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Dan Fravil Ithaca Relays

April 22, 2016 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: "Joe isn't that your race" "yeah let me get a picture first" *gun goes off* "oh shoot" *joe sprints to handoff section gets handoff and wins the race.

Comments:
Gonna hop right into it. Started the warmup by myself out into fall creek where I went a little too quick but it was alright. I was sweating bullets, it was a lot more humid than I thought it would be. I got back and did a few drills and strides before I headed out with my SMR team. It would go Derran, Joe, Abe, then me. Joe was talking so much crap at the line with Binghamton, about how he would have made it to nationals last year if he didn't get injured and how he had hundreds of college scholarships in line. I tried to ignore it but it was definitely annoying. Then he said that he would put $50 on us to win, I had to tell him to stop cause that's a lot of pressure on me. The race started and Derran didn't look all that bad, he was a little off the lead but still in it, Joe got us back into it and Abe kept me in touch with the leader, Binghamton. I was maybe 20 meters behind to start out. I immediately got into race zone. It was a crazy feeling, I'm not even exaggerating, right once I got the baton everything went quiet. I could tell the Binghamton kid was out very quickly. I had to make a decision, either to slow it down and let him go, and try to get him later, or stay in touch and pay later. I picked the latter of the two. I went out in 27, and overall, in 56. The Binghamton kid actually gained distance around the 300m mark. But at the 500m mark I started closing. I was getting closer and closer and I knew I had to keep up the momentum. I passed the guy with 200m to go and tried to pull away, but that's where I started to pay for going out so hard. I was tying up hard, and it probably looked like I was jogging to many, but I was struggling to finish that race. The crowd was getting louder, and I could tell the guy was getting closer. I looked behind me at the end, my first time ever. But it was for a reason, if he was on the inside I would edge him out so he couldn't pass and if he was on the outside I would edge him over there. It wasn't out of fear, but regardless I shouldn't have done it. Now I can't tell anyone that I've never looked behind me in a race before. I finished through the line and I was pumped up. I gave a few fist pumps, and then dropped the baton but after I crossed the line and the refs were pissed for some reason about that. We set the school record and get some nice blue shirts. I think I hit a 1:58 in the relay but some people got me at 1:57. Either way I wanted to pr, but with the way I went out that wasn't gonna happen. I could probably hit 1:55-56 right now if I even split. My arms did feel off the entire race, I must've been thinking about them too much. Weishaar is right if I think about them too much they aren't good. It's all in my head. I was seeing stars and had a massive headache after the race. I was very dehydrated. It took me a good 20 mins to get my head back to normal. Did a 11 min cool down on the infield by myself and then went back up to our tent for a little. Came back down to warmup for the 4x400, got a good 10 mins in. Then when I was talking with Coach B, some other kids on our team came up to me and said that they were running, which I gotta say I was pretty pleased about because I could just focus on the 4xmile. I watched the DMR, Ronan looked alright, but he said he did bad. Ian was still a little tired from the steeple, but a 2:11 isn't bad. And Neil went out too hard but still had an ok race~4:45. I ate some food and got a lot of water in me before me and the rest of the guys started our warmup for the 4xmile. Since Ian had already ran 2 events he did a 3-5 min warmup which was probably enough for him. The rest of us did 10 mins. I felt fatigued but good at the same time. I feel like it's easier to race under those conditions sometimes, but sometimes not so much so I was anxious to see what would happen in this race. Lately my nervousness has shifted before races. I don't get all that nervous for races, but sometimes it feels weird because I feel like I should be nervous. Like I didn't even think of my events at all until I was warming up for them and I wasn't even nervous then. It really doesn't affect your races either way unless you are way too nervous like I used to be. Now I think of races as just a little bit harder than some workouts, except for XC workouts which are tougher than races in my opinion. I just think of each race as a time to get a little bit more out of myself. Then brought us to the outside of the track with like 40 mins before our race. We had to wait for the girls to go, and there was a race before. So we were out there for awhile. I made sure not to over stride, but still had to stay loose. The order was: Neil, Ian, Me, Hunter. The race started and Neil was looking alright out here he was going his own pace and holding his own. There was a pack of 3 guys, one from Corning, then ME, and Owego. Then Neil was in no man's land. Weishaar called me over and wanted me to switch with Ian to go second. There was only one lap left so I had to do it quick. I was planning on holding my ground where I was just so that our team could get 3rd, but this was a good adjustment as I needed a chance to actually get a real race in. I got the baton from Neil and chased down a guy from Owego. The Corning and ME guy were pretty far ahead and I couldn't really distinguish between them and the other competition and the people being lapped. The Owego guy went out a little too hard for himself and I recognized that. Weishaar told me that I have a better recognition for pace than I think I have and it showed today I could tell when I was going too fast or too slow. I went out in 65-66, something like that but it might have been slower. Then next lap I sort of fell asleep on. I haven't been racing races besides 800 so I wasn't really used to going hard for a full race, so I definitely fell asleep. Once I get back into racing all my races very hard then I will learn to stay awake and pushing for the entire race. After I finished the 2nd lap I knew it was slow. About a 68. I immediately just energized myself and just started squeezing it down from 800 left. Something you really have to do in the mile. You have to push that third lap. I learned that last year. I was running by myself for the last 2 laps so I was just mentally hearing myself up by saying, you have a week break, make this one hurt and then you won't be saying woulda coulda shoulda throughout break. I felt really good picking it up, it felt better than before. I passed coach at around 550 to go and I knew that I would have to start pushing from there. I used most of my speed in the 800 so it would be a grind it out finish. I was hurting from 300 left but I had to just go to my arms and go. I finished and I had gained a lot of ground on Corning and ME. I was like 30 meters away or less. That was the main goal to get back into the race. I handed off the Ian and he took off. Finished in a 4:24. Which I was very happy about. Running by myself, and going out slow I couldn't have asked for more. I'm only just starting to get used to racing again so I'm pleased with a 4:24. I'm hoping for a 4:18 next meet but I'll address that when the time comes. Ian looked fairly good for having 2 races under him already and hunter cruised in because he didn't have to chase anyone, he just held onto third and got us the points. Finished the day with a 15 min cool down and a few strides. The team got together as they announced winners of the relays. The girls got second and the guys won. We were pumped. We were both the underdogs after Saturday's performance. I didn't think the guys could do it. We are not as deep as Corning or Binghamton whatsoever. Joe was actually the only really confident one that we would come or on top and he was right. Everyone stepped up and we showed that we are a special team if we all work together. We still need Silas back, but not as much as we need him back for good. So he should take his time which he seems to be doing. Overall the distance guys looked good today, even with everyone doing a lot of events. I am happy where my fitness is at now. This is about where I predicted it would be at now. Next goal is a few school record to shoot for, then to hit my goals for the season. Of course I really want to get a fast 3200 in before I focus on the 1600 in the postseason. Next focus- a week of building fitness then Square Deal.