Today I ran at Woodside Stadium, which is where the Watford Harriers running club, the club I used to train with, usually compete. It was a “minors” meeting, and my race was the 600 metres on the athletics track. My previous personal best for this distance was two minutes and four seconds, but I knew that was slower than what I was capable of. My goal this time was to run under two minutes, which felt tough but possible. I was excited for the chance to push myself and hopefully set a new record.

When I lined up at the start, I was expecting to race against other girls in my age group. Even though I’ve just started Year 5 at school, in athletics I am still classed as a Year 4 runner. So, I thought I would only be racing against Year 4 girls. However, at the last moment they combined the Year 4 and Year 5 girls together. That meant I would be running with older girls, which made the competition harder. At first I didn’t want this because I really wanted to win, but I told myself not to worry about it and just to focus on running my best race.

Today I ran in the Stan Allen one-mile race in Tooting. I was really looking forward to this race because I had never run a mile on the track before. The furthest race I had done before was 1500 metres, so this was a new challenge for me. The journey to the track was quite long, and when we were travelling there it was raining very heavily. For a while I thought the race might be cancelled and that I would not even get the chance to run. Luckily, when we finally arrived, the rain had almost stopped. It was still spitting a little, but it was only light and it wasn’t going to stop me from running.

My race was the fifth heat, so I had to wait and watch a few others before it was my turn. I was determined to do well and had set myself a target time of six minutes. I believed I could get close to that target, and I felt ready to push myself. When the start came, I didn’t hear the bell properly and because of that my start wasn’t as sharp as I wanted. I managed to settle into the pack quite quickly, but during the race I often found myself stuck on the inside, surrounded by three or four other runners, which made it difficult to run freely.

Today I went to Loughborough University to run in the Charnwood AC open meeting. I was taking part in the 1500 metre race. I was very excited to be back at this track because I really like it. The track is modern and looks amazing, and it feels special to run on. A few weeks ago, I had managed to get a personal best in the 800 metres at this very track, so it is a place that already has good memories for me. I was hoping to make more good memories in this race too.

The track at Loughborough is also very easy to run on because there are timers every 100 metres around it. This makes it simple to know how fast you are going and to keep track of your pace. When the race began, I started strongly and pushed as hard as I could. Sadly, I soon found myself at the back of the group. I kept trying my best, but I began to feel really sick. After finishing the first lap and about 200 metres into the second lap, I was sick on the track, which forced me to stop completely for a short while. I think it might have been the banana I ate too quickly before the race.

Today I ran at Sutcliffe Park for a Track and Field Night event. This was my second time running at this event, after first taking part on the 16th of July. I was really looking forward to returning because I enjoy running on the track, and I had a goal in mind. I was going to run the 1500 metres again, and I was hoping to beat my personal best. My previous best was 5 minutes and 40 seconds, and when I ran here last time, I finished with a time of 5 minutes and 43 seconds — just three seconds slower than my best. This time, I was determined to run faster and get a new personal best.

Even though I had just recently come back from my holiday, and I didn’t feel like I was at full fitness yet, I was still really motivated to do well. I knew it might be a challenge, but I wanted to test myself and see what I could achieve. I was placed in the last heat of the event, and my aim was simple: run the best I could and try not to finish in last place. This event is mixed, so boys and girls of all ages take part, but most of the runners in the 1500m are usually 13 years old or older. That meant I was by far the youngest in the race, which made it even more important to focus and stay strong.