Yesterday was the North East veterans track championships - had a great day doing a whole host of events, and picking up a few medals along the way.
1500m
First race of the day. To be honest this is prolly my least favourite distance, but I really wanted to give it a go, so I lined up with the other ladies and the M60, 65 & 70s who were all in the same race. It's 3 & 3/4 laps of torture - sort of like a 400 but much much worse. I managed my pace pretty well over the first 800m, but then it was a case of hanging on and hoping to cross the finish in one piece.
Finishing time: 6:10.0 (WAVA 65.27) - a good 3 seconds quicker than my last effort in the league, but still way outside my pb of 5:49.3
400m
Next up was the 400m, After trying this again in a league meeting a few weeks ago, I found I really enjoyed it. It's a little intimidating lining up and watching folks use sprinting blocks (when I haven't the faintest how to even do the kneeling start thing), but I just kind lent forward and waited for the gun. It's pretty hard to figure out where people are in relation to you (with running in the lanes) but that seems to fade away as I concentrated on just getting round as quickly as possible.
Had a prettty good start, then faded a bit as I passed through 200m, picked things up after the bend once I was back onto the home straight.
Finishing time: 78.5 (WAVA 65.1) - again 3 seconds quicker than my last meeting, and not far off my pb 76.2 from a few years ago
800m
My third race of the day and probably my weakest of the days events. I was aiming for sub 3 mins, and was pretty much on target as I passed through 400m in 88 secs. Was hoping for a quicker second lap, but it wasn't to be, and I finished in 3:05.0 (WAVA 61.25) - pb is 2:55.2
3000m
Last of the days events. My comfortable distance. I could have made this the only race of the day and put a real good effort into it, but I really wanted to give the other events a go, so my 3k time suffered a little for it. Was hoping for sub 13:30 and wasn't dissapointed. I actually managed to pace myself pretty evenly throughout, and didn't take off like a whippet in the first couple of laps. Gave it my all in the last 800, and actually felt quite strong coming through the finish in 13:24.1 (WAVA 63.91). It was a lot slower than my best time from last year of 12:23.3, but I was still pretty happy, considering I lost a lot of fitness over the winter with an ankle injury.
Managed two gold & two silvers in the L35 category - pretty pleased with that. The turn out wasn't brilliant, but hey - "you've gotta be in it, to win it" 
A big well done to Lisa Walker from Wallsend, Lynn Marr from Tynedale, & Helen Morris from Blyth - they all had some cracking races. Also sending a virtual 'Hope you get well soon' to Andrew from North Shields Poly club (who pulled his achillies). Everyone racing seemed to have a great time, and so a big thankyou to all of the officials - the day couldn't take place without you!
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