The team left @ 8:00am on the buses to the State meet on Thursday, May 29.
Warm-up for the 4x200 just before running the pre-lim at 3:30pm.
This is only the 3rd time they had ran the 4x200. They did not make finals, which is the top 8 of 16 teams and finished 15th overall.
No one on the team expected to make finals and they were very, very happy just to be able to go to the State Championships for the experience of competing in the ‘big race’.
The next day, Friday the 30th at 4:50pm was K’s 400m pre-lim.
She got up at 7:30am, lounged around the hotel until 11:30am, when the coaches took her and another team mate to the meet.
She ‘napped’ until around 3:00pm.
K said she did about a 30 to 40 minute warm-up before she ran.
She is in Lane #6, wearing red top/blue shorts. Finish time 59.37
//youtu.be/ZHm0jpnB840
K said that the first 200 meters felt fine, as she was just ‘pacing’. She said when she went to speed-up, as she had planned, she was unable to go faster and in fact, found herself unable to keep the same pace and felt weaker and weaker. She said it was very frustrating, upsetting and she did not understand what was happening.
She said after the race and later, that her legs felt ‘soft’ and ‘mushy’, that she felt she had lost fitness.
She was so sure of herself before the race and that she was going to make finals.
All of her hard work, not just during the Outdoor season, but the Indoor season, working since last September for this race.
She ended up with the same time for 12th/13th (tie) out of 16, with the top 8 in the final.
The District meet used to qualify for the State Championships was on May 22 and 24, and as stated above, K ran great, placing 2nd in the 400m with a time of 57.70 and qualifying for the State Championships held on May 29-31.
The previous 5 times she had ran the 400m, each was a consistent PR, except once, when a very wrongful ‘incident’ happened to her as she tried getting ready to run her 400m, it upset her so much that she could not focus and did not run well.
The coach started her ‘taper’ after the 16th.
From the 16th to the 22nd/24th the sprinters practices consisted of warm-up, then drills then relay hand-offs. No running at all.
From the 24th to the 400m pre-lims, on the 29th, practice was the same for sprinters, warm-up, drills then relay hand-offs, except for Monday, May 26, the sprinters ran 300/200/100 intervals @ 80% effort. This was the only day of running that the coaches had the sprinters do in practice since previous to May 16.
Before May 16, normal practice during the day/week was warm-up, and drills, with block-starts once every-other-week, 300/200/100 intervals @ 80% once a week, and once or twice a week practicing relay handoffs.
As much as I could, I supplemented K once a week with a speed workout, 3 days a week weights, and non-lifting days were strength/mobility exercises.
I have learned working with K, especially the past 2 years, that she needs lifting, to run regularly and to be challenged or she loses strength/speed.
In a short time if she misses a running workout or lifting workout, she will complain that she can ‘feel’ she missed it.
About 4 weeks before the State meet I lowered K’s lifts from 5x5 to 3x3…then 2 weeks before the State meet no lower-body lifting, 4 days before the State meet last day of just upper body lifts, still 3x3.
I am especially proud of K, as shortly after the race, she was already putting the disappointment behind her and excited to talk/plan training for summer track and talking about what we were going to do for next seasons training.
I know it was hugely disappointing and hurtful for her, as she was so sure to do well.
K is very excited, as she has been asked by the Philippine coach, and has an opportunity to run for the Philippines with 2 other American/Filipina sprinters and one Canadian/Filipina sprinter on a 4x400m team at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, OR this July… if we can get past a couple hurdles.