So I didn't realize this until about the middle of my warmup, but yesterday was my first collegiate track meet! It definitely felt a lot more relaxed than most of my high school meets. So far I've noticed that collegiate meets are typically smaller than the average high school meet (at least until you start getting into conference, region, and nationals), but the competition is quite a bit tougher. Yesterday, Montana State faced off against U of Montana, Utah State, and Idaho State. It was nice to finally get a race in. I haven't raced officially since regionals, and since they didn't go as well as I wanted, I felt like I was in a bit of a slump.
Going into this race, I was pretty confident. The team had a great tempo workout on Wednesday, so I think we were all ready for an even better race Friday. I raced the 3k, which is typically very familiar territory, but since I was focused on the mile my senior track season and only raced the 3200 at Simplot and state, I struggled a little remembering how to pace it. One of the girls who would definitely have been a tough competitor and helped push the pace, Kashley Carter of Utah State, had to withdraw before the race due to some problems with her achilles. Since my coach and I had originally planned for me to pace off of her, we had to change strategy last minute. I ended up leading from the gun and aimed for 40-41 seconds per lap. The pace felt reasonably easy up until the last 800m, but considering I haven't raced the 3k in quite awhile, I was happy to finish in 10:11.
Our next stop will be a duel meet against Wyoming this Saturday, where I will be racing the mile. It'll be interesting to see what I can run right now. I am hoping to qualify for conference in both the mile and the 3k this year, so here's hoping that the girls will drop a fast mile time and drag me along with them.
