02.17.08
7 years
It’s been 7 years since I set foot on an indoor track. That’s a really long time — almost a quarter of my lifetime. And my most vivid memories of indoor track were the chest pain and track hack that onset immediately after a mid-distance race and didn’t subside for a day or two. That, and losing the 1000 by just a smidgen at the line at a championship meet after leading significantly the whole way (I probably should have added my story to Jason’s earlier post…). So, it was a bit nerve-wracking to line up, seeded 9 seconds faster than I’ve ever run, on UNC’s indoor track yesterday at lunchtime.
Jason did a great job of talking me down (or up!) as I prepped for my warm-up and reminded me off all the work I’ve put in and the number of years I’ve been running. I left for my warm-up with his statement “Your body will know what to do” repeating in my head.
And he was right. My body DID know what to do. I was totally consistent and on pace for a 6 second PR until around lap 6, when the systemic lactic acid feeling started to emerge. But I got back on pace for laps 7 and 8 and came out with a 2 second PR. Six seconds would have been awesome. But, I can’t complain about running 2 seconds faster than I ever have in the mile, and doing that on an indoor track. And that slowdown on lap 6 was very much a lack of acclimation slowing, rather than due to an empty tank.
So, hopefully the week’s schedule will work out and I’ll be able to carve out the time to hit the Tin Can again and see if I can cut a few more seconds off that PR. It was great to feel the excitement of being on the track and racing again, even though the track hack was as bad as I remembered it to be.
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Tori said,
February 17, 2008 at 11:45 am
Yay! Congrats! Diana on your PR. Even though indoor track can be a bit overwhelming…that closeness of people and the track also I think adds to the whole experience and energy. I love Jason’s comment to you and the fact that your body did know what to do! Shows all that hard training has - is paying off.
Sarah Hallenbeck said,
February 24, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Congrats for both your mile races, and also for this bad a** picture! Nice!