Hitting My Stride

A little over two weeks ago I competed at the Occidental Invite in Eagle Rock (Los Angeles Area). The Occidental meets are always well run and fantastic races with good competition. It was my first race on the track in over a year and I had all the self-doubts and butterflies that come with that.

Workouts had been going well, almost better than I expected given the amount of pain I had been in just a few weeks ago. However, there were things that were difficult to do and my body was still playing catch.

Keeping an extremely open mind - thanks to Coach Paul and Natasha - I headed into the race clear minded and focused on getting myself ready to compete. It was a huge boost to have lots of familiar faces around too. A good contingent of athletes from UCLA were there to compete and Forest Braden (the Boise Bruiser), mentor and friend, was also there to coach and compete. I enjoyed catching up and taking in the atmosphere of a meet again.

I wasn't only there to compete however. Natasha was also there to throw down in her first 1500 in ages. So I had to bring both my competitor and cheer hats. Natasha competed brilliantly and was rewarded with a new personal best! Very exciting!

I was next. I warmed up, performed my drills, and took all the strides I needed. Stepping to the line just before the gun I quickly remembered all the times I thought running might be impossible. "Just run" I said. Bang, the gun went off and before I knew it it was over. I won't ever remember this race for how fast I ran - slow in comparison to what I've accomplished before - but it will mark another milestone in my personal climb to find out how good I can become with a little hard work and a lot of determination.

I'm happy to say I'll have more racing opportunities heading into the summer - so look out for me! I have some confidence and I'm hitting my stride at a good time!