Golden South

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to fly out to Orlando, Florida and compete in the Golden South Classic.  It was an automatic qualifier for the Dream Mile, so I thought it was worth a shot.  

I flew out with my mom on Friday.  We didn't get in until that evening, so we didn't have a chance to see much of the city.  Saturday, we spent most of the day either at the meet picking up packets and getting ready to run, or in our hotel relaxing.  She wanted to go to Disney World, but I figured since I was there to race, it would probably be best not to spend the day on my feet in the sun.  I wanted to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter myself, and it took all of my resolve to turn it down.

Just so you know, if you've never been to Florida, it is really toasty.  And humid.  Being from Utah, I'm pretty accustomed to fluctuating temperatures.  But the humidity was something I was not used to at all, and I was a hot mess pretty much the whole weekend.  

 The race itself was quite an experience.  It's always interesting when you get that many girls who have run under five in the same race.  The setup of the meet itself was a little unusual.  For one thing, they didn't do any calls at all.  They just expected you to be paying attention to what event they were on, and turn up when it was your turn to race.  They also didn't have any of the girls who had registered show up for the 3200m so they cancelled it.  I don't think I've ever been to a meet where no one showed up for an event.  I was in the second heat of the mile, and the girls in my heat had all run under 5:10.  Through the first lap, it was just a huge pack.  I'm pretty sure I was in dead last for most of it.  Coming through the second, the pack started to break up.  We came through the 800 mark in 2:30, which was surprisingly slow for the group I was with.  Things started to heat up in the final two laps.  The lead pack was down to about six girls, and with 400m to go, the lead two took off.  It took me too long to get out of the pack, so by the time I started my own kick, the leaders were about fifteen meters ahead.  I finished in fourth with a full mile time of 4:54, and a 1600 around 4:51-52, which was a pretty decent PR for me.  It was a really fun experience, and I'm glad that it was the race that closed out my high school career.

Now I start my transition into college running.  I'll probably take two weeks off of running to just cross train right now like I do at the end of every season to avoid overtraining or burnout, but after that I'm ready to dive into training for college.  I'm excited to start this new chapter of my running career, and to see where it can take me.

State 2k15

My eighth and final state track meet was not quite what I expected it to be.  Since my freshman year, I've kind of seen the senior state meet as the grand finale of high school running.  I viewed it as being the last chance I would have to go out with a bang, and my last chance to really make sure I had a memorable career.  However, since I had another meet in Florida the next week, and since I spent most of my senior season at bigger out-of-state meets, it just didn't seem like as big of a deal as I always imagined it would.
The day of state, it was about 40 degrees and rainy.  My first race, the 1600, and the one that I really expected to win, didn't go as well as I wanted it to at all.  Typically, I let someone else lead for the first 1000m, then start my kick at 600m and try to catch them.  It had worked pretty well up to that race, but for some reason, when I tried to kick this time, my legs refused to cooperate.  They weren't tired at all, but they felt totally numb and would not work with me.  I think because of the cold, my muscles just weren't feeling it.  It was pretty disappointing, because I took second when I was predicted to win, and because I ran over five minutes in the 1600 for the first and only time this season, but in the bigger picture, I don't think it really matters.
I was supposed to run the 800m leg of the medley relay the first day of state as well, but my team had a collision in the handoff between the two 200m girls, so we were disqualified.  That was really hard to watch because we were predicted to win that race as well, and our team really needed it in order to place in the top two.
On Saturday, the day started with the 3200m.  It was strange to race that again, because in past years, it has typically been my focus, and this year, since I was focused on the mile, I found myself racing the 3200m all-out for the first time at the state meet.  It didn't go badly at all, especially considering it was the first time I raced it all year.  I finished in second again with a time of 10:49, which is the high-altitude school record for Park City now.
My final race was the 800m.  That has never been my favorite, and to be honest, I'm just glad that I will probably never have to race it again.  My teammates always tease me because the last 800 of my 1600 is often faster than my open 800m times.  It's a phenomenon I will never really understand, but I can live with it.
Some of the best parts of state had nothing to do with my own competition.  It's always wonderful to see friends you've made at other meets, and watch people you love compete.  My friend Courtney, who swore up and down that she would never run a 3200m, ended up taking second with an incredible time.  Jacob helped take his team to third in the Medley, and ran a great 800m despite the fact that he had been sick and unable to even train all week.  Some of my teammates got huge PRs, and it was all around a great weekend.  We had a fairly off weekend for competition, and ended up coming in third as a team, but spending time with my friends and team all together for one of the last times before I head off to college was wonderful.

The End of an Era

This weekend marks the last state meet I will ever run.  It will be one of my last races in high school, and it is a very bittersweet moment for me.  I'm ordering graduation announcements right now.  I bought a bike for college.  I have my own laundry bag now.  A few months ago, going to college seemed to be quite a long way off.  Now it's strangely close, and it's the most unusual feeling.  

When I first entered high school running, I didn't see it as much more than a hobby.  I picked it up because my siblings had done it before me.  But as I spent more time with the team and coaches, I learned to love this crazy sport.  It got to the point where my weekends were filled up with racing and team dinners, and my days were spent going on runs after school.  And I had no problem with that at all.  Until my junior year, I didn't even realize how much running could do for me.  But Jim helped me to get in touch with the coaches at Montana State, and after emailing back and forth for a year, going on college visits, and receiving a few home visits, I signed to run on a NCAA Division I level for MSU.

I'm a little sad to see the end of my high school career, but I'm excited to see what the future holds, and I know that this is far from the end of my running career.  I feel quite confident that college running will hold just as much joy for me, if not more, than high school running has.  I am thrilled to be a part of a team of dedicated runners and wonderful people next year.

So, this Friday and Saturday, I will put on my Park City uniform for the last time, and try my best to represent my school well.  Running for Park City has had its ups and downs, but I have loved my time here, and will always love the people that I met here.  

BYU Invitational

It is so good to be back in Utah to race.  The atmosphere before these meets is so much more relaxed after having run the first half of my season at out-of-state meets, and it's been fun to spend time with my teammates and friends before I run.  Last weekend, I competed at the BYU invitational, and it was a blast.  I've been going to this particular meet every year since I was a freshman, but sophomore and junior year, I was overtrained by this point in the season, so it wasn't all that enjoyable.  This year, I felt pretty fresh and excited going in.  It was about 90 degrees on Saturday, and I did spend the majority of the day outside, so I felt a little sluggish going into the race itself.  It was also Jacob's birthday, so I was a little more focused on going to dinner with him afterwards than I was on the 1600.
I was in the Golden Hour, which is just the fastest heat of every event lumped into the last few hours of the meet.  Things were a little behind schedule, though, so I ended up finished my warmup an hour before I even needed to run.  There was also a slight mishap at the bullpen, as I was nearly not allowed to enter since the boys measuring spikes thought mine were too long.  I nearly had a panic attack because my race was starting in five minutes, and I briefly considered fighting them.  But Jacob had spikes that were short enough, and he and his teammates helped me switch them out in time to frantically dash onto the track.
The race itself wasn't nearly as stressful as it typically is.  I just carried out the strategy I worked out with my coach earlier, and ended up passing the leader with 700m to go.  It was a fun race, and it was the first one I've ever won at that invitational, which was definitely very exciting.
I won't compete again until state in two weeks, so I'll have plenty of time to recover and get some quality workouts in.  And I'll be crossing my fingers that it will rain at state until it comes because racing in the rain is scientifically proven to be 550x more fun.

Davis Invitational

I had my first race back in Utah last weekend at the Davis Invitational, and it was stupendous.  Jacob and I drove down together, so I got to watch him race as well.  He is incredibly fun to watch when he races.  And pretty stressful.  He ran the 800, and came through the first 400 close to last.  Then he started his kick and finished in third place.  He probably passed at least ten people in the last 300 meters, and he was just behind the leaders when he came through the finish.  It was awesome.
My race wasn't until several hours after his, so I got to spend some time with my team singing Fergalicious and hydrating too well.  It was much more relaxed than the first two races I went to this season.  I raced the 1600 first, and I was honestly not feeling all that well through the first 800m.  (Though this may have been because the pace was much faster than I thought it was).  However, with about 600 to go, I thought "Well, I haven't died yet, so I guess I might as well kick.  I ended up passing the leader with 250 to go and won with a 4:56.  It was really ironic because I went down to race at sea level twice in an attempt to get a new PR and ended up getting it here in Utah.  But it was definitely wonderful to have a good race.

I raced the 800m in the medley about an hour after that.  The other girls on my team raced really well, and we ended up taking first in that as well.  Since my 3200 was only about 15 minutes after the medley, my coach told me just to tempo it and run an 11:30 to state qualify instead of going all out and potentially exhausting myself for BYU this weekend.  It was a little frustrating to have to sit towards the back of the pack and know that I could run faster, but I also think they were right not to have me race it all-out after all of the other races I did that day.

I'll be racing again tomorrow in the Golden Hour 1600m at the BYU invitational.  I'm hoping it will go well, but I'm not looking for any specific time anymore.  I'm just aiming to enjoy the last few races of my high school career.