OVERALL: It was so great to see all the costumes and all the good fun that came in that costume race. What a great reminder to keep this running stuff fun! In addition to that, we had some great performances and some solid showings that remind us we need to be patient, work hard and consistently and be kind to ourselves in the process.
GIRLS: Varsity - 195 finishers. 9th/10th grader race - 314 finishers
A really strong showing all around for LBHS girls XC. Once again we had three 8th graders willing to put themselves right into the thick of a good quality high school race. You are gaining such valuable experience and reminding us all what bravery looks like! And, our returning high schoolers showed a ton of poise and team spirit waiting until the end of the day to run their race and cheering for others along the way. I’m impressed with your ability to be there for others and then show up for yourselves, too. Nicely done!
Leki: 20:17.2, 19th place, 1st Mile: 6:14, 2nd Mile: 6:43, Overall Pace: 6:32
What a great, solid, just-where-we-want-you-to-be opening 5K on the season. After missing Wenatchee with that nasty cold, you’ve been patiently working hard and waiting for the chance to get in a race and race. And you did! You got out in the early ½ mile right where you wanted to be and then you raced it from there. You looked so strong on the long uphill and you were engaged the whole time. You had an especially strong last half-mile…I thought you might catch Caroline from Cascade–you just looked so calm, but focused. You should feel very good about where this season is going.
Sandra: 22:16.4, PR, 60th place, 1st Mile: 6:58, 2nd Mile: 7:22, Overall Pace: 7:10
Another PR - and more than a minute and a half faster than last year at Twilight! You went out about 26 seconds faster in the first mile this year, and ran the second mile 30 seconds faster. Impressive! Once again, you put yourself into the right spot in the race and then you just trusted your training, your speed and strength from the summer, and your own grit. I know your stomach wasn’t feeling so great beforehand but you did a great job setting that aside and just focusing in on the race. You believed in your ability to get through the hurt and that belief translated into another PR. Next time – eat lunch!
Zoe: 23:57.7, PR, 121st place. 1st Mile: 7:36, 2nd Mile: 7:59, Overall Pace: 7:43
Mark this day on the calendar as the day you crossed over into a sub-24 minute 5K runner. Congratulations – now it’s time to recalibrate the season goals. You ran a brilliant race–a whopping 4 minutes faster than last year–4 minutes! I’m loving your confidence–you got out hard, but appropriate. You worked that hilly second mile with determination and I saw you pushing it over the rolling hills right before the 2 mile just like we talked about. And, then, you found another gear under the lights of the arches in the final kick to bring it in under 24. I hope you feel very proud of your hard, consistent work and where it is taking you.
Ingrid: 25:47, 96th place. 1st Mile: 7:38, 2nd Mile: 8:41, Overall Pace: 8:18
You’ve got this quiet determination about you that is pretty inspiring. You got out strong and smart in a great position in the race. You worked hard in the hilly second mile – you will get even stronger as you get more workouts in your system and that will help you feel better in that last mile. This 5K business takes some time to figure out, but you have all the necessary ingredients to set a really big PR by the end of the season.
Juniper: 26:18, 114th place. 1st Mile: 7:51, 2nd Mile 8:50, Overall Pace: 8:28
Another solid performance. Just a few seconds off your time in Wenatchee – which was a much flatter course! I think the big difference between these two races is that this week you got out a little bit slower – totally understandable in a huge field like that. But you did a nice job of holding pace and keeping a steady momentum throughout. Nice job bringing it home fast under the arches. Glad you enjoyed the whole costumed scene at the end and thanks for all the good, positive energy you bring.
Yasmin: 27.55.9, 168th place. 1st Mile: 8:06, 2nd Mile: 9:17, Overall Pace: 8:59
I think we can safely say that this was a gutsy performance. That second mile was full of some uphills that were quite different from Wenatchee. You stuck right with it though and you weren’t intimidated by the more than 300 runners in the field. In fact, you finished right in the middle of that huge race – what a total accomplishment!! Hopefully over the next few weeks we can get some more good quality runs and workouts in and you’ll be feeling really good in the second half of your races. Hope you had fun!
Josie:
We are all thinking of you and hoping you are feeling better soon!! We missed you out there!!
*****
BOYS: 11th/12th - 392 Finishers - 38th place of 44 teams, ALL classifications. Varsity - 242 finishers - 15th of 35 teams, 1B-2A classifications.
Little T (Tristan H): 20:52.5,134th place. 1st Mile: 6:19, Overall Pace: 6:43
Looking really strong in that first half out there, and still among your best-ever 5k XC races! You did a fine job navigating that crazy start and trying to sort out where you should be. I saw you working really hard to move up between 800m and the mile mark, and it does look like your mile split was maybe 10 sec slower than Wenatchee. Totally fine of course, but we know that you can push it even more on the early side. You are stronger this year for sure and just setting that kind of pace and rhythm early can establish lots of things for the entire race. Next weekend at home you will have Kyler and Jayden right there to run with again – just like in practice - and I’m excited to see what all three of you can do!
George: 21:56.3, 203rd place. 1st Mile: 6:24, Overall Pace: 7:04
Very good stuff George! You looked amazing and were quite literally flying on that steep little downhill at around 1.5 miles, and based on how close you were to Tristan at that point, it looked like you were on your way to a big PR. Still getting used to the distance I think, but that will get better with just a few more races under your belt. Overall your pacing looked more steady and even this week – and I did sneak a peak of you walking on the uphill before the 2mi :) Even still, just 2 seconds slower than your previous best at Wenatchee. Your upside it huge and I can’t wait to see you knocking off even bigger chunks of time in another few weeks.
Hunter: 23:02.9, PR, 262 place. 1st Mile: 7:16, Overall Pace: 7:25
Another race and another PR. We’ve said it before, but you are totally racing out there in a way that you just didn’t figure out last year. No 2021 Twilight to compare it to… which is weird because I thought you were there… but you are minutes and minutes faster again than you were at this time last season. A very nice job as well in finding that extra gear with 400m to go at the finish. You got the arms moving and you definitely accelerated.
John: 23:35.7, PR, 292nd place. 1st Mile: 6:40, Overall Pace: 7:35
Once again looking so smooth in your running form, John. Strange that your shins started hurting, but congrats on your first-ever 5k XC race! With a limited summer base and this being just your first race, your PR potential from week-to-week is huge. We have no idea what your limits are and it will be exciting to see you develop in the next couple of weeks. Stick with it on the workouts. Let your body adapt a bit to the races. You are going to drop MINUTES in the next couple of weeks.
Birch: 25:17.4, 249th place. 1st Mile: 7:25, Overall Pace: 8:08
Another tough and impressive race, Birch. I fear that you might have reached a bit of a pain-threshold plateau of sort due to the soreness of your legs… That being said, your desire to run and to improve is admirable to say the least. You pushed the pace early with Hunter, and you only slowed due to extreme physical discomfort. On another day and on less sore legs, you are running low-23 min paces or better. A few more weeks of managing ahead I think. We can run on days when it’s not too bad, but should probably bike on others. You are doing a great job of balancing the two and of making those bike workouts count.
Omar: 27:29.3, PR, 377th place. 1st Mile: 7:59, Overall Pace: 8:51
Another 5k and another PR! You start by improving by minutes, and then the next little bits get a little bit harder :) That being said, an awesome effort out there and so super steady the entire way. You are far from done with your improvements this season. A few more weeks of work and then we will taper back a bit over the final two races of the year. Keep letting us know if the legs are feeling super sore, but very glad to hear that the experience in spikes wasn’t as bad this second time around!
VARSITY
Dexter: 16:29.5, 14th place, 1st Mile: 4:59.9, Overall Pace: 5:18
Welcome back to racing Dexter! So glad to have you up on the board and back in the mix. While you and Will and Aksel might not still be totally back to normal yet, we know that we can get better from here. A super solid return regardless and once you settled into your group you did an excellent job of battling. As an extra accolade for running the fairest race possible, I did notice with 700m to go that you were among the only runners in your part of the race to actually stay right of the red flagging. It was, I believe, at this moment that Asher Ingram got the jump on you by taking the shorter line. Glad that you guys had a nice chat afterwards, and he might have gotten you by 4 seconds – this time – but you can take the moral high ground!
Will: 17:37.5, 52nd place, 1st Mile: 5:06, Overall Pace: 5:40
Welcome back to racing as well! So glad to have you up on the board and back in the mix – and that is our theme for the week :) Here we are. A group. Together. Not what you wanted in the race, but it IS a start and you now have a 5k on the legs and some sense of what it needed in that final mile of the race. You’ve clearly got the wheels for 2mi on the track, so we just need to layer in the speed endurance work and slowly push that threshold a little further into the race. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. It’s OK to be right where you are and to keep working towards where you want to be.
Aksel: 18:18.7, 91st place, 1st Mile: 5:31, Overall Pace: 5:55
OK, Aksel, another one down and five more to go. This might have felt a little bit like a step in the wrong direction, but it is not. You have to fully appreciate that your body has been through the ringer - legs, neck, sickness - and that you are still climbing back out of a little hole. You are not missing major fitness. You just need to keep showing up and keep putting in the work. This race atmosphere was WAY different than leading with a relaxed cadence at Wenatchee so I’m sure that it just felt harder. That’s OK. It’s practice. The real race is in November. On Saturday at home it will be somewhere in between. Cashmere has guys at 17:40, 17:47, and 18:05. You will have some people to run with, and you will have some people to beat. Have fun with it, and let’s just keep getting better one step at a time. No large chunks necessary!
Jackson: 18:32.6, 104th place, 1st Mile: 5:35, Overall Pace: 5:58
Totally headed in the right direction, Jackson. Great to see you getting out strong and holding serve on a little hotter day in a fast and busy field. Very excited for you to match up well with the Cashmere and Okanogan boys next weekend. On paper right now Cashmere gets us by 2 points, but it will be great practice for you and Aksel and Tristan and Kyler and Jayden to get into the mix and to battle for some spots and those ever-important 1-2 point swings in a closely contested race. No worries if it doesn’t go our way this weekend, but it will be terrific practice.
Kyler: 19:33.1, PR, 163rd place, 1st Mile: 5:55, Overall Pace: 6:18
19:30 baby! Sure thing it sounded ambitious, but you ran the gutsiest race on the day and you DIDN’T make it look easy – and I mean that as a compliment. Pure. Mental. Tenacity. You wanted it. You fought for it. Jayden passed you and you passed him back. By all counts, you missed two weeks and you should not be running a 30+ second PR. It looked hard – but you did it. Just imagine what you can do in another few weeks when the training starts to level out and you are a little sharper and a little more rested. Super nice job, Kyler. Congrats on the well-deserved new PR! Also, I love how on the walk you were talking to Jayden about how you and Tristan would pass people as a group last year. Your excitement was visibly helpful to Jayden in getting psyched up for that race as well.
Jayden: 19:38.5, PR, 170th place. 1st Mile: 6:10, Overall Pace: 6:19
Like I said on Sat. night, super strong and mentally tough. You grabbed hold of Kyler’s pace, tracked him through the race and just wouldn’t let him go. Super tenacious and determined. Keep putting in the days. Keep hanging in there on the workouts. You can already tell that your endurance is getting better, but in 3-4 more weeks when it really counts you will be even more ready than you are right now. So glad that you decided to come back out for the team!
Tristan: 23:10.2, 236th place, 1st Mile: 5:44, Overall Pace: It doesn’t matter!
12:15 at the 2mi Tristan, and I suspect that it was already hurting a bit at that point. That being said, THIS is what you should focus on as a success in this race. You are totally fit enough and experienced enough to be coming through the 2mi in sub-12. You are strong enough and quick enough to finish from there when a cramp isn’t tying you up in knots. The tighter our group from you to Jackson to Kyler to Jayden, the better we will be as a team. Shake this one off. Feel GREAT about the first mile and your 19:17 on the track last week. Get excited about some clear competition from Cashmere and Okanogan next week.
Welcome back to racing Dexter! So glad to have you up on the board and back in the mix. While you and Will and Aksel might not still be totally back to normal yet, we know that we can get better from here. A super solid return regardless and once you settled into your group you did an excellent job of battling. As an extra accolade for running the fairest race possible, I did notice with 700m to go that you were among the only runners in your part of the race to actually stay right of the red flagging. It was, I believe, at this moment that Asher Ingram got the jump on you by taking the shorter line. Glad that you guys had a nice chat afterwards, and he might have gotten you by 4 seconds – this time – but you can take the moral high ground!
Will: 17:37.5, 52nd place, 1st Mile: 5:06, Overall Pace: 5:40
Welcome back to racing as well! So glad to have you up on the board and back in the mix – and that is our theme for the week :) Here we are. A group. Together. Not what you wanted in the race, but it IS a start and you now have a 5k on the legs and some sense of what it needed in that final mile of the race. You’ve clearly got the wheels for 2mi on the track, so we just need to layer in the speed endurance work and slowly push that threshold a little further into the race. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. It’s OK to be right where you are and to keep working towards where you want to be.
Aksel: 18:18.7, 91st place, 1st Mile: 5:31, Overall Pace: 5:55
OK, Aksel, another one down and five more to go. This might have felt a little bit like a step in the wrong direction, but it is not. You have to fully appreciate that your body has been through the ringer - legs, neck, sickness - and that you are still climbing back out of a little hole. You are not missing major fitness. You just need to keep showing up and keep putting in the work. This race atmosphere was WAY different than leading with a relaxed cadence at Wenatchee so I’m sure that it just felt harder. That’s OK. It’s practice. The real race is in November. On Saturday at home it will be somewhere in between. Cashmere has guys at 17:40, 17:47, and 18:05. You will have some people to run with, and you will have some people to beat. Have fun with it, and let’s just keep getting better one step at a time. No large chunks necessary!
Jackson: 18:32.6, 104th place, 1st Mile: 5:35, Overall Pace: 5:58
Totally headed in the right direction, Jackson. Great to see you getting out strong and holding serve on a little hotter day in a fast and busy field. Very excited for you to match up well with the Cashmere and Okanogan boys next weekend. On paper right now Cashmere gets us by 2 points, but it will be great practice for you and Aksel and Tristan and Kyler and Jayden to get into the mix and to battle for some spots and those ever-important 1-2 point swings in a closely contested race. No worries if it doesn’t go our way this weekend, but it will be terrific practice.
Kyler: 19:33.1, PR, 163rd place, 1st Mile: 5:55, Overall Pace: 6:18
19:30 baby! Sure thing it sounded ambitious, but you ran the gutsiest race on the day and you DIDN’T make it look easy – and I mean that as a compliment. Pure. Mental. Tenacity. You wanted it. You fought for it. Jayden passed you and you passed him back. By all counts, you missed two weeks and you should not be running a 30+ second PR. It looked hard – but you did it. Just imagine what you can do in another few weeks when the training starts to level out and you are a little sharper and a little more rested. Super nice job, Kyler. Congrats on the well-deserved new PR! Also, I love how on the walk you were talking to Jayden about how you and Tristan would pass people as a group last year. Your excitement was visibly helpful to Jayden in getting psyched up for that race as well.
Jayden: 19:38.5, PR, 170th place. 1st Mile: 6:10, Overall Pace: 6:19
Like I said on Sat. night, super strong and mentally tough. You grabbed hold of Kyler’s pace, tracked him through the race and just wouldn’t let him go. Super tenacious and determined. Keep putting in the days. Keep hanging in there on the workouts. You can already tell that your endurance is getting better, but in 3-4 more weeks when it really counts you will be even more ready than you are right now. So glad that you decided to come back out for the team!
Tristan: 23:10.2, 236th place, 1st Mile: 5:44, Overall Pace: It doesn’t matter!
12:15 at the 2mi Tristan, and I suspect that it was already hurting a bit at that point. That being said, THIS is what you should focus on as a success in this race. You are totally fit enough and experienced enough to be coming through the 2mi in sub-12. You are strong enough and quick enough to finish from there when a cramp isn’t tying you up in knots. The tighter our group from you to Jackson to Kyler to Jayden, the better we will be as a team. Shake this one off. Feel GREAT about the first mile and your 19:17 on the track last week. Get excited about some clear competition from Cashmere and Okanogan next week.