Full Circle

Roughly 10 minutes before the start of the 2012 OUA Cross Country Championships, I turned to Devon and Justin and smiled. "It's come full circle!"  Devon was in agreement. "Rain, cold and a muddy course. Just like Kingston back in first year." 

While Justin and Devon weren't exactly thrilled about the prospect of racing in these conditions, especially on the roller coaster course setup by the host York Lions at Kingbridge Centre, I couldn't have been happier. This has always been what true cross country is about to me: terrible weather and a challenging course, to juxtapose with the perfect surface and conditions expected for fast track races.  It was my expectation that the field would go out slow, putting a lot of guys in the mix early on. 

Four year ago when I participated in my first OUA's, Fort Henry Hill was hammered by rain and wind that had teams shivering under military tents set up by RMC prior to the start of the race. The men's race went out conservatively, and among the surprises to emerge (if judging by early season results) was Waterloo's Chris Hartman, who legged it out with the giants of the conference to finish 8th. I was the 2nd man across the line for the Warriors on that occasion, but was well back in the 50s. Regardless of my result, the epic conditions of that race in 2008 have remained the standard that I have judged each subsequent contest on the grass, and each year I have hoped for a repeat of that weather combined with hilly terrain to present itself at a championship meet to give strength guys like me a chance against the speed demons from the track. 

In 2009, a pancake flat Brock course was chewed up and muddy, but midterms leading up had me cooked mentally and physically, with not a single decent workout since the previous race. I once again placed in the 50s, and even more disappointedly finished as 5th man on the team despite never scoring lower than third previously. 

In 2010, a rolling Guelph course was provided but the weather was sunny, and following a season that was my first time training truly alone, I finished 27th at OUA's. I was happy with the result, and the golf course in Sherbrooke was sufficiently hilly and muddy that I would have been well suited to run decently at my first university national meet, but I was hurt for the two weeks prior to the CIS and ran poorly on the day, finishing 81st. 

In 2011, beach running and a monster hill were coupled with another (unfortunately) sunny day. I finished 31st, and was lucky enough to be part of the group that the school gave a crack at CI's. I was healthy, the course was muddy and rolling, but I raced poorly with no excuses this time on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. That performance was mentally bruising, and took a long time to get over. Maybe I wasn't a strength runner after all. Some guys on the team were bringing up the fact that although I loved the rough conditions, I had never run well in them. I disagreed with that statement- both OTFA's and Club Nationals in 2008 were plagued by messy footing (mud and snow, respectively) and I had thrown together two decent performances. I still believed that poor conditions still gave me the best shot possible to take some scalps. 

Weather aside, I can recall a run along Wilmot Line not long after my dismal performance at OUA’s in 2009 where I expressed to Rob Bark that I believed that midterms, sickness or injury made a number of guys underperform at OUA’s each year relative to their ability. I felt then that if I could just get to the start line healthy and with some confidence, which for me meant the training in the last two weeks prior to the meet couldn’t go to Hell (despite midterms), I’d be giving myself a good shot at running well and surprising a few people. 

After racing at Guelph (see my previous recap below) I put in a week over 90 miles, my biggest of the season to that point, and was feeling quite tired on my long run the following Sunday, which then left my hamstring hurting the next morning. I ended up taking both Monday and Tuesday off, and surprisingly was pretty calm about it- I wasn’t planning to run mega miles the week of OUA’s anyhow, and I felt two days off wouldn’t affect my fitness. This concept would have come as a shock to younger versions of myself- I am normally absolutely rattled over an injury so close to a big race. Then again, this season has thrown plenty of wrenches that would normally have rattled me: a summer plagued by injury where I did not put in big base miles, week after week where I couldn’t seem to string together more than 3 or 4 days or running due to my foot, a resurfacing of my vastus medialis strain from 2 years ago, followed by a cold, followed by an earlier hamstring issue. Somehow I’ve actually managed to chill out and deal with each of these issues sensibly (I would guess that comes easier with low expectations). And so I approached this latest niggle the same way; I’d put in the work the week before- my legs were certainly not in need of miles. And so I let the healing process happen.

Wednesday morning I tested my legs and found my hamstring in much better shape, but my lungs burned from the run. However, I completed the original Tuesday workout that evening without a hitch, and a helping of 5 miles in the morning and evening Thursday had me feeling back to normal rolling into the weekend.

Friday I rode up with the Ottawa team, and was left a little baffled when we delayed our arrival to Toronto by first stopping in Belleville for over an hour (why sit on a bus when you can…sit in a mall foodcourt???) then headed to sit in their team hotel for 40 minutes instead of stopping at the course first. I knew my teammates from Waterloo would have already done most of their running and previewing of the course before the Gees Gees bus got there, so I changed into my running clothes on the bus and ran around the Ikea parking lot so I wouldn’t have to worry about doing a proper run when I got to the Kingbridge Centre. Running on thin strips of soaked grass sprinkled among the huge expanse of asphalt and concrete, I was surprised: my legs felt good. I returned to board the bus to the course, feeling relaxed.

Relaxation turned to excitement when we reached the convention centre that served as host. The landscape was indeed as hilly as had been advertised, with some brutal ups and downs. I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew some of the teams had taken Mactrack’s Google flyover at face value, believing the course to be quite flat, but I had heard otherwise from different sources. Jogging around the course with Kevin, I couldn’t help but smile. I was also glad I had taken the time to let the hamstring heal, because the inclines that we’d be facing would have done serious damage if I had any weakness in the muscle.

My only concern with the course was the final corner, which dropped down into a bridge at the end of the long downhill that concluded each 2.5k loop. No matter how many times I practiced it at full speed, I did not feel in control, and many times was forced to slow down to avoid bailing. I made a mental note to simply be careful during the race, undecided on how to attack it. 

That evening I went to bed early, feeling exhausted from the days leading up where I had not gotten enough shut-eye. The next morning I awoke with a bit of a headache but was otherwise feeling good. When Devon opened the window drapes, I saw it was raining and looked like it had been for most of the night. I was energized at the prospect of a muddy course, but with large portions of it being gravel paths, I did not expect I would need to put my "monsters" (13mm pins) in my spikes. 

Arriving at the course, with rain and wind battering the bus, the men's squad elected to sit tight until it was time for the warmup in order to delay our encounter with the elements as long as possible. Our bus driver, who had been very patient with us, even when we had left him in the parking lot much longer than expected while we grabbed dinner at a Kelsey's the night before, was keyed up to watch some former hits from network television and so popped in a DVD of a season of Prison Break. Watching this made me glad I had not spent time doing so when it originally aired. 

When we headed out for our warmup, we jogged briefly on a small section of the course, whereby I became convinced that the monster pins were to be a necessity on the grass (now mud), which had been already chewed up by just one circuit of the women's field with another to come. The weather had remained perfectly miserable since the morning: wet and cold. 

We headed down to our shelter set up near the line, and to be honest the moments pre-race have become slightly blurred. The moment that stands out is the exchange that started this post, and the feeling of excitement for a challenging course about to be conquered. The gun fired, and as I hoped, most the field crawled, allowing me to settle into a good position early. Almost immediately my feet were soaked, but that had to be expected, and so I didn't give it up thought. 

With plenty of inclines to deaden the legs, my strategy on the hills was to climb them as easily as possible and then make my gains on the flats and downhills. This appeared to be working early on as I noticed the breathing of guys around me was more laboured than my own. I also recognized that the size of my pins were clearly offering me an advantage on the grass (now mud) portions of the course, especially when it came to tearing off downhill. While I was slipping occasionally, I was nowhere near close to tumbling head over heels as I had watched some guys do. The downhill section into the bridge was also giving me no problems. 

At the five kilometre mark, I was feeling good (likely because of the slow pace), and completely focused on catching the next guy in front of me each time I moved up. And when I passed teammates cheering me on with one lap to go, I was made aware that I was closing in on a top 20 finish. That knowledge ignited something even deeper within me. Top 20?! If I catch a few guys and hold this I could finish top 20! Okay, let's go, up the hill, that's it, now start moving. Okay, you've picked off a couple. Crap, there goes Tommy Lecours, I can't go at that pace. Alright, stay with these other guys up the hill. You want top 20! Running scared! Alright, just a flat section and the downhill now, start running hard, make it hurt! Okay, opening up the legs on the downhill, CRAP TOO FAST, GONNA CLIP THAT TREE!!! …rolling onto my back now, hope I don't lose many places okay GET BACK UP, darn Ryan Armstrong just passed me, okay chase him down the hill, alright get off the bridge and then go! Now I'm kicking, there's no way I'm going to lose a place because of a stupid fall…ALRIGHT I'm passing Armstrong!! Okay, grit the teeth and hammer all the way to the finish, hopefully it's not too far…there it is! Top 20 here I come, YES! 

"That was quite the recovery," Western's Ryan Armstrong would eventually say to me in the finishing chute. I replied that the adrenaline from my tumble kicked in at the right moment. I couldn't believe it…I had thought I would run well enough given the conditions, but finishing in the top 20 had not even crossed my mind. When the official results came in I found out I was 17th. A smile didn't leave my face for the rest of that day. Finally I had proven to some of my teammates that terrible conditions were the best for me. It wasn't a Chris Hartmann-caliber performance, but to me it almost felt like it. The rest of the team also performed great, and we nipped Toronto for 7th in the OUA to match the girls' team performance. 

This of course leaves just one bit of unfinished business for the season. In my previous two experiences at the CIS championships, I have run poorly. Will the 3rd time be the charm? I can only hope so. The biggest difference this year will be that we are sending full squads, something each of us from the first year group (of when I started) had been waiting four years for. It's gonna be fun!