High Speeds

Easy. Last 0.5 with William. He has a talent for finding excuses not to go on his run. Mixed with the usual "I'm too tired" and "It's bad to go on my run" are "runs are dangerous" and "the bacteria will get me". At least he runs, despite all the excuses. That's pretty good for a four-year old. 

For scouts: 50 pushups, 40 situps, the rest same as last time 

Ran to track. Did a 1000 pickup with my Dad and Logan. We got 3:07.6. Andrew ran the first 300.

Warmed up about 1. The humidity got me at about 1.4. I also had mental problems. The pace felt faster than I thought it should have from the start. I ended up with 17:47, 13 seconds behind my Dad. Cooled down about 4. 

2x500, 1:32 down and 1:38 up.

  Warmed up about a mile.

  I was the number four seed at the starting line. I was nervous, fearing I was about to experience 10 minutes of pure pain. 

  My first 200 was in 34. As expected, the leaders went out fast. At the 200 mark I was in 7th or so place. Over the next two laps I caught up to the leaders. I was feeling good. The next lap felt a little slow - 80.5. At that point, I was surprised to be halfway done and not yet hurting. Then my Dad yelled at me to make them go faster, I didn't have the confidence to take the lead, so I settled for applying pressure from behind - a mistake, as my Dad later pointed out. The pace picked up over the next two laps. I kept applying pressure from behind, then being squeezed out into the outer lanes. Then, the lead pack broke up. Millesio, the leader, dropped back. He was the first seed, with a personal best of 9:24, but started out too fast and died. Gabriel Fendel, number two seed, best of 9:42, broke away. I followed. Miguel, the number three seed, dropped back as well. I couldn't believe it! I was still with the leader coming into the kick.

  Unfortunately, I lacked the confidence to kick with 600 to go, and fell victim to Gabriel's 100 meter kick. I started to hurt in the penultimate lap, but only a little. Less than I should have. Lack of confidence hurt me in that race. I kicked with 200 to go, but it was too late. Gabriel passed me back with 100 to go. I didn't have it. The last lap for me was 72 - Gabriel did 70. He put 1.5 seconds on me in the last 100. My only chance was to grind him down with an extended kick. Oh well.

  I'm very happy with my result in this race (after all, 2nd in a national meet with a state record to boot), but I've learned some important lessons about track racing.  

eay

easy.

Did 1200 in 3:54 practicing track passing skills.

Easy

Warmed up about one mile. The first two miles felt too fast - but they always feel that way. The first mile was 5:22, then 5:21 for the second. I didn't get the split at mile 3. I felt the pace slow in the third mile, but was too afraid to break away. I think I waited too long to start my kick. Morale of the story - if it's hurting less in the third mile of a 5K, floor it. You can judge how well you raced by how much pain you were in.

Cooled down 5. Ended up with 17:01. I'm content with this result. My goals before starting the race were to not psychologically wimp out, and to beat my Murray 5K 'PR' of 17:47. I accomplished both.

Warmed up 0.5 or so. I was sleep deprived. I got about 6 hours of sleep or less the night before. I saw the first two heats. I noticed the pattern of drastic slumping in lap 2. Yet I failed to learn from it.

   The first 300 was in 50.5 for me, a little faster than expected. My Dad hadn't expected such a fast start. He had instructed me to take the lead in lap 2, thinking I would be in sixth or seventh, rather than last. Once he saw the pattern, he would have told me to floor it in lap two, regardless of the competition. However, he wasn't able to talk to me after the heats had started.

   The second lap was where I blew the record. I flopped in 75.5. I even saw my split of 1:28 at 500, but my brain was too sleep-deprived to make sense of the split and realize that I was slipping catastrophically. I passed some people, felt some wind, and was too timid. I convinced myself that I was running fast enough. My dad yelled 76 as my split. I saw 2:24 at 800.

Over the last 800, I floored it. Yet I was unable to accelerate fast enough. My splits were 73 and 71.8. I finished 4th in my heat with 4:30.8 (PR), and barely qualified for the finals, with the 12th fastest time.

I should have opened 52/72 , then I would have had a 73 and a 70 kick, giving me 4:27. I learned that I needed to floor it in lap 2, not relax. It needs to hurt in lap 2, or I'm not racing right. Cooled down 4 or so.

 The finals is on Sunday, so I am not running it. It would mean a very good chance at the record, now that I've learned my lesson. I would be racing the same kids; they would follow the same pattern. It would give me a chance to place in Nationals - something I could only have dreamed of four or even two years ago. But the Sabbath day is more important. I believe in "Six days shalt thou labor, and on the seventh thou shalt rest." Some might say, "Well, can't you run just this once? After all, it's the national finals! You could still go to church." 

  Well, part of the reason we have commandments is to see if we will keep them. To test our faith. Are the commandments worth more to me than a record? Is my duty to God worth more than running in the finals? Yes. Is it worth it to compromise my values for a record, a medal, or whatever it may be? No. 

 When my Dad told the lady at the packet pickup I had qualified for the finals and wasn't running, she was shocked. He asked if another person could advance in my stead. She had to consult the rules. Apparently, no one had ever done what I did in that meet. Or she'd never heard of it. She told him that the final would be run with 11 people.

  Missing the record was frustrating, but I learned a lot. And I got to both send a message and learn a lesson myself about keeping the Sabbath day holy. So the experience was worth it. I'm at peace with my performance

A.M. 5.5 easy. P.M. 2 easy with Julia

50 pushups for scouts and 40 sit ups, I think. Did 2 pullups.