This was fun and hard all at the same time. Robin is very experienced from her High School and College days of running track and new it would be a good experience for the whole family and our Tuesday evening running group.
We showed up at the beautiful track facility at Rocklin High School on a day which hit 100 degrees. For only $5 each we were in and able to do as many events as we wanted! Anna and Ariel were free.
I had never done a track meet. They had an official USATF starter with a gun and everthing. Robin explained how I should warm-up and where to go to start our first event, the 1500m. It was all very exciting and as a result my times were faster than I expected.
I used to be able to run 5:20 miles at the track 15 yrs ago so when I did 5:15 pace in the 800 it brought back great memories. But it was far from the leaders shooting for 2:14 in the 800. And Robin had done 2:18 back at school. I figured out that was just over 4:30/mile pace! I gained new respect for track distance running.
The 1500 was our first event and that hurt the most. My throat felt so dry gasping for air in the hot temperature. There was only a couple guys in the 1500 and I actually won it with a 5:05. This prompted some high schoolers to be talking about me as we lined up for the 800. "The gentleman in the yellow won the 1500. So watch for him." Yes, our bright yellow FCA Endurance race attire brings attention... hopefully to the Lord. But I was not threat to those kids as they all left me in the dust.
Now the 3000 had the older kids... masters. We had quite a pack. A dozen. I was running towards the back put really pushing in hopes of not getting lapped. I maintained good consistency and picked it up a little the last 2 laps. I passed 1 guy and with 1 lap to go (happy that I was beyond getting lapped) I focussed on Mike, the guy I barely beat in the 1500. But he stayed a few seconds ahead and got me this time.
The real thrill was watching Anna run a 28 sec 100m! She sprinted off the line at the gunshot, stayed in her lane, and ran the whole way.. smiling, too. And then she ran the 50m with Ariel. Ariel also ran the whole way and stayed in her lane. They both were wearing lane numbers and got ribbons at the finish. All for free entries.. what a deal!
This was the last all-comers track meet for the summer and I'm glad Robin got us and Tom (from our running group) to get out there. We finished with a 400m relay where Robin handed the baton to me. The sun was going down and it was a great way to finish. I definitely encourage everyone to try it out. And there's a lot of pole-vaulting, discus, jumping, and sprinting to watch in between events.
