Crazy Race, and great opportunity. We left 4 AM on Thursday to get to the airport to learn that our flight had been canceled. We ended up being at the airport for a long time, and had to keep switching flights in order to get to New York ASAP. We got there at 1:30 AM Thursday night/Friday morning, but were able to ride in a cab with Prince Mumba, an 800m olympian from Zambia (by the way, don't take the black cab, they charge twice the rate). After all that crazy stuff we were able to relax and check out the track on Friday. On Saturday, we got to the meet and were treated just like the professionals. We were in the same tents as them, and could get massages, water, or anything we needed. Tons of Pros were just everywhere, like Mary Cain, David Rudisha, and everyone else that ran in the meet.
Warmed up with Garrett, Matt, and Wes, but needed to stop for a bathroom break, so Garrett and Matt kept going. Got our warm up in and brought everything to the bull pen. I wasn't as focused as I should've been, but was so physically ready I didn't think it mattered. We were brought under the bleachers, given our stickers and all, it was just an awesome experience. We saw the girls race and then lined up.
When the gun went off it was weird because it was an electronic gun, so I didn't see smoke or anything and I thought that was weird. I tried to get out well, but I'm not that great with running in the pack, so I dropped back and got in lane two pretty quick. I ran well the first lap, felt great, not really like any race. My mind wasn't too in it, it was just weird. I slowly passed people. At the start of the second lap I tried to jump in lane one, but was pushed a little in the back because I slowed down. After Cerake came around me and pushed me in a little, but then passed me throwing a pretty hard elbow. I thought it was my fault at the time, but now looking back at it, I just should've not worried about it, so I let him pass me. At 650 I got out into lane 2 to let Garrett O'toole go around the pack, but he stopped trying after he bumped me a little, so I ran in lane 2 for nothing. I made a move here to keep up the pace. I was around 2:02 at 2 laps. Perfect. Third lap is when things started to go downhill. Garrett Corcoran passed me about 950 in, and I just let him, but I tried to stay up with him. It reminded me of Arcadia. I slowly just let people pass me. With 500m left, people would cut in front of me, so I would slow down because I'm really cautious, so another person would. I need to work on sticking with people. With a lap to go I was at 3:03-04, so perfect too. I thought I would easily finish in a sub-60 with this field, but this thought it was killed me. I stopped putting so much effort into it. I just expected it to happen. With 100m to go I started passing Cerake, but he barely held on and beat me.
After I didn't feel that great in my stomache. I may have overhydrated and ended up throwing up some water and orange juice. I tried to keep up with everyone on the cool down, but it hurt. My muscles didn't hurt much, but my stomache hurt and my mentallity was dead. We watched some pro races after, then I ran a little more. Later that night I tried to go for a jog to shakeout some soreness, but my joints and tendons hurt a lot, so I just bagged it after a third of a mile.
Analysis:I feel I ran this race great(for me) for the first 900 meters. After that I started to make a few wrong decisions, and should've started to push more. Also, I mentally prepared myself for the first 1000 meters, but told myself I could kick hard the last 600m without thinking how hard it regularly hurts. I also think I should'nt have passed on most of the turns, and instead just tucked in once I was in a good spot. Next week is Brooks, so maybe I can race smarter and do better. Plus, it's more of my event the the mile is.
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