Sunday, February 22, 2009

And cut

Today marked the last indoor meet of the season. A bittersweet goodbye-happy to be done with the indoor track which wrecks havoc on my legs, hips, back but somewhat sad that I could get just one more race in to prove that I've got it there. In the middle of the season I was excited that I actually might have the chance to be an 800 leg of the DMR at Indoor Nationals, though as the season unfolded to now it was evident that I'd have to really prove myself. I came into the meet today hoping that it would all fall into place with the 800. The reality is, it did not. I was a bit disappointed but it made me realize that not everything comes right away. I've had a phenomenal training season which I thought would translate into perfect races. I think that my biggest mistake was that I aimed too far ahead, though I will give myself a pat on the back for not beating myself up after not hitting "that time". Sometimes for me it's all about the numbers and if I can learn to let those numbers/times not get to my head, I think that I'll be just fine. Live and learn or rather run and learn. On a bright note for today's meet I ran a leg in the 4x400 and hit my best 400 time in 62.6. Makes me optimistic that just maybe I can break 60 in outdoors as well as 70 in the intermediates. Looking forward to getting out!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

A little bit Off then On

I have never considered 13 an unlucky number or for that matter Friday the 13th an unlucky day. Actually 13 is one of my favorite numbers and as for the whole Friday thing I've never really taken that to heart. By definition luck is a chance happening and it is, but I also think that some luck is one of those things that's kind of created. When I say created I mean more along the lines of how we perceive things to be in our minds. Take for instance, Friday the 13th is supposedly an unlucky day, why is it so "unlucky"? I believe it's because we've been programmed to think it's a bad day so when it rolls around we think oh no, then look for the "unlucky" things that are happening. They become the focus rather than occurrences, and it snowballs to being a bad day. Wow, sorry to get out on a tangent and start psychoanalysing how the mind plays, just a little habit I have. I really love how the mind works. Hmmm maybe in some past life I was a psychologist or it's what I should pursue. (I might just take a look into that now that I think of it).


Okay so the preface of all that leads into the meet this weekend, Friday and Saturday were the BU Valentine Invitational. In which Friday happen to be the 13th and my little sister also sent me an email wishing me good luck at my meet and added that she didn't understand why the 13th wasn't unlucky for me, hence another reason for my tangent. Similar to the meet 2 weeks ago but in an even larger scale, which it amazes me that that's possible. Friday the ladies raced open events with the men's distance medley relay (DMR) thrown in and Sat was flip-flopped, men raced open events, ladies DMR. For my open event I decided on the 800 and I'd be running the 800 leg of the DMR. I thought that everything was in order to run really good races. I did have to work a luncheon at the restaurant but I figured that I would have enough time to relax before so I didn't fret too much. I did my normal warmup routine, thought I was in a good heat that would challenge me, and everything was on track. That was until I actually stepped on to the track, somewhere in my race I completely lost it. I'd like to say it was right after the halfway mark because that's where the numbers say I lost it but it might have come before, I just can't remember. Or it could have been the exponential factor of being on my feet for 5 hours earlier in the day. None of these really in my mind stand out as the clear concise winner. It could have been that the field went out too aggressive for me. The first girl went through the 200 at 28, I went through at 31 (which is FAST, too fast for the seeds of this heat) then they followed through the 400 at 62, I fell off at a respectable 67. Thereafter I completely fell off the deep end. My pace was almost perfect but maybe when I lost touch with the other girls it mentally killed me. I've actually had that happen in practice when my training partner pulls out so far ahead of me I think that I'm so well off pace that I tend to either slow down or stop, when actually I'm dead on where I need to be. I could rack my brain for hours to find everything, and I have, but the race is over and I can't do anything about it. It's disappointing but I need to push it out of my mind and bring it on to the next day. As Dave told me after the race it was bound to happen at some point. I was continually dropping times like flies and it if I kept dropping times every race like I had been I'd be racing a sub 2 min 800. Which would be fantastic just not logistical.
I went home with my tail between my legs to rest up before the relay the next morning. Before I went to bed I powered up the computer to do random surfing and I checked in on the blogs I follow. The most random/bizarre post came across me on the B family's blog. It was a good bizarre but one of those things that kinda make you go woah. Gina had just posted a post that had this quote:
"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wow how fitting was that for what my day had been and that I did need to get ready for the next day to race again. I do think that this should be the way we should view everyday but it was the perfect ending to read especially for this day.

I blissfully woke up Saturday morning ready to redeem myself from my failed race the night before. I wasn't taking any prisoners. I wanted to be sure that it was what it was, a fluke race. I am pleased to say that it was a fluke. I race extremely well and hit a pretty sweet time, fastest one all season, though I'm certain I could have run faster had I not had to a girl mess with my final kick. I knew I had it in me but it felt good to solidify it. Now it's off to the next week for the final indoor meet of the season.