I started talking about the opportunity to race at Club Cross Country Nationals months ago, since State College has a great group of women training post-collegiately. We run together when schedules allow (most are finishing degrees, Masters and PhD programs) and I am currently working full-time for Penn State University. Lehigh University is only 15 minutes from my parent's house where I grew up in Quakertown, PA. Seemed like a no-brainer to organize a team and go!
Thankfully we had two sponsors rally behind us, Nittany Valley Running Club & the local running store, Rapid Transit, sponsored our jerseys.
The team consisted of 5 women: Lauren Philbrook (Willams College), Dani Kocjancic (Penn State), Emily Giannotti (Penn State), Bria Edwards (Penn State), and myself (Penn State). We have a lot of variety in our group with PR's and events ranging from a 2:09 in the 800 to an Olympic Trials Qualifying time in the Marathon from Lauren. Bria is currently a stand-out Triathlete for Penn State's Triathlon Club and Emily and Dani just finished their seasons with Penn State T&F last spring.
What an amazing group of athletes, but more importantly they are class acts as people. We have lifted each other up and supported each other this past year while we get to know each other. I couldn't ask for better training partners and friends.
We were all thankful for the later start on Saturday at 12:45 PM. This allowed us to get up without an alarm and to relax a little before heading over to the course.
Another fun aspect of this event was seeing so many familiar faces and competitors. Not only was the Penn State presence overwhelming, but Oiselle had many members and cheerleaders at the event as well!
Going into this event I knew I was taking a gamble. A week earlier, I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my sesamoid bone that didn't heal properly in my right foot. (I was mis-diagnosed a year and a half earlier so I continued to run through the pain). The healing never took place and with a lack of blood supply to that bone, part of it is now dead (black). The doctor put off my cortisone shot so that I could run in this event to support my team. The shot will come on Wednesday and we will go from there with a plan. I'm hoping that I can run pain-free soon!
Cross country always seems to throw you curve balls. The course had become muddy from the snow and rain in previous days. With this factor I decided to take a chance and run with spikes. I knew the lack of support would be a problem with my foot. I still took the chance.
My team got out well from the start and I'm thankful for Emily, Dani, and Bria leading the way. We soon funneled into the straight-away and into the first round of "mud-pits". The first mile went out fast! Around 2 miles I stepped wrong and the pain increased with my foot. Unfortunately I did have to stop a couple times to compose myself and continue running. I felt great otherwise. I did finish strong and ended up running around 24:00 minutes for 6k. My goal was to run sub 23:00, which I knew I was physically capable of doing from recent times in races & training.
Despite my personal battles, I am beyond proud of my teammates and their finishes! We placed 19th as a team, which turned out to be in the middle of pack. Overall it was a successful weekend with a great team!
I can't hold on to this race and how I performed. What good would that do? I'm reminded to hold on to nothing, and release everything to God. Failure is a part of my faith walk. Obedience is faith.
This is an important lesson in life and it is not easy. I am thankful for the opportunity to run and despite the pain, to finish a race that I haven't done since 2008. Sometimes just the experience should be good enough, not the time or the outcome. I have been tested by injury many times and many times it has gotten the best of my spirit. I am not going to let an injury break me down this time.
As I've spoken before, this is a season of joyfulness. I'm going to stick to that plan.
What test are you facing today? Are you focused more on the outcome than the opportunity?
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