After my two Twlight Series 1,500s it was back to my traditional summer track bread and butter meets the Tuesday Nite Speed Series at Icahn Stadium,since recovering from my first bout of tendonitis in 09 it's become a summer rite of passage to come up to Randall's Island and run in the four race series,usually two races a month two weeks apart from each other.
Thankfully the 800m was third on the schedule so not arriving at Icahn till 6.45pm for a 7pm start isn't the "be all and end all" it would be if my chosen distance to race was first up and as luck would have it the remaining three races of the series see my chosen distance is either second or third so taking the 2.30pm bus up to NYC won't be so bad even if my heart sank a little yesterday when after making great time upto Lincoln Tunnel it then took an hour to get thro the tunnel to Midtown......but no hyperventalating getting from Midtown to Randall's Island in time for my race last nite and after registering for the 800m i had time for a mile warm up albeit not on the track as the first event the womens 1,500m was due to begin at 7pm,no worries,mile warm up and pre race stretches taken care of it was time to strip down to race gear on a warm but comfortable evening probably low 70s
Nine times out of ten at Icahn the wind coming off the adjacent East River down the back straight can be an added burden but once a year if the Running Gods throw us a bone w/ the Diamond League meet this Saturday there are temporary bleacher stands on the back straight to help cut down the wind....trust me it all helps!
Seeding for the first 800m heat ended at 2.10 so I put myself in heat 2,w/ hindsight maybe I should've jumped into heat 1 but like a long jumper just looking to get a safe jump on the board so he or she can continue in the competition I was looking to get a legit seed time for Nationals,w/ two more 800m post deadline next Thursday I can focus on getting faster.
Not sure how meny of us lined up for heat two I got a good spot in lane 3 w/ maybe three or four other runners inside me and got a good reaction to the gun and found myself in front of the field going into the first turn,no point waiting to see if anyone else wanted to take up the running when you're the willing rabbit......only I wasn't planning on dropping out at either 400m or 600m!
65 seconds at the bell,sofar so good I said pre race that 65/67 would bring me home in 2.12 and thats just what I got for a 2.12.11 finish
Having shaved 2 seconds off my indoor season opener when I went 2.14.11 after my 2.16.78 in my two indoor 800s this winter I continued that trend of taking 2 seconds off my time,granted 2.12.11 isn't going to cause any sleepless nites in the M50 800m division but w/ two more 800m races schedule in 2 and 4 weeks time providing I keep following this pattern then I'll be down to 2.08 b4 heading to Greensboro in 5 weeks time and to quote my former coach "there's more meat left on that bone"
Final footnote/thought/obsevation obviously I have no times to compare from last season but 2 years ago I began my 800m season in 2.11 b4 running 2.06 at Nationals,if I've only lost a second in two years is a 2.07 800m final time possible?
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