You've got to want it to win it

Even though my races were in the afternoon I went to the meet in the morning to cheer for Abigail and Ben and other teammates.  Bill told me that I should do a shakeout sometime in the morning so after Abigail and Ben had both finished with the 1600 I ran about a mile with them in the halls of the school since it was snowing outside.  

The meet was running late because of weather earlier but by the afternoon it wasn't as far behind.  I was signed up for the invited 1600, medley, and 3200 which were all about an hour and a half apart but I was only planning on doing the medley and the 3200.  I did about a mile warmup for the medley and then I did strides and drills in the field.  Bill and Tolbert really wanted us to win this so before the race started they talked to Victoria, Janie, Jasmine, and I and told us we had to all push our hardest and do our best.  Jasmine was in the 200 right after the medley and I was in the 3200 right after those so we had to be in it for the team since we were using some of what could have gone to our upcoming events.  When Jasmine got the baton for the 400 I think we were in third and the girls were in a pack throughout the first 200 meters of that.  Then coming around the final turn Jasmine was able to pull into the lead and along the final straightaway she kept it so I got the baton first but the other teams were not far behind.  I took off and thought about staying on my toes and running tall and I was scared that the other teams were catching up.  After the first curve Tolbert told me that I had 15 on the next girl but since there were still 700 meters left in the race I was worried about them catching up to me.  I stayed on my toes all throughout the first 300 meters of it but coming down the straightaway finishing the first lap I relaxed a little bit but then picked it up again when Bill said I had 12.  On the last lap I really worked to stay on my toes and to keep pushing and go hard at the 300 and even harder as I got closer to the finish.  Through the last few meters I was really scared that the other girls were right behind me which got me to stay pushing all the way through.  I crossed the line in 4:16.50 which is a new team best and also means I probably ran a 2:14-2:18 for that 800 which would be a new PR in that for me :)  After I finished that race I was really cold since it was a little bit windy on the final stretch and all I could think about was that I did not want to do the 3200 but Bill told me I still could.  It felt like it took forever to recover, my heart rate was way high after pushing so hard in that 800.  Bill had Natalie and I do drills and strides.  The strides helped because they were a more active recovery which helped my heart rate.  I got to go up on the podium with Victoria and Janie and we all got t-shirts and watches, but Jasmine had to be on the line for her 200.  Finally it was time for Natalie and I to drop our sweats and head to the line.  We did some strides on the track while we were waiting.  I was in the third starting position next to Kelsey and Alex.  Going out I got boxed in which was not fun but I was able to break out of that after 100 meters and move up to Natalie and another girl who were ahead of everyone.  I figured that I would have a hard time setting the right pace for the 3200 after having been in the 800 but the pace felt good and from looking at pictures it looked like Natalie and I led with a bit of a gap for the first 2 laps.  The first lap was a 77 and at the 800 I was at 2:42.  Then Kelsey came up and was running with me through the next few laps, she kept hitting my elbow and at one point in the race on the straightaway on the far side she stepped on me a little bit and I almost fell.  I think I lost focus after that point, I was still leading barely but then at the mile, which we hit in 5:29, she moved and cut in front of me and then I tried to stick with her but I just was not very happy.  She was able to gap me and I wasn't working as hard as I should have to be able to catch her.  With 1000 meters to go I made myself pick up the pace but she was way far ahead.  Then going into the last lap a girl named Kaylee was catching up to me and I heard someone telling her to go at the 300 so I tried to pick it up from where we were but I picked it up more at the 300.  We passed each other back and forth until 100 meters left but then she picked it up and I finished third.  Afterwards I went and sat down and Ben and Abigail came and sat with me as I slowly changed my shoes and put my sweats back on.  I missed standing on the podium as I was cooling down with Ben but Abigail went on the podium for me and one of the photographers said to her "Wow you look a lot like Abigail".  Haha I wonder why...  I did about a mile cooldown and then had to pack up my stuff and get on the bus.  

In the evening after I got back I still needed miles so I went for a run with Bill and Emily.  We met at the capital and ran up City Creek and then along 11th Avenue and then cut down on Virginia street and cut up on the next one and then over on the next one and so on.  We passed by Ben's house from our team and noticed that there were 3 bottles of Gatorade sitting in the gutter since Bill had been on the phone with him before we left and jokingly told him to set out some Gatorade for us haha.  We kept going until we had passed the Utes track and under Legacy Bridge, and we turned around at the intersection after it.  We picked up the Gatorade on the way back, we went back to the capital the same way we had come and finished when the Garmin said we were at 10.