Narrow defeat...and a win.

I just realised I never wrote anything about the smaller competition we went to recently in St Ives, Cambs. This was held on a Wednesday evening as part of the Cambridgeshire Athletics Association Evening Open Meetings (a series of three race days held in May, June and July). Since in under a week we'll be having the second of these meetings I should probably get the first one written up now!

There were only two races at St Ives - 100m and 800m. When we arrived at the track, our first thoughts were that it seemed much smaller. It was only six lanes (compared to Cambridge's 8 lanes, or 10 for the last 100) but it also somehow looked shorter. We were assured that it wasn't, and judging by our times I'm guessing they were telling the truth, but it was an interesting optical illusion! 

I got my chair set up and headed out as soon as I could to make sure the steering was set straight. There were lots of other (able-bodied) athletes running their 100m races, so we had the back straight to ourselves and a few others warming up. I wasn't feeling great, to be honest - OK, but a bit slow, heavy and tired. I knew I wasn't really on top form but I felt I should be OK to race anyway - and after all, I'd come all this way, so it would be silly just to go home.

The start of the 100m. L-R: MJ, Naomi, Claire, me, Abbi, Rebecca.

We lined up for the first race and just about had all six racers in the right place at the right time! In this race, I had a rubbish start, then leaped across a couple of lanes and just couldn't get straight (clearly hadn't set myself up as well as I'd thought initially). I finished in 25.8, which was 0.2 seconds behind the fastest (Naomi, 25.6). That's a bit irritating, but it was quite a long way ahead of third place (Claire, 29.1).

About 30m in.

I felt a bit rubbish after the race as I knew I'd been bad technically and physically - I hadn't felt strong and fast, nor did I feel in control of my movements. Still, at least I felt that I'd raced badly but still had a respectable result.

The start of the 800m. L-R: MJ, Claire, Rebecca, Abbi, Naomi, me.

We sat around for a little bit waiting for the 800m race. The runners doing 800m were being set off along a curve and were allowed to take the inside track straight away. To our relief, we wheelies were assigned lanes which we had to stay in until about 100m in. Before this race I felt cold, shaky, achey and tired. I really wasn't feeling good, but 800m isn't REALLY that far and I knew John was around so that if I needed help afterwards I would have it. I suppose I might also have thought that if I started and felt too bad I could always stop, but I really don't know what it would take for me to give up halfway through a race like that - I'd probably have to lose consciousness...

The 800m race getting underway!

Anyway, for the 800m I had lane 1 which is not a nice curve to race, but does mean that you don't have to worry about coming over to the inside lane. My compensator wasn't really set up for it, which was a bit annoying since it meant that for 400m of the race my steering was definitely not right, and in the 400m of straight racing it was decidedly dodgy! 

Coming round the first bend.

Anyway, the race started and I got a good start to get ahead of the rest of the field. However, by 200m I was already feeling tired. My breathing was ragged and I felt as if there wasn't any air coming in. Going through 400m, I knew I was ahead, but had no idea how far. It was quite handy listening out for the bell signalling to the next racer that they were on their last lap - the time between the two of us going through the halfway mark felt reasonably safe, but I knew I had very little left to give, and couldn't afford to slacken off. I forgot about the fact that I was only halfway through and turned my mind off. This is a useful technique that takes away all those thoughts of 'I can't' or 'I need to stop'. I suspect it might be something that either you can do or you simply cannot do. At the moment I haven't refined it enough to allow me to engage in rational, tactical thought at the same time as switching off the negative thoughts, but I can replace it mentally with calm encouragement.

A still of me from a video (hence a bit blurry - sorry!)

Coming through the last 200m, I no longer needed to worry about turning the negative thoughts off - I was now at the point of the track where I had to finish the course anyway just to be able to get off the track. I turned down the final straight and realised I had nothing left to give. At Chelmsford, I was able to do a nice sprint finish and really power it down to the line. At St Ives, I couldn't do that. I just about held on to my lead and crossed the line in a time of 3:31.06, ahead of Naomi in second place with 3:34.92 and Rebecca in third with 4:07.95. Compared to Chelmsford, I had slowed down by 5 and a bit seconds. Probably not too bad for how awful I felt, but a considerable change nonetheless.

After the race, I got myself off the track and sat in my day chair. I then felt strange, so lay down for a bit on a useful gym mat that someone had left lying around to cover up some cables. I then had one of my fun exercise-induced seizures, which was unsurprising really given how tired I had been before even starting. At the same time, Claire decided to cough up her lungs again and went hypoxic, meaning that an ambulance was called again. When the paramedics arrived they were rather bemused to find that the girl lying down in the middle of the path with a load of St John's Ambulance blankets on her was not actually their patient! Anyway, after my little moment (and quite a few Haribo minions) I felt a bit better. Once we knew that Claire was being looked after, we got the chairs sorted out and John drove me home. I make it all sound like it didn't take long, but I imagine it was at least an hour. I don't know. I wasn't fully with it...

Anyway, that was last month. This is now this month. This month I am aiming to be as relaxed as possible in the run up to the competition. I want to feel fit and healthy and to race well instead of just surviving. Watch this space!