European Racing Plan:
3k at Gothenburg Swedish Grand Prix 7/16 Result: 9:11.04, 6th place
Steeplechase at London Diamond League 7/23
1500m at Karlstad Swedish Grand Prix 7/27
3k at Joensuu Games in Finland 7/30
Travel Eastern Europe 8/1-8/21
In the couple days before the
Gothenburg race, I got to spend some quality time with running buddies Amber
Shultz (Club Northwest Steeplechaser), Sasha Gollish (Haute Volee Canadian
Mid-distance), and Victoria Mitchell (Australian Steeplchaser). With quite a bit of down time in the couple
of days leading up to the race, and not having close family or friends around,
I appreciated having awesome women to hang out with.
Amber, Me, Victoria, Sasha - post 3k.
Track
officials never seem to disqualify athletes for breaking rules. Runners blatantly shove, drift over to
prevent people from passing, slow races down to let their teammate catch up, and
cut others off. Maybe a yellow flag will
be raised, but almost never is anyone disqualified. So, I was very much surprised that when
officials started to get annoyed with some of the women’s conduct in the
staging area, they had tools to get racers in line.
We were all supposed to be lined up
and ready to go out to the track, but one of the women was still changing into
her uniform, holding the rest of us up from being able to continue warming up
before racing. One of the officials
walked over (once the runner had her buns on), and pulled out a yellow card as
a warning, soccer style. I was thankful
an official was willing to defend the rules, first, because it was hilarious to
see a card being thrown outside of a soccer stadium, but also because if you
have an 8:40 3k pr, you have run in an international race before, and you know
how things work. I know I’m my dad’s
daughter when I’m that excited about officials enforcing law and order.
The race itself was fine. I went through 1600m in 4:50, but then slowed
down to 5:00 pace, finishing in 9:11.
The time was a one second PR, but it hurt, and I didn’t have anyone to race
against after I lost contact with the top five after the first two laps. Right
after the race, I was questioning if I should pull out of my remaining three
races, because I felt so bad. But, with
a little distance, I’ve remembered how terrible I usually feel when I race a
couple days after traveling a long distance.
Race start.
Pain face. Maybe if I close my eyes, the hurting will stop?
Now I’m staying with Amber and her
husband, Jedd, in an Airbnb for a few days before heading to London. We are using the time to rest, read, and
cook. Michael is chiding me for not
taking full advantage of being in Gothenburg, but I have a lot of racing to do
in the next couple weeks, and I know I’ll be on the go once Dad gets here to
travel with me in Eastern Europe.
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