While tonite and my indoor swansong here in three weeks time at the Front Runners meet are indoor races I'm already planning for the outdoor track season and these final two races are as much about hoping to return to the realm of respectability as anything,while I can boo hoo my lack of form thus far to a bad winter and 17 month hiatus from competitve racing the fact is over my first four indoor races I've done very little to convince myself I have a right to sit at the table w/ the upper echelon of M50 masters 800m and 1,500m runners,if that right has to be earnt then tonite felt like as good a place as any to start earning that seat....
I was seeded #1 in heat #2,ironically Getulio Echeandia was seeded #9,ironic because at 50-54/45-49 we bookended a field of open runners inbetween us.....some of whom didn't look like they'd hit pubity yet but given the seed times of the 55-59 and beyond field in heat #3 it would have been crule to have put either of us in that heat.
I got a good reaction to the gun this time and held my postion on the rail going into the first turn,a number of the younger guys went by me but at 50 that's to be expected at least I wasn't dead last down the back straight like I was three weeks prior to tonite.
I couldn't tell you my position at 200m or my exact split I saw 31 seconds on the clock which seemed fast but when I came through 400m in 62 seconds it indicated back to back 31 second splits,after Thursdays "brain fart" mile I told myself to run tonites 800m as aggressively and maybe I could get a semi decent time.
Lap three of an indoor 800m is always interesting/dangerous......tonite took that a tad to literal for my liking!
Going into the bottom turn the runner ahead of me clipped the runner infrot of him and spun perilously close to me as he tried to regain his form.thankfully I was alert enough to the situation to avoid a wipeout but then going into the top turn as I overtook another runner to claim 5th the runner behind me caught the back of my spikes,touchwood I've never gone down in a track race in my 38 year career but tonite w/in the space of 100m I'd dodged 2 bullets.
1.38 at the bell in 5th I was aware Getulio was breathing down my neck and while I don't have that explosive final 200m kick just yet {but trust me I'm working on it!!!} I did all I could to hold him off untill coming up the home straight,glass half empty I'm disappointed to get overtaken in the final 100m.glass half full at least I made him work for it.
6th in 2.14.11. a two second improvent on my previous 800m effort and an overall much better race,providing I can keep taking two seconds off of my 800m times per race I should be "in the conversation" come Wake Forest and Outdoor Nationals in 20 weeks time.
I'm not sure when my next 800m race is,probably late May at Ichan in the "Twilight Series" which hopefully means beacoup repeats between now and then to ensure a faster time and not getting passed in the final 100m......a nite after one of my worst races ever I hope this is a turning point in my season......
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