.., and then it happened...hoping for a miracle

Saturday, 6/9--I got up early and did a little work, figuring I could be productive.  I was so immersed in what I was doing that the time caught up to me and I wound up leaving for Widener for the Mid-Atlantic Champs 25 minutes later than expected.  I arrived at close to 10:00.  I had already completed my entry form, so I was able to pay, complete the seed card and be on my way.  My goal, as articulated some time ago, was to run the 100, 400, 200, and 4x100 at Widener, then make my way to the PA Distance Festival at Henderson for the 800.   The goal was to crack some barriers: break 12 in the 100, 53 in the 400, and 24 in the 200.  I hadn't thought a lot about the 4x100 barrier or for the 800.

My warm-up for the 100 wasn't remarkable.  I was initially pressed for time and then I realized that I was in good shape, largely because the meet officials decided not to run ahead of schedule.  I got myself into the groove for the 100, doing several starts and speed drills.  I was ready to rock and roll.  I was in lane 5 of heat 3 of the men's 100 in what appeared to be a nice field: Muhamed Ali, teammate Ross O'Neil, Charles Sawyer (TNT), and a few other guys (a couple of them with TNT) whose names escape me.  I got comfortable in my blocks and was off.  I drove out nicely and ran 12.14 for third place.  The winning time was 11.81.  I wanted to break 12, and technically I did--12.14 FAT is 11.9 HT!

One race down; a few to go.

I cooled down and was ready for the 400.

400--As soon as the gun went off, I felt a pull to my hamstring.  I grimmaced.  I kept on running in what I thought was would be a good race for me.  I kept telling myself that I'd be fine and that I should take the backstretch easy and I'd be okay by the 200.  However, I pulled up and off the track 160m-170m meters into the race.  I had pulled my hamstring.  That was the end of my campaign to run 5 events, much less break some barriers.  Stinks.  I spent the balance of the meet cheering on my teammates, icing and wallowing in self-pity.  (Perhaps I should have stuck to good old reliable: the 800. Kevin Forde did mention that he had hoped to lock up with me in a race.)

The 200m was the hardest event for me to watch.  I saw an empty lane 2, my lane, the lane from which I had planned to race to a sub-24.  Again, the heat was perfect.  It featured the same players from the 100, and I would've had lane 2.  I imagined myself, as a sat sidelined, taking the turn harder than usual and coming up on the hip of the runner in lane 3 and coming off the turn in a good position.  As it turned out, the guy who won the 100 won the 200. Junior from TNT would get second and break the 24-second barrier.  He and I had raced a couple of weeks ago, and I had won by .01.  This would have been a nice rematch.

I did eventually reach West Chester Henderson HS for the PA Distance Festival, but only to watch enviably.

I'm icing as we speak and am hoping for a miracle.

Friday-6/8-took off.

Thursday, 6/7--lifted only