2012 Track Season Recap

Wow, it's been a while since I posted on this blog. My last race recap was back in June, after I attempted my first 5000m race on the track. Since then I've been busy working, running and trying to enjoy a rather warm summer in London.  Since I fell so far behind in my race recaps I figure I'll just dump it all on you in one massive post.

Sunday June 10 – RCLDS #3

At this event I ran my first 1500m race of the season. I had already kicked off my season with a 2:02.51 clocking in an 800m race in May, so I knew I had decent wheels, it was a matter of keeping it all together in the last 500m of this race. I went in with a seed time of 4:10 I believe, and what happened after felt very surreal.

After going through 800m in 2:15 (SLOW!), I managed to decimate the final 700m and dropped a 62 second last lap to finish with a 4:07.39! That's just a hair over half a second slower than my lifetime PB I set way back in 2001, when I raced my last track season prior to casting it all aside for years.

Video: http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/media/2012-London-Distance-Series-meet-3.php?event=2
Results: http://www.londonrunner.ca/page.php?content=2012RCLDS3RESULTS

Friday June 22 – RCLDS #4: New Balance 1,500m Night

Fast forward nearly two weeks and my favorite race of the year is back. I had such a great time at this race last year ( Read my race recap here ). At this point I don't remember what the heat was like. I do remember it rained, only for my race, but I was moving so zen like that I didn't feel a thing.  I knew based on my previous result that I'd be looking to PB in this race, and I was seeded at 4:07 so IT WAS ON!

I again went through 800m a touch slow, but held on tightly throughout the 3rd lap to position myself perfectly to hunt down the field in the final 300m. I didn't eat up very many competitors, but I managed to post a new PB of 4:06.07. Just a hair above 4:05, and that kind of stung a bit since I had aimed to clock a 4:05 that night.

Video: http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/media/2012-London-Distance-Series-meet-4.php?event=10

Results: http://www.londonrunner.ca/page.php?content=2012RCLDS4RESULTS

Friday July 6 – RCLDS #5: Forest City 5k

This was my 2nd 800m race of the year, and after my stellar start to the season in May, I was expecting big things from this race. I was planning on going sub 2:00 in the race, and when I saw my seeded time at 1:58 I realized just how much I had to want this in order to dip below that magic mark.

The race was rather uneventful, and when I crossed the finish line, thinking I had finished 3rd in my heat, I was ecstatic to hear over the loud speaker: "What a stellar finish, and with the top 3 finishers under 2:00!". I nearly lost it, had I actually run under 2:00? Turns out I hadn't. I was 4th and finished with a 2:00.84 clocking.

Sub 2:00 would have to wait a while longer. I then laced up again an hour later and helped pace Leslie to a 9:45 split in her 5000m, and we went through just about perfectly...about 9:43-9:44.

Video: http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/media/2012-London-Distance-Series-meet-5.php?event=8

Results: http://www.londonrunner.ca/page.php?content=2012RCLDS5RESULTS

Saturday-Sunday July 14-15 - Athletics Ontario Championships (Ottawa)

I travelled to Ottawa for my first Athletics Ontario Championships EVER with some clubmates. The trip was great, though I found I had too much free time to get stuck in my own head. I had been dealing with a recent flare up with my knee and was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it to the start line, so that kept my mind busy as I whittled away the hours on Saturday.

First up was my favorite event, the 1500m. It was slated to run at 6:30PM in what felt like 1 million degrees and pure sun. I toed the line in the slow heat and was never in contention. I finished second last overall with a 4:14, well off my seasonal best of 4:06. It was time to understand what went wrong (just happy to toe the line, I forgot to race) and move on from it to nail my 800m race the next day.

After a quick dip in the Ottawa river we headed back home at 9PM, had supper at 11PM and I was in bed by 12:30. Back up early the next day, I headed to track focused on nailing that sub 2:00 barrier. I had to redeem myself and I only had one shot to do it, and less than 2 minutes to do it in.

Well, I went for it folks and it paid off. I came down the last 100m feeling pain I don't think I can ever recall feeling before. In the last few metres my knees locked and I slapped the track straight-legged, nearly sending me over board. I waited quite a while for my official result, and for the longest time all I knew was that the guy directly ahead of me was clocked at 1:59.76....it all came down to how close I was to him.

In the end the result was very satisfying. I had dipped below 2:00! I clocked a 1:59.94, just barely getting it, but getting it nonetheless. It was the perfect cap to a great season of track racing.


Video: http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=7823&do=videos&video_id=73990
Results: http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=7823&do=videos&video_id=73990