There's an 800m runner on my team who's times have been consistently around 2:09-2:13 this season. We just had a meet this past Friday and he ran a 2:09 split and a 2:14 open. But just today he went out and ran a 2:03 open. How does a 10 second drop just like that happen especially with only 3 days in between meets?? I run a 2:05-2:06 and always beat him in practice and meets (this meet was a JV meet so I didn't run). He's never been anything great but seriously even my coach was surprised like crazy.
What do you guys think? Is it really that mental?