THE GIRO: TOTAL AWESOMENESS

That was epic. Totally and completely awesome.


The 100th year anniversary of the Giro d'Italia was everything a bike race should be. Including being exciting up until the last km of the race. I actually watched the last part of the stage online at Universal Sports and saw the top 10 be sent off. Rainy time trials are always exciting.

Di Luca was on top at the first time check but I didn't think he could hold it. He's just not a good time trialer. Denis Menchov, who I was cheering for, was going good as usual. Then, towards the end, I was checking out the updates on Bike Forums. I flipped back to the live coverage and see Denis Menchov climbing on a new bike and being pushed. My reaction was "Oh my gosh, what just happened, oh my gosh, he could lose" and then "goooooooooo!!!!". If I was acting like this and am not an ever loyal supporter of Menchov, imagine what the Raboback guys were doing. When he crossed the line I had no idea if he had won or how close it was. I didn't see Danilo Di Luca finish so I didn't know what was going on. Di Luca and Menchov didn't really have an emotion on their faces (not like that's a surprise). I was checking BF to see if someone knew what was going on and found the following reactions:

"Menchov down!!!!"

"!!!!!!!!!!"

"Menchov goes down! Think he is close enough to still take it all though..."

"oh ****."

"Omg"

"omfg"

"Lol"

They obviously didn't know. And then on the live coverage they were just showing the replays of the crash, which was pretty cool, and the bike exchange. The mechanic who jumped out of the car seemingly before Menchov even touched the ground and tgot the bike out and under him by the time the guy had stood up was awesome. He deserves a pretty big reward for that.

Then they finally show the GC and that Menchov had won. And then they replay the crash. Then the people surrounding Menchov and then the crash again. Each time they replayed that though, I'm just amazed at the mechanic. He was good.

When they put the camera back on Menchov, it looked like he was smiling. He was actually showing some sort of emotion. I think this might be the first time I've seen him do that. I mean, Di Luca doesn't display much emotion either, he just looks tough, but Menchov is about the same level as he is. When I see Menchov smiling and yelling while throwing his arms up, I was a little surprised.

Watching Menchov smiling on the podium really made me feel the right guy had won. I didn't want Di Luca to win so the next toughest looking guy had to take the title. Menchov raced smart, he knew what he was doing, and he was strong, all the while looking tough.

This Giro is an example of why I love cycling. The race was truly epic.

REFLECTION ON BLOGGING

So my blog. I really like it. I like writing on it because it feels like I'm telling someone who cares about what I'm talking about. Sometimes it takes me awhile to write my posts but that's because I have to include all the little details. I like being able to talk about whatever I want, that there's basically no restrictions or guidelines I have to follow. Being able to communicate with people who have the same interests as I do is something that came from this blog. It doesn't even matter how old you are or where you are, I can talk with people about what we both like.

Being anonymous on the internet makes blogging better than writer's notebooks. People who come across my blog aren't going to know who I am and therefore won't have any ideas about me before they read what I wrote. They'll take me at my posts and that's it. I can comment on other people's blogs and don't have to worry about what they're going to think of it because they don't know me. It's easier to talk to someone this way, when you don't really have an idea of who the other person is.

My blog is kind of like a very detailed training log for my running because of what I write about. I know it's not really supposed to be like this but it works for me. It's what I want to talk about and since it's my blog, it's what I'm going to talk about. This blog assignment is something you can adjust so it's something you enjoy. I like blogging and because I get graded for it, even better. It's homework I actually like doing.

RACE REPORT: DISTRICTS (V)

This post is the latest installment about how our 4x800 team was getting gypped. On Wednesday, we were to find out the decision on whether or not we would run at state. I had been going on adrenaline since districts and this day was not different. It made me nervous as I sat in class, knowing that our athletic director was meeting with the people in charge of the district and then going to the state officials to make their decision. We knew there was a very slim chance that we would get to race at state, but we weren't going down without a fight. There was still that little part of us full of hope, believing we would run.

After school, we went to the track sendoff (which is dumb and a waste of time when we could be at practice) and the AD met us at the door, telling us that he needed to talk with us. By the look on his face, it was not going to be good news. So we sat there at a table together, as the AD gave a speech to all the state track athletes wishing us luck and telling us how special it was to run at Drake. Because I went to state last year, I know how amazing it is to run on that beautiful blue track, but it felt like he was rubbing it in. He was telling us how awesome it was while we knew that he'd probably come over afterwards and tell us that we wouldn't experience that this year.

The AD waited for the rest of the runners to leave before talking to us, our head coach, the principal, and our coach, who came in late. Nobody looked happy and we knew. We knew we weren't going to run on that beautiful blue track this year. The principal even hugged AL and JS before the athletic director explained the situation.

He had met with the people in charge of districts and watched the video. The automatic timer wasn't working so they had another timer in the video. On this timer, you could very clearly see that it said 10:23 as I crossed the line. But it didn't matter. It turns out that you had to contact the district people within 48 hours to appeal the results. That would mean we had until Sunday night, only a few hours after we found out that something wasn't right. It didn't matter that we didn't know about the wrong results because our head coach had them, that the state qualifying list came out on Sunday, that some districts were postponed until Saturday when they weren't supposed to be, or that nobody would have been at the office on Saturday or Sunday. The AD had argued these points and more but it didn't change the decision. The only way we were going to state was as a member of the crowd and not a competitor.

I had released most of my disappointment on Monday but it was still hard to listen to this. I couldn't look at any of the adults or else I would have started crying. Looking at JS and AL, they were having similar problems. We knew that our coach and the AD had done their best to fix the problem, they had kept fighting for us. The AD told us that he had yelled at the district and state officials because it wasn't our fault and we were getting punished for it. He said he had tried to get them to change the rule, explaining everything that had happened, saying it wasn't fair that four high school girls were paying for a mistake made by an adult. The AD told us that he would say nobody felt worse then him about the situation, but that he couldn't say that because he wasn't us. I believe what he said, partly because he used to be the girl's track head coach, but also the look on his face as he was telling this to us. He looked so upset, but then, it was hard not to be. No amount of apologizing could make up for what was being taken from us.

We were still going to state, except for RB, because, as they told us, we deserved to be there. We had ran the time so we should get the reward, but we were only getting part of it. The three of us went to talk to our coach outside his room about the plan, but then he led us into the office nearby. The last time I was probably in there, was a year and a half ago, after state xc when our coach was yelling at us. Our coach sat down at the table though, as we sat down across from him. We didn't know what he was going to say, but it was obviously more than just about what the plans were for state. It was a lot more.

He told us that it was his fault, that he should've called the AD instead of the head coach when JS called to tell him something was wrong with the qualifying list. That he should've noticed it before. He played the what if game, which I was refusing to participate in. It was hard watching him be so upset when I knew that it wasn't his fault. He had tried so hard, done all he could to fix the situation, he's part of the reason we had made it so far. The two laps taken away from me, the 8 laps of blue taken from our team, weren't directly taken from him. But listening to my coach, looking at how upset he was, it was taken from him too. The meeting was so hard to get through, that I had to stare at a drawer and not say anything so I wouldn't start crying. AL and I left it up to JS to tell him that it wasn't his fault, because we were all on the verge of tears. He had done his best as we had done ours at districts.

We weren't sure what to do at practice but we felt like running. JS and I stretched by ourselves because, technically, our 2009 track season was over. It wasn't like anyone was going to say anything anyways, everyone felt bad for us. We went two miles, because it was hot out. It was hard knowing that we wouldn't be doing strides, because we didn't have a track meet to run at.

Before we went on our little run, the assistant coach mentioned that she had talked to the head coach about the results on Saturday. She had told him that our time wasn't right but he didn't listen. The distance girls don't like the head coach anyways but this made it worse. He would've listened if we had been sprinters. But we aren't and that's part of what makes us good. We are the distance runners, the scampering squirrels.

The 4x800 was ran on Thursday morning, around 11:10. I do not know the results of that race and I do not intend to look them up. My coach told us that the team that qualified last, who shouldn't have raced based on correct district times, wasn't competitive. He said that he knew we would've improved. It doesn't matter if he is right or not though, what matters is that we didn't race at state. This was not just any meet we weren't allowed to run at, this was the state meet at Drake. We might get to race there again but it won't make up for our lost chance. They took it away and we aren't getting it back.

RACE REPORT: DISTRICTS (IV)

You would think that, at a state qualifying track meet, someone would double check all the results because they affect many people. If someone would've done that, maybe found a three that was supposed to be a two, our 4x800 relay team would be going to state for sure. We ran the time so we should get the reward. Yet we still don't know what is going on. All because of someone's mistake, one that might take away our state meet.

Yesterday, my dad talked to my coach, who said that something was wrong with the video so we had no proof, and therefore were not racing at state. I was devastated, I had thought we were making progress and then because of a video not working, we weren't going to state. It wasn't fair. We ran the time to qualify and because of someone's mistake, we weren't going to run at state, on the fantastic blue track. I had gotten my hopes up, which I know I shouldn't have done. It hurt though, it's not fair and we can't do anything about it.

It took me awhile but I called JS to tell her the news. That was a hard phone call to make but I knew that she should know. In that phone call though, she said something that fit our situation. JS told me that "you know, they're taking something away from us" and she's right. They are taking away something that we can't get back. This is not just a track meet that they aren't letting us run at, this is the state meet. This is RB's last chance, she's a senior so this is her last possible state meet. They're taking something away from us by mixing up our time. And it's something we have worked for, something we ran for.

JS and I talked to our athletic director this morning and he gave us different news, some that was better. He was going to talk to the people in charge of the district meet and watch two videos himself. He said he wasn't sure how much he could do, but that he could try, he was fighting for us. Our coach wasn't here but the head coach said we could go to the state meet even if we didn't run, and that he was emailing someone in charge of the state meet. Apparently these people weren't contacted because AL's dad emailed them, and they didn't know what was going on. They hadn't heard about the mixup of times and what we were doing about it. I know we don't have much of a chance of racing at state but I know that people are fighting for our chance. Knowing this makes it a lot easier because we want to do everything we can to try to run at state. We are going to do as much as we can to make sure we get there.

RACE REPORT: DISTRICTS (III)

The rollercoaster of emotions began after our district meet ended on Friday. The nerves were already affecting me again when I ate my french fries after my race. I was so nervous about qualifying. We just had to qualify, we wanted to so badly. We wanted to run at state, we had worked towards that goal.

On Saturday, I was up at an early 9:30. I knew that there was no way I'd find out whether we made it until after 2:00, when the postponed districts were over. I couldn't help but being nervous though, the waiting was already getting to me. Whenever I was home, I was checking the computer until I decided that they weren't going to post it at 10:30.

Sunday morning came and I checked the newspaper for the district results. Seeing that we had placed ahead of 4th place in that district, I actually believed we had a chance. So I ran downstairs and checked out the website. The tenative cut off times were posted and at 10:28, we were under. What I really felt when I saw that was relief, we had done it. We were going to state. I told my parents and then found out JS had texted me at 2:00 in the morning when she found out. We were estastic. I even had ice cream to celebrate at supper.

Checking the website to see if they had the lists of qualifiers up, was when the real rollercoaster began. I glanced at it casually, making sure we were on there. Except we weren't. I checked again, making sure I didn't overlook it. We weren't on there. Using our school name and my name, I looked to make sure they didn't put our names under the wrong spot. It wasn't on there, I was freaking out. Why weren't we on there? We had to have qualified.

I called JS and we had a 50 minute conversation. She had called our coach (she had called him) and he didn't know what was going on. We knew we had run under 10:28, we had run about 10:23. We tried to think if we had been disqualified or what could have kept us from qualifying. Both of us were very upset, we thought we were going to state and now they were telling us we weren't.

JS and I met before school to talk to our coach. He seemed upset and didn't know what was going on. Two hours later, we met with the head coach. He told us the results showed we had run 10:35. We knew that we weren't that slow, my dad, the assistant coach, and our coach had all timed us at somewhere around 10:23. The head coach told us he was talking to our athletic director, who was contacting the people in charge of our district and the state meets. They would review the video of our finish, when I crossed the line, and if the timer wouldn't work, they'd time how far I was behind 4th place. Even though my coach didn't know anything more at lunch, we felt that we were getting it worked out.

An hour before school was out, JS told me that the state qualifying list for our class had been taken down from the internet. We were excited, we were making progress. None of the coaches knew anything more at practice, but they were pretty confident that they could get the problem fixed.

JS called me a couple hours after school to tell me that the list is back up. It's not changed. We aren't on it. And now we don't know what to do. We have to depend on other people and on that video. We don't know what the people in charge are doing. The list was probably taken down to correct sprinter's times, but they don't seem to be doing anything about us.

It didn't seem to matter what we did, but we weren't going to stop fighting. I called my coach (this is how much I want it) but he wasn't there so he called me back. This was very awkward but state is worth it. He had noticed they put the list back up but he didn't know what they were doing about us. He said he'd talk to the athletic director and let us know that he was working on it.

The longer it takes though, the less chance we have of going to state. I thought before that it would be bad if we didn't go to state and we knew we could've gone with the other girl. That is better than our situation we are finding ourselves in, knowing that we ran the time to qualify but because of someone else's mistake, we might not get to go. We have to go though, we have fought so much for it. We don't know how much more we can do though, but we will do as much as we can.

RACE REPORT: DISTRICTS (II)

On Tuesday, earlier this week, the mid distance coach decided that the 4x800 team would be chosen by having everyone who wanted to run the race at districts, run an 800 against each other. I can't believe my coach actually went along with this, although he did tell us about it the day before. JS and I were angry though, because we felt that we had already proved that we deserved a spot throughout the season. We had worked harder throughout the season and had raced better. We didn't think that the choice should come down to a single race between us, because you could be having a good or bad day. The mid distance coach insisted we do this however, so JS and I proceeded to kick everyone's butt, as I came in first with her right behind me in second. RB was third, as we knew she would probably be, and she was also angry at the decision. What angered us even further though, was the decision not to put the fastest 800m runner on our relay team. She had run a 2:29 before that, and we knew that with her, we'd get to state for sure. None of us liked her, but we thought she should be on our team. Apparently she did not think so, so she, along with the mid distance coach, decided she should run the distance medley and 4x400. Built in breaks would allow her to run both the 4x800 and the distance medley though, and our 4x400 team didn't have much of a chance of qualifying. They didn't give us a reason, but did tell RB that they only wanted her to run two events. We wouldn't accept these reasons but didn't have much of a choice in these decisions.

In the distance medley, the girl who should've been on our team ran a 2:27. If she would've ran a 2:33 in our race, we knew we would have definately qualified. Instead, we weren't sure if we would get to go to state, because of the stupid decision the coach had made. It was all we could talk about, as the three of us sat underneath an umbrella, watching as it rained during the meet. AL didn't seem to want to come near us so we could talk about our race as much as we wanted. We realized that if we didn't make it to state, we wouldn't be disappointed as much as mad. We could've been 10 seconds faster if the girl ran with us, so we knew that our relay could definately make it to state. We had the people, but because of a decision made that we had no choice in, we might not get the chance to go to state. Even as RB finished fourth in the 800m with 2:31, it was all we could talk about. JS and I even decided that maybe our coach would take us as alternates to state because we didn't think we would qualify.

It was steadily raining on and off throughout our conversations. The sky was gray and the blue track was covered in puddles. Despite sitting underneath an umbrella, I was all wet. I left my spike bag out in the rain, so my socks and spikes were soaked. My wet clothing made me shiver but I didn't want to put different clothes on, because I knew they would just get wet. JS and I had to run the 1500m though, so we couldn't dwell on it for long.

It rained as JS and I warmed up, running three laps. My pants, socks, and shoes were soaked. It didn't seem to matter because I knew that unless I somehow dropped 10 seconds off my PR, this would be my last 1500m of the season. It knew it could also be my last race of the track season. So I ignored the cold weather and the 4x800 problems, I was going to go out there and run my best. I would do what I could because I had already gave most of my energy to the 4x800, I decided while stretching on the wet sidewalk.

I stood next to JS at the starting line, the sky gray but no longer raining. The race began a little faster than I would've liked, but I wasn't really running for a time, I didn't even think about my PR. I wanted to compete in my race, and that is what I did. There was a puddle I splashed through with 2.5 laps to go and I could see JS was running well. Whenever she made a move, I followed her but I stayed on the inside. My coach just encouraged us, and AK cheered us on.

With 100m left, JS was right beside me. I tried to follow her sprint but she had more than me. She did lose out to another girl that were caught but beat me in 5:21 while I took 5:22. The fact that she beat me didn't even bother me that much. My mom told me before to run for myself, not my teammates or my coaches. I ran for myself in that race and did all I could. I raced and that's what matters.

1500
JS- 5:21
Me- 5:22

The PR is as elusive as ever. I competed more than anything though.

RACE REPORT: DISTRICTS (I)

Our district (state qualifying) track meet was held on Friday. Last year, I ran the 4x800 at districts and our team qualified with a time of 10:18, a second before the cutoff time. I was the slowest on the team, at 2:37 or 2:38 and I was extremely nervous, even throughout the race, because I didn't want it to be my fault that we didn't make it to state. We did make it though, and it was lots of fun. This year, I knew what I had to do and what I would miss out on if we didn't make it to state.

The day started off okay until our teacher brought doughnuts in my second hour class. Of course I refrained from eating one, I did have a track meet afterall, probably the most important of the year. It was hard watching everyone stuff their faces with delicious doughnuts but all I could think was "what would AK do?" because she's always getting mad at us for eating junk food or having an extra cookie during the season.

We left class two hours early and rode a school bus for about an hour until we reached the meet site. It was at a middle school, but shared by both high schools in the city. There was lots of bleachers to sit at and enough room on the opposite stands for my coach to sit by himself (he usually does this, it's kind of weird but we're used to it). The track was a wonderful blue. It reminded me of Drake, where the Drake Relays and the state meet are held, which has the most beautiful track. This track was wonderful but not nice as Drake's, but then, it is hard to top that.

The bathrooms were awesome. And as a cross country and track runner, I've seen a lot of bathrooms. One side of the bathrooms had more stalls than any other outdoor track we've been to. And there were two sides. The doors were long enough, there was soap, and there were enough paper towels. This place was very nice, except the barbed wire on the top of the fence surrounding the track made it feel a little like a prison.

The meet was to begin at four, with the 4x800 at 4:25, after the boy's 4x800. I ate half of my butterfinger granola bar for good luck and sat with my teammates while watching AK warmup for the 3000m. Our relay team consisted of me, JS, RB, and another girl who doesn't usually run varsity, AL. JS and I have ran 2:34 and under which is where we needed to be. RB hasn't been doing as well this year with a 2:36, but I knew she would give everything because she was a senior and this was her last chance. AL was our weakest link, as I was last year, because she's not consistant and she runs a lot slower than us. We were ranked 5th in our district with a time of 10:26. We needed to be in at least the top 6 but we didn't know how fast we could go because we hadn't run together yet. This was districts though, so it didn't matter what we did before, it mattered what we could do at that meet.

We ran two warmup laps with the team and did some stretching before doing two more laps. It was cloudy out so the stadium lights were on. Rain was expected but only on and off showers. Two other district meets were postponed until Saturday which meant that we wouldn't find out whether we qualified for state on Saturday morning. This was my kind of weather though, in the low 60's with rain. Bad weather to watch a track meet in, great weather to race in.

Our district was much easier than last year's and the 3000m was really slow. AK came in third though, with 11:34, about 20 seconds faster than her fastest this season. She always manages to pull out a great performance at districts. I didn't realize how long the race actually was though, until I watched the beginning, went to the bathroom, and watched her finish. It doesn't seem that long when you're running.

JS was starting our relay off, because I refused to and my coach wanted me to anchor it. She was racing against seven other girls, and we had to get in the top six to have a chance to qualify. The top two in each district automatically made it, and then the next fastest twelve teams qualified. We knew we wouldn't get first or second so not only were we racing against the other people in the race, we were racing against others in the state.

The race did not start out well. A few seconds after they began, the gun was shot off again and everyone had to start over. We couldn't figure out what was going on, you wouldn't think anyone would false start a distance race but we didn't see anyone fall either. Somebody nearby thought one of the girls had cut over too soon, but we were worried that it would throw JS off because it appeared to have happened around or to her. According to my parents, a girl had cut too soon which made another girl fall right in front of JS. She managed to dodge the fallen girl, probably due to her experience dodging people at the last track meet.

After the race began again, JS was in the back and a little boxed in, one of the reasons I don't like starting a relay. She managed to get around some girls though and handed off the baton to RB in 4th place. She had ran a 2:33, right what she needed to do. RB ran a 2:33 also, and kept us in 4th place, when the baton was handed off to AL. We knew that AL was our slowest girl but she is extremely hard working. She let a girl slip past her though and started falling back. Both RB and JS were on the track screaming at her to speed it up, districts is probably the only place where you can do this and get away with not saying anything nice. Her PR for an 800 was 2:37, but she ran a 2:41.

The baton was given to me in 5th place. It was up to me, everyone had already done what they could. My coach was yelling at me to get the 4th place girl, as were my teammates. RB and JS were actually screaming at me more than my coach was. We had agreed before the race to remember what state was like when we began slowing down, because except for AL, we were all on last years 4x800 team. I did this throughout the race, whenever my legs felt tired, I would think about how much I wanted to go to state. Districts are a different meet because of this, you run as much on emotions as anything else.

On my second lap, the girl was only a few seconds closer, but at districts, everything counts. With 200m left to go, I sprinted with everything I had left. I realized that I was the one finishing this, my time would depend on our team time. I was not going to let them down. So when I had 100m left, where I usually become tired without enough energy to sprint, I pushed it harder. I told myself that I had to run at state, I wanted to race at Drake so badly. And I crossed the line using energy I didn't know I had.

My PR for an 800 is 2:34, which I have run three times. Once last year, at divisionals, when my coach told me that if I ran fast than I could run at districts. That performance really surprised him and it's one of my favorite 800's. I ran the same time twice this year and I was ready to beat it. So, following the pattern of our first two runners, I ran a 2:33. Our relay time was 10:23, four seconds slower than last year's cutoff time. This was obviously not good, not only because we were ranked 25th in our class with a time of 10:26 and only 24 teams ran at state, but also because we were on the edge. AL looked like she was ready to cry and didn't cooldown with us, although we kept reassuring her that it wasn't her fault. We weren't mad at her, we were just really worried that we would make it. The three of us knew we had done our best out there and we had done what we needed to do. AL was trying to make excuses, which kind of bothered me because excuses aren't a real reason. We were not in a good mood but we were coming together against one of the real causes that we might not make it.

RACE REPORT: DIVISIONALS

Our divisional track meet was on Friday, the last one before districts, the state qualifying meet. I had taken my A.P. U.S. History exam in the morning and relaxed after that. I was really nervous about the meet, given that it was so important. I knew our team wouldn't do well, especially with the state champion team who hasn't last a meet since 2005, being there, and I knew I probably wouldn't score any points for my team. This meet was about getting my times down and redeeming myself after my last few meets.

When I left for the meet, it was about 76 degrees outside, warmer than what we have been racing and practicing in. The A.P. exam changed my schedule because I wasn't able to drink water while testing. This was especially important on such a warm day. When I arrived at the meet, everyone seemed to be wearing shorts and tshirts, but we were still hot. There was no trees around the track and the sun was blazing down. The track itself was in terrible condition, especially in the first lane with parts of the asphalt not there. There were storms coming though, even if it didn't look like it.

I was running the 3000 and 1500 again, something that gave me a little extra confidence because my coach believed in me. AK was running the 3000m with me so we began warming up. We ran four laps before doing some stretching. My legs were feeling okay, not good but not bad. The heat was really worrying me though, and I was getting thirsty. The sky didn't look like it would storm at all, but they turned the stadium lights on.

There was to be one heat of the 3000m, with more than 20 girls running. This meant the start would be chaotic, with everyone trying to find a place, and lucky me, I was in lane 1A. Going around the curve, everybody would of course cut me off, which I was not excited about. There was also a spot where I was starting, that didn't have any of the track surface, it was just dirt. AK was in 8A, on the opposite side.

When the race began, I was only sort of boxed in, because the JV people started behind varsity. I managed slip around the inside of the corner, and was able to run next to the two girls who would go on to place first and third. This was only 50m into the race though but I soon settled into a position.

With 5 laps to go in this 7.5 lap race, I began getting tired. I was already thirsty, but with this, I started to panic. Trying to convince myself that I was not at all tired, I kept repeating that "I can do this".

There was a mile left to race when I could really feel my energy slipping away. I didn't know what to do, I had no idea how I was going to finish the race. The group of people ahead of me, slowly became farther and farther away as I struggled to maintain my pace. I could feel the sun beating down on me and kept licking my lips because they were so dry. This probably wasn't the best thing to do, because my mouth was only becoming drier.

With two laps to go, I was at 8:46, where I usually am, with hopes of a 11:30 fading away. I knew I had to speed it up but I couldn't, it just wasn't there. AK was way behind me, but first place wasn't far. One of my goals was not to be lapped and when the gun went off for the leader, I really started pushing it. Or, what felt fast but what really wasn't. Coming into the front stretch, I could hear people yelling the leader's name so I began a sort of sprint. I could feel her closing in on me, but with seconds to spare, I crossed the line and she didn't lap me.

My strategy for my races is a fast last lap. In this race though, I had nothing left, I hadn't for multiple laps. My legs were so tired as I ran the last lap just like any other. I tried sprinting, I tried going faster. The energy just wasn't in my legs. There was only 200m to go when I felt someone closing in behind me. With 100m left, I knew she was there. I sprinted with everything I had left, which wasn't much. I was already using energy I didn't know that I had. At 20m from the line, she passed me. I asked myself if I had anything left to push past her and my legs answered with a no. My legs just weren't there. I looked down at my watch and saw the time of 12:08. Before I could reflect on how I completely sucked, I had to deal with the timers who don't believe you need rest time before they ask you your name.

I waited for AK, who had finished about 10 seconds after me before we walked to the side. She sat down on the grass, so I sat down next to her. I needed something to drink, my legs were tired, and my feet had to get out of my spikes, but sitting just felt so good. When a lady came by and told us that it would feel better if we walked around, she was lucky that I had no energy to get into a fight with her. I wanted to ask her if she had ever ran the 3000m and have it feel more terrible than usual.

AK told me that she might've had a slower time a week ago, but this race felt the worst. I agreed with her, having just ran over 12 minutes, my only slower 3000 this season being my first race of the year. I knew I had just ruined my chances of a good 3000m this year, even as my coach had believed in me more than ever. I was trying not to cry as I watched the 4x800. My times just kept going up and my legs were just so tired. It was hard walking back to our clothes after sitting for almost 10 minutes.

I had taken my spikes off and was just sitting in the grass in my socks, when my coach came over. He sat down next to us and said that we had looked sluggish. AK confirmed that sluggish was what it felt like and our coach said we'd have to try something different instead of letting us go swimming like he did this week. He said that he knew we were trying and we just weren't running to get it over with. He told us he knew we were running to compete and the face that he understand made it so much better. My coach told us to cool down and told me that I still had a race to go. When he asked what he could do to make my next race go better, I told him he could make it rain, especially while I was running. With dark clouds hovering (they had suddenly appeared once our race had ended, plus it had become about 10 degrees cooler with wind), he told me that he was going to do a rain dance. He also broke up the tension by calling me a duck among squirrels (yes, he calls the distance girls the "scampering squirrels" and yes, it can get embarrassing).

While the varsity 4x800 was going on, the sky suddenly became darker and we could see lightening. They waited until about half of the teams finished the race before calling for a rain delay. The problem was that, while most of the runners had finished, our team along with another was still out there. I'm not sure why they didn't wait for the race to finish before delaying it, because people immediately began running across the track. JS was finishing the relay up while people were swarming the track, so she had to yell to clear the track during a race. It turns out that the assistant coach didn't get her time because she was too busy cussing people out on the track because they wouldn't move. AK and I waited for JS and I ran around on the metal bleachers trying to find her shirt while it was lightening out. We were one of the last groups to go to our car, but I finally felt like racing, because it was raining out.

The rain delay was supposed to only last for a half an hour but it started to pour. I waited in the car for awhile before we went to McDonalds. I ate half a salad, because I needed something to eat and it wasn't like I was going to eat real McDonalds food. The delay was about 95 minutes and it offered some much needed rest for my legs. They still felt very tired though, even while I was sitting down.

While waiting to warmup for the 1500, the meet seemed to go by quickly. This was the last meet for the JV people and the last meet for two senior distance girls. They are both very nice and I'm really going to miss them. I've ran with them for about three years and they've remained my friends as I have improved. When we finally warmed up, we did it together. They were both sad, because they were doing their last race, and excited, because it would be together. They stretched on their own while JS and I talked together. We were both really nervous because we knew this race was going to be fast and neither of us felt that way.

There was to be two heats of the 1500m, which was both good and bad. I wanted to cheer the seniors on because it was their last race but I didn't want to run with just varsity people. Cheering the seniors on was kind of sad, but we were proud of them. They've both been through a lot of injuries and they were trading last place for awhile. They managed to pull it out though, and both finished ahead of another girl. We didn't get time to congratulate them because we had to start our own race.

I was in the outside lane while JS was in the middle. The first part of the race is always full of cutting people off and elbowing, but this one was even more so. Instead of 3/4 of a lap, it took 1.5 laps for things to even sort of settle down. I was running with a group of four girls with JS a little behind me. One girl in our group spent the whole race speeding up to get ahead of us but then slowing down because she couldn't maintain the pace. It was kind of annoying because it threw off our pace.

At two laps to go, I was still within my little group. My legs didn't feel tired like they had been, but they didn't have that much energy. I was really trying to stay with those girls though, because I knew that if I fell back, I would keep going in the same direction. I was determined to have a better race than my 3000m.

With a lap to go, I had been running for 4:06, about the same time as I was on Monday. I knew I wouldn't do well with this race and this didn't really surprise me. There was still a race to finish however, and I had to beat some of those girls. So I sprinted, telling myself that I could rest when I was done, that I had to make my coach somehow proud. So I tried not to listen to my tired legs and went as hard as I could.

There was 100m and I was ahead of the girls I had been with. One came up right beside me though and with all our sprinting, she was elbowing and hitting me so I did the same to her. She moved ahead a little bit and we both caught a girl in front of us. I was next to the girl we had caught while the other one pushed past us. The girl beside me was slightly ahead of me as my legs screamed at me to stop. I tried finding something extra, something that would get me past this girl, but I didn't have much. I lunged at the line and I have no idea who beat who. I came in at 5:26, about 10 seconds ahead of JS. The same girl who won the 3000m, won the 1500m as well.

I waited a little before taking off my spikes while JS went off to hold some sprinter's blocks. I knew I hadn't done well in either of my races but my legs just weren't there. I had tried so hard, but my times continued to slip up. Because I was angry at myself for this, I did two cooldown laps instead of one. My coach stood on the other side of the fence and watched me. He didn't talk to me. I know my coach and I know what he means when he doesn't talk to you. He doesn't yell and he doesn't give lectures. He just doesn't talk. And that's what hurts more than anything at that meet, that he didn't talk to me, didn't say a thing after my race. At least I didn't have to do a team cooldown with the sprinters.

3000
me- 12:08

1500
me- 5:26

RACE REPORT: IT SUCKED

So on Monday we had another track meet. And it sucked. And now my legs are super tired, my coach is disappointed, and I have to pull out something amazing in order to be good again. Let's just say the meet didn't go well.

We only had to ride a school bus for about 45 minutes to get to the town in the middle of nowhere where our meet was. Of course the bus was very crowded so I couldn't move. We had to make sure the coaches each got their own seat though because they can't sit together. I think I know why my coach drove by himself. It really was a town in the middle of nowhere though, it took us about two minutes to get to the edge of it, where the school and track was. The track had cornfields around it, it felt like stereotypical Iowa. Most of the seven teams there had a similar vibe going on, in that they were small with not very fast runners. This meant I had a chance and my main competitors would be from the next biggest team there, who were one of the top five teams in their class.

My first race of the day was the 4x800. I was running it with JS and AK which we were pretty excited about. We don't usually get to run a relay together and we wanted to prove something to the mid distance runners. That is one of the reasons we warmed up by ourselfs and did not do the team warmup. Instead we ran three laps before stretching. It was getting a little warm out, in the upper 60's, which was making me really thirsty. We haven't had much warm weather so I haven't gotten used to racing in it.


JS agreed to go first because I didn't want to, so I was going last. Running first makes it feel harder and I like when the gaps are already established. It makes me want to race. She ran about a 2:36, but she wasn't feeling very good. AK in her first 800 this season, ran a 2:40 and the third runner did a 2:45. When the baton was handed off to me, we were in second, about 60m behind first place but only 10m ahead of third place.

The first lap didn't feel too bad, judging by 800 standards. My legs felt a little tired but when I began lapping the JV people, including my own teammate, it made me feel a little better. On the second lap, I was hearing footsteps behind me for awhile, and I couldn't figure out if that was third place or somebody I had lapped. I was really pushing it because I didn't want to be the one losing second but with 100m to go, my legs and arms were very tired. It didn't matter though, because it was someone I had lapped that I was hearing. We took second, way ahead of third place but still about 60m behind first place. My coach seemed to be a little disappointed with it but I felt like I had run pretty good. My time- 2:34 again. I seem to be good at tying my PRs.

I was really tired after my 800 and the meet was moving really fast, so I wasn't able to get as much rest. I didn't know when we would have to warm up for the 1500m, so I wasn't sure how much to eat or drink. My throat felt really dry though and I was really thirsty. I drank more water than I probably should have but I couldn't really help it. It tasted really good.

About an hour after the 4x800, it was time to warm up for the 1500m. My legs were already tired, although I didn't run over the weekend for that reason. I knew I had to get a good time though, to prove to my coach that I could improve with my 1500. I had a hard time convincing myself that I could do that though, because I was so tired. The four laps we did as a warmup for very slow because of this. I couldn't wait to get the race over with.

The winning time for the 3000m was 11:54, slow and a second slower than my Friday time. I would like to think that I would've factored into the race but judging by my 1500, that might not have been the case. The race did make me think that I could do very well in the 1500m and when I checked in, it looked like I had the fastest time out of the runners. I didn't really care about the places though, I cared about the times and how fast I could go.

There was no lane assignments so AK and I took the middle lanes. We weren't on the line for long and once we took off, I settled in at third place. The other two girls seemed to really take off and I didn't think they could keep it up for the whole race. I was going to kind of pace myself and not depend on any other runners but myself. This meant I was not running next to AK, but I usually don't in the 1500m.

The first lap felt pretty good but a struggled a bit with the second. I tried to tell myself that after this lap, I'd only have an 800 but it didn't do very much good. I could feel myself slowing down a little but I tried to resist it and catch the girls in front of me. With two laps to go, the first two girls were still ahead of me and I was getting tired. I was just trying to hold onto third place because I didn't know where the other girls were behind me.

With a lap to go, I was at 4:06, six seconds slower that Friday's slow time. I passed the girl ahead of me with 300m to go. I knew for sure that I was going slow but that I had to sort of salvage the race with the last lap. Except, with no one near me, I didn't try as hard as I should've. I didn't do what I was supposed to.

I finished in 5:28 or 5:29, my second slowest 1500 and my slowest outdoor 1500m of the season. Second place was mine but with the first girl coming in at 5:14, I knew that I could've won the race. I should have been up there but I wasn't. And it was my own fault. I lost that race. It was me.

My coach didn't say much after my race, just asked me how it felt. I told him that it was not good because I was so tired. AK finished about five seconds behind me in third place and she felt good, so I tried to refrain from talking about how I had ruined my race. What did make the day better though- free popcorn.

1500
2nd- 5:29

PLATEAU

Even with all the training I have been doing, I've hit a plateau. My 3000m times have not decreased since I ran 11:46 on April 11. They've actually been increasing with 11:50 and 11:53. My coach thinks I can run an 11:30, but I'm not sure about that. He says I need competition, people running those times instead of the large gaps that there has been. It's hard to believe him though when whatever I'm doing doesn't seem to be working.

What's most frustrating however, is not my 3000m. It's the 1500, my favorite race. The last four times I've ran in the race- 5:23, 5:18, 5:18, 5:19. I need to improve in this race if I want to go anywhere with it. My coach keeps telling me that a big drop in time follows a plateau but with Friday's meet, it doesn't seem like it. Comparing that meet with the one on April 11, in which I ran the same races, I've gotten slower in both events. I don't know what to do about it but I want to do something. And it's not like there isn't anyone else in my races who aren't running those times, if I would have run a 5:18 on Friday, the crazy finish wouldn't have been a problem. I feel like I can get my times down except I'm too tired from practices. We haven't even been doing that much in practices though so I'm not sure. I don't like complaining about my times that much either, before this season I would've been estastic to be running like this. I just really want to get better and improve, but I don't know how.

THE WAR IN CYCLING: PART TWO

The War in Cycling (Continued)

A severe crash prevented Jan Ullrich’s teammate and veteran rider, Alexandre Vinokourov, from being an opponent of Lance Armstrong during 2004 (Coyle 205). Coyle writes in Lance Armstrong’s War, how Vinokourov’s harsh life growing up in Kazakhstan made him a stronger rider (57-59). He continued to improve and by 2007, he had become a prerace favorite for the Tour. According to race officials, this Tour de France was going to be cleaner than the previous year in cycling. Instead, doping again racked the Tour. Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping after a remarkable comeback from serious injuries sustained during the race (“Vinokourov” par. 1-5). His teammate, Andrey Kashechkin, also tested positive for blood doping, and as a result, their team Astana, withdrew from the Tour (“Kashechkin” par. 1-2).

Iban Mayo, a quiet Basque climber, was the last of Armstrong’s 2004 rivals to be brought down by doping. On July 30, 2007, it was announced that Mayo had tested positive for EPO during the 2007 Tour de France, which had been completed only days earlier. He refused to confess, maintaining his innocence but was convicted and received a two year ban (“Hold the Mayo!” par. 1). It is unknown whether he will attempt a comeback but has dropped out of the cycling world. Mayo has been relatively forgotten about although most cycling fans agree he is guilty of doping.

The positive doping tests of many successful cyclists have put other riders under speculation. This includes the man who was at the center of David Coyle’s book, Lance Armstrong. He has split riders, directors, and fans over the belief of whether he did or did not cheat using performance enhancing substances. Armstrong has passed every single doping test yet has been continually plagued by rumors. Former employees of his team have accused him of doping and the positive tests of his ex-teammates have only helped the accusations. Armstrong remains as one of cycling’s biggest heroes and his 2009 comeback is well looked upon by many fans.

I believe that Lance Armstrong rode clean. My theory maintaining his innocence is a mix of other’s opinions but comes also from the man himself. He has simply too much to lose. If he cheated, Armstrong would become the biggest cycling and American doping scandal. Not only would the sport be affected, but also everything he has built up outside of cycling, such as the LiveSTRONG foundation. Critics have acknowledged this but say Armstrong could not have predicted what has become of his wins after he came back from cancer. Yet he was a talented rider before he had the disease and cancer could have made his mindset even stronger. Various tests have proven that Lance Armstrong has a physical advantage over the other riders, creating less lactic acid, recovering faster, and having a larger lung capacity. In Lance Armstrong’s War, teammates describe him as training harder and longer than anyone else, in hopes of getting just a little bit better (Coyle 167). Armstrong was meticulous in everything he did; he sought the best equipment and tried to perfect even the smallest of details (Coyle 76). Yet what gave him the extra edge was his focus, his drive to beat everybody else no matter what happened. Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. He was tested more than anyone else because of his victories but if he was cheating, he would have had to somehow evade the tests.

Doping has tainted cycling in the races, the records, and the results. No longer is an unexpected and outstanding result met with congratulations. Instead it raises suspicion and the performance falls under the always prevalent question of “is he doping?” Critics laud the races as drug filled and the media is full of articles questioning the credibility of the sport. Fans no longer know which riders to believe and as a result, sponsors have discontinued their teams. Operación Puerto has been once more opened up and two successful riders have been linked to the scandal. Among the chaos, are the cyclists themselves; some are outspoken against doping, but many are quiet in the midst of the fighting. Most would prefer to just ride their bikes, although they do support the effort to clean up their sport. Three professional cycling teams have implemented extreme anti doping programs to try and reclaim cycling as clean. Cycling may be the sport most connected with cheating but that is because cycling is the sport that has done the most to find the cheats. No other sport has such extreme testing or long term bans, but cycling has the image of being the dirty sport because so many abusers are caught.

Amidst all the mayhem in cycling, among the questions about the riders and the races, loyalty is no longer strictly to a team or a cyclist, but to the sport itself. It comes off as a laugh to the general public and there is always a difficulty in understanding why people would bother following the sport. These same people do not realize how hard the races are and the bravery is sometimes in simply finishing the race, such as the Paris-Roubaix or the Tour de France. Daniel Coyle reveals in Lance Armstrong’s War what it takes to be a cyclist, the intense training, the constant pressure, and the always prevalent danger of crashing. He describes the magnificence of a solo mountaintop win, the crazed fans who line the roads, the pain on the faces of the cracked riders, and the glory of winning a single stage. Yes, it’s hard to see races torn apart because of doping, and faith in the sport wavers. Something continues to bring you back however and doping will not drive away the real fans among us. Cycling reveals the true champions in the midst of cobblestones, 40mph sprint finishes, rolling hills, and mountains.

THE WAR IN CYCLING: PART ONE

For one of my classes, I was required to read a book and do a research paper on a topic from that book. Because there was basically no restrictions, I was able to choose a topic that I enjoyed and read Lance Armstrong's War by Daniel Coyle. I loved the book and really liked writing the paper because I learned so much more about cycling. Not all of my research was strict though, Bike Forums isn't the best resource, but I really tried to represent and defend the sport. I had to change the paper a little bit to fit with the guidelines and let the average reader understand it but I really like how it turned out. This is what I wrote.

The War in Cycling

Cheating has been entwined with the Tour de France for decades. During the second year of the race, the top four riders were disqualified for a variety of offenses such as riding the train, sabotage of other riders, and being towed by a car (Barnett par. 4). Cheating has become more refined over the years and is no longer visible to the human eye. Various forms of doping are now the chosen form of cheating, and only concrete evidence, extreme doping controls, and extensive laboratory tests seem to be catching the fakes. Yet it’s not enough, as more riders continue to get away with cheating.

In Lance Armstrong’s War: One Man’s Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France, Daniel Coyle takes a look at not only Lance Armstrong, but also his rivals during the 2004 Tour de France and the sport of cycling itself. Although the book requires some knowledge of cycling and the riders, it is extremely entertaining and interesting. Coyle offers a look into the world of a cyclist, the training involved in becoming a world class rider, how the teams evolve, and how each one differs from the other. The book concentrates on a simpler time in the sport in which doping and cycling were not synonymous. Coyle briefly mentions doping in his book but this form of cheating was not a well known public issue at the time. In the four years since Lance Armstrong’s War was written, doping has affected the careers of Armstrong, his chief rivals, and many other riders as well.

The controversy of doping has turned the world of cycling upside down. To fully understand the issues one must first know a little background about the doping itself. One of the first most widely used forms is blood doping. This is the practice of transfusing oxygen-carrying red blood cells in order to enhance aerobic capacity and endurance. An outside source or the cyclist’s own red blood cells can be used, although both are dangerous because of the risks involved such as infection and blood diseases. Urine and blood tests have been created to detect evidence of this form of doping (Fiedler par. 1-2). Erythropoietin, or EPO, is possibly the most popular drug used by cyclists who cheat. Injection of EPO increases the growth of red blood cells and has a similar effect on the body as blood doping. Blood and urine tests have been used since 2000 to detect EPO. New “generations” of this drug have been created so tests continue to evolve (Asplund par. 2-4).

One of the first opponents of Lance Armstrong that Coyle mentions in his book is Tyler Hamilton. An American with a history of bad luck of crashing in races, Hamilton also had a reputation for being polite and respectful. In fact, the chapter in Lance Armstrong’s War about Hamilton is titled “The Nicest Guy” (Coyle 36-37). He was a former teammate of Armstrong’s on the U.S. Postal team, but left to become the leader of a rival team. He created a family sort of environment on this team which focused on forming strong bonds between the riders (Coyle 40-41). This, along with his gracious personality, made it hard to believe the two positive blood doping tests at the Olympics (where he won gold) and the Vuelta a España in September 2004 (Coyle 307-310). After an initial outpouring of support from his American fans, Hamilton was convicted and received a two year ban. He continues to deny the charges, even blaming an undeveloped twin for the foreign blood found by the test. His denials have made him a joke among many cycling fans which, along with race exclusions, have made his subsequent comeback difficult (Jones, “Tyler” par. 1-8).

Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, considered by Coyle as Armstrong’s biggest opponents during 2004 (6), were caught up in the scandal of Operación Puerto. On May 23, 2006, members of the Astana- Würth team were arrested for having connections to Dr. Fuentes. A sports doctor, Dr. Fuentes had been arrested for helping athletes enhance their performances illegally by using such methods as EPO or blood doping (Jones, “Saiz” par. 1-3). The case included many types of athletes but only road cycling was focused upon. Names of riders who had connections with Fuentes began leaking to the press, but it wasn’t until June 29, only two days before the Tour de France, that the full list of 58 cyclists was revealed (Jones, “More” par. 1-3). Mass suspensions and arrests rocked the cycling world in the biggest doping scandal to hit the sport. As a result of those charges and Armstrong’s 2005 retirement, none of the riders who placed in the top 5 of the 2005 Tour de France, raced in the 2006 version. Jan Ullrich was suspended and fired from his team because of the doping accusations. DNA evidence later confirmed these speculations and Ullrich retired from racing in February 2007 (Kröner par. 1). Ivan Basso, a young rider with an impressive reputation as the only cyclist to successfully keep up with Lance Armstrong in the mountains, was also indicted in Operación Puerto. In May 2007, he admitted to contacting Dr. Fuentes with the intent to dope, but maintains that it was only attempted doping (Brown, “Basso: ‘It” par. 1-3). Basso received a two year ban and began his comeback to professional racing in late 2008 (Brown, “Basso Ends” par. 1). Despite their doping charges, Ullrich and Basso continue to be adored and respected by their countries and cycling fans.

Operación Puerto suspended many riders suspected of doping from the 2006 Tour de France, but doping still shook the race. Floyd Landis, an American and ex- teammate of Lance Armstrong, was a former Mennonite and mountain bike racer. Daniel Coyle describes Landis as someone loyal to his team but still desiring to strike out on his own (157-166). Coming in as a dark horse favorite in 2006, he would get his chance to be a leader. Suffering from a hip injury, Landis lost over eight minutes on a mountain stage during the 2006 Tour. In what has been called one of the most epic rides in cycling, he made up most of that time the next day on a 128km solo ride (Decaluwé, Tan, and Kröner par. 1-7). Landis won the Tour de France, but it was later announced that he had tested positive for testosterone after his impressive stage. The news shocked the cycling world, not only because many of the cheats were thought to have been previously removed, but also because of Landis’s personality and the type of performance enhancing drug used. Testosterone is used to gain muscle in sports that require bulking up. In cycling, riders try to remain as light as possible in order to achieve a better power to weight ratio, which makes climbing mountains easier. Landis denied doping and has continually maintained his innocence. His book, Positively False, explains his side of the doping scandal. On September 22, 2007, Landis was officially stripped of his Tour title and given a two year suspension (Bass par. 1-8). He has now returned to cycling but is not completely respected by fans because of his refusal to confess.

RACE REPORT: OUR TURN TO WIN

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was not looking forward to my race. I had spent most of the three hours in between my races sitting on a blanket, and talking with my friends and my coach. We watched AK eat a cold baked potato and just relaxed. There was a little problem because JS's shirt was stolen by a member of another team and they refused to give it back, although it did have her last name printed on it. She did get the shirt back after the meet once the coach threatened the team. They were going to have to do hills though in punishment for taking the shirt, which we thought was kind of funny.

About an hour before our race, JS and I began warming up, doing four laps. My legs were feeling very tired and I just wanted to sit down. I tried to change my outlook but it wasn't working. I didn't want to race the 1500m, it seemed like I had already done enough. There wasn't anything I could do to change it however, so I didn't tell my coach. He was already excited, because our team was tied for first, and I didn't want to disappoint him.

As we stood on the line, waiting for the gun to go off, I noticed that it had grown dark and the lights were on. Usually this is one of my favorite things about the race but it didn't really register with me throughout the race. All I could think about was how I wanted to get under 5:18 but how I probably wouldn't. I wasn't going to really pace myself though, I was just going to race.

I didn't want to start out too fast so after 3/4 of a lap, I was towards the back. As long as I didn't start out next to a girl in orange, whose team always fades back after taking a 15m lead on the first lap, I was going to be okay. My legs didn't feel very tired in the race but they didn't feel fast either. With two laps to go, I was around 2:30 and moving up. There wasn't a lot of groups, just one or two runners that were easier to pass.

With a lap to go, I remembered the advice from the coach of the girl in red in the 3000m. She said to make the last lap hurt and that's what I set out to do. There was two girls running together a little in front of me and my coach was yelling at me to pass them so I could score. With 200m to go, JS, those two girls, and I were all running together. Around that last corner, my coach (who must have ran across the field to get there) stood with the two coaches of the other girls. They were all screaming at us to beat one another as they were standing right next to each other. I thought this was kind of funny because they looked hilarious and it wasn't up to them anyways. It was the runners who had to finish the race. They weren't giving us any extra power or motivation that we didn't already have.

I moved ahead of the group with 75m to go, sprinting with all I had left. A girl in purple was slowly moving towards the lane ahead of me and I knew I had to try and get her too. There was a big gap between us and it seemed almost impossible to close it. At 15m from the line, she was still ahead of me but the crowd had faded from the sides. It was almost like having tunnel vision, I only heard myself saying "push it, push it". I could see her trying to go faster but only steps from the line, I passed her and took 4th. JS placed 6th, beating the two girls, and making us double scorers. My coach was happy with our finish and that we had scored. My time was slower at 5:23 and so was JS's time of 5:25. Our team won the meet though, which was pretty exciting. And 10 of the 125 points we scored were mine.

I ran a quick cooldown lap after the meet before taking pictures with the trophy on our two hour bus ride and eating french fries from Arby's. They actually have very good french fries, which are one of my favorite things to eat after a track meet. They made up for my slower races as did the trophy.

1500
4th- 5:23

RACE REPORT: OH NO SHE DIDN'T

Yesterday's track meet experience began with discrimination against track athletes. Meaning we rode a school bus for two hours. I was out of comfortable positions after fifty minutes. And we were on the school bus for two whole hours. Why don't I play any sports that receive attention?

During this two hour bus ride (and this was only on the way there) we had to stop in some town in the middle of nowhere because one of the sprinters (this wouldn't have happened with any of the distance runners) had to go to the bathroom. Yes she is pretty fast sprinter but we were about half an hour away and she was only one girl. This made me very angry because I wanted to get off the bus as soon as I could.

When we actually arrived at the meet, it was windy and in the upper 50's. It was a coed varsity meet with teams we don't usually compete against. We were only there about five minutes before I began warming up with my teammate AK for the 3000m. I wasn't feeling good about my races but I had managed to change my attitude about the 3000. Because the teams were smaller, I thought I might have a chance to place. My legs were very tired though and I was having to do the big double, the 3000 and the 1500. For some reason my coach put me in these events, probably because I didn't tell him I was so tired. I was running well earlier in the week but our Wednesday practice really tired me out. I wasn't feeling ready at all and wasn't sure how I would do.

We spent about 10 minutes in line for the bathroom although it would've been longer if a couple of girls hadn't taken over the men's restroom for awhile. After our wonderful wait, we did some stretching. I paid close attention to my right calf and shin which have been feeling a little weird. The adrenaline must've been working though because they didn't hurt during my race. We did some strides which I usually try to avoid and then we were ready to go.

My goal for the race was 92 seconds per lap or 11:30. My coach thought I could do it as long as we didn't start out too fast. I thought I could improve this week and was ready to race as we stood on the line. My teammate and I ran the first lap around 86 seconds, a little fast but we were in the back. My coach just reassured us and sure enough, we were moving up. AK and I were using our tactic of running together except she was behind me, something I still haven't gotten used to. I thought we were going a little too slow but my coach wasn't saying much about it.

The 3000m seems like a very long race and it is, but it goes by quicker than you would think when you are running it. That's what it seemed like with two laps to go, when I was around 8:51, almost 10 seconds slower than I have been at the same point. This really disappointed me. I wasn't going to get 11:30 and I knew I probably wouldn't improve. My legs might've been moving just as fast, but my attitude changed when those numbers were called out. My motivation was now based on not disappointing my coach further and not letting my teammate, who was running behind me, or the girl in red beside me, beat me. I guess this isn't entirely true, because I was running in 3rd place (first two girls were way ahead of us) but I didn't have a good attitude about it.

With a lap to go, the three of us were still together. About 15m across the line, the girl in red made a big mistake. She cut me off. That's acceptable on the first lap when we are all trying to get into position, but not on the last lap. She was running beside me and then all of a sudden she's in front of me and I'm slowing down so I don't get tripped. I couldn't believe she cut me off, it made my incredibly mad. And that's where she made her mistake. Because I told myself that whatever I did, I was going to beat her. She cut me off but she wasn't going to be ahead of me at the finish line.

I immediately sped up after the little incident and moved in front of her. The rest of the lap was full of mature racing tactics with us changing places several times and probably cutting each other off. She came around the last corner ahead of me but with 100m to go, we were almost right beside each other (I had no idea of where AK was throughout this). Then we had a little probably at 50m from the line. There were two girls, about to be lapped, running in the middle of lane one and the inside of lane two. The girl in red beside me would go to the right and I knew that if I followed her, she would beat me. On the left of the track was the long jump and was paved but there were some ropes separating it. I could go to the left instead, going outside of the white line but not into the grass. I wasn't sure I could squeeze through without knocking something over or pushing the lapped girl so I didn't know what to do.

I went left and crossed the line less than a second ahead of the girl in red. With a time of 11:53, I took 3rd, while AK had 11:58 in fifth. While we stood in line waiting to turn in our place cards, I refused to congratulate the girl in red because I was still very mad. As she told me good job, I wanted to tell her that because she cut me off, she was standing behind me. Instead, I told her the same and walked away from her quickly.

My coach congratulated us and afterwards we watching JS run a 2:32 split in the 4x800. This made me a little worried because she was feeling good and I wasn't, and I didn't want her to beat me in the 1500m, which we were running together. As AK and I did a one lap cooldown, my legs were feeling tired, and I just wanted to sit and eat. This is not a good attitude going into a race but the meet just didn't seem to be going good. And I still had another race to run, one I wanted to well in.

3000
3rd- 11:53

There's more to come.....