Mt. SAC Relays

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to compete in the mile at the Mt SAC relays.  Since I was the only person on my team going, I went with my parents rather than a coach.  We flew in disgustingly early on Thursday morning, and I had to spend most of the day convincing my mom that no, Disneyland would not be a great idea the day before a race.  I did an easy shakeout run Thursday night, and it was honestly amazing.  I love running in California.  It makes my lungs feel so alive.  I feel vaguely like a really, really sweaty goddess every time I run down at sea level.  If goddesses like to wear uncomfortably short shorts and knee-high Slytherin socks.
I'm pretty sure the people working at the hotel I stayed at thought that there was some kind of convention for skinny people with no fashion sense, because it was completely full of athletes there for Mt SAC.  It's a beautiful thing when a group of runners comes together.
I hit Olive Garden before my race, as per the usual, then played a little Pokémon on my GameBoy Color to calm my nerves.  Jim was there, since it's a pretty big meet, and I had a chance to talk to him about race strategy briefly before I warmed up.  The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed in the bull pen than I'm used to.  The girls were all very friendly, and it was definitely nice to be able to talk to my competitors casually before the race.

The race itself didn't go exactly as I'd hoped, but it wasn't bad either.  I came through my first 800m exactly where I wanted to be, in first with a time of 2:25.  The last 400m were a little catastrophic, unfortunately.  I got passed by one girl with 450 to go, and my legs just weren't feeling it anymore.  Another girl passed me with about 100 to go, and I finished with a final time of 4:59 for the full mile and 4:57 for the 1600.  These times would have (and did, since they're the same that I ran here previously) delighted me in the past, but since I was shooting for sub 4:50, I was pretty disappointed.  I spoke with Jim after, and he said we could work on improving my last lap with more short speed intervals between longer endurance ones.  

Jim and me

Considering that was only the second time I've raced this outdoor season, I'm not too worried about my upcoming races.  My next meet will be the Davis Invitational tomorrow, where I'll be tripling up in the 1600, the medley 800, and the 3200.  Since they're all within about 90 minutes of each other, I'll probably aim to run hard in the 1600 and 800, then just do what I can with whatever I have left for the 3200 and qualify it for state.  #prayforlys2k15

Pineview Invitational

Last weekend, as many Utah runners will know, Pineview Invitational was held in St. George.  I hadn't been planning on racing again until Mt. Sac, but my coach texted me and asked how I would feel about running an 800 there, and I had been planning on going to St. George anyway, so I figured running one race wouldn't be too bad.

I drove down with Jacob on Thursday afternoon, and we got to go on several runs together while we were there.  We spent the weekend at his grandmother's house, and it was tons of fun.  It was a little strange going down there and not focusing completely on my race, but it was also very enjoyable.  

We both raced the 800 on Saturday afternoon.  I had some trepidation when I got to the track and it was approximately 500 degrees, and I think that my competitors were somewhat disgusted by how much I was sweating, but the race itself wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.  I accidentally went out in a 32 for my first 200, and ended up with a final time of 2:20, so it's obvious I need to work more on negative splitting and not running my 800s like they're 400s.  

After the race, Jacob and I went to the Desert Hills track and did a workout.  It was 5x600m in 1:50-1:55, and I briefly thought I was going to die.  For some reason, schools in St. George haven't realized that black tracks are not the wisest choice for an area that averages a temperature of about 80 degrees.  It felt good to accomplish, though, and I'm glad that I did it.