Ending the indoorseason on a high

Unfortunately, yesterday was the last time racing at the Dempsey Indoor Track up in Seattle. I was 8th in the 3000m heat with 9:22.07, 10 seconds faster than a month ago and exactly what I hoped for. On the Friday before I had a very good workout, one of my best workouts ever (3x1000m in 3km goal pace with 3’ in between + 4x400 in mile goal pace with only 1’ in between), which gave me the confidence my goal of breaking the school record (9:25) and running a low 9:20 was possible. I did get quite nervous, but during my warm-up in the sunshine on the nice trails around the water, I realized that that was stupid: I knew I was in shape, I knew I was once again in a very good, fast heat, and in the end racing is only the reward for all the hard work and a great opportunity to see what you have on that particular day.
I am especially happy with the time because it gives me confidence I can also run a 5000m sub-16.10, the standard for the European <23 Championships. Tomorrow, I will make plans with my coach to see where and when I am going to do a first attempt to hit the standard. Right now, it seems like I may fly out to the first Stanford meet at April 3. I am redshirting this season so that makes it a little more complicated to get myself there, but I am sure we can figure something out. For now, I will take an easy week and then probably gear up for a very, very fast 5km!