By: Tianhao Chen
It was a nice, sunny Saturday morning, optimal conditions for a race. I had come off a poor performance in the 100m dash a couple of weeks prior, running 12.5 seconds. In the beginning of my junior year season, I set a goal to make districts for track and to do so I needed to run faster than 11.8 seconds in the 100m dash. To prepare for this race, the focus was to train my starts and try to stay relaxed and not tense up in the middle of the race.
I had decided to run track, specifically sprint events because I enjoyed running at top speed while competing with others to see who can reach the finish line first. Prior to this meet, I had yet to improve my PR (personal record), and if I didn’t PR this time, I would lose an opportunity to make it to districts.
After I checked in for the race my friends and I sat down on a nearby bench. The event was close to beginning so I started to remove my sweats. Just as I took off everything except my uniform, a lady at the front started yelling names and what group/heat they were in.
One by one, athletes started lining up where the lady was, waiting for someone to escort them to the starting line. While I waited to hear my name, I felt my stomach churning, and I became increasingly anxious as more and more athletes left. Finally, my name was called.
I got up and joined the rest of the competitors in my heat. Standing there, all I could think about was how nervous I was feeling. Why am I always so tense during these races? I thought. If I could just calm my nerves down, maybe then I could perform well. When it was time, my group began walking toward the starting line on the track. The closer we got to the starting line, the tenser my body felt.
Calm down, it’s just a race, I kept on reminding myself. When we were inches away from the start line, the starter yelled, “Gentlemen, quickly go to your assigned lanes. We will begin shortly.” I nervously walked to my lane and took two deep breaths to calm my nerves down. Once everyone was in their lane, the starter said, “On your marks.”
Focus. Just focus on your race, don’t think about the other competitors. I got into my start position, looked down, and locked in.
“Set”.
I rose my hips up, getting ready to sprint to the finish line. Bang! The gun went off. I took off from the starting line. I went through my drive phase, where I kept my body low and built up speed. When I got upright, I saw several people ahead of me.
Don’t panic, just relax and keep moving your arms, I thought, trying to stay calm. Little by little, I started catching up to the leaders, overtaking some in the second half of the race. As I crossed the finish line, I dipped my body, trying to get that little extra time shaven off. Coming to a halt, I thought, That was a good race, but I don’t think I got a PR.
As I grabbed my stuff and went to rest for a bit, my coach came up to me and said, “Congratulations. I just saw the live results. You got a massive PR.”
What? I thought, pulling up my phone. Sure enough, I got a PR. 11.63 seconds. I couldn’t believe it. This meant I could finally make districts! What a season.