Morgan Sjogren's All American Experience

I got an email yesterday from Morgan Sjogren, (class of '05) whom I wrote about a couple of posts ago (see "M&M"). She wrote me describing her two races at the NAIA National Championships, and as any coach would want to know, she took the time to describe the races as they unfolded. Very cool!

What was really neat though about reading the account was to see so clearly how her experience and knowledge played a role in her performance. As you read it, notice how she had a strategy going in, how she practiced patience, how she relied on her preparation, how she overcame spills and racing "alone" and how, through it all, she came through with a couple of very good races. Learn from what she writes ... and yes, I got permission from her to post this !

Before the 10k my only instructions from Coach Scott were to run how I feel, so i just planned to go with my gut instinct. I had actually had a chronically tight calf that week and had to take a few days off prior to the meet, which i do not like at all! The first 2 laps were on my Pr pace(84/85) but then 3 girls took off (A D1 All-American and 2 Kenyans)! I decided to sit in the pack until I felt ready to go. The pace slowed enough that I used it to rest for my move. When we hit an even slower lap with 3.5 miles to go I decided to make a surge. No one went with me so I decided to keep pushing on my own. It was tough to run that much of the race by myself, but because I trained and raced alone so much this season I knew this would be my best plan-and it worked! Even though I was really stoked I had to focus on recovering for my next 2races as soon as I finished. This included and ice bath at midnight!

The next day during the 5k prelim I fell in a 3 girl pile-up. This bumped me back to last place way off the front pack. fortunately I have fallen enough in my career to stay calm and gradually move up. I ended up fourth and auto-qualifying for the final. Unfortunately I didn't have anough gas in my tank for the final. I got boxed in and missed the big break away. I ended up running the whole race by myself back in 12th, but eventually working my way up to 8th and scoring a point for the team! It was tough,but it really motivates me to do even better next year!