Nationals 2012

And the season is DONE!
 Eight days ago the 2011/2012 season wound down. Well it didn't exactly "wind down" it finished with the 90th Australian National Track and Field Championships in Melbourne.

I flew out from Perth Thursday and had the 1500m heat on Saturday. Thirty odd runners were split across 2 heats, I was in the second. Jeremy Roff took out the first heat in a modest 3:47, the first 4 from each heat automatically qualified for the final and then the next 4 fastest non-automatic times qualified. So for me to make it to the final I needed to either cross the finishline as one of the first 4 runners of my heat or run faster than the 5th-8th placed runners in the first heat.

Our heat went out   s - l - o - w - l - y.

Runners were packed 3 wide for the first 600m with no one making a move to get the pace rolling. With the chance of beating the time of the runners in the first heat virtually gone I had to try and finish in the top 4. Not an easy task with the reigning National champion Jeff Risely in the race as well as reigning 800m champion James Kaan and many other fast finishers.
I was sitting back in the pack for the first 600m and wanted to position myself better for the inevitable kick down that was going to happen at some point. I made my way up to the front of the pack with 2 laps to go. I was going to just slot into the front and sit for a while longer but as no one really reacted to me moving up in the pack I decided to stride out for the next bend and see if anyone made a move to cover me. No one did so my repositioning attempt ended up being a drive to the finish as I kept on working the pace and gapped the main field behind me. I didn't "break the pack", the leaders of the group simply allowed me to go, knowing fully well that the top 4 automatically qualified and that if I kept going and took the first spot there were still 3 others they could comfortably take.
I ended up winning the heat by a second, time trialling the last 800m while the pack behind me made a frantic dash over the final 300m to qualify.

Cool down done I grabbed some ice on the walk home, had an ice bath and then settled in for as much rest and recovery as I could get to make ready for the final the next day.

The final was run pretty similar to the heats. Slow for the first 800m with the pace building 600m from home and the real attacks coming at the bell. I positioned myself FAR to far back in the pack and by the bell I was 2.5 seconds down from the leaders with too much work to do over the final lap. I finished up 6th and a little unhappy with the result but it was another learning chance and a good race to remember for the future.

I am now in the middle of a 2 week break from training before hitting the winter base-building stage of the yearly cycle. The mental rest is much more needed than the physical & it has been good to put in a few more physio hours at work.
I'll post something agian once training kicks up again.
As always, thanks for giving this a browse.

 - Marc


Youtube video of the final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZIYl9hnIds

Full results of the final:
Men 1500 metres Open Final
1, Jeffrey Riseley, VIS, 3:47.78.
2, James Kaan, NSWIS, 3:48.00.
3, Jeremy Roff, NSWIS, 3:49.40.
4, Mitchel Brown, VIC, 3:50.01.
5, Philo Saunders, ACT, 3:50.18.
6, Marc See, WA, 3:50.64.
7, Daniel Clark, VIC, 3:51.62.
8, James Connor, NSW, 3:52.59.
9, Mark Blicavs, VIC, 3:53.29.
10, Rhys Jones, SA, 3:55.24.
11, Sam Fergusson, TAS, 3:55.27.
12, Matthew Ferber, SA, 3:58.01.