Solihull BMC- 1500m

Steve said it was a no pressure race and it was just a case of getting round. I thought this was a good approach to take so when I was standing on the start line I didn't feel many nerves or my legs didn't stiffen up like they usually do. That's maybe because I changed my warm up round a bit. Roughly an hour before the race I did a jog and some hard strides because I heard it's supposed to help your legs get used to buffering lactic for the race. Then half an hour before I did another light jog and some drills and just before the race did a half-assed stride, I actually felt quite good before the race for a change.

The race set off and I was in the bottom half of the field going through 300m in 46 and and 400m in 63. I could feel the lactic settling in after 300m and remember thinking "maybe I'm not a track runner", that was not a good sign. Luckily the lactic didn't develop any more and I stayed in the middle of the field hitting 700m in 1:50. After that I didn't concentrate on any splits and just kept picking my way through the field until 400m to go when I saw I was near the front and was in for a shout of winning the race. Although I was working hard I still felt like I could go faster and with 200m to go lengthened my stride and closed the gap on the leader. With 100m to go had no one in my sights and powered home in 3:52 and a two second PB. Steve said I went through 800m in 2:06 and I spoke to an athlete in the race Carl Smith, and he said he went through the bell in 2:52/2:53 and he was just ahead of me. This means I ran the last 800m in 2:02 and the last lap in roughly 59/58. That is what I liked about the race the most, the closing speed. Even though I was tired I was still able to pick up quite a lot, and at the the end of the day, a quick finish is what is going to win a race, so the finishing splits were pleasing to see.

During the race I felt like I was always able to change gear whereas in my other races I was running flat out the whole way with no change of pace. The fact that the lactic didn't hit me very hard was also good and maybe indicates I am capable of running on the track. It's definitely given me confidence moving forwards and can't wait to do my next race.