The Road To Boston Begins Here

"This train is bound for glory,this train,this train is bound for glory,this train
This train is leaving town,hit the road and getting on down this train is bound for glory,this train"
Bound For Glory-The Alarm.

All aboard!the train now leaving platform 1 is bound for Boston and Indoor Nationals at the end of March,stopping at Seton Hall,Haverford,New York,Swarthmore,Deleware,Cornell,and Tom's River............
Yes folks the indoor track season is here,punctuated by the winters first snow fall the day b4!
Like all seasons,indoor,outdoor,road or xc it's always hard to know what to expect of yourself much less what you're capeable of so getting that first race under your belt is always a plus.
Adding further intrigue to the mix was my choice of distance,400m,I hadn't ran an open 400m since Outdoor Nationals in 06,I usually limit my 400s to relays but w/ a new stable of masters 400m guys on our team it was rightly decided that 400m relay selection would be based on current 400m time,ergo yours truly opting for a 400m today.
Post a decent 400m time and be done w/ it and hope it's good enough to make the Millrose team,if I need to come back to it and record a faster split b4 team selection,sobeit.

I'd forgotten how long a day at a track meet can be,I left home at 7.20am,arrived at Seton Hall by 10.30am,waited till close to 1.30pm run and returned home by 6pm,an 11 and a 1/2 hour day for 57 seconds worth of work......and I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!!
Last years indoor season was meant to kick off at Seton Hall w/ a 4x400,we ended up going to Glen Mills instead and I never got to run as our third leg pulled up w/ a hamstring injury and I had to wait another fortnite to kick off my indoor season...w/ a 2.03 800m,hopefully a good omen for next week at Haverford.
It felt good to back in my spikes,I hadn't worn them since May 11th at Swarthmore when I ran a 1,500m,little did I know it would be my last race of the outdoor season at the time,by the time I began my return to racing at Langley on Labor Day I couldn't risk wearing my flats much less my spikes,as simple an act of lacing up my spikes my seem on face value there was a comfort level of feeling my running was back on schedule.

While 400m is hardly my distance I felt that by picking a distance I'm not familiar w/ for my season opener could work to my advantage,w/ the 800m/1,500m/mile I know what to expect of myself,400m I've really no idea,I put 56 seconds as my seed time which felt honest and put me in the 7th of 12 heats.
I was drawn in lane 1 of 5,sadly lanes 2 and 4 were no shows and w/ all due respect to the runner in lane 3 who only ran a 1.21 this was a two man race between myself and the runner in lane 5.
I opted for a standing start,let's face it I don't run enough 400m races to perfect a crouched start and or try to get comfortable in blocks and I doubt I'll lead off any 4x400m relays to need to get used to blocks either.
My reaction to the gun was good,it has to be in a 400m when there's so little time or real estate to recover,off the first turn it was a two man race and I felt comfortable.
No clock at 200m or anyone calling splits unofficially I was told 27 seconds,the plan pre race was to run a relaxed opening 200m and come on like gang busters over the second 200m.
Hitting the final turn at 300m I began to feel the pace,thus far I'd been well inside my comfort level,perhaps a more competitive heat would have forced me to another level but it was what it was,I chased the leader up the home straight 56.71-57.08.

I wanted a 56 second time,ok I wasn't far off and all time my 57.08 ranks #10 on my 400m times.
Considering this is not my distance and this was my opening race of the season I can be reasonably pleased,it remains to be seen if I'll have to revisit the 400m to earn my spot on the Millrose Games 4x400m team,for now it's time to get ready for the next race an 800m at Haverford on Saturday.
The journey has begun.