These last two weekends have been rather fun for me. First I traveled to Nebraska and ran an easy qualifying 400m, but our 4x4 had a few too many aches and pains to qualify automatically. Then came Iowa State this past weekend. I ran on our DMR team Friday evening and qualified provisionally. That was probably one of the biggest breakthrough races of my life. My split was only a 45.4, but most importantly I didn't get nervous before I ran. Usually I get all nervous and worked up before I race, but this time I just warmed up the same amount I do in practice, and went out and ran. I didn't get sick after I raced which made me truly enjoy track for the first time. Usually I'm sick for about 45 min after I race.
Minnesota vs. Baylor:
When Saturday came I told myself I wasn't going to get nervous anymore, but when I watched Darold Williamson and Andrew Rock run so frikkin' fast in their open 400m races, I was going crazy. So about 2 hrs before the 4x4 I decided to take an hour nap. It actually helped, because when I wasn't worked up anymore, which is pretty amazing considering I usually get worked up for small home meets let alone a 4x4 where we're about to mix it up with Baylor. That race was fun as hell to run in! As soon as we were done running I wanted to do it again. The whole damn place was going crazy. It was sweet considering we don't usually get that kind of competition. Anchoring with Williamson was about the most fun I've had running in a long time. I don't think either of us planned on running 44 sec splits, and I doubt either of us would have ran that fast if we were running under different circumstances. I gotta hand it to Baylor though, those boys were rollin'.
p.s.- I just want to apologize to the gentlemen who I got mad at for telling me “nice try” after the 4x4 on Saturday. I understand that you had good intentions and for most people trying is all that counts, but where I come from trying don't mean squat if you don't win. Hell, my mom wouldn't bring me out to eat after the State Meet in high school because I only got 3 firsts and not 4 (I got third in the high jump).
