Race Recap: Dr. Keeler Invite @ North Central College in Naperville IL

Derick, Pancho, Rosemary, and I traveled to Naperville, IL to participate in a last chance meet at North Central College. It was a two day meet, the 5k was on the first day and the steeple was on the second. We arrived on Wednesday night after a delay in our flight. Cancellation of flights in Dallas Love Field led to a bunch of crazy mad people in the San Antonio airport, there were people running everywhere, I saw a guy throw his phone against the wall due to some delay or cancellation of his flight, it was just insane. Anyway, Thursday morning we did our 2 mile shakeout and then ate some great breakfast at this place called Blueberry Hill Pancake House. The food was really good.

After eating we toured the great city of Naperville. From a Wikipedia search, I learned that Naperville is the 5th largest city in Illinois with ~150,000 residents. Sitting about thirty miles west of Chicago, Naperville is a clear victim of the urban sprawl. Big companies and alot of people have moved into the city over the past twenty years making it a very successful place. Just by looking around and going into different stores, I fell in love with the area. Everything is clean, green, and it just gives you a good feel. It has a town square/shopping center where lies a bunch of restaurants, businesses, the library, city hall, and even a riverwalk. We went to the running store there and I got some sweet shorts.

Well after lunch at Potbelly's, where both Pancho and I managed to spill our drinks, we went back to the hotel and got ready to go to the meet. Once we arrived we found out that unfortunately we did not make it into the fast heat, we were seeded first and second in the second heat. That was a bummer, but did not put too much of a damper on things. We walked around the campus and checked out the athletic facilities at North Central and they were superb. Oddly enough, North Central is a Track and Cross Country school. Those are the two main sports there. I guess that is why they have won multiple National Championships. They just got a new indoor track that has dorms surround the exterior. I thought that was really cool.

Well now it was time to get ready for the race. The weather was not as cool as we had hoped, but it was definitely not as hot as Texas. After a good warmup, Pancho and I toed the line for the 5k. We had been getting for this race for most of the season.

The first mile played out really well. We got out in the middle of the pack and came through the mile in 4:46. That was fine, could have been a little faster, but its not bad. Every lap we would pass someone. It was working out fine. We were just moving along. Same thing for the second mile. Just passing people every lap. We came through two miles in 9:41. Slower than we had hoped. After that it just got bad for me, I don't know what happened, but I just fell off bad the next few laps. It wasn't pretty. Pancho finished 15:21 and I finished 15:31. I wasn't happy at all about this race, but tomorrow would be better. I still had the steeplechase.  Rosemary ended up having a great end to her season. She ran a 10 second PR with a 17:48 in the women's race.

Well the next day, Coach brought Pancho and Rosemary to the airport and I did my shakeout. After, we got a good breakfast and checked out the town some more. Just kept it relaxed, saw a movie, went to Best Buy, took pictures next to every statue we could find. It was cool. We saw "There Be Dragons". I would definitely recommend it.

So the day passed and we headed to the track in the evening since my race was really late at night. I found out that I did not get into the faster heat again and I was the first seed in the third heat. Just some bad luck I guess. I would have liked to be in the second heat. It was a lot colder today than it was yesterday. When the sun went down it was probably around low 50's and I was wearing like 5 layers since I'm not used to that.

After a good warmup with Coach, I toed the line again. This time I was super cold since I only had my jersey and shorts on. This race was better than yesterday, but not the best. Although I won my the heat and tied my PR, I felt that I did not race with everything I got. I sat behind the first place guy for the whole race and then outkicked him. I really don't like racing that way, at least in a situation like this where I am trying to run a fast time. If I could do it over again I would have made a move after the mile and tried to run a much faster time. But I can't change it now, so I'm not to upset. I ran the same time, but this time with tired legs and much less effort. It stinks to end the season with a half effort race, but it's whatever. That's not going to happen next time. I think I was just drained mentally from a long season. Coach and I ate at Five Guys afterward and then headed back to school the next morning. Now I am back home and taking a week off before Cross Country training starts.

I was very happy with my season overall though. ‎To quote Coach, this was my season PR's, what I was on the all time list for Trinity, and how much of a PR it was compared to last year: "1,500m- 4:04.98 (8th all-time, 5 sec. PR); 5,000m- 15:03.95 (2nd all-time, 48 sec. PR); 10,000m- 32:54.14 (4th all-time); 3,000m Steeplechase- 9:46.64 (4th all-time, 20 sec. PR)". It was a good year. Probably one of the best I have ever had. To my compadre Pancho, SHAKE AND BAKE! We'll get those records next year homie. And thanks for putting together my results D-Rock.
Favorite Part of the Weekend: Next time you see Rosemary, ask her what she thinks of the song "Just Can't Get Enough" By: Black Eyed Peas. It came on the radio I think every third song and she had it stuck in her head the whole weekend because Pancho and Derick kept singing it. haha. It was hilarious.

Like Minded Community

Downtown San Antonio

During my 10 hour study session yesterday, I took a short break to check out a program the Student Programming Board was putting on in the front of the library, FREE MASSAGES! So obviously I got one. My massause was named Alma, this older lady who was very outgoing. I told her that I am an Urban Studies and Business major and we talked from there. When I told her what an Urban Studies major entailed, she mentioned something that kind of struck me as very interesting. She said "What I would like is if there were communities that had like minded people: for example communities with only painters, or communities with only writers. A place where people can specialize in a certain thing, something they love doing and that is what everyone in the community would do.

When I got to thinking about this, I realized that our cities/communities are set up like this to a great extent. One example is how cities are racially and economically segregated. People live in communities with people who are similar in race and economic status. Obviously, this is not 100 percent true, but it is still very prominent in our cities. This is not the only way communities are separated. If you look on a broader level, places like Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, and San Francisco are also places where people are on what I like to call "the same page. Everyone is into the same things. San Antonio for example, is represented by three things: Alamo, the Spurs, and Breakfast Tacos, and its residents are proud of that. People from New Orleans love seafood, Mardi Gras, and the Saints. Also, why do you think they say "Keep Austin Weird". Its because of the people who live there. They are very similar. Thats just the way it is. On a more specific level, universities are set up that way also. Most everyone is living together on a campus to get an education. We are living around people who have the same goals and ambitions as ourselves.

So although what Alma, my massuese, said is not true completely, it is true to a serious extent. It's something we really never think about, but it surrounds our lives. We thrive in places where people are like us, places where we all can enjoy the same things and similar interests.
Shoutout to Jackie and Brooke!