OK, I'm Back

I missed the His & Hers Invitational at Victor on Saturday, but I heard it was great fun, until the rains came. Anyway, the results are here for Boys and here for Girls.

I was away for the weekend at West Point for some serious orienteering. I had a very poor race, then a very good race, then a good race that could have been great. My problem in the last race is that I thought I was not doing well, based on the splits, and I let that discourage me for a few controls, before I rallied for the last few. If I had maintained focus and effort, I could have shaved a few minutes off my time and that would have made a big difference in the results.

Why am I saying this? Because this often happens to people in the longer track races (1500m and up) - a loss of focus leads to a slower pace in the middle of the race, which cannot be made up by sprinting the last 100 (or 200). And the same thing can happen over the course of a season. Early excitement can fade as the workouts get tougher and the little aches and pains become noticeable. But it is important to get through the meat of the season, so that you are ready for the championship races.

Yesterday's workouts for the boys (possibly the toughest workout of the year, when done correctly), and the girls (some very quick 200s after getting worn down with a couple of 800s), were a good test of where everyone stands in terms of both fitness and commitment. And I was generally impressed with what I saw. I'm looking forward to the last few weeks of the season. I hope you are, too.