Track Racing Experience

I always said I’d never race on the track as an adult. I didn’t like the thought of the pressure, that everyone is watching, and that more than likely, I’d be right at the back! I managed to put it off for two summers before I finally decided to give it a go.

I didn’t have a clue what distance I should run and so I chatted with the other girls who were competing, and we split up the races between us. My races were the 800m, 1500m and the 400m relay.

As the time was ticking down, I went off to do my warm-up for the 800m. I was absolutely dreading the race. I’d only ever ran this distance in training, so I didn’t really know how to pace it. I was the B runner which I was pretty happy about – until they announced that the A and B runners would be going together as there weren’t many competitors! When the gun went off, I tried to stay as close to the others as possible. I’m fairly sure I went through 400m in 400m PB time, but definitely wasn’t sustaining that and completely dropped off on the second lap.

2:38 was my time for my first 800m race which I was really made up with. I felt like I was going to be sick after I finished, and I had a horrible burning feeling in my throat which I’d never experienced before! I chatted with my coach about it, to which he replied “oh don’t worry, that’s just track throat” … It had a name!

A couple of hours later, I headed out for my second warm up of the day, for the 1500m race. I really wasn’t holding much hope for this. It really wasn’t a good run at all, and I felt like I was going backwards! I finished the race in 5:55 which I was fairly happy with but also felt like I could have done much better. I rounded out the day with a leg in the 400m which I absolutely loved! I love the team events as I’ve always been a team sport kind of person.

Throughout the rest of the season, I took part in many other track events, but the nerves and dread never seemed to get any less before them. On many of the track meets, a couple of us would end up competing in multiple events, sometimes 7, to make up the numbers in the team.

By the end of the season, I managed to get my 800m time down to 2:32 but didn’t improve on my 1500m time. Racing in the 400m for the first time was pretty scary as everyone I was competing against seemed fairly experienced. Though I was so happy to finish my quickest 400m in 68 seconds. I gave a few events a go in the summer of 2019, which were: 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, high jump, 4x100m and 4x400m. I was shocked to think that I’d have wanted to compete again the year after but due to COVID, our league was cancelled – much like everything else in 2020.