That quote was said yesterday at the meet. By a guy, no less.
Okay. Back to the meet. I woke up at 6am Saturday with my stomach feeling a little… off. I made myself some Van’s protein packed frozen waffles and headed over to school for breakfast with the team. I don’t know how many of you have been on teams where all of your meals are provided, but we get bagels from Panera and nobody eats them. It’s better in track since the sprinters and throwers aren’t obsessive about what they’re eating, but the entire distance team almost always brings their own oatmeal even though there’s an inordinate amount of food. I’ve always felt kind of awkward eating the bagels provided that I enjoy so I tried oatmeal for awhile but it was making me feel really sick on the bus and quite honestly, why should I eat it if I don’t like it?
So I packed myself waffles instead because they have more protein than the bagels and since I eat them everyday, I figured it would be smarter than trying yet another food before a race. It didn’t help. I haven’t had trouble with motion sickness since I was about 7 years old. All of a sudden this year the bus rides make me SO SICK. I get so nauseous I literally just want to curl up in a ball and cry every single time.
Technically we aren’t allowed to sleep on the way to meets but that’s the only thing that helps calm my stomach so I rested for about 45 minutes and felt much better. Then our coach came around to the distance girls and gave us our splits.
it’s kind of blurry but I was supposed to run (ideally) an 11:30 3K averaging 46 pace for the 200m and 6:09 miles.
We got there at 9:15 and the race started at 10:30. Christine was the only other person running so we headed off to warm up almost right away. We did 15 minutes, stretched, and then another few minutes with the team. Then the race began, just like that.
I was doing really well for the first 8 or so laps. I went out at a 44 pace for the first two laps and then settled into a 46-47 pace the rest of the way. I felt really into it and confident. I was actually utilizing the passing techniques we had done in practice last week. I came through the mile at a 6:12 pace I think. Then I fell off pace for a lap (around 49) and everything fell apart.
I swear this isn’t blurry because I was running too fast.
I started hearing splits I wasn’t happy with and I started getting frustrated with myself again. I really didn’t care about hitting the 11:30 goal pace but I was hoping I’d at least finish around my PR, an 11:57. I was trying to hang on at the end but mentally I just wasn’t there anymore and I crossed the line at 12:19. I gave up.
Christine and I weren’t thrilled with our times so we went out for a 45 minute cool down/vent session. I’m pretty sure people forgot about us. We did another brief 6 minute cool down ( it was more of a shuffle and probably only about 1/2 a mile) with the other girls on our team later.
Then I did some a lot of this:
By the end of the day, we were exhausted and left the meet at 6pm. We were all pretty delusional so some quotes were said that probably make no sense to most of you.
“She’s gonna level you next” and “I’m having a dilemma- I don’t know what to get at Bob Evans” (by me, completely serious). If you’ve never heard of Bob Evan’s, you’re living a much better life than me. We go to this chain after every single meet and it’s not bad, exactly, but it’s not quality food by any means. They have everything under the sun which is why I was at such a loss. I settled on a kids mac and cheese, salad, and stolen garlic bread from another girl’s meal.
I still hadn’t gotten feedback from my coach until the busride home and I wasn’t sure what he thought. I was kind of nervous to find out, actually but when I did finally get to talk to him, he was in good spirits. He can tell that I get mentally frustrated when my pace falls off and I need to figure out how to let go. Next week I’m running the 800 along with the rest of the team and I’m not looking forward to that.
Then I did something truly marvelous. I asked if I could run the 1600. Who in their right mind wants to do that race? Well, apparently I did. Because I’m hungry for redemption after my first attempt at it. If I can split a 6:12 mile in a 3K at a track with the worst air quality I’ve ever experienced (hellooooo track hack) then I can certainly run sub 6. I know I can and I’m actually EXCITED for it.
I know. I’m crazy. It was a revelation I needed though. I need to find the fun in racing again. This is a good start.
How were your weekends?!
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