Strike one. 25.05
Missed a PR by 0.11. It was the second fastest 200m I've run, and faster than last week, but I was hoping for much better. Can't say that I'm not consistent. The last three 200m races have all been in a narrow range of .19 seconds: 24.94, 25.13, and 25.05. A game of inches and eyelashes... 0.11 seconds. You'd be very hard pressed to start and stop a stopwatch in that short of a time. Try it. Amazing that one can run for 25 seconds and finish precisely in such a specific timeframe.
Conditions were good, felt ok about my start, had good competition... shoulder to shoulder with one guy all the way down the straight. We finished in a dead heat, but he beat me by 0.05. At least I didn't finish last, I beat one guy overall. I was trying very hard and when I do, I sometimes lose form and get a little bowlegged on the start, which may have been the case today.
200m race strategy seems simple enough. For me, it's always 100% the whole way. Latif Thomas talks about floating through the second half of the turn, but that makes no sense to me. Since I've trained for the 400m, the 200m doesn't seem to have an aerobic fatigue element like the 400m. I see no reason to 'float' any of it. The concepts in my mind before I start are almost antithetical. Like 'aggressive, attack, power' vs. 'stride, relax, extend, elevate.' Hopefully, I'll figure it out.
It was an extremely competitive NCAA Div I meet. The winner of the 200m could have been considered near world class - running a 20.51. (7th in the 2011 world championships was only .17 faster).
Overall, I'm disappointed but OK with it. It was fun, no injuries, and I'll give it a go tomorrow in the 400m ... from lane 8. I'm extremely light and in good shape: 138.4 lbs after the meet. My body fat % is probably 10% or less because I am stronger and faster than last year.
Week after Penn Relays - another meet option
Since I'll be returning home from the Penn Relays on Friday night, that gives me a longer training cycle for Southeastern Masters on 5/12, which will occur right after my vacation trip to Vegas. I hope to really bust ass that week so I can train very little in Vegas. I'm planning just one track day and one resistance day for the 3 days I'm there Sun-Tues. I return Wed. so I can get a workout in that night.
But here's the kicker... since I have to start running faster and shorter, I signed up for TWO Senior District Games meets during that week where I will run the 100, 200, 400, and 800 races in consecutive order. One is Tues. morning May 1 on a nice track at TN Tech, and the other is Sat morning May 5, the same day I leave for Vegas. There is not much time between races, so it will be a good workout. Coach Page always said I should run the 800m in a junk meet ... well here are 2 of them, in the same week.
As a blind runner it was really hard for me to learn the concept of floating while sprinting, and I would put money on you running faster if you can do this for the last fifty of that first turn.
ReplyDeleteDid anybody video your race? I'm willing to bet your last fifty/70 was not pretty.
When you rig up, which eventually you will if you try to power the entire 200, you will lose considerable more time than you will if you give yourself a few tenths over that first hundred. Try it.
Looking at your hundred times, this is more proof that you should be easily running under 25 for the 2, which further proves my point. Good luck today in the 4!