First collegiate meet!! Pretty exciting stuff! So we warmed up about 15 minutes, and eventually made our way to the line. Game plan was for the top 5 to go out with Alissa at a 6:15 pace, then negative split the 2nd mile (it was just a 3k). We went out pretty dang fast though, and came through the 800 at like 2:57. I fell off a little bit after that from Alissa, Chandler, and Anya. At the mile marker I came through at 6:14ish I think. Anya started falling back a little bit from Chandler and Alissa at this point. I was just trying to remember that the whole point of this run was to not death march, so I tried to just keep my pace going if nothing else, and not slow down. Around 200 meters left to go, Alissa and chandler were probably like 100-150m in front of me, and Anya was like 25. There was one last hill right up to the 100m straightaway, and I really tried to kick it up this hill. I have ran this course so many times now that I've definitely learned that kicking up that hill instead of after the hill is so so vital for passing because everyone else just meanders up it and then tries to kick afterwards. So that's what I did, and once I got up the hill I realized I was closing in fast on Anya and I might be able to catch her. I kicked it in and we crossed the line together, like we had no idea who was first. When the results came in, turns out I got her by .3 seconds. That was pretty encouraging for me, to be 3rd on the team in my first race! Especially because I consider Anya a better runner than myself. I will say I did have home court advantage though, so maybe the helped. Regardless, everyone did so well and I was really proud of my team! I'm thankful that I had Alissa and chandler to pace the first bit so I didn't go out too slow to "save it", and also that I had Anya at the end to push my kick. I love my team.
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