Simplot Games

This weekend was the 37th annual Simplot Games.  Since I haven't raced since Nike Nationals back in December, my coach thought it would be a good idea to get one indoor race in before the outdoor season started as a way to get used to racing again.  We also thought it would be best not to do the entire indoor racing circuit, as racing from January to the end of May has often left me overtrained and worn out in the past.  Simplot is the last big indoor meet I could do without a qualifying time from previous indoor meets, and it is about a month from my first outdoor meet, so it seemed like the perfect way to get back into racing before Chandler Rotary.

I haven't done too much speed work yet, so I registered for the 3200m.  Prelims were on Thursday night, so I drove down with my family and J-cub that morning.  I did plenty of knitting on the drive down, along with a little napping and watching of movies.  My race was around 6 and I had too much time on my hands to stress about the fact that I hadn't raced in several months and wonder if I would qualify for finals or not.  When we got into the bull pen, I chattered obnoxiously at all of the girls in there and said I needed to pee probably ten times.  The race itself wasn't bad at all.  I was just aiming to get into finals, so I didn't have to push myself too hard.  It was 16 laps, as the track was only 200 meters, and that was a bit mentally taxing.  The air at indoor tracks is typically dry, and this was no exception.  Other than that, it was nice to race again.  The pace was faster than I had gone for my tempo runs in practice, but it felt much better.  It's always great to run with other people.
I didn't have to race at all on Friday, so my teammates, family, J-cub and I went to the awkward little mall in Pocatello and to a movie.  Most of them went to McFarland, which made me intensely jealous, as I went to Jupiter Ascending with J-cub and my sister instead-she is a dancer, and I didn't think she could take any more running references for the weekend.
Finals were today, one of the last events of the meet.  I definitely went out too fast for the first mile, but I was still very pleased with how the race went overall, considering the fact that it was my first meet in several months and I had to run a decent speed 3200 two days before to get into finals.  I ended up taking fourth and medaling, which was totally amazing.  I've never medaled at Simplot before, and it was a great feeling.