Off To College I Go!

This Sunday night, April 17^th, I went up to High Point University to get in a fast 5K on the track.  When we arrived to the campus that afternoon I was taken away by how beautiful the campus was.  As we made our way to the track, I stared out the window the whole time looking at the university campus. 

When we parked at the track and got out I was bursting with excitement about how perfect the day was. When we went into the stands I was amazed by the track it looked awesome and I couldn’t wait to run on it.  My dad and I then went to check in at the tent.  I found out that I was assigned lane 1.  Everything was going perfect.  As we headed back to the stands we ran into Caitlyn, Jordan, and Meagan, I was really happy since I did not know that they would be there.  After talking with them for a little while we saw Jenna and were able to say “Hi”, since she was busy running around doing a great job of running the meet.

We watched some of the races and cheered for the runners.  Then I saw my grandma and gave her a hug.  I was excited to see her and on top of that, it was her birthday.  After talking with her for a while, I went and started my warm up for the race.

I went to final check in and picked up my lane number.  I went onto the track, switched my shoes, and put the number on, as my excitement was building.  I went onto the infield and did my strides and drills as nerves mixed into my excitement.  Then we got lined up, the announcer called us to the line and the gun fired.  We went off and Meagan took the lead getting me off on pace.  The first mile went very smoothly with Megan pacing me, we hit 5:20, right on plan.  I am very grateful to her for driving to High Point to pace me for the first mile.  But soon after I started getting tired as I got deeper into the race.  Laps 8, 9, & 10 were really hard as I struggled not to slow down.  I hit 2 miles in 10:51.  With 600 meters to go I pushed to speed up.  I was 16:28 at 3 miles and then the last 200 meters was really tough, but as I rounded the turn into the final straight away I saw my little sister Rose trying to get on the track, this made me smile and I sprinted with all I had left.  I crossed the line at 17:06, a new PR for me and I got the win.  It was not as fast as I had hoped, but when you give all you got and get a new PR and win, you cannot complain. 

I was given a bouquet of flowers for winning.  I gave them to my grandma, because I got the PR on her birthday.  I was so excited that I got a PR, that I texted a friend as soon as I got to the car.  The meet was amazing and I had a wonderful time.  What an awesome start to Spring Break!

A New PR For Me!

Last Saturday, March 26^th, I ran a 5K on the track at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC.  The Charlotte Running Club (CRC) was trying to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest 100 by 5K relay.  I was lucky enough to run a leg of the relay, because who would not want to break a world record.  When I arrived it was raining and cold, I wasn’t happy about this.  The past 3 weekends had been beautiful, what happened, why did it have to rain this weekend, why not next weekend? As I stepped out of the car I could see the tents set up for timing and hanging out in.  After I said hi to my dad, who had come out earlier to support all of his runners, I went to the press box to keep warm and dry.  I got to chat with Caitlin, Aaron, and John and watch a few of the runners complete their legs of the relay.  Then my dad came up to let me know it was time to warm up.  As I did my warm up, I just kept getting more and more excited.  As I did my drills and got ready to go to the starting line felt pumped.  I was not nervous at all!

Once I grabbed the baton, I took off.  The adrenaline I felt over took me the first lap and ran too fast (74 – Yikes!).  But who wouldn’t be super excited?  After the first lap was able to get back on pace, I enjoyed having people cheering for me every 200 meters as well as Megan, Jordan, and Catlin cheering from the infield.  It really helped me keep going when I would get tired.   About halfway through I started to feel that first lap and started feeling tired.  Mike Kahn was able to help me keep pushing through the pain when he ran across the field with a boom box blasting; the sudden noise scared me and I jumped out of my skin which gave me a jolt to keep going.  As the laps continued to click off, I could feel myself slowing down slightly, so I intentionally pushed harder as the rain kept coming down.  With 600 to go I gave another big push, kicking up water as I when making my butt and back wetter than it already was.  With one lap left I heard the bell and everyone cheering, I sprinted hard to the finish and handed off the baton.  I was so glad I did not drop the baton.  When my dad told me I had gotten a PR, I was ecstatic.  I thought if I could run 17:08 (17:09.1 officially) on an asphalt track by myself and in the pouring rain, just think what I could run on a good day with competition.  They race got me wanting to run a race on the track to see if maybe I could break 17:00 for a 5K in my next race.