The first weekend of April 2018 Kimberly ran her first 100 and 200 meter race, which was her first competitive race. The week before she ran a test race in Vught which went more than fine. She put a 12:05 on the board for the 80 meter and 22:89 on the 150 meter number. Apparently a pretty decent time for someone that is just at the start of her career.
This Saturday however, she was much more tense. Nothing unexpected because this was a real race in which she would face off against over para athletes. From the moment she woke up she was stressed, obnoxious and emotional. Which was kind of a pain for me, but on our way to Breda we managed to diffuse the tension a bit.
During Kimberly’s warm-up it became apparent that she was a bit nervous, since she wanted to start the race at the wrong side of the track. After we had a good laugh about that and diffused the tension is created, it was Kimberly’s turn to give it her all.
14:75 – The first 100 meters are done
Kim put down a time of 14:75 and was the fastest woman on the track. Despite a horrible start she managed to pull ahead quite quickly. I am no expert, but it looked like she was able to do this because the rest of her technique was solid. Kim’s head coach, Arno, emphasized the use of her arms as a point of improvement.
The next race will be in a few minutes. For these 200 meters Arno will coach her during the start, hopefully this start will be a lot better.
Something else we learned on the 100 meter was that Kim needs to know how to set up her starting block by heart. At the moment it’s an obstacle in in Kimberly’s mind. The pre-start should just be: measure up the distance to the line, ram the block into the ground and start the race!
This won’t help Kimberly for the next race, starting in thirty minutes. What I am not liking about this race is that I won’t be able to see the start, because it’s on the other side of the track. Oh well, no use fussing about it because there is nothing to do about it. Kimberly’s warming-up was something else, this time she wanted to run around the track clockwise (the wrong way) so her good leg would be on the inside of the track. But that is not the way it works, miss Alkemade!
31:45 – And that was the first 200 meters.
The start was a lot better this time around. Before the race I did a simple linear calculation on what Kimberly potentially could run if she would continue on her 150 meter pace. But something a man said earlier this morning bothered me before and it’s exactly what happened during the race. He told us that 150 meters is usually a ‘breaking point’ in the body’s energy systems. You can see this happen during races at nearly any level. You will often see some runners get faster and other just fall back. This is what I saw happen to Kimberly during this last race. Shortly after the corner she seemed to fall back and her opponent, Cheyenne, seemed to catch up. Very interesting to see.
These were the races, I’m just going to be a coat hanger for a bit
Because that’s what I am really there for. I don’t really cheer Kimberly on. I am way too scared that I will pull her out of her concentration. Especially when I’m shouting like a madman on the side of the track. Nope, I’m here to help Kim and get the obstacles out of the way so she can be as fast as she can be.
If you have any questions about my (or Kimberly’s) journey or want to know more, let me know in the comments!
