Notes
Dartmouth Relays. Ran the 800. Race went off around 2:20, but we woke up at the hotel around 7 and got to the field house around 8. A long day. Did a pretty good job of eating and drinking enough, but early enough that it wouldn't cause a negative effect.
Goal for the race was to compete within my heat and ideally run 2:08, my seed time (previous PR of 2:11 outdoors). I was seeded 1st in the 4th heat. Z said that I should try and get out around 62-63 for the quarter, in second place.
Terrible start. I slipped on the line, and the gun went off as I was trying to regain my footing. The kid in the second line gave me a little shove, and lo! I began the race in last place, buried in lane 1. Knowing that I needed to get to the front as soon as possible, I immediately passed everyone in front of me, putting myself into third place- 5-10 meters off of 2nd. The kid in 1st was pulling away the entire race. I essentially maintained my position through the next two laps. I had adopted the mindset that I was just going to finish in third. However, with 150 to go I decided to pick off the guy in front of me, and began to surge. I successfully outkicked him, placing 2nd in a time of 2:11.8.
I wasn't thrilled with my time- I was hoping to PR. However, as Jesse said, it was a good race. I learned that I am capable of outkicking someone at the end of a race, and I can add that to my "arsenal" of racing abilities. I can now go into the last lap of a race having faith in myself that I can go after someone without blowing up. Furthermore, I learned the importance of getting out to a clean start. As Z and Rooney pointed out, if I hadn't had to waste energy passing so many kids at the race's beginning, I might have run the 2:08 I wanted. Furthermore, I would have put myself behind the winner, who eventually ran 2:05; although I am fairly confident that I could not have beaten him, I perhaps could have hung on and run a faster time. The 1st lane is definitely not a great position to be in, but I definitely need to be able to get out quickly and strongly if I am in the 1st lane, letting others pass me after the 1st turn if I don't want to lead. That experience, and the good racing experience, are two things that I can definitely take out of this race and make it worthwhile.
I am still confident that I can qualify for states in the 1000 or mile. I just need to get in a good race to do so.