PR's Dropping Like Flies

Natalie just wrapped up her last track meet before next Thursday's District meet. It was a HUGE success for her. She not only set two new PR's; she crushed them. She ran her best mile by 12 seconds, and her best 800m by 7 seconds. Here's how her season has looked so far:

• Date         1600m     800m
• Apr 25       6:45        3:15
• May 2        6:57        3:14
• May 9        6:43        3:13
• May 16      6:31        3:06

Needless to say, she was excited. In the 1600, she was motivated to beat a fellow teammate who out-kicked her by a second last week. Today, Natalie got her revenge by about two feet at the line. Last week, she let her teammate get too big a lead in the 4th lap. Today, when her friend took off (with about 300m to go), Natalie stayed right with her, then threw down an impressive kick. She ran very nice negative splits in the process: 3:18/3:13. She was still spent by the time the 800 rolled around, yet managed to set a new PR in that race, too.

Consequently, that deconditioned 6:42 mile I ran at the track a couple of weeks ago has been soundly crushed by my 7th grade daughter. I hope I can give her something else to shoot for when I'm able. If she keeps going through high school, my old 5:01 mile may be in jeopardy. I sincerely hope it is!