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