Well... That Happened...

Today was the first day to qualify for the Olympic games.  You see, becoming an Olympian takes two things- first, you must possess the Olympic qualifying standard (27:45 for the 10,000m) and secondly, you must finish in the top three at the Olympic Trials (to be held next year at the end of June in Eugene, OR).  I went into today’s race hoping to check off the first criteria in my quest for the Olympics and to run a sub 27:45 10km in my debut track race.  The race was the Payton Jordan Invitational held by Stanford University and it is renown for its fast times and tonight it did not disappoint.  There were fourteen people who stopped the clock in under 27:45, including three Americans.  Unfortunately though, I was not one of them.  For me, the race was an utter failure.  I don’t know what happened, but tonight my body failed me.  I did not feel like myself and from the beginning and I could not relax, I could not find my rhythm and I suffered, oh did I suffer.  It is hard to put into words the feeling of failure, and as I sit here dazed from the exhaustion of the race mere hours ago, I cannot seem to release myself from despondency.  But I must move on.  I cannot dwell on the misfortunes, but I must strive forward to rebuild.  I must learn from the mistakes from tonight, figure out why today of all days my body decided not to participate, and then I must move on.  I must remember the fitness which I still possess, and I must move forward.  I know I can run faster.  I know that I can run well under the illustrious Olympic standard of 27:45, but that today, today just was not my day.  So I must go to sleep and wake up tomorrow to a new world, and continue doing what I am doing and wait for my next chance.

Until next time, 

Ben