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Meet Report: 2022 Carnegie Mellon Invitational

March 27th, 2022

My time running track for Carnegie Mellon was a series of missed opportunities from injury. This week, I came back to CMU to run at its annual home meet. A lot has changed since I was here last, but the track team is still the same; I enjoyed catching up with my old coaches.

Meet conditions were… typical for Pittsburgh in March, with temperatures in the mid-thirties, snow flurries, and a nasty headwind that peaked at -6.6m/s. I ran the 100 and 200.

100m: 11.24 (-2.9)

  • This was definitely my worst race this year. I was a bit rushed to the starting line as I had too many layers of sweats on, and wasn’t as locked in as normal.
  • My calves cramped on steps 2 and 3 and stayed aggravated the whole race. This led to me popping up pretty much right away and ruined any chance I had at a great time.
  • I suspect that the cramps were a combination of cold weather and a bit of dehydration, but it’s becoming something of a recurring pattern for me. I’ll have to figure something out soon.
  • Despite the cramps, I managed to win my heat and the meet as a whole. This time converts to a 11.03 in neutral wind conditions—way off my PR and way slower than what my 60m would indicate.

200m: 22.24 (-4.3)

  • There were only ~45 minutes between the 100 and 200, so I didn’t give myself an opportunity to get cold.
  • Although I rolled and massaged my calves, they still weren’t quite feeling 100% by the time I got in the blocks.
  • Because of that, I was a little less aggressive with my block start.
  • Fortunately, my calves didn’t bother me, and I managed to pull away in the last 80 meters of the race, winning both my heat and the meet again.
  • That headwind was absolutely brutal coming off the curve.
  • This converts to a 21.67 in neutral wind, which is a lot more in line with what I’d expect to be running this year.

I have mixed feelings about my performance at this meet. My 100 was quite poor for my standards this year, but the 200 was in line with expectations. And despite the relatively bad race, I managed to win both events. I think I need to lock down my pre-race routine.

Next up for me will be the first Atlanta Track Club’s Spring Meet on 4/9.

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