My race was the first race of the day - first thing in the morning at 8am. We left the hotel by about 6:45 and got there at like 7:10, so I was a little rushed to warm up but it was alright. I was really happy to have the first race of the day, first off so that I wouldn't just sit there and think too much about it all day like I probably would have, and second of all so that I could really enjoy the rest of the day without worry.
Well it was 18 laps. So that was pretty crazy because I've never ran that far on a track before. I guess I didn't take that into account like at all because I have ran a jillion 5k's....just never on a track. I was hoping for sub-19 today, which I didn't even think was a very ambitious goal. I was on pace for the first mile, ahead of pace actually, and came through at 6:06 I think. After that, with like 11 laps to go, I realized how long this race was. I think that really started to get to me mentally which is probably why my splits showed that I slowed down so much at that point. My last 800 was pretty good, but basically everything between that last 8 and that first mile was just a lost cause. I don't really know what happened, but I know it was definitely mental. I feel like I prepared as well as I could have mentally beforehand, but I guess I just didn't really know what I was preparing for. So now that I have this one under my belt, hopefully I'll be able to mentally prepare better for the next one.
20 minute cool down with my dad afterwards. I was really happy that he showed up to cheer me on - he woke up at like 5am just to drive over for that 20 minute race. :)
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