Track and Field Blogs - Kenny Woo

When I set my season goal as 17:45 at the end of Spring Track last year, I thought I was insane. When the actual Cross Country season came, I watched as my "ridiculous" goal got closer and closer. I started with 18:18 and crept down to 18:02. Last Monday, I ran my final XC race of my sophomore year, and hit 17:49. It was 4 seconds off my goal, but I was still so excited since I originally thought I wouldn't be anywhere near it.

I was actually thrown of a little during the race because I had not expected what it would be like. I had experienced JV races where it seems like nobody is with you while you're in the lead, and varsity races where there are always people that are faster than you are. I ran in a pack with 4 or so other kids. Though we generally stayed together, the pace constantly changed as we took turns surging. Though the relentless surges made my quads feel horrible, it made the sub-18 that I wanted to reach so badly possible. I finished. The feeling was one of the worst that I had felt after a race, but I still had a smile on my face. I was told to keep moving down the line as usual. Instead of my usual angry glare to the official that just felt the need to push me while i'm about to throw up, I gave a stupid smile.

Of course, even though the 17:49 that I ran moved me from 10th on the team to 8th on the team, that still meant I would not run in Counties. Oh well. I get a week off while the top 7 has to run.

I'm excited for winter. As much as I love not running, I'm ready to finally go sub-5 in the mile, shatter 3 in the 1000, and hopefully get my speed up so I can run middle distance and steer clear of running the 20 lap at NCC. (That's the 2 mile)