PB or not PB that is the question….
So my first event of June was the Welsh Masters Championships. This year it was split over 2 days a weekend apart.
On the 4th June I was competing in the 200m and 400m. The weather forecast was not the best so I decided to invest that morning in an Aldi pop up tent – Funky!
I felt in good form and it was great to have Coach Stu on hand who was also competing and my racing buddy ‘Vicky the Fear’. The weather did not disappoint and it was a nice soggy one to Warm up to.
First up was the 200 and Vicky and I ran though our drills and warm up including strides and some practice runs off our blocks. There were supposed to be 2 others in our race but due to injury they did not run so we ran a combined aged race and I was happy to win. I still feel a novice at 200 as still not raced as many as 100 but I got a good start, floated for the next 50 and tried to hit the bend hard and come into the home straight. Not my fastest time but my 2nd fastest so happy enough…. One gold medal in the bag.
Next up was my 400 race so I needed to get some food in me and start my race prep. The race timings were running behind at one point by over an hour. So I managed to get caught out and not warm up quite as much as I would have liked. This is something I need to get my head around more as there have been a few times where I have been caught out like this….
In my 400 there was a 35 year old who I have raced a few times at 400 this year and beaten but I knew she would give me a good race especially as 400 is not really my main event and a little on the long side for me... I make a good start and after a100 try to hit the cruise control. I am in the lead but my competitor is close behind. I kick again at about 150 and can hear my opponents heavy breathing but I am not shaking her. I feel quite strong in the final 100 and keep working hard to the line and just manage to hold her off. Great 2nd gold in the bag and again a decent time...
Job done, my friend has raced well Vicky picking up a gold in the 200m and also my coach, Stuart Pearce smashed his pb and winning well he takes gold in his 200m. We stop off for a cheeky pub tea on the way back home happy days :)
In the week I focus on my technique during training and feel in a good place for my race at the Welsh Masters Championships. I am quite excited as this race is combined in the Welsh Senior Championships at Leckwith Cardiff. They are Celebrating 100 years and there is a party atmosphere with music blasting out and various past champions making appearances from over the years. All very inspiring.
Both my Coach and I are racing in a 100m so collect our numbers and start our preparation. As I am warming up I am feeling quite tight in the hips and just not quite feeling it. We make our way over to the call room to check in before the race. At this stage it seems no other ladies have turned up and I will race with the Welsh Masters Men! I love the thought of this as I know it will push me and hopefully bring the best out of me...
We are called to starters orders and I am in lane 2. I hear the bang and I am up and out. I feel like I have a good start but fade in the later stages of the race only to be pipped on the line... I finish 7th out of 8 and gain a new pb 13.83... Its not a great improvement but a pb non the less. It all going in the right direction for Denmark. all be it a bit slowly!
Next up is the 2nd Summer 'Run with the wind' sprints open. Again this is in Cardiff's Leckwith Stadium.
I am here this time with my 3 teammates, coach Stu, Holly Borwn and Tom Evans we are all up for this one...
First up is Coach Stu with a life time best of 12.01 - Smashed it. Next its me and Holly Brown. Holly totally smahes it and her pb 13.69 and I again gain a minor pb with 13.81 lol Tom is last up and he hasn't been able to race much this season with various niggles and injuries. This time though he is eager and looking amazing.......11.11 in his race - Boom a new pb for Tom too and more to come I feel. Tom also does the 200 again and a new pb. A great team meeting in the sun - 'Well that was nice then....
I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with the snail like reduction of my pb. The race felt fast but just a slight increase. I always keep my watch on when I train and race so when I get home I check my stats and look at my top speed. I have only ever seen my top speed at 32 kph, this time however the watch shows 34.9 so perhaps there is some reason for optimisism for Denmark I think.
Next up for me is the BMAF Championships in Birmingham I have been planning on doing the 100 on the Saturday and 200 on the Sunday.
I arrive in plenty of time to catch up with my masters buddies and get a good seat to see some of the action before I race. I am feeling really tight across the shoulders and about an hour and half before my race I start my prep, including listening to some music to get me all fired up. Not that I need it I am unusually nervous and feel quite sick. Still I think good hopefully the adrenaline will help me get a good time.
I have a great warm-up and other than my shoulders fee, l fast and strong.
We are led out to the start and I am in lane 2. I go to set up my blocks and they are jammed, I am already feeling nervous and this is not helping! Try as I might I cannot shift the setting to set up. I shout out to one of the officials to explain the issue, apologising to my fellow athletes for delaying the start. They are all cool about it and I get the blocks swapped over. I then set them up and do my practice run off and then its the start.
I take my time getting on my marks, thinking out my arms and trying to drive out as quick as I can. We are into set and I react reasonably well to the BANG! I swing my arms and drive out hard as I come into transition I look up and I can feel I am in the race, I slowly start to slip back though but keep working hard to the line hoping the time is good. Its not what I had hoped for 13.83 its ok just outside my pb and my joint 2nd fasted time ever but I was looking for more in such a high calibre race. Still I try to pick myself up as I have a 200 to race the next day and an outside chance of a medal so I keep my mindset positive for tomorrow.
I don't sleep well but then that is normal for me on a first night away. I am shattered the next morning but we have plenty of time to have a nice healthy breakfast in the hotel and we arrive in plenty of time for my race. My back is still tight so I decide to have a sports massage at the stadium. Crack, clunk, crack goes my back. I do feel a little looser and not long after I start the business of warming up. Last year I lost focus on day 2 so this year I keep my head in the game and run though my standard warm ups taking my time and again listening to some music. Again other than my shoulders I am feeling good and up for the race.
The conditions are not quite as good as the day before a little wet and windy but warm and the weather isn't causing too much bother. I run though my race plan in my mind, seeing myself fast out of the blocks to 50m, float to around 100 and then slingshot out of the bend. I am in lane 6 and everyone else in my race is on my inside which means they have me to chase. Still I have to learn to race from any lane and decide to give it my best shot.
I hear the bang and get out well and it feels like the lady on my inside is on me quickly. I execute as I planned but not sure I quite hit the slingshot into the home straight. I keep driving to the line thinking I am in 3rd spot only for my heart to sink as I realise i am in 4th and I am now slightly off the pace. I keep working to the line to glance at the winning time on the clock to realise my time will be a lot slower than I had hoped in the 29s and I am right its 29.34.
This turns about to be my 2nd fastest time ever although I swear blind I have run 29.1 ish this year but its not on the power of 10 so I must have imagined it!
I am now feeling pretty gutted, not so much on the 2 x 4th places but day one was hoping for a better time and really felt I raced poorly in the 200 and again time was slow.
I allow myself 24 hours of self pity, lets be honest in the scheme of things in the world right now this is pretty incidental but I guess when you work hard for something and fail its hard to take. Still no time to dwel,l need to get head right so that night its back to training with Team Lewis - feel the love and fun blocks session and all's right with the world.
Next race is 2nd July and I have a 400m in a Welsh shirt and a 4 x 100 legs - Happy days :)
