Blog #12 – All of a sudden, the track season is over

By Brenna Cohoon

One month after the state championships, my track season has finally come to an end.  Training began back in December after we took a break when cross country concluded, and it is hard to believe how quickly the time from then to now has flown by!

Over the past few weeks, I competed in some post-season track meets, which is something I’ve never done before.  This was a much different experience than extending my cross country season after State.  In preparation for these postseason meets, I trained regularly with three of my teammates since we were ultimately focusing on our preparation to race the 4xMile Relay at New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

Although at times it felt strange to be training for something this important in a small group of four girls, it was a great way to end the school year and begin summer.  When I felt stressed during finals week, I was able to unwind and run with my teammates while we had an important goal in mind.

Just one day after our last day of school, the Lady Mustangs were represented well by girls in various heats at Magis Miles.  It was my first time racing in this meet with the same awesome atmosphere as other distance meets held at night.  Racing under the lights at St. Ignatius with the beautiful Chicago skyline in view was a special experience.

I warmed up with my teammate Becca Diddia and cherished those moments before the race when the pre-race jitters filled me with adrenaline.  After having just one week without racing, I really missed that feeling.

The race went well and resulted in a small PR in the 1600 Meter Run of 5:05.77 from my previous best of 5:06.68.  I finished second in my heat and was pleased with how I ran fearlessly at certain parts of the race.  There was still so much more I wished to improve upon, though, so this left me feeling hungry for more in the final two weeks of the season.

The following Saturday, I competed in the 3200 Meter Run at the Midwest Distance Classic.  I built up great anticipation heading into this race, feeling that it would be the race I wanted all season where I could run a major PR.  I felt strong through the first four or five laps, but faded away at the end of the race, finishing with a 10:57.99, almost 10 seconds slower than my personal best.  I immediately felt frustrated with myself, because when things got hard, my brain completely shut down instead of responding and fighting back.  I had to take a deep breath and move on, though, because I felt that bigger and better things would follow.

Early Friday morning, my family packed up our car and headed to the gorgeous state of North Carolina for a trip focused around NBNO but would also include some college visits.  It was a long car ride, but I felt refreshed when I got to stretch out my legs on a run along a beautiful trail in Charlotte. 

The first evening in North Carolina, I got a good night’s sleep and woke up the following morning to eat breakfast and go for a run with my teammates.  On our run, we talked more about our goals for the relay that we had discussed months prior.  We truly felt that we had a good chance of finishing in the top six and earning the coveted All-American honors.  I could picture us standing up on that podium, receiving our medals and smiling at our parents in the crowd.  I knew that all of the hard work we put in throughout the season would prepare us for that moment and all we needed to do was to trust our training.

That evening, our head coach and one of the former coaches of our school’s track and field program surprised us by making the trip to Greensboro to watch us compete.  Having them there helped calm my nerves and gave me more confidence.  I wanted to make them proud and make their travelling worthwhile.

We arrived at the meet early Sunday morning and completed our warm-up on the track at North Carolina A&T University, taking everything in from the flowerpots on the inside of the track to the massive stands that curved around the stadium.  Our warmup routine was cut a little shorter than we had anticipated, but we found the time to complete it once we were checked in and race-ready.

The race began just a little before 8:10 am EST, and unfortunately, things did not go as planned.  Kennedy Warden ran the first leg of the relay, getting us into a solid position before passing the baton to me.  I took off from the exchange zone, smiling widely as I realized what an incredible opportunity this was.  I was racing at NATIONALS, something that I had dreamed of since I started running in high school.  I kept my eyes up and focused on closing the gap with the pack in front of me. I wanted to move up and continue to improve upon our team's position in the race.

Since I wasn't racing with a pack of runners but instead trailed behind, it was difficult to maintain the right competitive mindset.  I kept fighting, though.  I did not want to let my teammates down.  I used the last two laps, especially the last 200 meters, to give the race all I had and leave my best effort on the track.  I handed off to Becky Versaskas, who then handed off to Erin Reidy as the race came to a close.  They both ran hard, and we ultimately finished in 15th place overall.

I walked with my teammates over to our coach, who expressed how proud of us he was even though we were disappointed with the results.  I fought back tears as I thought of each moment in the race, how I couldn’t have done more to help our team accomplish our goal.  I was upset with myself, having no clue what time I split but not really wanting to know.

The mood changed and my spirit was lifted as I walked back to my family, taking in each moment with my teammates.  I was proud of them no matter what and knew that I should feel the same about myself.  The outcome of NBNO was not what I wanted nor hoped for, but after reflecting, it was what I needed.  I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I think that this meet was just meant to be a great learning opportunity.  It leaves me hungry heading into the summer as I train for cross country season and my last year of running as a Mustang.