Folders |
1. 2. 3. 4. How hard could it be?
Published by
I should start by saying, that I am really eating my words from my last blog post. My coach came and found me after one of my classes and asked me if I was sure I didn't want to run indoor this season. I said, "I don't want to unless you need someone to run a leg of a 4 by 8." So he pulled out the meet schedule and it was decided, I was running the Fresh/Soph 4 by 800 at the Normal West Wildcat Invite on February 24th at Illinois Wesleyan. Before the race, my PR was 2:15.14. I definitley felt I could and should be running under that given my current fitness. It was decided on our team that I would run the lead leg, followed by Brendan Hoskins (So.), JD Lafayette (Fr.), and Adam Bruno (So.). Soap Box #1 - Meet Organization We went on our warm-up out to the Constiution Trail, and when we got back, we had 35 minutes until the start of our heat. My mom comes running up to me saying, "You guys are already on 2nd call!" So obivously, I run down to the finish area and try to find out where to check in... There was no one checking in the Fresh/Soph 4 by 8. So tell me, why in the world do you even make a first call, let alone a 2nd call if you do not have ANY ONE checking us in. I found the whole situation rediculous. I went over to my bag and got water and such out to stretch, or try to find a place to stretch. My coach called me over to check in, and we left to find a place where we would have a little more room to stretch. After stretching, again my mom ran over to me and said, "Your race is about to start!" I looked at my watch. We still have at least 20 minutes. Evidently they were looking for us because someone thought we were in the first and slower heat. Once I checked with the Springfield runners that we weren't running in 30 seconds, I told the guys to get spikes on and do strides. I don't know who's mistake the 2nd disorganization was, but by the time I was doing strides I was very annoyed. (End of Soap Box #1) After strides, I went over to the starting area, and waited for the first heat to end. We were seeded at #7 with a seed time of 9:00 along with 4 other teams. There were 3 teams with seed times of 8:50. When the gun went off a Cahokia runner from lane one shot to the front and I had to move up along the outside of the chase pack. Going into the second 50m of the race, a perfect sized gap opened between Cahokia and the Normal West lead runner, so I quickly moved into it, 100m into the race. Before the race, I knew I needed to be upfront but not leading in the opening 2 laps, so I drafted. Just before the 300 mark in the race, I quickly made a move in front of the Cahokia runner. With a feeble kick as my own, I knew I needed to make a gap long before he started kicking so his kick would be ineffective. When I crossed the 400 mark, I realized I still have two more laps to go. I managed to continue the lead in the final lap, where my legs no longer felt so good, and I remembered that racing hurts. Always fun to remember that first race back. After the first turn the Cahokia runner made his move ahead of me and finished a second, maybe two ahead of me. I have to give him props for making such a move, because he did a great job. Our girls coach clocked my split at 2:11.59. Soap Box #2 - Counting to 4 Brendan took off and I cheered him on with our student coach. On his 3rd lap the official got everyone lined up to recieve the hand offs, and Cahokia handed off. We were still in 2nd and Brendan, refused to give the baton to poor JD who had no idea what was happening. There were 3 teams on Brendan's tail and all 3 made the handoff and flew by him. They were on their first lap and he was on his last so a significant gap was made. We were the only team not to make the handoff on the 3rd lap. We were basically running alone now. The race quickly went from very competitive to not competitive at all for us. We made it through knowing we were the only team that made the correct handoff. In the end they added 35 seconds to all the teams times that did 15 laps and then we were 4th. The offical results do not show this change. I don't know if we could have gotten 3rd or not, but I believe Bruno's competitiveness would have brought us through. Event 16 Boys 4x800 Meter Relay Frosh/Soph ( RACE WAS 1 LAP SHORT) |
