I felt the same way about the indoor 2 mileānever want to run anything again with more laps than I can count on my two hands.
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I usually feel the same way, but the 10k was actually extremely fast and very dramatic
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Gretchen might have been bummed about not medaling in the 50 free and getting silver in the 100 fly, but her legs in both the mixed and womens medley relays were fantastic. Happy she is going home with some gold!
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800 is the hardest race ever. Canāt sprint it, but canāt hold back, either.
Still remember my 63-60 (2:03) senior year in HS ā puked all over lane 6 on turn 1 after crossing the line. Hurt like hell, and never wanted to push the last 200 like that ever again.
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You win?
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UVa great Paul Ering
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I wish. We had a 0:47/1:53 on our team.
Third in that race.
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Legit to me man.
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I really enjoy the 1500 and longer track events! The last laps of those are probably my favorite moments of the entire Olympics. Nothing quite like watching someone make a late run on the outside at the end of one of those races
But of course I also spent the last two mornings watching the cycling road races 
everything is short compared to those
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Double negative runsā¦ I was not a great speed runnerā¦ so the 800 was the only one they let me run because I consistently ran the second lap as fast as the first. I donāt think I eclipsed 2:05 thoughā¦ my track Olympic dreams were dashed back then on that PR!
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My daughter runs the 3200 (currently owns her schoolās record!) and of course she says 3200 is the hardest. 
But really any distance thatās not pure sprint, but also isnāt an āenduranceā race, is tough. Long time to be maintaining near-max speed.
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My dad was an excellent track and field runner in his youth and did some coaching later in life, focusing on the triple jump and 400m. One meet, someone was out sick or something and the coach tossed him into the 800m (was probably the 880 at the time) at the last minute.
He, uh, did not pace himself well, and staggered over the finish line. After heād dragged himself off the track the coach asked him how the race went. His response was to throw up on the coachās shoes.
Having heard that story a few times now, my younger daughter, who loves track and real strength is middle-distance, has utterly refused to ever run the 800m and honestly I canāt blame her.
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Itās kind of unfortunate for you if middle distance is your forte. At a meet if I talk to the sprinters, the predominant pre-race attitude is excitement. The middle distance guys are more like āShit I canāt believe I gotta do this to myself againā
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Yeah, she wants to be a sprinter, but sprinting is tough to train for. Youāre either fast or youāre not. And sheās decently fast, but not really fast enough. But for a middle distance runner she is fast. Last season she settled into the 300m hurdles as the shortest and least painful middle distance event, and that worked for her.
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Good call on her part. Hurdles makes for a better spectator sport anyway.
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My wife ran the 300m hurdles in High school and placed in state simply because the field was thin and she was a good enough athlete to make it work. Probably the only person to hold a state record in shot put win states in shot and disc and place in the 300m hurdles.
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Many, many years ago ran 800 to 3 miles and had both daughters follow suit. I can absolutely tell you I hated the 800 (880 back then) - it just hurt because you are only a couple of seconds slower than your best 400 time FOR THE FIRST EFFING LAP and then you have to keep going. The last 100 meters feel like you are running in quicksand and you are praying that the rest of your body is numb rather than you are dead but the death throes havenāt quite reached your brain.
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lol, nice! Not a combo you see every day!
Yeah, she loves that the event doesnāt get crowded until you get to states or the big invitationals. Like the 3rd time she ran it her time was top 10 in school history and she was like āIām fast and all, but thatās WAY more a sign of how few people run this because I need a lot of work on my form.ā By the end of the season she was starting to figure it out and just wished sheād started on it earlier. High school careeers are fleeting!
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Finally someone stepping up to make things right. Thx Cube
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Ye ye!
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