Figured while I had a little extra time on my hands, I'd get down to relating details about the indoor track & field meets I ran in last Sunday (February 3, 2008 - Super Bowl Sunday '08 baby)!!!!!
Started out going a Potomac Valley Track Club's (P.V.T.C.'s) Indoor Track & Field All-Comer's Meet at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center (T.J.C.C.) in Arlington (Arlington County), Virginia (northern VA). Check out the P.V.T.C.'s website if you are interested at: http://www.pvtc.org I have never run at this venue before (and it was decent, the indoor track was in a gym), but I wanted to go because it was within an hour of my house and I've met the gentleman who runs it at various meets and races, and he seems like he does an efficient job of getting the meet over with in a matter of a few hours. Some photos of the inside of the T.J.C.C. facility and the surrounding neighborhood are displayed above.
It was a pretty quick meet, and I still felt like I got some pretty decent rest time in between the one mile, 800 meter, and 3,000 meter races. I ran in the open division in all of them. I kinda felt like I did not run that strongly in some of them because I was feeling a little sleep-deprived. I stayed up the previous night a little later than I planned and then I woke up earlier than I planned and then could not fall back asleep. Still, God was good and helped me run some decent races.
Here are some splits that I recall running in those events:
Here are some splits that I recall running in those events:
1-Mile (a little over 8 laps): 5:17.0
1/2 - 2:30ish
3/4 - 3:52ish
1 lap-to-go - 4:38
I felt really tired and sluggish in this race. For some reason I felt like I just could not get it together. I knew I had the 800 and 3,000 meter races coming up soon too. For the 800 meter race I just thought that the best I could realistically hope for was low 2:20's, and the 3,000 meter race... Well let's just say I'd worry about that when I got to the starting line.
800 Meters: 2:22.5
400 meters (2 laps) - 1:10ish
This one went a lot better than the one-mile race in my opinion. I was happy to have landed a time right around where I wanted and that my pace was fairly even. Now onto the 3,000 meter race.
3,000 meters (15 laps) - 10:59.8
- 1,600 meters (8 laps) - 5:45ish
- 2,400 meters (12 laps) - 8:29ish
My pace was fairly even in that race, and hey, I even tucked under eleven minutes (which surprised me well :)
After this meet in northern VA was over, I went over to the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover (Prince George's County), Maryland in the afternoon, and had a good time there. I knew that this all-comers meet (based on last week's experience when it ended at around six in the evening) would take longer, and chances were, I would make it there from Arlington in time for the 800 meter run. I made it there in time, and I was pleased that the 800 meter races were soon to go off. It was probably a little after one in the afternoon, an hour or two ahead of when the 800 meter races started when I ran at this meet the previous Sunday (January 27, 2008). I did not expect much of myself in this 800 meter race, as I was feeling sleepy and tired from the races earlier in the day, so I thought that low 2:20's was the best I could hope for. However, I was pleasantly surprised....
200 meters (1 lap) - :33
400 meters (2 laps) -1 :08
800 meters (4 laps) - 2:15 (ran the second 400 meter a second faster than the first, and this has been my fastest 800 meter race in a long while)!
Another pleasant surprise was that the meet was running really efficiently and I realized that if I wanted to run in the 3,000 meter/3,200 meter races, they would be coming up soon. So I decided to challenge myself a bit more and run the 3,200 meter (a 16-lap race run simultaneously with the 15-lap 3,000 meter race). And I was pleased that God helped me run a strong race considering my previous four races in the day, and this being the longest of them all by a lap.
3,200 meter (16 laps) - I have not seen the results yet and so I don't know what exactly my finishing time was, but since I went through 3,000 meters (15 laps, one lap remaining in my race) in about 10:44 (a second slower than last weekend's 10:43 indoor track personal best time for that distance at the same venue), I can only assume I came close to running 11:24, the time I ran the previous weekend. I felt like I had a strong final lap there. There's a slight chance I may have beaten it, that would be awesome!
Here are my splits for that race that I recall:
200 meters (1 lap) - :41ish
1,600 meters (8 laps) - 5:38/5:39ish
3,000 meters (15 laps) - 10:44ish
I started out these races not too optimistic after running the 5:17 mile, but I felt like my races increased in quality throughout the day. The 2:15 easily beat out the 2:22.5 run earlier that day in the 800 meter races, and the 3,000 meter split I ran in the 3,200 meter race of about 10:44 beat my time in the 3,000 meter race of 10:59.8 earlier that day.
Was I sleepin' that mornin' or something???
Naw, God was just really awesome to me as always and through His grace and strength, He helped me to improve in the quality of races.
So far in 2008 I've run about 8 indoor track & field races within about a week of each other, and I felt like God has blessed me with some solid races and recovery from them! I don't think I'll be participating in any more indoor track & field meets for a while, as there aren't that many more open/all-comers meets occurring around this time of year. I'm probably going to run in more road and cross country races with some outdoor track & field meets in there (hopefully)!!!
Thank you so much for reading and for your support. I hope you all have a wonderful evening :)
I felt really tired and sluggish in this race. For some reason I felt like I just could not get it together. I knew I had the 800 and 3,000 meter races coming up soon too. For the 800 meter race I just thought that the best I could realistically hope for was low 2:20's, and the 3,000 meter race... Well let's just say I'd worry about that when I got to the starting line.
800 Meters: 2:22.5
400 meters (2 laps) - 1:10ish
This one went a lot better than the one-mile race in my opinion. I was happy to have landed a time right around where I wanted and that my pace was fairly even. Now onto the 3,000 meter race.
3,000 meters (15 laps) - 10:59.8
- 1,600 meters (8 laps) - 5:45ish
- 2,400 meters (12 laps) - 8:29ish
My pace was fairly even in that race, and hey, I even tucked under eleven minutes (which surprised me well :)
After this meet in northern VA was over, I went over to the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover (Prince George's County), Maryland in the afternoon, and had a good time there. I knew that this all-comers meet (based on last week's experience when it ended at around six in the evening) would take longer, and chances were, I would make it there from Arlington in time for the 800 meter run. I made it there in time, and I was pleased that the 800 meter races were soon to go off. It was probably a little after one in the afternoon, an hour or two ahead of when the 800 meter races started when I ran at this meet the previous Sunday (January 27, 2008). I did not expect much of myself in this 800 meter race, as I was feeling sleepy and tired from the races earlier in the day, so I thought that low 2:20's was the best I could hope for. However, I was pleasantly surprised....
200 meters (1 lap) - :33
400 meters (2 laps) -1 :08
800 meters (4 laps) - 2:15 (ran the second 400 meter a second faster than the first, and this has been my fastest 800 meter race in a long while)!
Another pleasant surprise was that the meet was running really efficiently and I realized that if I wanted to run in the 3,000 meter/3,200 meter races, they would be coming up soon. So I decided to challenge myself a bit more and run the 3,200 meter (a 16-lap race run simultaneously with the 15-lap 3,000 meter race). And I was pleased that God helped me run a strong race considering my previous four races in the day, and this being the longest of them all by a lap.
3,200 meter (16 laps) - I have not seen the results yet and so I don't know what exactly my finishing time was, but since I went through 3,000 meters (15 laps, one lap remaining in my race) in about 10:44 (a second slower than last weekend's 10:43 indoor track personal best time for that distance at the same venue), I can only assume I came close to running 11:24, the time I ran the previous weekend. I felt like I had a strong final lap there. There's a slight chance I may have beaten it, that would be awesome!
Here are my splits for that race that I recall:
200 meters (1 lap) - :41ish
1,600 meters (8 laps) - 5:38/5:39ish
3,000 meters (15 laps) - 10:44ish
I started out these races not too optimistic after running the 5:17 mile, but I felt like my races increased in quality throughout the day. The 2:15 easily beat out the 2:22.5 run earlier that day in the 800 meter races, and the 3,000 meter split I ran in the 3,200 meter race of about 10:44 beat my time in the 3,000 meter race of 10:59.8 earlier that day.
Was I sleepin' that mornin' or something???
Naw, God was just really awesome to me as always and through His grace and strength, He helped me to improve in the quality of races.
So far in 2008 I've run about 8 indoor track & field races within about a week of each other, and I felt like God has blessed me with some solid races and recovery from them! I don't think I'll be participating in any more indoor track & field meets for a while, as there aren't that many more open/all-comers meets occurring around this time of year. I'm probably going to run in more road and cross country races with some outdoor track & field meets in there (hopefully)!!!
Thank you so much for reading and for your support. I hope you all have a wonderful evening :)
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