Today was Arcadia! In the morning I went for a 4 mile shakeout with Bill. I warmed up with Emmaline for about .5 before her race at the Tiger's meet. Then when it came time, I warmed up 2.5 miles. I started to get a little nervous when we got on the track, but not as nervous as I thought I would be. I was in the 3rd waterfall. When I cut in at the 100 mark I was what I thought to be towards the back of the pack. I decided that today I was going to finish the race, and I was going to stick with the pack. My first lap was a 79, then for the rest of the race I focused on the people in front of me. When I felt good I threw in a couple bursts. It scared me a bit when I came through the mile mark at 5:30, a second off my PR. I think I raced smart, there was only one part where I slipped a bit. Then I decided to accept the pain and race, and I focused on those in front of me and didn't think about the race as a whole, but as individual parts. The last 400 I started to kick, then tried to do our 300 kick, and the last 100 a girl was coming up on me so I kicked hard and fought her, but unfortunately she beat me by hundredths of a second :( But overall a great race, I PR'd by 38 seconds and crushed the only competition in our region! I have realized how much stronger I am than I thought I was, and now I know how to race. I'm really glad I came, I have learned a lot from it :) Then I did cool down with Tomy, Chris and Bill for about 2.5 miles
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