My First World Indoor Champs By Amanda Coombe I always look forward to going to a major meet. You get to test the hours of training, recovery and in some cases rehab. Photos Courtesy of Amanda Coombe The Vancouver airport was buzzing with excitement when we arrived as the Canadian women had just won the Winter Olympic Ice Hockey gold medal.Kamloops has a population of approximately 100 000 and is essentially a University town. If you are looking for the world’s finest French Onion soup look no further than Ric’s Grill. Burgers and fries appeared to be the national dish and after the first Canadian meal it became apparent that you either ordered an entrée size or shared a main meal. The weather was milder than usual, between 10 to 12 degrees Celsius most days. There was minimal snow cover in the city itself; however, full snow cover was found after a 30 minute drive. These mild temperatures allowed us to both train and warm up on the outdoor track. This track was adjacent to the indoor complex, which also included an aquatics center and fully equipped gym of which we were granted full access.  Kamloops was my first experience of indoor running. The track had 45m straights, 55m bends and no banking. Most indoor tracks, particularly at the world level are banked. I was not sure what to expect despite reading articles written by seasoned Aussie campaigners such as Marie Kay, Peter Crombie and Peter Sandery. However I did know I was in reasonably good shape having run a seven year PB in the 1500m, three weeks prior. Kamloops, L to R: Aussies Peter Crombie, We had the opportunity to train on the indoor track the day before the meet started. It was impressed upon me the importance of not doing too much on the tight bends but rather to get the feel of the track. Faster runners are required to alter their stride pattern around the bends, more so for those who compete in the 200 and 400m. Potentially I could have raced six times during the six days of competition, having entered the 400, 800 and 1500m and nominated for the 4 x 200m relay. However much to my delight the 800 was a straight final and unfortunately the 400 clashed with the 1500, my preference of the two.  My 800 was the only race over that distance that the lap clock didn’t work. I was relying on this to judge my pace in my first indoor race. But as an athlete you can’t get too fazed by things that are out of your control. So I just hung onto the back of the pack for as long as possible. As it turned out the laps splits were not as fast as they felt. Lesson one is that you feel like you are running faster than you actually are. In hindsight I could have run harder from 450 to 600m as I finished strongly in 7th place with a time of 2.33.31, my second fastest 800m for seven years. WMA Indoors W40 800m Mentally seven and half laps for a 1500m was a challenge, But as the laps are only 200m they seemed to count down quickly, particularly when you run the first three at life time PB pace! Then the last three become a real test of character. I finished 6th in 5.30.58 and felt very ill for an hour post race. However, this was my second fastest 1500m for seven years I was delighted to be named in the W35 4x200m, not being fast enough to stay in my own age group (W40). This event was three hours after my 1500m on the final day of competition. With only our team of Ranell Hobson, Kathy Heagney, Caroline Layt and the US, we had decided during the warm up to adopt a conservative approach to baton changing in order to guarantee ourselves a silver medal.  Unfortunately during my leg of the relay the US runner merged in on me causing the baton to be dislodged from my hand and fall to the track. Australian W35 Relay Team L to R: Caroline Layt, I spent most of my days in Kamloops with an Aussie, American and Greek, which was both entertaining and amusing, listening to their many stories of previous world meets. We had two half day trips, one to Sun Peaks, a ski resort, and Merritt, a small town with beautiful scenery, including the opportunity to stand on an ice lake. We resisted the temptation of the hotel’s indoor/outdoor water slide for the entire meet. We indulged ourselves after the last day of competition with three thrill seeking rides much to the amusement of the kids in the pool. During the meet we enjoyed the comfort of the spa and the hot and cold recovery process. I would definitely race at an indoor meet again. If you are looking for a new experience in athletics, try indoor racing. Those competitors who can regularly access a 200m track have a definite advantage. However, we Aussies have an advantage as the World Indoors falls when we are peaking and aiming to run fast in our summer season. The only regret I have is that I cannot finish fast enough to run into the crash mat! Amanda Coombe Like to comment on Amanda's story? Post it here. Return from My First World Indoor Champs to Your Running Stories Return from My First World Indoor Champs to WomenRunningTogether Post Your CommentDo you have a comment on this story? Share it! Your CommentsClick below to see other comments... Your Comments on Amanda's Story Read Your Comments on Amanda's Story New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave us a comment in the box below. |
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