Goodbye XC

Alright so I'm a little rusty on the whole blogging thing so you will have to bare with me on this one.

Has anybody ever used spotify before? It's pretty much the best new discovery of my life right now and basically you can pick any song online and listen to it for free (with some ads in there somehow but I mean somebody's gotta pay the bills). So naturally that has allowed me to fill my life with an excess of Drake music. Due to this little influx of musical talent, you will notice the theme of this post may remind you of some popular songs out there.

Started From The Bottom
Much like Drake, I was far from ever starting at the true "bottom" of cross country, but relatively it is cool to look back at the improvement curve I have made over the years. It's honestly one of my favorite parts about the sport: you can definitively prove that you are improving and that your hard work has paid off. 

In 2009, I ran my first ever cross country race in somewhere between 18-19 minutes at Belmont Plateau. Sounds like a pretty solid freshman 5k time right? Yeah, I'd agree that is a reasonable 5k for your first race. Too bad that race was a 4k.

But I persevered, and I got a heck of a lot tougher than I was that day. By the end of the season I ran 19:12 for 5k and I went back to Belmont the next year and started my season by running 19:20 for 5k this time around.

By the time I was finished high school I dropped my 5k time to 17:05 and by the time I was finished college I was coming through the 5k mark of races somewhere between 17 minutes and 17:20 on my way to a PR of 27:29 over 8k. 8 years of hard work and lots of miles got me something. It's nice to know it was all worth it.

And the cool part was I wasn't the one making these drops alone. My friend Ian McGrath went from a 23 minute first ever 5k to a 16:50 guy in the span of two years. Another guy on my college team went from 30 minutes 27:30 in two years. I don't know if he ever really put in perspective where he has come from, but I think that's something to be proud of.

Best I Ever Had
Running Cross Country has been an unbelievable experience. I built up my etrain reputation off the sport of cross country, ranking individuals and teams from all over. There is so much more to question and to judge and to rank in the Fall. The courses are all different and each has their own shortcomings or difficulties. I stopped my etrain games this year but I never stopped being etrain. I kept a file on the top 200 runners in the region this year and was projecting how things would shape out all year. Same stuff different day.

I found it really cool how things ended for me. I ran the Lehigh XC course about 15 times for races in 8 years. I ended my career there yesterday. There was no extra magic because it was my last race. The pain wasn't any easier to handle. It was exactly the same as any other race and what got me through was motivation and heart. That's what it was about when I started and what is what about when I finished.

I finished my high school and college careers at the same place with the same kind of race and of the course, the same picture. Thanks for putting up with my crap guys.

So sorry Drake, doesn't look like Nothing Was the Same applies here.  

All Me
The last song on Drake's album is a real good song. But it's actually the opposite of what I want to say. Cross Country has never been All Me. To me the team aspect in XC is nothing like the team aspect of track. You train all summer and sweat and fight and bleed and puke with a family of guys that you lay it all out there for every day when you race. Almost all the best friends that I have today came from this sport and I am truly thankful to have had the love and support of so many dedicated people all my life.

And so as I close out 8 years of cross country I have some thank yous to make. It's impossible to thank everyone but I will give it my best shot.

First, to my parents. My dad pushed me to do cross country before it ever existed. And not because he was a runner himself, he was a baseball player and a wrestling coach. He pushed because he knew it was something I would love and he was right. My mom and dad were there at my last race and that was a big part of what made it so special. I love you guys.

Next I have to thank all my great coaches. I ran a PR under every coach I ever had and some of those were not easy to come by. Thanks Grift, Ames, G, Bracetty and the Fins.

I also have to thank all my teammates. There are too many to all thank individually but I will throw some names out there. Ian McGrath we were great rivals but without you I wouldn't be who I was today, I owe you a big thanks for your trash talk. Mike Palmisano, the Reillys, Sam Stortz and heck even Gourlay. You guys made me a part of that team at Upper Dublin and you showed me what good runners are like. Without you guys there is no way I would have become who I did as a runner. And of course my buddies Todd and Tanzer. I started with you guys from the beginning and both of you helped me enjoy the sport and pushed me to continue it from the beginning. Fran and Mitchell thanks for all the summer training and the fantastic friendships.

As for my college teammates, I have to give a special thanks to Luke Munyan this year. I think a lot of my improvements were made from running and training with you. You gave me the confidence to think I could hang with the big dogs on the squad. Also I'd like to say thanks to Josh and Zach. Together we went through some hard ups and downs in the past two years on the XC course. I wish we could have all been out there together on Saturday for that last one, but as you guys have said so many times sometimes this sport is cruel.

Another thanks belongs to Bob Torphy. He really showed me what it takes to be a top notch college runner. I never really became one but I always strived to imitate his example as a runner and a leader. Will and Andy were two great captains to have as well and took me under their wing from the time I was a freshman.

And finally to my fellow class of 2014 members.
Tom you were always the Thor to my Wolverine, without you there to push me every day I never would have gotten to run either of the regional races I was lucky enough to run. I owe so much of my success to you. We will always be Thor and Wolverine.

Bobby I'm so proud that you had the race you did at regionals. Honestly, I think it's the greatest and most clutch performance I have ever seen from a Muhlenberg guy at Regionals. It was unbelievable. I'm inspired by your hardwork and you are truly an extremely nice person. You deserve success.

And my roommmate Charlie Kline. Thank you for always being a great friend. We went through it all together and you were always supportive and level headed and a true Players Player. I've voted for yo the last two years, and I will be voting for you again one more time. Go get that 5k record this year baby.

Thank you to all my teammates I have ever had and all my great friends in the sport including guys I didn't mention like Kenny and Tom Lorenzi and Pete Schartel and even Ryan Desch and so many more. I will always remember these teams and these friendships. It made me etrain and it made me Jarrett Felix.

Last but certainly not least to my Nicki. You have always been my biggest fan. You keep me in one piece and you always show me what is most important when I get lost in the numbers and the pressure: having fun. You brought me back two years ago when it looked like I was done and ready to quit and you brought me back this year once again. I love you.

So this is it XC. Thanks for the memories. But as Drake said, I'm not gonna quit til it's over. And it's far from over.

See you on the track.

-train