Running a mile.

My daughter ran in her first-ever track meet yesterday. She's in seventh grade and she ran the mile. She was incredibly nervous the day before, and all through the meet until her event started. She was the only middle school student in the pack of eleven and the only girl representing her school running that distance.

She came in 10th. She was in last place the entire distance and put on a burst of speed that I was very surprised at, with only about 1/3 track left to run, to pass the girl in front of her by only a couple of feet.

I don't know anything about track or running, but I was impressed with her ability to hold/maintain her own pace and not to try to keep up with the leading pack (as I surely would have done). She stayed steady on her pace the entire run, never dropping to a walk as I half expected (and also surely would have done). She found the energy to run full out at the end (as I surely would NOT have found). She beat the time her coaches had set for her as a goal -- just slightly, but a fantastic effort.

She tells me that she's running the 800 at the next event to see which she likes better.

Way to go!