The Renegade

Today was a lot better than yesterday, but I am also really sad that high school track is over for good. One thing I forgot to mention from last night was that Dave the pole vault coach took us all through a relaxation and visualization excersise which I thought was thought was great. I tried to walk myself through the 800 in real time from the bull pen to the finish line. In it I broke 2 of course. I got to sleep from 11:00 pm to 10:30 am, which was nice but I missed the 3200 which Jack and Anna were running in. I guess it rained really hard? Lol but I think it stopped right before I woke up. Walked over by myself and got in with no problem. Then I just chilled and watched races for hours, snacked on stuff and had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. 

We started warming up somewhat early; we were outside the bullpen for a lot longer than yesterday. But it finally came time to get in there. All three of us Logan dudes were in the slow heat ranked 1st, 2nd, and 4th. For some reason I felt pretty calm, still nervous as heck, but in a calm way. We started on a normal waterfall with I thought was interesting. I decided I wasn't going to be super aggressive from the start, and I still got out well, almost was boxed in on the backstretch, but I found a hole and got out of it. Hit 300 and I pushed it a little more and was in like 5th place, but a pack was breaking away from me. Came through in 61.4, could've gone out a bit quicker. With 300 to go the lead pack had about 5 meters on me, and I fought to catch up, and I did. With 200 to go Paul Blackhurst and Piercen Maez faded off and it was Jack, Isaac, and I from there to the finish. I feel like I could have focused on passing Isaac and run a little faster, but I was just amazed I was up there with them, and hearing the announcer say our names and schools, Logan, Logan, Logan, was really cool. Looked up after crossing and saw it was just changed to 2, and I knew I was on the bubble for sub-2. Jack and Isaac both went 1:59. My second lap was a 58.8. They had them stay by the podium while the next heat went. Turns out it was a slow day for the 3A boys 800. Jack and Isaac were 4th and 5th. 6th place (Ethan Hurst) ran a 2:00.22. I ran a 2:00.23. Super dissapointing in that aspect, but I PRd by over a second, which was also .01 off what the state qualifying standard was this year. And I didn't think I had a prayer to score points individually at state, let alone almost medal. Coach said that was the highlight of the meet for him, and a lot of people were impressed with us. I was interviewed by the Herald Journal too, that was actually the guy that first told me how closely I missed medaling. 

Now it was time for the 4x4. We headed over to warmup as soon as 1A girls started, but that was a mistake. Coach told us to go sit down, and we hung around at our tent for a good half hour. In the meantime I found Eugene (Nathan), shout outs to you yer a beast. When we went over there we had the perfect amount of time to warmup. The wind had picked up but not too bad. We were in yeah bull pen for a while. The bull pen during relays is fun when someone drops their baton tho lol. I was the second leg, and we were 2nd in the slow heat. I got it and ran out hard, was in second on Stansbury's shoulder after the breakline. Chilled  there and then kicked it in in first. Felt strong on the final curve but I felt like I was about to blow up hard when I hit the straightaway. Coach told me I split a 53, I feel like it was really fast, I dunno. We ran a 3:30 high, and at first we thought we were 5th based on the second heat, but a lot of teams were 3:30 low, so we were 9th. Blew away out heat though. Really emotional afterwards. This is freakishly long so I'll write my reflection and crap I'm an entry tomorrow.