Nike Indoor Blog: Robbie Scharold (Campbell County) Day 3

Robbie Scharold is a junior at Campbell County.  He finished 10th overall in the 800m Run at Nike Indoor Nationals.  He ran a personal best time of 1:56.57.  He wrote a daily blog about his experiences in Boston at Nike Indoor Nationals.

Sunday, March 15^th

Since Ryan and I had races very early in the morning (7:15 and 8:15 respectively) we arose at the lovely hour of 4:45 for a ten minute jog to get our blood flowing and wake our bodies up a bit. The run went smoothly enough and I felt good and ready to go, however the excitement and anticipation I had been feeling the past two days had been replaced with nerves and that typical uneasy feeling I get before every race.

I then ate a granola bar, had a mini-Gatorade, packed my things and then we drove to the Reggie Lewis Center (which only 20 minutes, much better than the hour and ten minutes it took on Friday!) Upon our arrival the facility was empty, it quickly filled with people right after we settled into our spot (the same table we had laid our stuff at on Friday. Being runners, we are superstitious so we believed that same table might bring similar luck that Ryan had on Friday during the 5k) We then did a half mile warm-up and I did some preliminary stretches to loosen up and Ryan proceeded to do his drills cause he had his 2 mile first. After that I attempted (without much luck) to calm myself down. Since this was the biggest meet of my life up to this point I was over-analyzing everything and felt I needed to stretch more so I would periodically stand-up to stretch and do a couple drills to sooth my nerves. Then, roughly thirty minutes before I was supposed to be hipped (which is basically dividing up the heats and assigning hip numbers) I did another half mile warm-up and did all my drills as efficiently as I ever had. Then, once they called all 800 boys over to the hipping area, went and sat down against a wall and tried calming down. Occasionally I would do a couple drills again to stay loose, which was weird barefoot (athletes couldn't wear spikes in the warm-up area cause the warm-up area was a gym floor. After getting my hip number I talked with the St. X 800 runners (who were really nice on a side note) and then proceeded down the padded hallway to the track.

We watched the final two girls heats of the 800 then waited impatiently for the guys to get started. I was lucky enough to find a little gap in the back of the stands where I could get in some strides. The heats preceding mine ran rather unimpressive times (I think the fastest up until my heat 1:58) so I was getting my hopes up to run a good time and standing out a bit among the "slow" heats. While the official was giving us instructions I went through my pre-race ritual of praying at the starting line, this helped me calm down a bit before the race.

I rise up and shake out my arms; there were only three of us on the outside starting line so I gave myself a little cushion between me and Matt Hillenbrand. I get a slow start the first 25 meters but quickly made up the ground on the field and after 100 meters in I was on the leaders outside shoulder. The pace didn't feel fast but I knew we were moving at a fast clip. I could hear my parents and Graupmann yelling for me. We came through the first lap right on the pace I wanted, 27. As soon as we hit the line I decided to try and take the lead but as soon as I made the move to pass the leader went also and maintained his lead. I remained on his shoulder for the next 150 meters then tried passing again right before the 400, which we passed at 55 (which ended up being the quickest 400 splits of any heat that day.) I could feel the leader was starting to fade so I capitalized and made a move to take the lead 50 meters away from the 600 meter mark, 1:25. I could hear the announcer describing the race in her own words, 'Scharold (mispronounced) finally takes the lead but he can't shake the other runners.' I was dreading this last 200 meters; my legs were quickly losing strength I started to think the worst. My arms started to burn with 150 meters left. I fought to maintain my lead, I could feel them on my shoulder and around the final turn I could see their shadows on the blue track. 75 meters out I once again tried to push but I only felt the lactic acid surging through every muscle in my body. One athlete almost took the lead but I was able to fight him off. 15 meters away from the finish line, and the release from this pain surging through me like a broken dam, I could feel that same runner pushing his way towards the front only this time, I couldn't hold him off. I swung my arms as hard as I could but he had caught me off guard for that split second and (though we both hit the tape at the finish line at the same time) he beat me by .03 seconds.

I wasn't as much sad that I lost that I was excited to have ran a pr by a full second. I knew my time and race had given people something to watch and I was satisfied with my effort. I took my time walking out of the infield, I chatted with my heats winner for a bit. Then I got Geoff Spencer a Gatorade and chatted with him and Matt Hillenbrand for a little bit. The officials ushered us of the track because the 60 meter prelims were beginning. I sat in my chair by my clothes and went over the race; I couldn't find one thing to complain about (with the exception of not winning of course.) I downed a mini-Gatorade and then walked over to talk to my coach. After chatting for a bit I put on my running shoes and headed for a ten minute jog. Afterward I stretched and went to the bleachers to watch the rest of the meet.

The number of high quality athletes at Nike was astonishing. Every heat contained quality athletes and good performances. My favorite race of the day was the men’s mile. They ran so fast so consistently and the race was great, Brett Johnson and Mac Fleet were in a bit of controversy however. I am amazed that Brett was able to finish as well as he did, he was tripped and in last but got up and sprinted his way back into the race then was shoved by Mac on the last lap (all the way into lane four or five) and still regrouped and ran a great time. Watching Jordan Hasay dominate was a great experience, Tavaris Tate running a great double and Chalonda Goodman (who I got to know a bit both here and at the UK Invite) running a great double. All-in-all I was extremely pleased with my trip and had a great time. I can't wait for Nike outdoors to roll around so I can watch, and hopefully be, elite athletes running great races all day.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope it wasn't too much torture and I was able to provide some interesting insight to how my trip went.

Saturday, March 14th

As far as running goes there wasn't much going on for us. Woke up at nine for an easy 3 mile jog with Graupmann and Ryan around our hotel. Still in awe of Ryan's performance I kept picturing how i was going to race, I could hear the noise of the crowd and the announcer saying my name over the speakers. If only it was race day already!!!

After that we searched, with no luck, to find the way to Ihop. We settled for a Brazilian buffet because it was about lunch time which actually turned out to be really good! Afterward we attempted to once again figure out the transit system in Boston. We arrived in downtown Boston in search of the Freedom Trail and some historic landmarks. We found the graveyard containing several of our forefathers (Sam Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere were the head of the list) and then proceeded to walk (rather aimlessly) to find another cool place to check out. After arriving in a much more populated part of Boston we attempted to cross the street cause rumor had it that there were multiple things to do over there.(I have never seen such crazy drivers, they go even if you have the little green walking man for the cross walk! and are completely oblivious to other drivers) We headed to find some stuff to drink and then toured through Paul Reveres house and The Old North Church.

Me and Ryan finally complained enough about our feet being tired and conserving energy for our morning races, that our parents finally decided to head back to our hotel. Once there I lied around for an hour, played Cube Runner and Trace on my Iphone, watched my mom attempt to figure out my phone and then headed over to a pizza place right across the street. After eating I went straight to bed because we had a very early morning planned ahead.

Friday, March 13th

Friday morning we woke up at eight to get to the airport where, shortly after successfully navigating through security, my mom realized she left her cell phone in the car. As she heads back to retrieve it my father and I grab some breakfast and head to the gate where we realize that my current teammate, Ryan Smith, is catching the same flight as we are to Boston.

We arrived at Boston a little late due to engine troubles before we took off but nonetheless were ready to navigate Boston. While my dad was getting information for buses, I looked over my right shoulder and saw Reese Hoffa sitting with his legs propped up with his backpack. I wasn't sure if it was him at that point or not so I waited to ask Ryan for his opinion while my dad and Graupmann were stuffing bags into the trunk of Graupmann's car. We dashed across the pick-up area and head to where I saw Reese, after several second of debate Ryan decides to ask if it really was Reese Hoffa. Typically when someone is asked for their name they answer by saying something like, "yea" or "Yes thats me." Not Reese Hoffa. He lowered his newspaper to reveal his face and says, "Yes that is I." We talked for about a minute and a half and then we shook his hand (which him shaking our hands is like us shaking hands with a baby) and parted ways. Graupmann informs us that seven Olympians were supposed to be here so hopefully we encounter more.

After checking in and relaxing a bit; me, Ryan and Graupmann headed to the Reggie Lewis Center to check-in and for Ryan to run his 5k. The facility is a great place with a blue, banked track that is so nice to run on. After checking-in and such me and Ryan ran a warm-up mile on the track and pointed out National stars we recognized. I then proceeded to try and run as much as I could before they closed the track for the start of the girls 5k and Ryan did some preliminary stretches. Then we watched a bit of the girls 5k and then proceeded to help Ryan warm-up and stretch. I caught the end of the second heat of the girls 5k and then watched the boys weight throw (where Colin Mcsomething threw an incredible 92'7") while the first 5k went on. Then the second heat started and I watched with keen interest as Lucas Verzibicas ran a national record 5k. it was incredible and I never imagined he would run that fast. Then Ryan got under way and ran amazing, aside from his last lap (31) he was right between 35-39 for each of his splits. His splits were 4:56 mile and 9:54 two mile. He really got me excited for Saturday and I can’t wait until I toe the line.

Finding our way home was an adventure; we hitched a ride on the subway and then walked around Boston trying to find food. After we ate at a pub we could not find the right train to save our lives! After we found it we had to negotiate with our taxi driver to get everyone back to the hotel. We finally got back to the hotel at midnight and I went straight to bed, ready to wake up for a nice easy run around Boston in the morning.