Conference at Luther!!!

         It was the last weekend of my freshman cross country season. Every workout I had ran, and all the miles I'd put in up to this point all came down down to one final race. It was the Conference 8K at Luther College. The course was fairly flat except for one mountainous hill which we had to run up three times throughout the race. We prepared well the previous week, and dialed down our mileage, so we could be in prime condition for the weekend. I was extremely excited and nervous for the race. I had big goals coming into this race that needed to be met by the end of the season. My previous best time was twenty-nine minutes and thirty-four seconds, but my goal was to be in the twenty-eight minute range. This meant a forty second improvement was needed and seeing the incline and length of the hill was making me kind of nervous. I just kept telling myself it was my last race and whenever I felt pain I just needed to push harder.
          Racing time finally came. My blood was rushing and my adrenaline at its peak. There was no holding back this race. The gun went off and I entered the first mile faster than I had all season. I was strolling pretty well and already got the first hill out of the way. Moving up the hill the second time and down to the flat stretch of the race I was feeling pretty smooth, but could tell I was moving faster than usual cause I was starting to fatigue. I just kept my pace and battled through miles two, three, and four. Then for the last time I charged up the reverse side of the hill which completely burned me of everything I had. I thought I was walking, but once I reached the top I just told myself it was all down hill from there and I started my six hundred meter kick. I was completely in the zone, and not feeling or hearing a thing. It was all just a blur as I was flying down the hill into the final turn.
          Two hundred meters left and two kids within passing distance. I looked up at the clock towards the finsh and realized I had a little over twenty eight seconds to complete my goal. I just let it all go and started a full out sprint towards the finish line. With my body completely numb and everything seeming so surreal, that twenty and some odd seconds felt like minutes. In the end however, I passed the two runners and accomplished my goal with a time of twenty-eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds. I was very proud of myself, and it just went to show when you give your absolute best you can accomplish anything.