<p>This is my second year running track. I am a sprinter/hurdler. I also ran my first year of cross country in the fall and managed to get 19:07 PR in the 5k. Now I can pretty much run anything from 100m to 2mile. I had a slow start for the season. My coach made me ran a couple of 800m for conditioning. My main event is the 300m hurdle. My form improved a lot since last year. Unfortunately, I tricked over a hurdle in a race and twisted my ankle in mid-season. I had been running consistent 46s before that. But the psychological barrier prevented me from breaking the PR again. My performance dropped since the incident. I didn't overcome the barrier until the week before regional meet. My coach thought I can run a 43 with my shape, hurdle form and speed. The only problem was in me. I had to be aggressive and confident.
~Day on region
On that day, I was kinda nervous on the starting line. I was in lane one(the first one from the inside), the toughest lane. I knew this was going to be my last race if I did not do well. When we all got into starting position, I was waiting for the gun. Boom! The gun went off, and I exploded out of the blocks. I saw the first hurdle coming. There are 8 hurdles in a 300m hurdle race. The first hurdle always determines the rest of your race. If you can clear the first one with good form, you will have more confidence in the rest of the race. I was about 5 meter from the first hurdle. The guy from lane 2 slowed down a little before the hurdle. That was good news for me. His slowing down cost him about a meter. If he slowed down on all 8 hurdles, that's an eight meter advantage for me. I sped up and took off. My lead leg was straight. My arm was reaching for the opposite leg. I had a good forward lean. My trail leg was perfect. After I landed, I looked at the guy in lane 2. I already made up the stagger on him. I stayed with him for a few seconds. Here came the 2nd hurdle. I sped up again, then I passed the guy in lane 2. Now I was making up the stagger on the guy in lane 3. The third hurdle was on the curve. I heard my coach shouting. In the middle of the curve, I caught up to my teammate in lane 4. He was the fastest hurdler in my school. His personal best is a 41s in 300m hurdle. Since I was in lane 1 and he was right next to me, I knew that I had a few meters lead on him. I looked at him from the corner of my eye. I felt like he looked at me, too, for a second, with a little astonishment on his face. I was running towards the end of the curve. I was clearly in second place. The fifth hurdle was coming up. After the 5th hurdle, it would be the home straight away. With about a meter and a half before the hurdle, I took off. Suddenly, time went really slow. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion. I saw my lead leg slowly raising. I felt my upper body was leaning forward. "Let momentum do the rest!", I thought. My momentum brought me closer and closer toward the hurdle. My foot was moving closer and closer. I can see the markings on the hurdle. Just right before my foot got over the hurdle, I felt gravity was bringing me down. I tried to raise my leg again, but gravity was a b!tch. I hit the hurdle right in the guts. Had it been a karate contest, I would get a perfect score on that kick. But, it was a 300m hurdle race. I tried to keep running, but the hurdle tripped me like I owed him money... I saw my teammate pasted me. I saw the guy in lane 2 passed me. I got back up. I had to finish the race. I worked hard all season, I would not admit defeat. I knew there was no way I would make it to final(top 8 out of 3 heats). Catching up to the guy in lane 2 was my only goal. I was about 5 meters behind him, 3 hurdles and 100m left. I took off again. I keep my good form on the 6th and 7th hurdle. I was a meter or so behind the guy. The last hurdle was coming, I saw him slowing down before the hurdle. He began to shutter steps a little. I leaped with all I had left and dived towards the finish line. I did not know if I got him or not. I knew I gave my best. I could not stop the momentum from the dive. I fell on the ground. I stayed laying on the ground. I did not get up. Some lady come to me. I did not pay attention to her. I was thinking in my head. Do I deserve this? After all the hard work, all the expectation from my coach and my teammates. One little unlucky mistake cost me the race. I started crying. It was not pain that made me cry. It was the feelings. My coach came to me. He told me that I got a 46 despite the fall. If it wasn't the fall, I could have easily got into the 44s and arguably 43s. Now season was over for me. I have to wait a year to redeem myself. </p>
<p>My PR from last year
400m 1:03(LOL I know. This is a girls' time. I was slowwww)
300m hurdle 49s
100m 13.1
200m 26s</p>
<p>My PRs this year:
5k 19:07(from XC)
800m 2:19
300m hurdles 46
100m 12.49</p>
<p>So! That was my season. What about you guys?:)</p>