Mississippi College Open Track Meet Race Report

How do you become a fast triathlete? You break down each sport and train to become a fast swimmer, a fast biker, and a fast runner. Sure, you CAN be stronger in one discipline and you CAN do well overall, but in order to be a truly fast triathlete, you have to train specifically in each discipline. This means put on your big girl panties (or big boy panties...) and swim with the swimmers, bike with the bikers, and run with the runners.

Sometimes that's easier said than done. At this point, I've been doing tri's long enough that I no longer have some of those anxieties that I had as a rookie. But it's funny how we can suddenly feel like a new-b again when we get thrown into a situation that's out of our element. For example: dreading that first ever swim meet, wearing a sleeveless jersey to a bike race (BIG no-no), wearing a BLANK jersey to a bike race (if looks could kill...), doing ANYTHING at a bike race and not being surrounded by an enterage...

Kyle found an open track meet held by Mississippi College- open meaning anyone can enter, not just collegiates. This was going to be a great opportunity for me to get an updated accurate 5K time. Not to mention, I would be running with collegiates, so this would be the competition I needed to push to a new level. I have to admit I was less than excited.

1. I would be racing against girls who run in college. Do I really want to go to a race and get my butt handed to me? I'm not saying I have to be the fastest, but I also don't want to be the old lady starting my last lap when everyone else is already finished.
2. I've never competed in a track meet. EVER. I've done speedwork, and that's miserable enough. But seriously, 12.5 laps? NO THANK YOU!
3. I just don't like 5Ks! They hurt. And I'm a wimp.
4. My hip hurts like I'm an old lady. I've been dealing with some IT band pain ever since the Girl Power Tri. Kyle made me go out and do speedwork the Wednesday before the race, and I had to stop short because of the pain. I honestly wasn't sure how the race would affect me.

I took it easy the days leading up to Friday evening (Thursday and Friday), then we closed down early and drove to Jackson for the meet. I checked in, picked up my race number, then asked the race organizer to take my $20 check. He said "Oh, don't worry about it..." I got to race for free! Awesome!

The nice thing about a 5K on a track is that Kyle was able to read off my time for each lap, so I knew exactly what times I needed to hit to stay on pace. We realistically predicted that I would be between 20 & 21, so my goal was to hit 1:38 per 400m.

There were four of us in the race- I was the only unattached runner, the other ladies were from Montevallo. After the start gun, we took off and I found a nice position in third. One girl took off and ended up completing the race under 19 minutes. The second girl and I were about the same pace, so I tucked in right behind her for the duration of the race. Her coach at the 300m mark was yelling out commands and I found myself listening to what he had to say as if he were talking to me also.  Kyle was at the 400 and yeld out all of my splits, which I really found helpful. I felt pretty good through the first mile- it wasn't until I hit the halfway point that things really started to hurt- Burning legs, tight chest... it's all part of the game,  I guess. I was really happy when it was over, and super pumped to have pulled out a PR of 20:37, amost a minute faster than my PR set in February!


A huge thanks to one of my sponsors, Swiftwick Socks!
 Here I am sporting them at the meet. LOVE THEM!