Hacketstown Meet

Really wasn't up for this one and wanted to back out.
The past few weeks in my world have been non-stop
action and I resented having to get up at 3am on a
Sunday morning after working 9 hours the day before
and making a 2 hour practice directly after doing so.
Hours.
It just didn't feel like I had enough of them to do
everything that needed doing, including getting some
solid down time to myself to recharge mentally, physically
and spiritually.
Go I did though, because anything less would have
disappointed my coach and team mates.
This was not a race my heart was even close to, yet
my first two races, a 700m and a 1000m, brought me
new measures of how far I've come in the recent months.
No speed queen, but there I was in the Veteran Ladies
700m, right on the back of the woman who has
previously been 1 lap, then 3/4 of a lap then 1/2 a lap
and a 1/4 ahead of me, all year, and all the years before.
Once I even had to slow down to stay behind her on an
end.
With my coach calling out "pass her!" and another teams
coach calling out "set it up!", from where he stood along
the wall, I knew what they wanted, it's what they always
want, it's how they judge performance.
For me, passing had never been the goal.
Catching has been.
Directly behind my friend and competitor was a great
place to find myself, and like a fine meal, was meant to
be savored, not rushed through.
Passing will come as I continue to grow in my sport of
choice.
I have no doubt.
The next race, the Novice Master Ladies 1000m found
me in the same spot, only this time the back I was behind
belonged to some one else.
Another woman I have been behind, far behind at times,
in the past.
Unfortunately for me I fell coming out of the far corner
and it ended the streak.
As we are taught to do. I got up and finished, somewhat in
a daze and on shaky legs.
Later, I was to fall in my Veteran 500m and my coach told me
it was for the same reason as the first.
Guess I've improved enough and have enough speed now
that I need to learn how to stay on top of it and have
centrifugal force work for me, not against me.
Staying low would help matters a lot.
So instead of sleeping in on a Sunday morning, I prepared
my skates, set my alarm clock and made it to another
start line where after the gun went off I achieved another
personal goal.
Not a bad trade for an extra few hours of pillow time..
Positives:
1) I held strong on my starts and did not give it up.
I took it at the cone from the gal behind me who
wanted it just as much as I did.
2) I stepped into the corners and out more often than not.
3) I skated the sides a lot more and there was much less
rolling than the last meet.

So, I would have preferred to sleep in yesterday, but I chose to
do something else and was pleased with the results.
Thanks coach for the pre-meet pep talk!
I did take a long nap when I got home and slept like a rock...