The Big Test 400m

Sacramentos' Steve Hardison

a badly needed massage on legs
    

 Friday, a big test to see if Betty can run the 400m after the 200m that she was so heavy in.  We wake up refreshed , seems we slept well, betty looks remarkably well, and in high spirits ( a pun that would come back to life later), obviously did not run any races in her sleep like she did prior to the 200m.  We have all day to do something with since her race check in time is 5:10 pm and the heat she is in starts at 6:00pm
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The OH NO !! moment

 We kicked around the motel until about 11 and then walked over to a nearby brand new mall with a subway sandwich shop in it. after eating came back to the motel and got our swimsuits on, went downstairs and got in the really really deep hot tub and enjoyed the heat for 15 min or

so. Betty asked if she could get a massage--that would mean a drive back to Sac State to the' Well'.  Guess she thought it was a necessitie , since she asked twice--I drove her back to the track and was going to go out to


 the USA trainers but decided to take the closest group and have them work her over.  20 bucks for 15 min. money well spent..back to the  motel.  Our prerace dinner was some turkey rollups, vegies, and a protein bar.

400m Backstretch-Betty in center

Coach McLatchie

Betty was just the picture of exuberance, absolutely no pain whatsoever..very strange.  We drove back to the track where on check in we ran into Bettys coach from Bend , Jim McLatchie, both he and his wife Carol had been down here officiating for most of the 10 days the meet was on.  Proceeding to the practice field Betty ran into Steve Hardison also a 60-64 participant who is on the same team as Amanda Scotti and Liz Palmer, an outstanding pole vaulter and 400m runner.  He was to run later in the evening coming in second in his heat advancing to the finals but pulled his hammy and had to withdraw--great guy and always encouraging.  Finally the race, left Betty at the clerks tent with a good luck kiss and told her to just have fun this race and not  to stress---I am sure that was not heard.  The  ladies she was running against were world class , several who had run in the 70 sec range, Betty was at best an 80 second + 400m runner thus far this year... we both sorta knew she would get beat, but we hoped that with the good nights sleep she would be faster than she had been thus far. The heats were marched past the stands out to the start of the 400m, just like the Olympics--all very well choreographed and sure to cause jitters in newbies--Betty ! Race on, even thru the backstretch, most had not made up the stagger, then the 300m mark came and the wall was hit ...again.  She kept running albeit in somewhat slow motion, and finished last in the heat, and only tenths faster than her last 400m at the Mt Hood meet.  bummer...when I finally got over to the finish tent, she was disappointed but relieved that it was over. If there was any doubt in either of our minds what the difference between national class and world class that was dispelled completely.  We had seen what world class was and she had a lot of work to do in order to compete against them.  the important part of this race was that she wasn't as nervous and with training she said she thought she could compete--again back to the 7 days above 55 that she had been able to get outside and train this year ...Many of these women live in far warmer climes..and it shows.  Meet over, or so we thought...We went out to Red Lobster and celebrated a good effort for only having 7 track meets up to Worlds.  While we were at the restaurant Betty sheepishly confided to me that last night when she got up to go the bathroom she also grabbed her thyroid pill and took it..When she got up in the morning she was feeling no aches or pains and that is when she realized she had accidentally taken an oxycodone---same size bottle, same size pill , it was dark and she had accidentally set them side by side We keep those babies only for serious pain, when she had to have her steroid shots in her back last year she took them for about two weeks and then spent 2 weeks in withdrawal without sleep , neither of us like them, but will occasionally use one for a real bad hurt. also they are prohibited on the USADA drug tables, and if they test you , you will be DQ'd and serious problems no doubt let alone the embarrassment.  Thus explaining her great morning good nature, and happy go lucky attitude...if I had known I probably would not have let her run.. they obviously didn't help anyhow...live and learn.. we will find a way to not have those in our area from henceforth. Just before we decided to leave for the motel, I thought we had just better check to see who made the 4 x 400 relay team just in case she would be an alternate..USATF Masters instituted a new rule this year that if you are chosen to be on a relay either as one of the 4 runners or two alternates you must show up at the track and report in , Failure to do so you will be DQ'd from running any relays for the USA for a period of 2 consecutive World Championships---a good rule, and I had read it..so off we went to the Well one more time.  Finding the USA post board, I found the 60-64 relay selections and to my amazement betty had been picked to be one of the runners not an alternate. I didnt say anything, however I gave her my readers and told her to look...Talk about amazement  a huge "OH NO"! scaring the older gent next to her so much he asked her what was the problem.  She explained that she had been picked to run the 4 x 400 relay and that she had never run a relay, didnt know what a baton was, never been to a track meet, never been on a team, never this never that...finally he heard enough and simply said "you should be proud, this is really a compliment to be picked, lighten up and enjoy it"  Well said sir ! I reiterated that to her the entire way back to the motel...the lightness that she had after running the 400m in which she thought that to be her last race was now supplanted by utter terror of having to be depended on by three other women--a team of all things--Betty had never been on a team of anything and this was beyond comprehension--only a total out of body experience--she wasnt even there...I immediately thought of those oxycodones and if I should spike her water tonight ..at the least she would drop into a great sleep...bad idea but it did enter my mind.  I did tell her that in swimming I love the relays that there really is no pressure on anyone, it is just fun...she wasnt buying it, but she would....tomorrow the 4 x 400m relay Team USA and something totally unexpected...