400m prelim. 50 prelim

Another day of racing.  I ran the 400m prelim in Jerry Crowe's heat and knew if I could stick with him I would get to the finals-which is the goal for the race.  I started with blocks which I rarely do in the 400, and we were off.   The track is set up with a giant screen at the turn3/4 end and I was cruising down the backstretch feeling good, said hello to my wife as she was recording the race, and looked up at the video at my time and I Was kinda stunned--it was around 26 seconds at the 200 pole.  Wow, I was screaming.  No, you did not factor in the lane seven start, I was still in good shape.  The wind was at my back in the backstretch and turn 3 and the main straight had a good 10 mph breeze, which can really knock your speed down.  Making the turn, Jerry made up the stagger and went past me and I hung on to him for a second place finish of 63.5 seconds.  The fastest I had ran since Cleveland in 2013.   We both made the finals!!!  He is 3 rd quick and I was fourth quick....great day for two 59 year olds.  All the runners from Tenneessee made a finals in at least one event, which makes you proud for the state and the runners get a shot at medal.  

I came thru the race without any trauma, and needed some rest for the fun race, the 50 prelim in 90 minutes.  Linda and I set up camp on the backstretch under cover with 110 volt access for chargers. Perfect spot.  We visited with people from all over that We remembered from Cleveland and traded some great stories about meeting your wife at a later age, kids, travel, all kinds of stuff.  The visiting is a huge part of the fun and today was a great day to enjoy the moment.  It was warm and partly cloudy, about as good as you could get to race in the summer.  Great timing, tonight there is heavy weather with tornadoes warnings " the works" coming but it will be cleared out by gametime tomorrow.
The 50 m is a contest for the strongest and I finished in mid pack with a 7.4 second run and will watch the finals.  The speed needed to compete in the 50 is beyond my ability.  I could change my training to try, but I my genes were assembled to be a 200/400 star.  I can now rest longer, the 50 meters is first tomorrow morning.

We have a 4 x 100 relay team signed up for the last race of the meet tomorrow.  The Tennessee Tri Stars are in the 55 to 59 age group and we have a legitimate shot at a medal.  The relay is about as much fun you can have on the track, grown men acting like kids, I love it and I will get in it every chance I can at the Nationals.   All the runners in the TTS have finals tomorrow, so our group is competitve in the other speed events as well.  I can't wait.  
I have the 200 and 400 m finals tomorrow.  Linda asked if I thought I could medal--which my real goal- and I told here yes.  I don't know in which event, but I feel the chance is there.  I will be in lane one for the 200 which the lane I just ran my best time in forever, so I would like to repeat the performance.   The 400 is who loses the least amount at the end from muscle fatigue, I managed ok today.  I should be in lane 6 for 400, which is near the fast people, and if I can't medal they will earn the one they win.  

I slept about 4 hours last night and ran a lot of exhausting dream races.  Tonight I will try to get some real sleep and save the racing for tomorrow.

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