I'll write more when I get home, but I finally broke 11!! Even faster than I thought too!
Pre-Race:
I felt very good and fresh for today. I've developed a warm-up for my self that has proved to work in warm weather, It could be different in cold weather. It is a longer slow warm-up so it should, but I will just have to see when it comes.
25-35minutes before the race I do 3-5 laps, whatever feels good. Sip some water, do another lap then do the "team" warm-up drills. With about 10-15 minutes away from race time I do another 2-3 laps. Sip and spit water to prevent cotton mouth during race. I then put my racers/spikes on and do an additional lap in spikes then do 2-4 striders depending on race speed/length. Sip and spit water and then Im ready to race.
I used this on my 1600m and my 3200m this weekend at PineView and I had the best race Ive ever run and my fastest 1600m time.
During the Race:
This time I started out in alley 4 on the inside again. I was getting up to the line when I realized at the last moment possible being on the inside, I needed to get out fast other wise I would get boxed in again. So I got out fast, but not too fast for a 3200m race. We hit the break line and I moved in slowly and before I knew it, I was setting the pace out front. I wasn't too far out front, but I was out front. Making sure I wouldn't get passed or boxed in I sat in the middle to outside of lane 1.....for three laps. I couldn't help it. The pace felt fine and noone was passing me so I just figured I was one of the fastest in my heat. 2 runners passed me on the fourth lap. They were on the same team and they surged quite a bit so I guessed it wasn't real.
We hit the mile a bit fast and thats when I realized I might have made a bad move leading. I've run the 3200m many times, you would think you've learned how to count especially when they have a stand that says what lap you are on, and a bell lap. Nevertheless on the 6th lap I thought it was the 7th and I started to move. I finally realized that I had an extra lap which forced me to keep that pace and in the end was probably the reason I ran so well. I was passed by about 6 people on the last 250 I almost caught up to one by the end but couldn't quite catch him.
Kramer helped me so much with the racing aspect of the race he ran to each side of the field every lap. Also other coaches kept calling "You're sub 10:30 pace, you're sub 10:30 pace!" And if I was 1 second faster per lap, I would have had it!
Post-Race:
Kramer, Davis, Andrew, Garrett Marsing and even Rory congratulated me. Kramer said if I worked on me kick and closing speed I could have had the race. It was the best race I have run not just by time but by the way I ran it.
"A race is a work of of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they're capable of understanding." -Steve Prefontaine
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