Senior Olympian Sprinter

This picture is me with Mark Carver from Nashville. Mark scored a silver in the 800 and 1500 m for 50 yr old men..  Lost both by a step.  The 1500 was a really good race. Well,  today I am in Muskogee, OK watching a tissue machine run really good on our chemistry.    So things in my work life are returning to normal.    Get on a plane, fly somewhere, go to work.   I will have some time to get in a little track work this week.  It is 95 degrees here and dry.  That is a real change of pace for me,  lately it has been constant rain everywhere I have been lately.    So, if I can get a chance, I know of a nice synthetic high school track near the casino where I can get in some training.   Work up a sweat and get in a good stretch. I also signed up for the Greater Nashville District Sr Olympics qualifier today.  I am going to keep my hand in and see how the training...

Ready to go in the 400 M final. I took inventory today and had some sore muscles and fatigued feet, but I felt pretty good.  I did not have to use any Red Hot  on the legs or any other medical techniques to be race ready.  I did my normal KT tape on my feet and was fine.   So, I am getting smarter and not going wild in the races-- the so called "staying within yourself" .    Today, Linda and I got to eat a real breakfast at Goody's Family restaurant.   It was wonderful, the first real breaksfast in 4 days--eggs,  bacon, potatoes--yum. We also went to the Rock n Roll HOF to see the Stone's exhibit and anything that was new since our trip there 10 years ago.    It quite a mixed crowd of old and young...... Now it is time to think about what to do next.   Do I continue to race,  give it up or switch to something else to keep me in shape???  I was really ready to ...

Well it was finals day for me at the Senior Nationals.  Partly cloudy, breezy and a in the low 70's.   Beautiful day to race.  The wind was shifting and it could be blowing down the finishing straight or into turn 4, either direction was a problem for very fast times.   As you can see in the picture I came in 5 th place at 62.13 seconds.  I picked up 2 full seconds from the prelim yesterday.   I was 1.4 seconds from getting a medal.   I started in lane 8, since I was the slowest qualifier.  I actually wanted an outside lane so I could run my pace and nor worry about the other competitors--you tend to start racing too early and kill your finish.   I got a good start and was in groove so to speak.  I did pick up my pace from yesterday.  Around 150 meters the winner passed me and I did pace with him down the backstraight.  I was still in good shape and started to accelerate a little in...

This image of me waiting in lane seven to run the 400 meter qualifier.  Sunny and warm with a persistent breeze down the finishing straight--in your face of course.  I made it thru-- got to the finals tomorrow in the 400!  I was eighth quick out of 25 runners with a time of 64.15 seconds.   I ran the 400 first and ran the 50 m later and did not qualify--more later on that.   I felt good in warm up and since I was in lane 7 with someone in lane 8, I had someone to pace me a little.  Yesterday, I really struggled in the last 50 meters of the 200 because I was used up and had nothing left-- a case of too much too quick.  I was not going to repeat that situation .     I ran my pace the first 200 and was really relaxed and had a really easy stride.  I felt like talking with the race marshals as I ran by them on the backstretch, I was relaxed!    I started to pick it up some on the fina...

I ran the 200 meter preliminary today and finished 11 th at 28.41 seconds.  I am out for the 200.   It was rainy and breezy conditions.   I felt OK, got warmed up good, let it rip.   I did tie up around the 150 meter mark and struggled to the end.  I was in second and was passed around 160 mark.   So I finished third in the heat.   The official results are on www.finishtiming.com  . The tab for the NSGA is on the right.   M 55-59 200 M preliminaries.  Tomorrow is 50 and 400 prelims.  The weather looks like it will clear and I will try again to make a finals. The relief after finally running at this level is immense.  The  fact of not knowing if 'you belong' or are 'just wasting your time' really helps.    I am alot more relaxed now, know the drill so to speak and need to step it up, these guys are fast and seasoned veterans of this gig.   I belong, but I ...

Linda and I made it to Cleveland with  little trouble and made it downtown to get signed in.   A lot going on in downtown Cleveland this weekend.   Sr Olympians all over.  My schedule is : Saturday--  200 meter qualifier--@ 11:00 am.  41 signed up.  One race and the 8 best times make it to the final on Monday  (9:15) Sunday-- 400 meter qualifier--@ 8:30 AM.  40 signed up.   Same deal--one qualifier race for everyone,  Finals on Monday at 11:15            50 meter qualifier at 10:22.  26 signed up.. One shot to qualify--fastest 8 times regardless of what heat you were in.   Monday-- all finals if I make them I went over to the track today( Baldwin-Wallace University) and the surface is very nice and fast.  A 90 year ran a 71 second 400 meters and set a record--wow!!  So this field is fast.    I also ran into Charles B...

Today I tried the best I could to keep my mind off the upcoming meet.  My mind is tricky and the best way I have found to get it off track is to do basic tasks that take time, motion, sweaty effort, and a little bit of ingenuity.   I did not work out at all, except for the manual labor involved my projects today.   My feet and ankles needed a rest, they were getting quite tried and sore.   My feet are one of my weak body parts. I did my usual work for my real job and then when I was caught up, I worked on a hydraulic project, some tree trimming, a little painting and a little grass planting. With all these low tech jobs using hammers, pry bars, fencing pliers, hoes, rakes, axes and chain saws, it was busy enough to keep my mind from racing off and running some races somewhere.   The beauty of having property that has a creek, old trees and brush--there is ALWAYS something to trim or eliminate.  Hopefully I burned enough energ...

Some loose ends to tie up--I did get the bridge chained down, so it will not disappear during one of numerous flash floods in the last several months.   Yesterday I did not work out, I worked in Memphis, so I spent a lot of the day driving.   Today I plan on some light running with no speed work.  Just get the blood flowing and burn some calorie and do a very thorough stretch.     My weight is back down to 196 after work outs and I am happy to get it back down after the layoff to heal.   No aches no pains........ Who is Nervous Nellie?   I am not sure if NN is a universal name for someone who cannot sit still or is constantly fidgeting, but where I was raised is was a common term.   I noticed yesterday while driving, that my mind would drift into some sort of competition and my heart rate would go nuts.   It will get worse as the first race approaches.  I turn into the Nervous Nellie-- a b...

First race is this Saturday.  Not much time to get the body ready, but plenty to get the mind and gear ready.  The gear should take an hour or so to make sure I have everything I need plus spares-- in case of rain or damage--stuff does break.   Later this week I will lay out all my stuff and make sure I pack what I need to race.   The mind--that is a totally different matter.   I am quite a bit more stable or confident after running on Sunday.  I did some starts with blocks and ran a couple of 50 meters at 98% with no problem with my leg.  The leg is healed up, but the mind still needs some convincing.  I guess I need to give it      " the talk".  I ran quite a bit of the workout at 85 to 90% and had no leg discomfort and felt pretty good about my speed.  The speed will be there, I just need to find a way to allow the body to take over and basically--'let it rip'.  I have no r...

Today I have alot to say.  As your life passes you get a chance to experience successes and failures and I have a lot of each.  The failures and bad times can dominate your life if you desire.   I have worked hard at making the good times and successes take the forefront in my life--I think it is the better way.  I still race for a lot personal reasons--it is great exercise, I love all forms of racing at the elite level, I am competitive, to need to challenge myself, it makes my wife quite proud and I have always had a burning to prove something.  That "something" is always changing, but how do I stack up against the big boys that are getting their name in the paper???  I have competed in a lot of  different arenas and getting to the top in each has always been that 'something'. I have rarely been in with the competition that is a push over, getting beat would happen if you cannot produce at your best. ...

OK, this is not a track or trail, but it is some really good exercise to get the hips, legs and back ready to run fast.  I have found that heavy lifting and really intense hard work has made my core much stronger and thus I feel  faster.   We have a piece of real estate called the "Peninsula" that is cut off from our main yard by two streams.   I wanted to have easy access to this little piece (1/4 acre) with the garden tractor without going through the bigger stream.   During the winter I cut down two very large Osage orange or "hedge apple" trees, and those trees were my construction materials.    Osage Orange is incredibly dense wood,   rot resistant for decades, and overall very hard to split and move.  So, I thought I would build a bridge over the "Troubled Waters" and make access much easier.   And I did.    I had two logs that I split with wedges, an 8 pound ...

I have ran four days in a row this week, which is a big spirit lift.   I have been really down and very low in any sort of confidence that my left leg could hold up under speed.   But, I have been doing a run/walk 5 K trail near my house with my low technology running shoes,  I have been running my heart rate up to 90 to 95% and then walking for a sort bit and then repeating.  The trail is quite hilly on the way out and it does work the heart and lungs quite well.  Typically I will only run two days in a row before resting a day or two.  But I decided to go at slower speeds and do several days in a row and make sure I could go at least three days in a row--which is the Nationals meet length for me.  In the three weeks prior to the Nationals--I have been trying to get the fitness level back up to where it was prior to injury.  And if the leg could not hold up, I would get out.  Pretty simple strategy.   The leg ...

After several weeks of downtime in an attempt to get my leg healed up, I did some 'testing' this week on July 8.   I went to the local track and warmed up really good and stretched out the best I could and did some tests.   I did some speed test on a 50 meter stretch of track using a running start.  The running start allows me to control the speed better the entire distance and also eliminates any hard starts that are risky when injured.  I ran  9.7, 8.5, 7.5 and a 6.9 seconds for the four attempts with the speed constant thru the distance. Each pass was slowly increasing the intensity.  I did not go past 90% intensity--I was not trying to 'let it rip' at this point.   Looking at the numbers, my speed is OK and the left leg was not an issue.  It was still causing a little discomfort, but was not hindering the running or speed.  So, if Gene Kranz would ask for status, I am replying --" we are GO Launch"  .*...

I have been resting my running muscles for over a week and I am getting restless.   I have planned to do my first running at speed on July 3, 4 or 5 in the the UP of Michigan. I will do an extensive warm up and stretch and do some 50 meters to get a  feel for the success of my resting, if that goes well, I will do some 200 meters and some 800 meters for fitness.   I think Linda will be manning the clock to be sure the numbers are legitimate.  That will be two weeks of total rest for my left leg,  and HOPEFULLY the rest has helped.   Linda and I are on Holiday this week. Our activities have been a wedding in Green Bay over the weekend, visiting kids this week, as well as trip to Gladstone, MI for some more family events and local July 4 festivities.  We have been eating at our favorite local restaurants and sleeping in ( at least I have been).   It is a leisure lifestyle to say the least, but the restlessness is...