Week of racing

This was another busy week. I had zone track meets that I needed to qualify for provincials in. But since I didn't really know the schedule ahead of time I was signed up for all the duathlons. Gary told me I could still race this Tuesday, but not kill myself. Basically it was up to me how much effort I wanted to put in, knowing I had to save a bit for my 3000m the next day. It was kind of hard for me to back off the pace when people I normally race are taking off. I really wanted to chase some people down! But I've gotten pretty good at knowing what my body needs, so I controlled the run pace and focused on having a strong transition. On the bike I let myself do a bit more chasing and it was kind of fun. There were still more people beating me than I was used to. I also didn't use my drops at all because it didn't seem worth tightening up my shoulders so much for the sake of being a bit more aerodynamic this time. So I fought through the wind and came down the final stretch of the bike mentally prepared to practice another good transition. I'm happy with where my transitions are at, I should be fine in the junior series. So I came out of T2 fast, as if I was still racing hard. Once I got to the aid station I cooled the jets and settled into a more comfortable run pace. Again it was tempting to chase people down and not let anyone else pass me, but that would not be the best plan. Once finished, I made sure I did a really good cool down, because that's probably the most important thing in recovering to be prepared to race again. Here's the results again, if you feel like checking out splits or seeing how the others did:

http://www.triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu4.pdf

So Wednesday afternoon was my 3000m qualifyer. I didn't know who would be there, but since it's expected of me to go to provincials, I knew I would just have to put out whatever effort was needed to get me there. Last year I showed up and only two of us were there; I went pretty easy because top three qualify. I'll admit I was kind of hoping that would happen again. Nope, there was probably about 8 of us, plus the junior varsity joined us as well because there were even less of them. When the gun went off I took my spot at the front and picked a pace I hoped most of the girls couldn't keep. Sure enough, I think within about half a lap only Mariette from my school was still on me. I'm not exactly sure because I was trying not to look back. She has improved a lot lately and had a great race, staying on me for quite a while before going her own pace. Suddenly I felt someone catching up to me and I thought maybe she was back. I was surprised to see it was someone else, who I had never raced against before. She stayed on me, and actually tried to pass a few times. She would get beside me but wasn't able to get in front. I could tell she was working very hard, and I was not there yet. Since it was really windy I decided to let her get ahead so I could draft for a little while. Nope, she didn't have it and wouldn't get in front. So after a few attempts I think she was done, and I got out in front for good. My finish time was 11:41. Mariette had a strong finish and finished third in 12:12. We're both off to provincials!

Friday was the main day of the zone track meet. The weather sucked, it was freezing. My events were 1500m (honestly wasn't sure I would win or even qualify), highjump (long story, I was going after a non-existant record so I only had to make starting height, which I did), 4x100 (seriously? I didn't even know I was signed up, so not my event!) and 4x400 (wow that's hard to do actually). So with all that going on I guess my focus for the day would be the 1500m, even though none of those events were really my strength.
So I warmed up for it and people were asking me if I was ready to win it and stuff. I was loose and ready on the start line but wasn't sure about my competition. But once the gun went off I got my way to the front and started out hard. Maybe almost too fast. Soon I was all on my own and I think I had a pretty decent lead. Mariette ended up beating the girl that had come second in the last race, but both of them had good races. I'll be glad to see them both at provincials. Ok so apparently everyone except me knew I would win. Alright then, good thing I lived up to people's expectations I guess. At least I had some fun doing it. I was also proud of the effort the rest of the team put in for the relays. It was hard to judge how we did but us girls will go to provincials for one of them.

Well that's almost it for high school track meets. Just my three events in provincials left. I like these meets though because so many people I know come out to them. Way to go to all the Westgate athletes. And all the random friends I've met along the way, which I tend to do a lot. There were also some Uof M athletes I'm friends with that were working the meet, so it was great to have some extra support and people to chat with between events. So anyways provincials will be in Selkirk in two weeks. Let's just hope for some sunshine. Please!