Today I raced at Woodside Stadium, which is the home of the Watford Harriers. I was taking part in a minor meeting, and the event I was running was the 600 metres. This isn’t a distance I normally run, so I was both nervous and excited to see how I would do. My personal best before this race was one minute and fifty-one seconds, and my goal was to run under one minute and fifty. I knew it would be tough, but I felt ready to give it a go.
When I arrived at the track, I went through my warm-up routine to make sure my legs were loose and my body was ready. I did some drills, stretches, and a few strides to get myself moving at race pace. By the time the race was called, I felt prepared and focused. I wanted to stick to my target splits and run a smart race.
As soon as the starter’s signal went, another boy in the race shot out in front of everyone. His acceleration was incredible, and he went straight into the lead. I didn’t want to let him get too far away, so I tried to stay with him. I even made a move to try and overtake, but his pace was unbelievably quick. I think we covered the first 200 metres in about 31 seconds, which is much faster than my plan. My original target was around 35 seconds for the first 200, so I knew we were going out at a crazy speed.
Because of that fast start, the next 400 metres became much tougher. Both of us had gone out too quickly, and I found it hard to hold my pace. My legs felt heavy, and I could feel myself slowing down compared to how I wanted to run. I tried to stay strong and keep pushing, but chasing that early pace had already taken a lot of energy out of me. In the end, I crossed the line in second place, but the good news was that I had still managed a new personal best of one minute and fifty seconds.
After the race, I felt a mixture of happiness and frustration. I was pleased to get a personal best, even if it was only by one second, but I also knew I could have done better if I had run my own race. Looking back, I think the mistake I made was trying to chase the boy in front at such a high speed instead of focusing on my own pace. If I had stuck to my plan and then worked my way into the race, I might have had more energy left at the end to finish stronger.
Overall, though, it was still a good experience. I came second, I got a personal best, and I learnt an important lesson about pacing. Even though 600 metres isn’t an event I usually race, I would like to try it again later this season. I feel confident that if I pace myself better and don’t go off too fast, I can break one minute and fifty. Next time, I will be more patient at the start and make sure I save enough energy for a strong finish.
