USATF Southeast Region Masters Indoor Championship {Race Report}

Race: USATF Southeast Region Masters Indoor Championships at JDL Fastrack on 1/12/2020

Goal: Top 3 in each event (400m, 60m, 200m)

Gear: Oiselle tank + shorts, Smartwool socks, Saucony spikes, Whoop band

Gut: Never better 😊 I’m going to delete this section from future reports, as I haven’t had a GI incident in months (*knock on wood!*) I think I’ve finally figured out that I absolutely must be hydrated, especially if it’s hot out, so my Nuun electrolytes do a perfect job of taking care of that for me.

Weather: My first indoor meet—no worries about weather! As it was, I did my warm-up outside and it was a VERY warm day for January (in the 60’s I believe) and sunny!

Pre-Race: I had ALL the nerves. Not sure why… I guess because I had sh!t for sleep the last 2 nights (thanks Asher…), I missed some key workouts in the past month, and my right arch of my foot was hurting from Friday’s sprint practice. Also, I hadn’t practiced starts or in my spikes very much, and I just didn’t want to look like a total newbie (even though I was FEELING like a newbie for sure! After all, I hadn’t run a true track meet since May of 2003!!) Plus, I hadn’t raced at all since November, and that wasn’t a good race!

I didn’t do much warm-up (0.6 miles) since my feet were hurting. I didn’t want to make it worse. I feel reasonably loose, and just wanted to get the first event over with. There were a lot more competitors, and spectators, than I expected.

On the very bright side, my teammates from the Oiselle Volee came to cheer me on, and our teammate MA who competed in the mile! YAY and THANK YOU!! 🙂

Race: Breaking down each event…

• The 400 meters was up first—the event I’ve trained for the last 9 weeks. I wasn’t feeling especially confident, as I know this is a very painful event where my legs go lactic towards the end, and my lungs BURN baby burn. There were only 3 of us in the heat, and the other 2 ladies were both in the 35-39 age group. So, I was the only one in the 30-34 age group, meaning I just needed to finish and I’d win 1^st 😊 (or, come in last too, as my dad so nicely put it—thanks Dad!) I decided against starting blocks, as I didn’t think it necessary. As the other runner to my right set up her block, I worked on some positive self-talk:  Just two laps around the track… you got this!  We were off!  Lap 1, I just tried to chill and not go out too hard. I could tell one lady was very fast and the other wasn’t, so I was in the middle. I didn’t have the energy to go after fast lady, since I had 2 more events to think of. There were cones ¾ of the way through lap 1, where once we passed these, we could move to the inside lane. I was already in lane 2, so I moved to lane 1 and tried to focus on my form and giving it 90-95% effort for lap 2. I ended up with a 1:16.95, which isn’t horrible, but I had hoped to be faster. However, I held back, so I think I could have ran maybe 1:12 if I went all out. Happy to have event 1 complete!
• I had a decent break, then got ready to run the 60 meters. This one had 4 of us in my age group, so I just didn’t want to come in last. I could tell the other ladies had all done this before, and I got a little nervous. OK, I was VERY nervous, especially in the starting blocks. The gun went off, and I was behind from the get-go. Really didn’t have a good start. But, I held the gap, and ended up with 9.31 which is under the All-American standard of 9.6! So even though I wasn’t feeling very “Fast”—I still managed to hit the standard in this event. And I came in 3^rd, so yay! I had a longer break between, so I hung out with my Oiselle teammates and my friend SH who came to spectate. I had a Huma gel (chia seed gel) and downed some Nuun, as I was parched from the dry indoor air!

  

  

• Lastly, I had the 200 meters, which I felt was my best chance to do well. One lap around the track. Again, there were 4 of us in the heat, so I just didn’t want to come in last. I was second from the inside lane, so after the gun went off, the 2 outer lanes were faster and I realized I probably wouldn’t catch them. I just had to hold off the one girl… but as we came around the final turn, I could see her passing me! I found some higher gear, miraculously, and came in 3^rd with a very surprising time of 32.24!! I could not believe I had that kind of speed in these 34-year-old legs!

Results: 1^st place of 1 in the 400 meters, time of 1:16.95

3^rd place of 4 in the 60 meters, time of 9.31 (All American standard)

3^rd place of 4 in the 200 meters, time of 32.24

I also got a separate set of medals, designated for North Carolina athletes 😊

Full results here.

Recommend: Yes. For a master’s athlete (which is age 30 up, not age 40 as I previously thought!) who loves short sprints, middle distance, field events, or distances up to 2 miles—definitely! The meet has a great vibe, enough competitors to make it worthwhile, great medals, and some amazing performances by a lot of gifted athletes! It inspired me to continue to strive to be an excellent age group athlete, and overall athlete. I think I will continue to do USATF Masters Events. I might even try the long jump again, or a new event altogether! Hurdles, shotput, anyone?

Lessons Learned: I’m adding this section, since a big part of my WHY for blogging about races is to remember what I did right (and learn from what I didn’t). Trying to be more introspective! I think I did an OK job with training, but need more strength, plyometrics, and short sprints added for next time. I also need to work on starts from a starting block–not sure the best way to do this, other than to buy a block? I am glad I didn’t have any huge blunders (I was worried about tripping and falling for some reason!?) but would love to improve my times at the next meet. Need to work smarter, and harder 😉

Next up? I’m not exactly sure, but the next track meet is in June. The next road race is probably the Atlanta 5K (on 3/1) unless I find one I’d like to do sooner. What’s next for you?? Comment below.

Also, a great chance to spectate the pros is coming up on February 8th, at JDL–The Camel City Elite! I can’t wait to see Jenny Simpson, Paul Chelimo, Edward Cheserek, and others 🙂 It’s gonna be awesome!