am: 3. nice easy morning.
pm: drank lots of water today and prepared mentally for my race very good. my goal was a 4:19 with a 1:03 first and last lap and no laps over 1:06. we got to the school and warmed up. i still wasn't feeling way smooth or very good after the usual 2 so i went another mile and a quarter and felt a lot better. did a few strides and got ready for the race.
Austin Brower was the only one ranked ahead of me at a 4:21. i was a 4:27. gun went off and he flew out of the starting line and i got stuck for a second but quickly got out. he was going really fast and i knew that would be too fast for me so i eased right behind him, came through at 1:03, perfect. now i just worked on closing the gap on us and for the next lap it stayed the same, 1:06. next lap i tried to pretend it was my last on took off faster. i felt pretty good. i could tell that austin was beginning to struggle a bit and i gained a couple meters on him here, 1:07! (red flag) last lap i took off and closed the whole gap in 200 meters and coach told me i was right on pace for the school record (4:18.12) all i needed was a :30 last 200. right there i pass Austin, but right as i passed him he spirited up and took off faster and....left me in the dust. i didn't even end close to him. he ended in a high 4:18. and i ended in a low 4:21, 1:03 last lap. then all the excess decimals added another second.
Very Very pleased with this time. 6 second PR and finally a decent time for myself. I ran all my splits where i wanted except the last two were a second slow, but really the thing that killed me was not finishing strong. that has been a challenge for me my whole high school career and i still just cant get it down. i really get outkicked 3/4 times in my races. just need to trust it and work to make it better i guess.
tomorrow is the 3200m. hoping for another PR there! | 