Join us weekly as Buchholz Sr. and University of Florida commit, Riley Smith chronicles his weekly journey through the remainder of his HS career. Riley ran at the Florida Relays on Friday in the 800. His first 800 of the season. He won, running a US #3 PR 1:50.96.
400
54.593
800
56.360 1:50.953
He also anchored the Buchholz 4x800m Relay to a win. Smith joined Sr. Evan Fleming, and Jr.'s Gino Palazzolo and Calum Watson as they ran FL#1, US #4 7:47.81. Watch the 4x800m Finals
"I hadn't run an 800 yet this season and have done only a little speed work, so I wanted to see where I was at. My first speed workout of the season was the Tuesday before which helped me figure out where my speed was and what I was capable of in a race. In the race, I knew I wanted to get out in front quickly and push the pace early on. I went through the 400 in 54.6. I was trying to get slightly under 54, but it wasn't quite there, so I knew I had to keep it moving, to get the time I wanted. I tried to surge some just past the 400, going into the second lap, and finished with the 1:50. I was hoping for a faster time. It's hard to run an 800 alone, especially where I'm at in my training, so although I was going for a slightly faster time and trying to go sub-1:50, I am happy with my race and proud I was able to represent both Buchholz and the future of UF in my solo event.
In the 4x800 I felt very smooth. Although it's hard to tell the exact splits, I was told 1:50 and 1:51, so it could be either. It felt much smoother than the day before even though my body was a little tired. I'm guessing this was due to having somebody to chase on the first lap after our exchange. As a team, we had a plan going into the race and we executed our plan well. Everyone ran hard and we did what we needed to do to get the win.
This weekend is our county championship and I don't know what events I am doing quite yet, but it will likely be a combination of events as a workout and scoring some points for my team. My next big races will be in the championship season, so in the upcoming weeks, my concentration will be on training and hammering out some workouts.