You've got to want it to win it

This morning after arriving at the course we had about an hour before we were going to warmup so I walked part of the course with Giselle and Hilary.  With 55 minutes to go we started our warmup as a team.  We warmed up around the course, avoiding the guys race that was going on, and then did our strides and drills in front of the tents.  We then changed into our spikes and headed over to the line for more good strides and then our cheer and prayer.  We were nervous about how to get out since the course narrows really quickly and there were 39 teams in the race.  I started behind Amanda, and Giselle and Andrea were on the front line with her.  This made it a little difficult for me to stay with them when the race started but surprisingly I had a lot of room where I was.  The first k I was focused on catching up to Giselle so we would be able to work together for a little bit.  There wasn't really time to relax but I was with her through the mile mark and 2k.  The mile split was 5:32, definitely PR pace and I knew I had a shot at breaking 21 if I could hold on for the rest of the race.  2k-4k was the hardest part of the race because that was when we decided we were going to pick it up but it was really hard because there were so many people and they were still running strong.  Giselle did well though and was able to get ahead, and it helped me to be able to see her in front of me because at least I knew I was gaining because she would pass people and then I would pass them.  The 2 mile split was about 11:07 so a little bit slower but close enough to even splitting...  As we kept going, the race seemed to get more strung out and at one point between k 3 and 4 I was in the gap behind the large group that was Giselle was with.  I was not going to run this by myself so I focused on catching as many people in that group as I could.  We just kept pulling people in because at one point Kep told us we were at about 90-100th place, and I could hear that number getting smaller as other coaches would yell at their athletes.  My split at 3 miles was about 17:15, and then I was excited because I knew we had just 1200 meters left and I felt like I could have a good kick.  I pushed hard on the downhill to keep catching people and to evade getting caught by the girls behind me who's coaches were yelling at them to move forward.  Coming around the corner I think a lot more people were picking it up because it became harder to close ground on people.  Passing Kep the last time he told me I was 68, so from there I was determined to pass as many people as I could down the final stretch.  I had a good kick down the straightaway which is deceitfully long, but it helped because it made me want to go all out sooner than I might have otherwise.  I passed a few people and there were still a long line of girls.  Something I really liked about this race was that there were so many people so you are never alone and you always have to keep pushing to hold your spot or not get passed.  I could see the clock going up in the low 21s... 21:02, 21:03, 21:04... so I didn't break 21, but I knew I had PRd again :)  I was really excited for Giselle because I was sure she had broken 21, but on the results her time was 21:00.1... Next time!  As I took my spikes off I found a dead spider that had been squished beneath the tongue of my shoe on my foot!  Good thing I didn't know about it while I was racing :P  After I put my trainers back on I cooled down with Nikki, Charlotte, and Giselle around the course, and then more with Nikki as we went around and cheered for our girls in the unseeded race.  After they finished I waited for Hilary to be ready so I could cool down the last part I needed to get to 5 for cooldown.

Tonight after dinner (and dessert :)) Charlotte and I went running on the hotel treadmills for 3 miles.