Blog #5 – Things Don’t Always Go As Planned

By Brenna Cohoon

Things don’t always go as planned, especially in the world of running.

You have some great days where absolutely nothing can bring you down.  You have some rough days where you may wonder what exactly happened and need to figure out how you can make things better.

Last Friday for our team was the Naperville Invitational. It was one of those rough days for me. 

My day had been good before the race.  Since it was Homecoming week, we had the school pep rally, which adjusted the class periods to be shorter than normal.  I had a few tests and quizzes, but nothing too stressful.  I wasn’t assigned too much homework, which is always a relief the weekend of a meet.  When it came time for our Homecoming assembly, I had the opportunity to really get pumped up and think about my race plan.

My race plan wasn’t too specific because I was unsure of what the competition would be like.  However, I knew I wanted to win.  I intended to go out pretty controlled in the first mile and work from there based on how the race was unfolding.

The first race of the night was for all freshmen and sophomores and went off at 5:00.  It was an exciting start to the evening considering our top 5 in that race finished first, third, fifth, seventh, and fourteenth.

Before we knew it, the start of the varsity race came at 5:30.  The gun went off, and I got out to a strong start, quickly taking 2nd place.  Freshman Ashlyn Keeney from Liberty of Iowa went out ahead of me and quickly started pulling away.  I chose to play it safe and stay back but keep her close in my vision.

As we approached the first mile, a couple of other girls were right ahead of me.  I passed them to reclaim second-place as we entered the stadium.  I focused on surging at this point to try and close the gap between first place and me.  Exiting the stadium, my legs started to feel much heavier than usual.  I felt as though I was going as fast as I possibly could, but my legs didn’t want to move any quicker. 

I fought on.

I passed the second mile mark having fallen behind Keeney a little more but maintaining my position place-wise.  At some point during that last mile of the race, I felt really nauseous and had a cramp form in my side.  My legs felt even heavier.  I fought on.  With about 800 meters left, my teammate Erin Reidy came from behind.  We ran side by side for a few meters in an attempt to push each other.  However, Erin was feeling good enough that she pushed ahead to finish second overall and ended up running her personal best time of 17:34.  I maintained third, finishing in 17:44.

After crossing the finish line, I felt a little out of it.  One of my teammates rushed to my aid, and my mom came by shortly afterwards.  My eyes welled up with tears from the disappointment of my race.  It was so frustrating knowing that I wanted to give so much more, but physically couldn’t.  I understand that it is so easy to make up excuses like this, but I fully understand that my performance last Friday was an issue with how both my body and mind felt, not just my mind.

I felt sick even after finishing the race but did my best to put a smile on my face and encourage my teammates who were competing in the Junior Varsity race.  They ended up running strong to finish 3rd as a team.

When it came time for awards, I was starting to feel a little better physically, which in turn allowed me to calm down mentally.  There was an absolutely stunning sunset taking place, which reminded me that everything happens for a reason and the best is yet to come.  Earlier this season, we had a speaker come in who shared a similar message that really resonated with me. 

Why stress about insignificant things in the moment if, eventually, everything will fall into place? 

Obviously, hard work and a positive mindset is required to be in that position.  If people are dedicated in that way, though, there is nothing to fear.

After my race, I was worried about what my coaches, teammates, and parents thought about my performance.  I was worried about what this performance meant for the rest of my season.  For one, I had to take a step back and realize that my opinion of myself is the only one that matters. 

Everyone was super supportive, anyway, so what was I so concerned about?  As for my other stressor, I’ve reconfirmed that everyone has bad races.  Although I’ve been disappointed about many of my performances this season, these experiences are making me stronger.  I am learning and able to prepare for future races, so I can perform to my best ability when it truly matters.  After all, it is still only September, and to be at a higher place at this point in the season compared to last year is exciting.  The more I tell myself this, the more I believe it.

The performance of my teammates is something else that keeps me positive immediately after the race.  We ended up taking first on the varsity level, placing all eight of our runners within the top 16 spots.  Our pack looked really strong, which is motivating as we continue to move forward and focus on improving.  In addition to the pack as a whole, besides Erin, my teammate Olivia Duax also ran a personal best in the varsity race.  Some girls in the other two races ran their best times as well!

This weekend, our top 13 girls will be travelling to Minnesota to compete in the Roy Griak Invitational.  While only the top 10 will be able to race, the other girls will be an awesome addition to the travel lineup, encouraging us throughout the trip and keeping us motivated.  After all, they have been huge assets to the team this season, always pushing us to get better.  I wish we could bring all 58 girls on this team, because each person has contributed so much time, effort, determination, and heart this season. 

The days when things don’t go as planned are met by the support of my teammates.  They make things better and make me even more hopeful for the future.

Photo Credit – ©2018 Cindy Reidy