9:24am
It’s 9:42am. I have been on a bus for 2 hours and am currently headed down to my first high school track meet. With a blanket over my legs and music in my ears, I am doing what ever I can do keep myself relaxed. I am terrified. This meet has 35 of Colorado’s fastest 4A and 5A teams; and I come from a tiny 2A school.
I have no idea what to expect. Well, that’s a lie. I expect to get demolished and I am going to be totally okay with that. I will be the only girl from my school running the 800m today, an event that I have never competed in and a distance that I have never run full out. During practice last week we ran 4x800m repeats with 2 minutes rests. I ran 3:19, 3:22, and some similar times afterwards. Trying to be realistic my goal for today is below a 3:10, but as everyone around me tells me I could go sub 3 minutes, I can’t help but think how amazing that would be. On the contrary, the other half of the group tells me that under 3:15 is hard enough… so we will see how this goes.
And I get it, I’m not that great of a runner, but that doesn’t matter. I joined track to try something new, to step out of my comfort zone, to help my train for triathlons this summer, and to spend time with my friends. Ironically enough, I am the only senior girl running track so I really just get to be with my sister and guy friends.
Alrighty, let’s hope this goes well… and let’s not throw up.
Noon
It is currently 12pm and the meet has officially started. Surprisingly enough, the setting is much less overwhelming than I had expected it to be. However, everyone around me seems to be freaking out. I guess the good thing about my first meet being one of the biggest ones is that I will be “desensitized” (sorry horse lingo and idk what else to say) to a such a large environment.
I have eaten a muffin and apple and am trying to feed my self little bits of carbs when I can without eating a lot of processed sugars… I’ve had bad past experiences with eating junk foods before competitions.
I do not run until 4:10, so I currently just sit in anticipation.
4:10pm
Well the meet obviously is running late or else I would not be able to write this post at this time. I am supposed to be running right now but instead the meet is about 50 minutes behind schedule… great.
My sister just finished the mile and she crushed it! The headwind today is brutal and tailwind helps a lot less than you might think. Although it is supposed to be 50*F outside, the brutal wind chill is putting it down to about 40*F. I am definitely not excited to run in a tank top and spandex.
7:00pm
Holy balls. To say today was amazing is an understatement. Your girl pulled out a 3:05 800m, finished 5th in her heat of 19 and 34th out of 54 overall! I know, I know I did not win. Granted, I was not even in the top 50%, but I don’t care! I came to prove to myself what I am capable of and hopefully not get last. I had such a great time supporting my sister and friends, hanging out with the team, and experiencing my first high school meet. Like I said before, I joined track for the experience and I am so glad that I did.
~M(r)adison aka sub-par 800m runner
radison 