That’s not bad considering…
But, in my case I’m not worried about being too short -as I’ve seen even shorter guys like a 5’4" Kenyan blaze a 800m. I’m more concerned with weight. Dragging around 180lbs of muscle for 2 laps puts me at an extreme disadvantage…
Date: 3/3/05
Meet: Aptos Dual
Surface: All Weather
Weather: Cold/Foggy (Rainy after My race)
Race Time(s): 3:15PM
Event(s): 1600m
Result(s): 4:51.4
Race Comments: Wow, I went out “okay” and just slowed down from there. Not that i was dying or anything i Just didn’t actually “pick” it up at all. Well okay I did pick it up the last 300m… THREE TIMES! I kicked once with 250 to go, then relaxed and slowed down, then kicked with 120m to go, then relaxed and slowed down, THEN I kicked with 50m to go and held it through the finish. Danm, that was an easy run.
During my cooldown, my hammy got pretty tight, so I didn’t run the 4x4
Reflection: I need to hold 300m+ kicks. I could have run MUCH faster had I actually blazed the last 300m. Oh well. It was a dual meet.
Date: 3/12/05
Meet: Wildcat Relays
Weather: Crisp and foggy. (Supposed to be 80 degrees today, HAHA!!)
Race Time(s): 11:00AM, 11:20AM, 1:25PM, 3:30PM
Event(s): 4x100, 4x800, Sprint Medley, 4x400
Result(s): 45.1 (3rd), 8:37 (2:10 and 4th), ??:?? (2:00 and 1st), 3:32 (53.0 3rd)
Race Comments: The 4x1 was awesome, I love anchoring those things, mainly because I never mess up a handoff. That’s my biggest advantage. I’m not slow, or particularly blazing, but if you’ve an injured cry-baby sprinter, why risk it? Just toss me in there 
The 4x800 was just a “chillen” race, Coach told me to chill if A) We were in the lead and kick it for the win or B) If we were more than 70 meters behind… unfortunately is was option B. Sprint Medley was the bizzle. The exact same 4 guys on the 4x1 ran in the SMR and we rocked. 4x400 was fun, I ran second leg. 53.0h without gettin’ winded. I think I can got 51.X right now.
Reflection: Good day. I can run faster. I’m right on schedual for a sub 1:53 performance at state. Don’t know about a 1:52 at Arcadia, though. That could be tough, but I have faith.
Oh yeah! Lookin real good…
congrats.
congrats looks good!!
Makes me hungry to get out and run! 
Thanks guys I love the support. You’re all really intelligent educated sprinters and your spare words of encouragement mean a lot more to me than the grandious and flowery words of my principle.
Date: 3/19/05
Meet: Mitty Invitational
Weather: Cold, raining on and off, dry during my races, windy during 4x400
Race Time(s): 1:15PM and 3:35PM
Event(s): 800m, 4x400
Result(s): 2:01 2nd, 3:33 2nd (53.0h, anchor)
Race Comments: I did a pretty good midget analogy in my journal and I don’t feel like re-writing it… All I have to say is that bootie-lock sucks. It sucks the warts right off of Liberachies anus.
Reflection: Never ever in the weight room the day before a meet. Never. At best Saturday was a workout day. It hit my self confidence hard. I’m depressed and frustrated, but at the same time I’m determined, infuriatedly determined to run better next time.
Stanford Invite, here I come muthasucka.
3/21/05
Meet: Stanford Invite Day 1-2
Weather: Warm, negligable cool breeze (great runnin’ weather)
Race Time(s): 3:30PM, (day 2) 10:30AM
Event(s) Distance Medly Relay (800leg) 4x800 (Anchor Leg)
Result(s): 2:01 DMR 2nd, 2:02 4x800 (12th or something)
Race Comments: My DMR, we were leading by a lot and I really just cruised my leg. I didn’t kick at all, just sort of tried to keep the pace, and ran slower by 3 seconds my second lap. (58-63) (Our anchor miler got a sinus infection and couldn’t breath during his race, we would have won otherwise. My 4x800 I went out aggressive, 57.0h, but I didn’t feel very fit, or very encouraged to drive home for a fast split. 65 last quarter is 2mile pace 
Reflection: It feels like I’ve lost the “fire” that I had last year. No drive, no real “reason” to run fast. What’s worse, is that I’ve not progressed a single bit since my first race in January. I feel like I’ve platued. My “minor” injuries are turning into BIG problems and seriously holding me back. I don’t understand it, though; I didn’t have these injuries last year, I didn’t even have SIGNS of injuries like this. Could 2 years of solid XC really fuck me up this bad? I wonder if I should have done weights and speed work in the winter time, like I did last year. I’m just lost… The good thing, though, is that I have been cussing and spitting like a badger about gettin’ orthodics and seeing an ART therapist, so my parents have ACTAULLY keeled in this time. I’m gonna do the searching tonight, and we’re leaving to the soonest possible apointment I can get. I figure I’m going to see the ART guy first, and then get orthodics afterwards. Lord only knows… hell maybe I’ll see if any mid-distance coaches offer charlie-style consultations.
What consultation do you need? Fire some questions at me. Or post what you’ve been doing and what you have planned for the rest of the year.
I guess I could look over your journal, but that takes a lot of time. If you have your training program as a spreadsheet or word doc you could e-mail it to me.
LoL, it’s in the Planning and Periodization sub-forum. “My last 11 Weeks”
As far as questions, I’m lookin’ for specifics about training, my methods etc. I need to know about whether orthodics are what will help me, and WHY godanmit am I platueing. I’ve got my journal here on the website, and I’d really just like to figure that out. I’d like someone who knows the right questions to help me ask them of myself.
If you’re looking for an ART therapist, go to http://www.activerelease.com/providerSearch.asp and just type in your zip code for those that are close by. If you can, find someone who has the extra “biomechanics” certification, cuz usually they can help pinpoint what you’re doing that’s causing pain. As far as orthotics go, they really make a world of difference. I got em just over a year ago and they have been awesome.
As far as no motivation, try switching things up. I find that things as simple as running the opposite direction on the track help me out cuz you’re running from a different perspective. See if you can get the guys in practice to push you during your workouts; ask your coach to make sure you dont slack off when you guys are running. If you just feel burnt out, then maybe it’s signal of CNS fatigue. Make sure you’re using all the regenerative techniques you have access to, things like whirpool baths, contrast shower, self-massage, using a roller, and stretching thoroughly AFTER a workout. Also, make sure you’re having fun. I know from experience that I’ll have a much better workout if I’m having fun. You feel good, you run good. Another thing, never lose sight of your goals. Will it all be worth it when you’re at Sacramento for the state meet? You bet your ass it will be, but you gotta make sure you put in the work to get there. Tape up a list of what you want to accomplish on your door in your room or somewhere that you’ll see it everyday so you know why you are working so hard. I cut out the times from the newspapers and highlight the times my competitors are getting, so I know what I have to beat if I want to win. Things like that will keep you going. Other than that, all I can say is keep your head up and dont give up on yourself, everybody falls into funks, but it’s how you respond that separates the ones who win and the ones who dont. Good luck, you’ll get it next time
Mister C advice is very good! Also, what is your pre-race frame of mind? Do you visualize winning? Do you feel confident?
MisterC, I couldn’t agree with everything you said and more. I’m down a bit, a bit sulky, a bit whiny, but I think I’m just trying to “understand” what’s going on.
Well scarface, lemme put it like this… I haven’t had butterflies in my stumoch since I ran a 1:56.73 in May of last year. They’ve just been “races” so I run them. I run what I have to run in order to do “well”. Sophomore year it felt like i was running fast to find out how fast I could run. And this year it feels like I’m just going through the motions. I think that’s what I have to do… stop treating these races like hoops to jump through, and things I have to do, and just give it my all to find out WHAT my all is. I just fear that I peaked soph year, and am not gonna run that fast again 
Well, first of all, don’t even entertain the idea that you’ve peaked…
I think you’ve given some clues as to what you need to do. Psychologically, you need to be hungrier. You’ve got to want it bad. And if someone’s gonna beat you they are going to have to earn it. Don’t give any freebees! Now as far as training wise you seem to be in great shape. Didn’t you PR 400m recently? I think you should use this opportunity to start turning on the afterburners. It’s all there within you…you just need to unleash it.
Naw, I pr’d at the Kerny invite in May-04 51.3. the pr’s I mentioned for the Distance medley relay were all everyone elses… I haven’t ran under 53.0h in a long time.
Ah, I see… Did you record what you did in the past that led to your PR. If so, it would be nice to revist it and compare what you have done to lead to those PR’s comparing to this year.
If you are confident in that the level of training you’ve done this year is far better than the level of last years training there will never be a problem. I mean don’t go for psychology before thinking about training. It comes after training. Cause sometimes we give that season a 100% and come out with the results and the next we believe we’re gonna do better. Then we forget about how hard it was training the year before. how many times we hit the floor and how many hours we were hurting. Cause after doing something you start to feel its easy. Nothing’s easy. Its just that you have achieved something and now you need to put in the same kind of dedication to each session and pull it out the same you you did last time around. I don’t think any of this will work for you in the competition phase but trust me. I fallen into times like yours and I realized my problems too late.
Although you do have a point, one can train better and still not get better meet results. Confidence can be built by good training. However it is not always automatic. Mike in his own words explained that he has not given his “all” in races. So I think instead of looking at his training as the issue give him a chance to put in 100% in his races and go from there… No need to throw out the baby with the bath water… yet
I’m going to give my “all” in everything I do from now on, scarface, be it sleep (which I’ve been slacking on) diet, injury prevention, training (especially need to push myself more on hard days), and DEFINATELY in races (oh yah, and homework too, 3.4 is not gonna get me into Stanford 
).