. The rest of the team is made of runners with less NAIA experience, however many of them have ran at other big meets, they should be able to handle the pressure. On race day, the team will have to make sure to mark out any blue San Marcos jerseys and red South Oregon in the race and do their best to beat them to the line. With the top team being very close, the race should come down to a small point spread.

 Hopefully everybody on the team does not chase individual glory, we cannot afford to have anyone blow up. Each member of the team needs to realize they are running for the friend and training partner beside them. This is our shot for team title and everyone on the team matters.