Riding the Rollercoaster that is Cross Country Season

     This cross season was filled with so many ups and downs that my stomach is still doing flip-flops. I’ve not only gone through physical highs and lows, but mental ones too. But still, I somehow managed to put in my best season yet without hitting weekly mileage goals, without focusing on my times so much in workouts and without even stressing about the fact that I raced in the toughest university cross country race in Canada. If these aspects are thought of as the “key ingredients” to making a fast runner, then how did I end up being the first woman on my team to finish, and out-perform those who eat-sleep-breathe running? Heck, I only ran 4 days a week this season and I was racing against girls who probably run triple my mileage in a week. They say that those with the must guts will win a  race, but I believe it’s whoever has the brains.
     I started off this season in a weird state. I was coming off some incredible summer performances and I was feeling as fit as I’ve ever been. But at the same time, this chronic injury was still there and always poking it’s ugly head out to remind me that runs aren't going to be pain free. Then, there was a little up in my season when I received some acupuncture treatment that gave me about 2.5 weeks of absolute pain-free running. I haven’t felt this for about 4 or 5 years, so you bet I was excited about this. (I mean, literally jumping for joy down the trail).These were two great training weeks, but still I wasn’t focusing on mileage or numbers or anything in workouts. I was going for quality running, based on my physical efforts and getting to know my abilities at this level of fitness. I was exploring what I could do, and working off of that towards the things I couldn’t do. I was riding this high that was so new to me. And it came at a good time of the year too, with fall just creeping in. School wasn’t busy, running was good, and stress was minimal. I also raced my first 2 races, and got a personal best in both of them - 22.37 for 6k and 18.36 for 5k. 

Western Invitation 6k - 22.37 (Rachel Faulds)

     Then, I got gut-punched back into the world of pain. But this time, It was something different than before - something that was manageable. It allowed me just enough to be able to do the workouts and long runs in a week, but not much else. Still, I was getting the quality work in and supplementing with cross training in between. The stress that came with this little drop in season wasn’t too bad, but it was always just lingering there at the back of my head, reminding me of the pain of this injury I’ve suffered with for so long. It was frustrating, but nothing I couldn't handle mentally. 

     At this point still, I was feeling strong. I had a poor first 8k race due to some stomach issues, but the rest of my body didn’t feel to wrecked after this race. But, after this race in mid-October, I started to feel pretty tired. With races being more spread out at this time, I alternated some good training weeks with taper weeks. I managed a solid performance despite poor conditions at Provincials, and was so happy that I’d finally make the top 7 team that will race at Nationals. The success of our mens team winning the provincials team competition was another great mood booster to get me through the fatigue to the final race of the season. 

London OUA Championships 8k - 31.33 (Maxine Gravina)

     Then, we hit the big drop. Like those stomach-churning ones on the big coasters. The pain of my injury circled right back to the terrible pain that I had in the summer. And what timing - 1 week out from the big race. I was stressed. Devastated. So worried that I wouldn’t be able to race. I would be letting my teammates who’ve worked so hard this season down. My coaches. My family. This also occurred right as school was getting busy again, with literally every final project and test being due in the upcoming 2 weeks. The weather was also terrible, so my mood plummeted down. Like way down. I knew in the back of my head that this is what I had in the summer with my best results of my life, so why should this stop me now? But the stakes felt different. This was a race I’d dreamt about racing since first year, and this season had been going so well already that I’d made these goals for myself that I wasn’t ready to give up. Thankfully I had lots of support from my team and our athletic trainers and coaches to help me get back to my positive self in the week before at the race, after they allowed me one pitty-night full of ice cream ;)

     It came time to leave for the big race. I ran the morning of the day we left and I felt so strong. My body (aside from my lower right leg) felt good, but mentally I wasn’t so sure. Later that evening, my leg was so sore that I limped off the bus upon arrival to the hotel. My teammates were getting a concerned look in their eyes every time they asked how my leg was doing. But I was doing all I could to be positive. I knew that my body could race well without running the day before, so that”s just what I did. I relaxed and recovered the whole day before the race - both physically and mentally.

Sometimes we clean up nicely. Missing - Kendra Hawke. (Chloe Hewitt)

     Waking up on the morning of the race, I was excited. I never felt nervous, just ready to get out there and show everyone what I’d been working my butt off this season for. The conditions were terrible. It was about 0 degrees Celsius with 80km/h winds at the race course situated on a hilltop beside Lake Ontario. I was nervous about losing so much energy because of the wind, but I was comfortable with drafting so I knew that was what I was going to have to do. When the race started, I had this feeling like I was starting out too fast. But I could see my old teammate, my best friend, up just ahead of me and I really wanted to pace with her. So I picked my way up to her over the next 1.5km by drafting off people ahead of me until I’d picked them off.  I caught up to her. And then I passed her. And I was feeling calm. I caught up to and passed our first girl on our team, and passed her too. I don’t know what it was, but I just felt so in control of myself. Maybe it was just because my legs were frozen and I couldn’t feel the pain they were in, but I kept at the edge of discomfort the whole race. I knew I was having a great race. But I didn’t know that I was going to run my goal time for the season with such awful conditions. No quite like coming up the finish line and seeing the clock telling you you’ve got enough time. 

Kingston U-Sports Championships 8k - 30.40 (Ian MacAlpine)

     What I’m trying to get across is the fact that everyone trains in different ways. Just because a teammate is doing >100km a week doesn’t mean that you have to too. Just because someone is running at race pace in their workouts and draining themselves before the times that really count, doesn’t mean that you should too. Just because someone else doesn’t take rest days doesn’t mean you should skip too. Being able to find how your body works and recovers is the key to performing over a long season of racing. And being able to bounce back after some low lows to even higher highs is a mental process that is key, but takes time. You can’t win a race based on physical training alone, you need to be 3 steps ahead mentally at all times, and not just during the race either. Mental training is also what helped me through the tough conditions at this race. Of course, physical training in all kinds of conditions helps a lot, but being able to keep your guard up when the going get a little crazy really helps you stay positive and push through to the end. The last thing you want to do is let yourself falter in bad conditions - it's the same for everyone, some just know how to handle it better. Training, resting and racing all need certain kinds of brain training in order for everything to come together. 

     At this point in the year, I'm going to be taking a nice break from training for the next week, and then start getting into base training season for the winter. Mid December is going to be exciting as I am traveling to Switzerland to do some xc skiing as well as hopefully getting on the JEC maps from a few months ago. As much as I'm going to miss cross, I a little tired of running in circles on the grass...