5 Weeks

In exactly one week, I will run my final collegiate 5k. Two 6ks follow, and then my collegiate cross country career is over. I am still working on the hip. Most days are good days, but I had my worst day in long time on Wednesday, the afternoon following a fantastic speed workout. Since then, I have been in the pool. Hopefully I will be ready to run hard tomorrow morning. A good workout can do a lot for race mentality.

This is the point in the season where I have to work on staying focused. I have been back training with the team for over seven weeks. I miss the woods and solitary runs, but I know that my last season will end in just five weeks. I know that after that last race, I will miss even this time of the season.

I really can't believe this is all ending so soon. I mean, I knew it would end. The day has been marked on my calendar for months. In past years, I wished it would all end sooner. I wanted to run for myself again. I wanted to be free from the pressure and the pain. But now I have truly realized how great this bond is with my teammates. We make it through the hard times together and witness the good side by side. These experiences are shared only by our small group. We will never have this again.  Let's make the most of it. Five weeks.