Here a race, there a race, everywhere a race, race!

I ran a race tonight! Our club runs a series of track races on Wednesdays through the summer at a local high school - they call it the Summer Decathlon. Tonight we ran the 800M.
I haven't raced that distance in...well, maybe I've never raced that distance before. So it was tough for me to decide what time goal I should have. I figure I can probably run about a 6 minute mile, so for 1/2 a mile I guessed maybe a 5:30 pace, or 2:45 for the 800M. That sounds slow from what I remember of high school track, so maybe I could go a little faster...

The weather was absolutely wonderful, and our whole family came out for the evening. After a group warmup of about 1 mile, the 800 heats were ready to begin. We had a large turnout, so there ended up being four heats total, slowest first. My two oldest kids, Raeann and Lincoln, ran in the first heat. Neither of them runs much (I"m hoping that changes a bit this summer, thanks largely to the Summer Decathlon!) so I didn't expect them to be too fast. I was thinking Lincoln might break 6 minutes, and Raeann, who knows? She really prefers to walk. It's hard to get her to run steadily for any distance, she always defaults to a walk.

Well soon they were off and they grabbed a strangle hold on the last two places early. But that's ok, there was only one other kid running, and all the others were grownups who ran regularly. Frankly, I was just hoping that they wouldn't get lapped! For the first lap they both ran steadily, much to my surprise! Lincoln paced himself very well and stayed a good 10 yards or so ahead of Raeann. What thrilled me was that Raeann ran the entire first lap without stopping! Meanwhile, I'm running like a nut inside the track from was side to the other to cheer them both on.

Lincoln kept his steady pace all the way around to the final straightaway and then picked it up a bit for a final kick! He finished in 5:01 which I thought was great. Raeann took a couple of short walk breaks on her 2nd lap, but also finished well and came in at 5:36. I think they both were proud of their accomplishments and hopefully will want to do this again!

Two heats later it was my turn. There were a TON of runners in it, maybe a 14 or so, probably because most of us were too chicken to run in the fast heat with the burners! I picked a spot 2/3 of the way out on the arc and in the second row. I was far enough out to have a little daylight at the start and accelerated comfortably into the first turn in roughly 6th or 7th spot, but then had to navigate a bit until coming out of the turn I was hitting my stride again and moved up to around 4th. After 100M, I was mildly surprised to have gotten there that easily, and tried to open up for an easy stride. By about 300M the speed was no longer coming so easily! I started losing a place or two here and there, and with 200M to go I was running right in the middle of the pack. I was running alongside my friend Mark, who I thought I could beat in a 5K, and who I thought I could outkick, but gosh, he was running a strong race! Well, I let everything loose and kicked. During the final 100M I moved up about 5 places, and finished in 2:42 and something like 4th place in my heat. I'm satisfied with that result, and particularly happy about getting that kick in. That was fun!

Next were the speedsters! The final heat had maybe 8 runners, and the leaders were flying! Chad went out fast and came through the first lap with a slight lead over Victor. That's when Victor made his move and he overtook Chad in an allout sprint along the back straightaway. Both of them were just smokin'! Coming out the final turn Chad dug down for everything he had, and with a slightly longer stride and slightly stronger kick was able to re-capture the lead and cross the finish line first in 2:11. It's been quite a while since I've been to a track meet, and I'll tell you what. It was exciting and inspiring!

Jay, if your injuries are doing better you should come out sometime. Next Wednesday night they're doing the 3200M.

And as far my subject title, next Tuesday the center where I work is holding a 5K race at lunchtime! Then the next day is the 3200M. Then a week later the 600M, followed by the Baltimore 10 Miler that weekend. This is getting good!!!