Cross country 2013 started off great.
After a miserable end to my 2013 track campaign, I wanted nothing more than to rest up and begin preparations for the upcoming XC season. I strung together a nice summer, running higher mileage than I ever have during the summer months, and entered the season feeling fit and ready to roll.
We started, as always, with our team camp. That week, and the following two, ended up becoming my three highest mileage weeks in my many years of running (112, 94, 110). I had hoped to continue with that trend for another two weeks (leading up to the Notre Dame Invitational), but the tail-end of that last 110 week, and the beginning of what I hoped would be my fourth, I began to feel run down. After about five consecutive bad days, I was forced to resort to taking a large rest week. I ended up running a grand total of 42 miles and ending my week with two off days. Needless to say, as with every competitive athlete, when forced to take time off when you shouldn't be needing it is hard to handle. My temper flared, my confidence disappeared, and I began to even question my involvement with the sport. Then, as if reborn, my first run back was effortless. And my second was the same. But my confidence was still lacking, so I needed to take some more drastic measures.
Two falls ago, I was toeing the line at Cross Country Nationals. I got there from a combination of hard work, dedication, and a little bit of (controlled) cockiness. As I sat in despair, I thought long and hard about what had been missing in my running over the course of the past few months. Then it hit me: I no longer carried with me the same swagger that had once fed me the confidence to push myself and excel in my running. I began to make a mental list of all the things I had once done to boost my confidence, and put that swagger in my step, and realized how many I had, for some reason or another, stopped doing all together. I decided, then and there, that in order for me to reach my goals, I needed to return to my old ways. I had changed in the past year or so, and although most of the changes were for the better, some had brought on a negative effect on my performances as a collegiate athlete. So, I am on the mission to return to those ways. Though they may seem ridiculous, they worked before, and there is no reason to believe that they won't work again. I'm still the same Chris you've always known, but don't be surprised if I carry myself a bit differently nowadays, a bit, as you could say, more cocky.
