March 5 was the long anticipated first Athletics Nova Scotia indoor track race of 2022- after the Omicron wave COVID lockdown. I missed the December Last Chance Meet with a minor injury flare related to working long hours on said Omicron lockdown wave. My last indoor race was February 2020, pre-pandemic, before our world spun.
Coming into this race, I’ve never spent so much time on the track in prep. I got fit by hurting. A. Lot. On the track. On an oddly shaped oversized track at that- thanks 260m octagonal Dalplex. And on the makeshift Commons Coach Cliff 200m and 150m makeshift track. I was ready for this track event. Big thanks to Coach Lee for the specific track workouts.
I chose the 1500m event based on my kids’ hockey schedule. I had a U9 game to coach from 0900-1000. Then a U11 game at 3:30pm. The 3000m is my preferred event but the morning hockey game wouldn’t allow enough warm up time. 1500m became the choice. The line list came out a few days before with all of our birthdates on it. I was indeed about 20 years older than my competitors and I figured the only athlete to have chosen her race based on her hockey coaching schedule, ha. I am ok with being 20 years older- more on that in a minute.
Race morning comes.
I cycled through the normal track day emotions of anticipation: “yay this is happening” and dread: “oh god am I really doing this, it’s too hard.” The presence of both tells me that I feel exactly like I should. I have a last text conversation with my go-to-track-buddy, the ever-supporive Nick who reminds me to have fun and to be prepared to hurt hard in the 3rd quarter. I spend some time mentally preparing to really, really hurt for it. Fun fact: I reread my old race recaps for my mental prep. I leave my house on time after a busy hockey morning.
Warm up:
I get to the track parked firmly parked on gratitude. I am so lucky that I get to do this. There was no “this” for me the last 2 years due to COVID and then a tiny injury flare in December 2021 at the only meet of the year. I also know that the master’s women’s field in this track meet numbers 4 (in the 60m hurdles, 200m, 400m and me in 1500m). On the track, it’s as important as ever to me that there are masters’s age athletes there, taking up space and being excellent at our age. I want all of the young people on the line with me to see that.
Warm up is great. I feel exactly like I want to- fresh and powerful. I run my standard and superstitious 17 minutes outside. Once indoors, I fall into step with my Road Hammer Teammate Stephane, eager to hear about his race. I would have loved to watch him race but the covid-capacity rules didn’t allow it. He is so happy. He placed second with a big PB. I ask him how he did it. He says he was in 5th place and felt good so ran faster to get 2nd. Just like that. I love it and tell him I will take his victory into my race.
I am happy to see familiar faces on the track. Coach Kevin Heisler, longtime friend of Cliff. Coach Mike Peterson from UPEI: we went to university together and have run many road races together. Some young people I know from coaching high school and then competing alongside of them.
When the 1500m lines up, I take a moment to feel proud that I can line up with these university and high school girls.
I had race execution instructions from Coach Lee: Not a lot of wiggle room here, as you want to be on 80sec laps from the gun and then over the last lap see if you can racket it down the final 400m to run a 75-76. Use the girls in front of you to key off, and keep engaged. The legs and lungs are going to be burning from 300m in and the key is staying engaged and knowing its going to be uncomfortable in a good way.
I have done as much prep as I ever do to prepare for hurt for it, bleed for it. I know my splits based on the clock at the finish line. The 1500m starts halfway around the 200m track. The race is 7.5 laps. As we line up, a coach says he will give splits at the 100m line where are starting. I have the faintest idea that this is going to mess me up but I discard that. I know that I want to be 20 seconds on the clock going through that finish line on the first 0.5 lap and add 40 seconds each lap so 20, 60, 1:40, 2:20 etc.
I am seeded 6th (meaning I am the the 6th fastest person in race by submitted times).
Gun goes. The high school girls seeded 7th and 8th burst off the line and get out in front of me. I had run 1 x 100m at race pace during my warm up, per Lee, to make sure I’m not too fast. It was so easy in warm up and I came through at high 18 seconds. Way too fast. So I decide to tuck in behind the high school girls and let them take us through the first 100m. We go through 100m at exactly 20seconds. Perfect.
But around the second turn, I know it’s not perfect, I need in front of them. When should I go? When? Now? Now, now?
When the race ends, I know that I hesitated too long. I passed them at about 250m. I should have passed them at 150m. I need to work on this. If I think to myself, “should I pass” then the answer is yes and I gotta do it right away.
Now I’m through 300m and Lee says it’s going to burn lung and legs…. But it doesn’t. I’m running powerfully.
I knock off the next 2 laps exactly at 40 seconds. I’m almost surprised at how powerful I feel. I thought it would hurt more.
Then all the things that usually happen to me on the track all happen at once…. I have no timeline for it. I am running. There are so many numbers. I have no idea what I am doing… except running hard. I have an awareness that I no longer know what lap I am on. In fact, I no longer even know how many laps this race is. The running is still good. I am still powerful and just starting to have to tell myself to push off, push-pop. The coach at the line is still yelling splits. I don’t know what they mean. I try to hold onto the numbers and I can’t. He says “exactly 4:00 flat.” What the what?
As best I can tell, I am still knocking off 40 second laps. But how many minutes are left between 3 minutes and 5 minutes? I can’t figure it out.
Then the finish line volunteer tells me I have 2 laps to go and this makes sense. I hadn’t even noticed him until this very moment. I can do this.
While doing this, I think I am on my goal of 4:55-4:58 if I can pull it down to a final 75 second quarter as per Coach Lee’s A+ plan. I give it all I have. I tell myself not to look at the clock in the final 60m. In previous races, I know that if I see the clock flip past my goal time, I unconsciously give up. No give ups today.
I lean in at the line. Maybe it’s 5:00 or 5:01. Official is 5:02.91.
I feel thrilled. I go back to the bench where my bag is. A 20 something guy’s girlfriend is sitting there. “You did so good!” she gushes.
I say “Thank you! I’m so happy because I am 20 years older than everyone else!”
She says, “Yea, I know! And you still ran so fast!”
It feels great. I’m happy with this execution. I’m chasing the provincial F40-44 record of 4:55.77. I was 7 seconds off here in a 7.5 lap race. I know where all of those seconds went. I stayed too long behind the high school girls. I let the numbers being shouted on the track take up too much headspace. I should have disregarded all of them and just ran. I needed that reminder, in real life, to leave the puzzle of what is happening alone. I need to instead, simply run hard until I hear the bell, no math, and then run one more lap after the bell. I also may have gotten complacent when, based on the brain function I had available to me, I thought I was meeting my goal. No thinking. More hammering.
Up next for me is USATF Indoor Masters Championships in Manhattan! 1600m and 3000m. How lucky am I?
