Feb. 21, 2000

Beth Ahern is a senior distance runner on the Clemson indoor track and field team. She placed fifth in the 3,000m and sixth in the 5,000m at last year’s ACC Indoor Championships. Ahern earned All-ACC and All-Southeast Region honors for cross country in 1998.

Ahern will provide a journal for ClemsonTigers.com to give fans an inside look at the Clemson women’s track & field program.

ACC Championships

Blacksburg, Virginia

Thursday, February 17

We left today at 1pm for the ACC Championships. For me, it was a rough trip. I had just gotten over the stomach flu and was beginning to get a bad head cold. So I’m not quite sure what everyone else did on the ride-I slept.

We got to the track around 7 and everyone did their pre-race stuff while our coaches had their meeting. I just waited for everyone and tried to rest. We went to dinner afterwards and I ate at Ryan’s Steakhouse. After dinner we went back to the hotel and I went to bed in my own room. (No one wanted to room with me and get sick!)

Friday, February 18

This morning I had breakfast with my parents and my fianc Ryan. We all rested in their room and then went over to the track at 12:30 to see the races. When I got there I met up with my best friend Julianne (Littmann) who had come down to see the races. She’s a Clemson graduate and competed in the 800 and 1600 at this meet a year ago.

Between some of the races, I went for a 40-minute run and was a little worried, because I felt really tired. We all went out for pizza and then came back to watch the rest of the races. This was going to be a tough ACC meet with almost our entire distance team either sick, injured, or unable to come-not to mention the fact that we still needed a 14th person by the 4×400 the next day.

We came back to the hotel after watching the races and the rest of the team had already left for dinner, so we (the distance team) went to the Cracker Barrel with our family and friends. We had to wait forever for our food, but we got free deserts, so I couldn’t complain. That night I had my legs massaged and then made a mixture of hot water and Vicks that I breathed in from under a towel. Finally, it was time to go to bed. I really didn’t think much about my race-I was so tired that I fell straight to sleep.

Saturday, February 19

I woke up at 8:30 this morning to run for 20 minutes and then went to breakfast. I was still feeling weak and tired, but hoped that a good breakfast would give me energy for the race. I made another Vicks vapor thing to clear out my sinuses and packed up my stuff. I had some Subway and then we left for the track at noon.

I took an hour nap at the track and then watched the races-this day was all finals, so they were really exciting. At 3pm I went to warm up for my race, the 3000. I was ranked 6th coming in and my workouts had been showing that I could run faster, but I ended up running a lot slower. I knew that it was because I was sick, but it was my last indoor ACC meet, since I am a senior, and I had really wanted to do better. I guess there’s always outdoors!

We slipped out after the last race and made our way to the bus. I said good-bye to Julianne, my parents, and then Ryan, and we left for Clemson. The bus stopped quickly near a mall and we ate at the food court, but then it was a nonstop drive back to Clemson. I finally made it back to my apartment in Central at midnight, totally exhausted.

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