Nicole Blood, cont.

Wednesday would be an easier, 5 mile run. Then Thursday would be a prerace before state qualifiers on Friday, May 28th. I qualified for the 3000 and our 4x800 relay also won to qualify. Saturday was a cruise interval workout with 1 min. rest. Sunday, long run and Monday would be 2mile repeats again at the usual pace. Tuesday June 1st is a 400 speed workout with 1-2 min, rest. Wednesday was an easier 5 mile run and Thursday is a prerace.
Friday night, June 4th I won the 3000m at the State Championship, and clocked a PR of 9:24. The next morning, our 4x800 didn't run as well as we hoped but still took 2nd. Coming off of this weekend I felt very strong and confident, ready for Nationals. Sunday was our longrun and Monday was another cruise interval workout with 1 min. rest. Tuesday the 8th we ran the short 4x200 workout and then a 4 mi. tempo run at a 6:40 pace. Wednesday, 2mile repeats. Thursday was a 5 mi. easy run, and then Friday was a prerace.

Saturday was the big day, June 18th. woot wooot! Going into the race, I was very confident. I've been feeling strong in my previous races and I gave my best effort in each and every workout. I was motivated throughout the entire season to be prepared for this race and I couldn't have been more ready.

Walking on to the field, the clouds were looking rough. I remember a lot of the girls were excited that the race might be delayed, but I wasn't because I waited for this race since Indoor nationals. I don't even remember being nervous. I knew what I wanted and I knew that there would be no excuses if I didn't get it.

So of course the race got delayed for about an hour. I had to do another warm-up and all that jazz but I kept in mind that everyone in my race was going through the same thing. So I didn't let it get to me. The only hard part was staying relaxed because I was so anxious to go! We got back on the field and before I knew it I was on the starting line.

The gun went off and I got a comfortable start but Jenny Barringer took it out pretty fast and the field went with her. I'm usually a front runner so I got kinda freaked when I realized there was nobody behind me at the 200 mark. I dunno if it was smart or stupid but I surged to the front and took the lead for the 2nd lap. Chock came with me and stayed on my shoulder. On the third lap she made a huge move and pulled ahead of me by quite a bit.