This past weekend, Fort Worth Christian junior Carter Cheeseman had quite a race day as he dropped a time of 14:42.
The meet course was initially listed as a 5K. It has now been recorded as a 3.1 mile run, and some say it was closer to 3 miles. No matter what the course distance was, all I know is that it was FAST. No matter how you categorize it, 14:42 is fast in any of the distances.
Just weeks ago, Cheeseman ran for what was then a speedy 5K 15:01.70 at the Southlake Carroll Invitational. Since then, things have been pretty consistent as far as training for Cheeseman, "The training really wasn't any different from what I had been doing before my first race; the same kind of schedule and same routine as before."
Considering routines, how routine can things be when you've moved to a different region of the country? Cheeseman recently made the move to Fort Worth from Nashville, Tennessee over the summer and things could be anything but routine with that kind of move. Having a new school, new team, new friends,new home, and etc. there has to be quite an adjustment. More importantly, as a runner, he is encountering new training and running conditions as well as new and unfamiliar competitors and courses. "The weather has definitely been a little hotter than Nashville and I have been running in the mornings instead of the afternoon which has been a pretty big adjustment. Competitively though, I think there are a lot of good runners in Texas and in Tennessee so I know I will be challenged at almost all my meets."
While Cheeseman's 14:42 has people questioning whether the distance was this or that, he will just focus on running and getting better.
Heading into Saturday's race, "I was feeling pretty good, just trying to relax and focus on running my race. I didn't necessarily think I was going quite that fast, but it did feel a little faster than the Southlake Invite. Pretty much with 800m to go I realized I had a great time going, so I tried to kick it in as much as possible. When I saw the final time it felt great to see something under the 15:00 barrier and I was very thankful to God for such a great race and such a great coach to get me there."
While some may be putting emphasis on the time and what the true distance of the course was, Cheeseman has more important things on his mind. "I don't really have a time goal, but I would love to finish high up at a Footlocker/Nike final. I think the unique thing about XC is that the time doesn't really matter too much. It's all about how you race in the big meets against the best guys, so my goals of doing the best I can against the best competition, do not change at all.
So, whether the course is 3.0, 3.1, or 5K, look for Carter Cheeseman to be prepared to compete against anyone and to do it anywhere and don't be surprised if it's pretty darn fast.
