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