View Workout (Jake Avery)

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States

June 11, 2016 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Not done yet. I'll start from the top. Really had a lot of trouble getting sleep last night. I was nervous but I don't think that's why, I didn't get sleep last year at states and I was telling myself to go to bed and when I do that I normally can't go to bed. Either way not really sure how much sleep I got, but I just didn't want to use it as an excuse. I've had some races after I haven't gotten that much sleep and it doesn't effect you much. We got to the meet and it was just pouring. There was a delay so we all had to wait inside. Went back out to catch Lizzy racing. She had a good race, but it's more of a great learning experience for next year at states. I feel like at states it almost takes a year to get used to the atmosphere. I was more nervous last night and this morning than almost every race this year so I was just waiting to warmup. However as soon as I started warming up it went right away and I felt good. The meet was moving fast so I decided to warmup early, but my early warmup turned out to be a late warmup. I started it when they called first call. I though it would just be a first call that was far in advance but it wasn't. Halfway through my warmup they called second call. Then when I was almost done with my warmup they called last call. So I grabbed my spikes real quick and booked it over to the clerking area where everyone was already there waiting. It was like a professional race where they put all the professional runner together in a room before sending them out. I've watched interviews with Mo Farah and Galen Rupp before and they said that that part is the most nerve racking part of the race. So I was happy to get in and out of there quickly. Didn't have a chance to do drills or strides so I just had to wait until they walked us out across the track to the infield. It might have been a good thing that I was rushing over there because it got my mind off the race and my nerves. Didn't even get to see Weishaar before the race because we kept missing each other but it all worked out. When I finally got on the track and had 10 mins to warmup. It was probably a good thing that I only had this much time because I didn't have too much time to stand around waiting. Did a few strides and some drills then leg swings and I was calm and ready to go. Went on track and was in the zone. Last night was telling myself that this won't be my last race getting pumped up but all that stuff wasn't running through my head before the race. I was just focusing on clearing my mind and racing. I didn't want to think about times or what I was gonna do in the next lap, I just wanted to race in the moment.
We got up to the line and I was on the far outside. I was ready though because I had practiced it. Ran up to the line and there was someone with their toe on the line so we had to go back and do it again. The gun went off and I got out but couldn't get around the guy next to me so settle in the back because I knew it was a long race and that I would have time to move up later. Schaffer took the race out relatively hard anyways so it might have been a smart move. They had a clock at both the 200 and 400 so I could see my time both ways. During the first lap I got aught in the back pack. I knew that I had to stay smart and patient and not make any rash decisions. Came through the 400 in 64 I felt pretty smooth, smoother than I've felt in awhile. Because I practiced running this pace on Wednesday and was used to the pace. The next lap I wanted to focus on getting out of that back pack and just moving up. I moved past 3 people at the 200. But at the end of the lap I got caught in another pack. Hit another 64 so my pace was a 2:08 at this point. I still felt great so I thought I should keep moving up. I really made moves in the 3rd lap. Some of the moves I made weren't that smart of moves but I thought they were necessary at the time. Came around the turn and the pack that I was stuck in were slowing down I knew I had to get past them before the 600 mark in order to start moving up more and hit a good time, I couldn't just settle with being in the chase pack. I found a gap on the inside and moved past one guy on the inside. Saw the next guy and couldn't pass on the outside because someone was there so I went for the inside. Caught an elbow, stepped on the rail then took 2 steps on the outside of the track, almost fell but kept going. 1 more step and I would've been DQ'd. Weishaar wasn't too happy about that one. Was a little too risky, I have a habit of doing that sometime and should probably stop. I finally had some open ground and I started squeezing it down with 600 left. I was lowering the pace unconsciously because I just wanted to move up to the top pack. Past one guy and started to makeup some of the gap to the top pack and at that point I was in the front of the chase pack. Came through in another 64. Knew I was running well but just had to close and not die. Moved up to a guy from st anothonys but couldn't make the pass on the outside at the 200 mark, and at the same time I was trying to hold off a guy and the end but got passed. Just tried to dig deep in the last part and finish so that I could hit the time. Finished and looked up at the scoreboard and saw 4:17 and I was fired up.
I've been waiting for a PR like this all year and I'm finally starting to hit some faster times. I came in to the race wanting to have no regrets if it was to be my last race. I just wanted to be fearless and rep Ithaca well. I talked to Dan Schaffer for awhile after the race, he had a hell of a race and won it all. He definitely deserve it as he is probably the most underrated runner in the state. After the race I went to the tent and saw the awards going on so I hopped a fence and went on the award stand. Got a bunch of pictures and stuff and some medals. Was 4th in class A and 7th overall in the Federation. Broke Dan's school record by 2 seconds. Was unsure if I made nationals or not after the race but made it so I was excited about that. Just everything I wanted out of one race. Races like this really shows me how much I love the sport. After that race I was so pumped and I found a new level and I'm ready to exploit that new level. I'm hungry to keep improving. And I still have more to prove. A lot of the new level was mental as that third lap was really eye opening for me. I realized I can hang with anyone so after that lap I held my own in the fast heat. Was ranked 13th and got 7th. If I can always have that mentality I'm gonna be set. I'm gonna go to nationals with that mentality for sure. I feel like my peak is coming on perfectly this season. I'm still mentally there and know that I can keep improving, and physically I haven't felt better. My arms were better but needed work. From the video they didn't look the best but that was because I wasn't thinking about them. I'll develop them back in cross so that they will be good when I'm not thinking about them. My splits in that race were almost perfect. I never even looked at my splits the entire race however they came out to be 1:04.1-1:04.2-1:04.5-1:04.6. I guess my mental clock is better than I thought. No reflection today, gonna have a long one next week though. I'm ready to go to nationals and get the experience of being in national level competition and the nerves that comes with that. It'll be a good learning experience. But I'm not going there for just the experience in going there to race and hold my own. I got another strong week left in me.