Notes
This was the race I was looking forward to. The goal was to be at 4:30 or under. We had a plan going in where Evan was going to take the first two laps since he can hit a pace, I would take over between 400 and 800 going 68's and Arthur would take over the 800-1200 and then every man for himself after that. However, that plan went out the window after I ingested something bad. Before the meet I had my thermos and I was drinking water out of it and the thermos smelled super rancid. I think that came back to haunt me. During the warm-up, my stomach was really bothering me like I was going to throw up. I felt that way before I even started and it continued the whole race. But, I tried to not let that effect me. Anyway, to the race. The race went as planned. Evan took us through the 409 in 70 which is right where we wanted. I was not quite with them the first 400. Everyone was so together and boxed that everytime I tried to move up I kicked the guy in front of me and they were kicking me. Basically, I couldn't really move. I finally moved up on the homestretch for my part and took over as planned.
Took my first lap through 34 which was good. Second lap which was the 800 lap the name of the game was the same. The guys in front of me were slowing down, the guys behind me were right on my heels and there were guys on my outside, so I couldn't move up. Boxed again. Luckily, Arthur decided that was his time to take over so he passed 100 meters early which was smart for him because Evan went with him. However, I was stuck till I hit the home stretch again. At this point, I was sort of alone and my next 400 suffered. Evan and Arthur both put a huge gap on me and I checked out because of that and because throwing up was a strong possibility. I got back into it with two laps to go. Kept the gap where it was and just focused on moving up and trying to close. I had a pretty good kick (mainly because I went 36, 37 on my 5th, 6th laps). But, I closed in 32- I still think I can do 30 on a good day. I really wanted to beat this one guy but I had allowed him to build up to big a gap but I came close to getting him.
All in all, I can't be too disappointed. I felt like I left a lot out there because of how I was feeling and I know I'm faster than that. However, this is a PR (haven't ran a mile since high school). Also, after the race, the throw up feeling moved down to my bowels and just sat there like after I had bad burrito king. So, I really think I underestimated how my stomach was feeling and the gravity of drinking out of a rancid thermos. Well, won't make that mistake again. I'm not going to get another opportunity to race the mile indoors, but I'm going to run a quick 800 this week and then a quick 400, and then a solid month of training awaits.
The goals remain the same outdoors. I still think I could have ran between 4:30 and 4:35 yesterday (if Evan, Arthur, and I had stuck together, who knows). But that comes close to a 4:12 1500. So, just gotta keep working and I'll be able to get to 4:05 1500 by the end of the season. Eyes on the prize: stay healthy, don't be stupid, also: get sleep.