Student Voices
The days of PBs (PB = Personal Best) By Assia Elmourtabite
On Monday 29th of April 2024 I had my second open meet for athletics in Norman Park, at the regional heats for the Youth Development League. Let me tell you it went so well, which was unexpected to be honest, but let me tell you how I prepped for that day first of all.
So it was a Monday morning, I woke up around 6ish, made my bed then brushed my teeth and did my skin care as usual and obviously my hair too. Then I popped to the kitchen and made my go to porridge with lots of fruits and some other bits because it keeps me full until lunch and it has lots of nutrition which is good for your body especially if you’re an athlete. To be honest, this is something only athletes will understand.
Then I went to the shops to get lots of fruit and other things that I will need after my competition. Around 4ish I had lunch, which was smoked salmon pasta with lots of vegetables alongside. After I finished lunch obviously I needed a snack. For my snack I had Greek yogurt with fruits and honey on top for healthy fats and protein, which I will need because that’s how you run faster.
But then I noticed that I forgot to wash my top that I will need to run with, so I quickly ran to the machine, squeezed it in because the machine was packed, whilst praying for it to be done on time because my race starts at 7:00. After a good hour or so the clothes were finally done, I ran to the machine, got the main thing, my top, and forgot about the rest. After waiting 30 minutes it finally dried but I forgot about the time. I have to be at my competition an hour early because I need to register first and the main thing is to have a good warm-up as well. Luckily it was 4:30 so I had a good 35 minutes to get ready before I needed to leave.
I started my usual routine, packed my spikes in my bag, put all the food I needed in my bag as well and obviously spare clothes in case it rains because we live in the UK and the weather isn’t reliable.I always end up forgetting about them, that’s why it’s the first thing I do.After all of that I did my hair once again, put my jacket on and said goodbye to my family. Then I left and walked and walked and walked until I got to the bus stop. After 20 minutes the bus finally came, I got on the bus and around 20 minutes later I arrived and walked and walked again until I got to the track.As soon as I got there, I registered for the event and was given my number and pins. I always put them on first because otherwise I end up forgetting to put them on, that’s why it’s the first thing I do as soon as I get to the track.After I’ve done that, I start my warm up with my friends for a good 30 minutes,otherwise if we don’t, we just don’t run well and can get injured very easily,which we don’t want. So after the warm up we put our spikes on, do a couple of runs to get our legs moving. Then we head down for our 800 metre race that starts soon. I was in the fourth heat; so were my friends.
After waiting a while, it was time to run. I was a bit nervous but not too much because it’s only an open meet and I’ve done it so many times. I was in lane 3, which is my favourite lane because it feels shorter and you can see your competitors in the outside lane. So we lined up,the gun went off and we started to run. I ran so well that I noticed the first lap clocked at 1:10. Usually my first lap is 1:13 so I’ve improved by 3 seconds, but I'm not quite sure how I will run the second lap. Towards the end,near the 150m mark, I started to sprint because this girl from Tonbridge tracked me so well. As soon as I sprinted I over took a boy called Liam,because he was my main target, for the whole race, and I’ve always wanted to race him in the 800m. I finally did, but let’s carry on. As soon as I went past Liam the girl from Tonbridge did as well because I sprinted and she copied me and then we had the battle towards the end. I’ve never gone that fast towards the end but we were literally battling until we crossed the line. She just got me in the end. I ran 2:24:28 and she ran 2:24:24 but I was so shocked that I ran that well, and got an amazing PB because my last PB was 2:28 so I’ve improved nearly 4 seconds faster.And to be honest I never thought I would get past 2:28 but I did so it felt amazing! I’ve always dreamed of running 2:24 and I did. I was over the moon and that means I’m going to be in heat 2 or heat 3, which is the fastest heat. As your PB gets better you’ll start to race against faster people, so hopefully that can help me get more PBs and if I am honest I know they are coming my way.I’m hoping my next PB will be 2:20, fingers crossed.
The reason why I was amazed by the PB is that the day before I had the YDL, I thought my legs were tired, because in the warm-up my legs felt tight and I felt tired, so I generally thought I wouldn’t run faster at all. But this just shows you to never doubt yourself even if you’re tired! My friend got a PB as well. After the race we did our warm down and my coach saw me and shook my hands, he was very proud of me to be honest. I was proud of myself as well. My teacher and my friends were there and they were very impressed with me. After my stretching down I had some food and my friends offered to drive me home because we live next to each other. So I arrived home,had dinner and did some more stretches and went to bed. I slept so much betterthe day before than I had the day before the previous meet, when I didn’t dowell at all and I knew I had to do better. At the previous YDL I kept tellingmy coach I could’ve gone faster the whole time and I did today, so I was verypleased to finish it with a PB and a good run. I now have the YDL finals comingup at the Manchester Arena, a national competition, so we will see whathappens. Maybe COMING FIRST AND PBs who knows?
Assia has since gone on to win the YDL regional heat and will be at the national final in September.
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