Directionally challenged

Today, I made my way down to Indoor Nationals in Landover, MD. The trek down was a bit of a mess for me. Listening to music and not with a care in the world, I missed my exit. Actually, I didn't just miss it; I missed it by a mile...well, more like 15miles! I was supposed to get off at exit 52 and when I finally paid attention I was at exit 42. I went back and forth trying to decide whether I should try my luck and cut across the highway, but I knew it was wrong and dangerous and that I would be nabbed. Instead, I pulled out at a rest stop, took refuge and relief in the men's room, and started my drive again. I exited at 37 and was able to re-enter I95, this time north. Knowing that I was now running late, I was rather cautious. I made my way into the outskirts of Baltimore and confirmed directions. I took a leap of faith through some streets here and there and ended up on the correct road. Directionally challenged!?

Anyway, I finally arrived at the arena at about 11AM. I checked in and found that the 800 women's races were underway. I warmed up and tried to shake off the cobwebs that were obviously in my head. (I did have a long busy weekend: chaperoned my daughter's trip, had an early alumni weekend at my alma mater, facilitated a discussion group, had rehearsal for a performance on Friday night, followed by the performance on Saturday night.) Excuses, I know, but the truth. ...Which leads me to the race. I got myself in gear and found that I had checked in to the race later than I should have. Even though I had an event number and membership number and whatnot, an official at the starting line initially said that she could not secure a lane/hip number for me because the roster for my race had been taken by another official. I told her should could just give me any number. She evidently couldn't. I finally got a number, 2, moments before stepping on the track. A few runners were missing from our heat, but we still had about 7 or 8 guys. The gun went off. I found myself in third position for the first 150. I then pulled into 2nd at the 200. The clock read 30-31. I pulled into first at the 250m mark, realizing the pace was slow. At the 400m mark, I saw 61 and some change. I then felt foosteps. It was Kyle Lanier. He passed me at the 450m mark. I stayed within a meter or two of him. He began to pull away at the 600m. With a surge, I kept the distance the same; he would gain no more. For a brief moment with 100 m to go, I thought I would catch him. But, it just wouldn't be. He got me again. 2:04 (high) to my 2:05 (low). I was disappointed, knowing I had planned to go faster, ideally much faster--perhaps even a second per lap! Too ambitious, maybe. I wish the first 400 had been 2 seconds faster; this could have played into my race plan. All that said, I found the bright side: it was a pretty even race--61-62 for the first 400m and 62-63 for the second. I thought I might go 60 and 63 or 59 and 63. This will be my goal for next time. But, then again, I am thinking of backing off the 800 for a while in favor of the 400 and the mile! Can you believe it? Challenged by distance, too?

But the way, the arena--the track--was awesome! I look forward, God willing, to running on it next indoor season.

UPDATE-UPDATE! I just saw the video of the race and it appears that I ran very even splits: 31.1,31.4(62.5),62.6. http://www.aidemsolutions.com/2009masters/800/m30-39/