Coach entered her into the 400, the 800, and the 1600. Grace was NOT happy about doin' the 1600. At. All. She ran the 800 first, and was ready to go home when she finished. She'd walked part of it and she was embarrassed. She cried. She complained. She begged.
"There's 2 hours 'til your next race... and it's the short one. You've got time to recover", I said. She calmed down, ate a little something, and agreed to stick it out.
The 400 went by fast, but she ended up with a bad cramp. Coach had her eat some mustard (random, but ok) and press cold packs into the muscle. More tears. More complaining. More begging.
"I can't do the mile. It hurts. I want to go home", she said. I gave her a banana and some Gatorade and she calmed down. Coach gave her a good pep talk, and made sure all the girls got a good stretch before their next event.
The sun FINALLY came out just as they lined up to start the 1600. Grace was in the back of the pack the whole race, but she kept up a pretty steady pace for the fist 2 laps. By the 3 lap she was startin' to fade. When she saw Coach she walked a few steps, but he cheered louder, and we cheered louder, and suddenly she picked up the pace again. I could see tears on her face from the bleachers. But she didn't stop.
Grace finished the 1600 in 9.41. When she walked off the track I threw my arms around her and held her tight... and we cried. She did it. She DID it!!! I always knew she could. Coach knew she could. But she needed to know she could. Now that she knows, she'll be unstoppable.
"I ran the 800 the 400 and the mile!! Thanks all of you guys for cheering me on in the bleachers ;) its such an amazing feeling when you run past the finish line and even though it feels like your going to die, you feel so accomplished :)"
That's my girl! Charlotte Grace Tyler is my hero.
