Ahhhh! My 2014 track season has officially come to an end, and it ended on such a high note.  It seems like lots has happened since my last post... but I'll focus on this past weekend - the Athletics Ontario Championships, held in Ottawa.  

Not only did I get 2 solid personal bests in my 400m towards the end of the season (thank you to my hometown Victoria for that!), but I was able to wrap up the season with my teammates at my first Athletics Ontario championships! It was so awesome and so fun! We drove up to Ottawa on Friday, and the meet started off the next day. Many of my teammates and I were in the 400m semis.  I qualified for the finals -  which were just a few hours later - along with 2 of my training partners, Ese and Natalie.  The 400 semis had to be somewhat conservative in order to be able to put something together for the final. I felt pretty good during the final and was able to stay strong enough to get on the podium - my goal for the weekend.  It was also my third fastest time, though as always, would have been nicer if it was faster.

Then, a few hours later again, U of T put together a winning 4x100m relay.  We were actually so close to getting the provincial record, which would have been awesome, but maybe next year!

Sunday, I just had the 4x400m relay.  I was the freshest since I didn't run the 200s, so I started the relay off. I ran my fastest split from the blocks, which was a great ending to the weekend and season.  We were hoping to improve on our provincial record that we set at the Mt SAC relays, but we were just off of it.  Still got back on top of the podium tho, and the other U of T team came third! So much blue on the podium today (picture to come).

It was such a fun weekend to be with the team and be able to see so much success on the track.  To top it all off, the University of Toronto Track Club won the team title! This is an especially big deal because the Ottawa lions have apparently won it for 10+ years! And we did it on their home turf!  

There's tons of pics, but I don't have 'em yet, so check back in a day or two!

The Possibilities!
I started to write this at Toronto’s Pearson International , waiting to board yet another flight.  This will be my third flight in about 9 days.  Last week, I was in Moncton, New Brunswick for the Canadian Track and Field Championships (see picture to the left).  I ran the 400m semis, and qualified for the 400m finals, along with my two training partners.  For me, running the semis was the most stressful part: The top two from each heat qualified for the finals, along with the next two fastest times.  Luckily for me, I qualified based on time, coming 3rd in my heat.   After finishing my cool-down from the semis, I had less than 24 hours until the finals.  I was assigned lane 1, and came up with a race plan with my coach accordingly.  

I actually felt better the day of the finals, and during my warm-up, than I did the day before.  I’m sure that was in some part to the fact that there was less pressure – I was guaranteed a place in the top 8.  I just had to execute my race, hope that resulted in a fast time, and have fun.  I came away with a new personal best – 55.75 and placed 7th.  Last year I placed 7th, but it didn’t feel as satisfying.  There ended up only being 7 runners in the final, so 7th felt like 8th – which I’ve placed numerous times in both the 100m and 200m finals at the National Championships.  7th this year though, seems so sweet, especially since I broke the 56-second barrier that I was beginning to feel stuck at.  I knew I could run a 55 second 400, it just hadn’t happened yet.  I was trying to stay patient, but I was getting frustrated after races that would feel really good, yet not have the time I was wanting.  Even though I wasn’t hitting the times, I was still having fun racing and training. 

Now – I’m heading West, which always makes me so happy! I’m flying to other side of the country from where I was on Sunday, and I’ll be racing at the 26th Annual Victoria International Track Classic on Tuesday, July 8th.  This means I get my annual race on my real home turf, in front of family and friends (okay, last year I didn’t get to go, so maybe it’s not annual).  But when I was living in Victoria, I usually only had 1 or 2 races in Victoria, and this was one of them.  So I’m super excited!! I get to see the ocean (Goal to walk along the ocean every day), the mountains (will definitely hike at least one), my parents, and some of my nearest and dearest friends!  I also am making a quick stopover in Kelowna on the way home to see my brother, my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew.  It’s a short trip, so I know I won’t get to see everyone I’d like to, or do everything I’d like to do, but short and sweet is all I could squeeze in, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

I’m hoping I can keep the magic rolling and continue to lower my time in the 400m.  We’ll see what happens!  If you’re in Victoria, you should definitely come to the meet on Tuesday night. The tentative schedule has the 400m starting at 7:55pm, but the opening ceremonies start at 6:55pm, and there's a tailgate party starting at 4:30pm (not a standard track thing, so may be worth checking out?!)  The Victoria Track Classic always has some amazing athletes that compete at it.  Get more details about the meet here.  And if you aren't in Victoria, you can stream it!

Hope your enjoying the beginning of July,
And Happy Friday! 

I'm on my way back from Atlanta where I competed in the Georgia Tech Invitational.  Unfortunately, it wasn't ideal circumstances with me being in lane 1 and an empty lane 3, but that was out of my control.  I had to adjust my usual race strategy (which I'm still trying to get comfortable with) and it didn't quite work the way I'd hoped.  The important thing is that I've learnt from that race and if I'm in a similar racing situation in the future, I know what to do. 

It would be easy to be upset about the race but that's the thing about track (and life!): You have to be able to learn from your experiences, let go, and move forward.  Being a 400 runner is a constant challenge for me, in both training and competitions, but I am completely enjoying the challenges.  I've got 3 weeks until my next 400 race; I'm looking forward to putting in some more work, implementing some minor changes and being able to go into the next race with more experience.  Two weeks from now I've also got a 200m in Guelph, which will be fun (only 1/2 a lap!)

Onto the next one!

Well, I'm not in Atlanta yet but I will be in a few hours.  I had a quick snooze to wake up at 3 something this morning to drive down to Buffalo. I'm flying down to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Invitational with a small group of teammates. I've had some great workouts lately so I'm really excited to race another 400 and have the opportunity to improve on my recent PB from California.  This will be my first time going to Atlanta and racing there.  I'll be racing at 2pm on Saturday. Live results will be available ( http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-track/spec-rel/geot-mw-track-meet-info.html)

We've got a plan to hang out in Atlanta after the meet on Saturday - I hear the BBQ food is tastyyyy!

I can't even keep track how many times I've come down to Southern California to race, at this time of year, but this year was the first time I got to compete at the Mt. SAC Relays, which I was really excited about.  Every year I would see the results from the Mt. SAC Relays, and I have a lot of friends that compete at it, but with my old club, the Relays were just a bit too early for us to all get down (usually due to exams). 

Not this year though!  I came down on the 13th with some of my Blues teammates so that we could get in some warm-weather training before our season opener. 

I just had a birthday and a few days ago, I was thinking about where I was not physically, but where I was mentally and emotionally and of course, where I was with track.  Around this time last year I had been accepted to a Masters program at U of T, and was gearing up for outdoors after an injury that resulted in me taking a few weeks off.. anyways! Back to the reflecting!   

Time is an interesting thing.  

Back in September, well, actually it was August when my pre-season training began, the CIS Track and Field Championships seemed so far away.  And now, there's some days that I think back to when we were working hard, building our strength, sweating in the muggy September heat, and it doesn't seem so long ago.  Other days, September feels like so long ago.  I was just starting my Masters program, and was finally a member of a Varsity team!  It was pretty exciting, and I still think it's exciting to be part of the Varsity Blues Track & Field team.  This team is special, and we are here, in Edmonton, ready to perform.

You'll be able to watch the CIS Track & Field Championships live right here.

You can find the final meet schedule is here - Day 1 is today, Thursday, March 6th and it wraps up on Saturday, March 8th.  Note that the meet schedule shows the times in MST.

Well, my first OUAs are complete.  It was easily the most intense 2 day meet I've ever competed at, in terms of how many races I had and how little rest I had in between races (and in this case, little rest also means little food). 

It began with the 60m heats late Friday afternoon, where I ran 7.62s and auto-qualified for semis the following day.  I then had a short break before my 300 timed final which didn't go how I'd hoped, but a learning experience nonetheless.  I placed 4th but was hoping for a quicker time. I'll have to wait until CIS to get the faster time I'm hoping for. CIS are in Edmonton from March 6-8, 2014.  Lucky for me, one of my brothers lives there and my parents are going to come out to see me race, as well!

U of T Women's 4x4 Relay team (picture above)
From tallest to shortest: Natalie Geiger, Rachel Jewett, Fiona Callender and myself

The Ontario University Athletics Championships are here - Feb 21 and 22, 2014 - and you can watch even watch it live!!! 

My Racing Schedule
Fri. Feb 21: 4:10pm EST, 60M Heats (1:10pm PST)
I'll be in Heat 2, Lane 4
                       6:55pm EST, 300m Timed Finals (3:55pm PST)  I'm in the fast section for the 300m - Heat 6, Lane 2.

Sat. Feb 22: 11:45am EST, 60M Semis (8:45am PST)
                        1:00pm EST, 60M Finals (10:00am PST)
                        2:00pm EST, 4x200m Timed Finals (11:00am PST)
                        4:10pm EST, 4x400m Timed Finals (1:10pm PST) 

See the full schedule here.If you can't watch it live, you'll be able to find the results here.

*Fun Facts*
I'm currently tied for 4th in the OUA rankings for the 60m but between 2nd and 8th place in the rankings, there is only a differential of 0.10 seconds.  The difference between 2nd and 4th place in the current rankings is only 0.02 seconds!  That will be an exciting final! Photo finish, for sure.

I'm seeded 4th in the 300m, after having only competed in the event once at the McGill meet a few weeks back (read about that competition here). From first to fourth place, there is a span of 0.70 seconds.  I've been putting in serious work on the track, so I'm hoping to be able to significantly drop my time down and move up (maybe onto the podium?!) We'll see!

Get the deets about the University of Toronto Track & Field team that will be at OUAs here.

Looking forward to a busy weekend of racing!

Check back for updates,
Maggie