At my school Track and field championship qualifiers, I had to take one for the team…Due to the lack of capable runners in my age category, under 16(lots of them just refused to run, they couldnt care less, talent wasted…) The Team captain signed me up for the 100m, 200m AND 400m. I was hesitant at first, but since the events are “normally” stretched out over a few days I gave it a shot.
To my horror, this year they crammed everything into one day! Preliminaries and Semi-finals for all the events, that means I ran 6 races today! This was due to the tight schedule the track department was on since the field was undergoing renovations so it would close at the end of January.
First up was the 100m Prelims in the Morning, I ran that, took it REALLY easy since I realised how much races I would be doing that day, ran and made standard time so I was clear to the semi-final.
Then came the 400m prelims, took it easy aswell, but got a serious pain in the last 50m at the same area where my ab muscles tore in 2005. So I had to literally chip to the finish, ended up with a time of 63 secs.
Had to skip the 100m semis, and just focus on treating the pain area for the 200m prelims in the afternoon if I felt any better.
Finally came the 200m, I was feeling better, so I ran it…worst mistake…I was good out the start and coming around the bend, but as I shot off the bend into the straight, the harsh pain in my abs came back and I had to once again chip in the finish, ended up with a time of 26secs.
After that race I wanted to fall on the ground and die, I felt like someone was stabbing me in the abs, and to add insult to injury, I would not be given any chances to redeem myself, which means that I can’t run a single race at the school Champs and interschool champs, only the relays perhaps.
When It rains it pours…My dreams of setting p.b’s and school records this year are gone down the drain…anyway I have one more year after this one, and I will still be in the same age category, so there is time…
P.S. Morals of the story, never bite off more than you can chew in Track and Field, and never try to start back running too soon after a injury occurs/re-occurs (like Asafa Powell, I learned it the hard way)
