USATF Indoor Nationals
Last weekend I experienced for the first time a USATF National event and had a really good time. Earlier this year I ran in an indoor USATF event and really enjoyed the meet and also met some interesting people that encouraged my to give the Nationals at shot in Albuquerque. They were correct about me enjoying the event, it was a lot of fun and the best Masters athletes in the world are there to enjoy.
The meet is in the Convention Center in downtown Albuquerque and the elevation is about 5100 feet at the location. The thinner air does make for less wind resistance, but recovery is tough for the longer events. I struggled after my 400 to recovery. More about that later. The track is portable and has substantial banking in the curves, which are a fun to negotiate at speed. It is a quick surface and design. I arrived on Thursday from a call I had made in Canada and did not get on the track until Friday morning. I signed up and got my info packet and bib and got a feel for the track by doing some running in the curves while the field events were going strong. I liked the feel of the curves and you can run downhill in some sections. My first event was the 400 Final in the afternoon.
There were two heats of the 400 and my heat was first (slow heat) and I was on the outside lane (6) and started on top the banking. You run a 2 curve stagger and then blend just like the 800 and longer events. I like that style of racing, you can actually race a little by picking a spot to accelerate and overtake. I won the heat easily at 63.45 seconds and waited for the faster heat. I finished fifth and did score two points in the meet for that finish. This time as 1.5 seconds quicker that the earlier indoor time and the fastest for me in two years. I felt good the entire two laps and did tie up a little near the end, but was real strong and had a little there if challenged. Nice run for me. If I could have made the fast heat, maybe a little quicker--you do not know. According to the "World Masters Ranking" that is the ninth fastest time in the world currently for an indoor 400 for my age group of 60-64. I will take that all day long. MastersRankings.com is the web site for these results. I am a member and have access to the data and it is useful to track your progress and how competitive you really are in an event. My next race would be tomorrow afternoon and it was time to recover.
I took Lyft back to the hotel and got a hot bath and relaxed and then headed out to dinner at Chick Fil A. Chicken fingers and a milkshake were a great fit. I was struggling at this point from the altitude and had to get cough drops to help the hacking and I was getting the altitude head ache as well. I started on some Motrin and took a lot of electrolytes. The head ache did subside over night, but the lungs were still a little sore in the morning. On Saturday morning, I rented a car and headed out to get some fresh Motrin and I wanted to see if anyone had any oxygen. I had an gentlemen at our gym who travels to altitude a lot, tell me about canned oxygen that will help the starvation. I found some at Dick's Sporting Goods along with another roll of KT tape. I used a lot of tape this meet. The Boost is 95% oxygen and you basically huff the stuff. I used it heavily Saturday morning and felt better by race time. Was the Boost the difference? I am not sure, but I think it did help get me ready to race.
Saturday afternoon the 200 preliminaries were run in three heats. My heat was first and I was in lane 6 again. One lap and stay in your lanes. The finals would be each heat winner and the other 3 quickest runners. I knew that I was going to need a fast time to get in, so I ran full tilt the entire lap and finished second by a step. 27.79 was my time and that should be OK, but you still have to want. After about 20 minutes of trying to find a result, they were posted and I was fifth quick and in the final on Sunday! I was pretty excited about making the finals. Time to recover and it was a lot better the third night. I still had trouble sleeping, because I was close to medal speed and was 'nerved up' and just rolled around all night.
Sunday's race was at 11:00 AM and I did my routine and got ready to run. I was seeded in lane 2 this time, so I could watch everyone during the race. It does not work that way, the track is a little narrow and you really concentrate on staying in your lane and the lean in the corners. There is little time to look around. Again, I ran as hard as I could the entire lap and finished 5th with a slight improvement in my time to 27.71. It was good trip for me, but they are faster. Period. That time is currently 14 th in the world in World Masters Rankings. Oscar Peyton won it. He is still the king at 64 years old and was very sick from the flu and altitude, but he still won easily!
Overall I had two fifths and ran very good times and was happy with that. Going forward I need to get my 200 time to 27 flat and the 400 in the 62 range to challenge for a medal. I want to get my weight down to 188 and I raced this event at 194. I still have some work to do on the diet. I had my body fat checked Tuesday after the race and it was less than 19% and that is considered "lean". My running has been helping a lot, and my muscle mass is increasing--my legs are getting bigger and harder each week.
The spoils of victory was two ribbons and some PBR. The post race PBR is getting to be a tradition and it typically tastes pretty good. leading up to the races I will cut out any alcohol for at least a week or two to make sure my gout inflammation does not appear and mess up my stride.
The USATF runs a very organized meet with everything on time and no problems with keeping the show rolling. They also take great care of the athletes with a full medical facility and trainers and massage therapist available to work on muscle related issues. All the services are free. They also provided Gatorade and electrolytes as needed. The massage tables were full late every afternoon. I did not need any help, but I now know it is there if I need to rub out a cramp or two. The events are also recorded and you can get replays of your race a few hours after it finishes. I signed up for the video service--a fee is required. I reviewed each race and it was very helpful in pointing out the points in the race you gained or lost ground and this does come into any strategy you may need to use. It will also be useful for relays to see how to stage your athletes to match up correctly. You can also play the video on your IPad and record they with your phone and message them to your wife. I like that option too. Linda can give excellent feed back on the races as well. She knows what it takes to stay in front.
I was asked by Bill Cheadle to join the So Cal Track Club. It makes a lot of sense for me to get involved with a Club if I am going to race in this league. They are a large club that wants to win the team point total at the National events and have athletes from all over the country in the club. They recruit all the time to keep a large group ready for the National events which they want to win. There is a trophy given to the championship team as well by USATF. Several runners top runners from Tennessee are in the club. The club has it own area at big meets for shade and has a massage therapist on site. Nice! This would also get me in a lot more relays to help win team points--it is always a lot of fun to do relays. I could do the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 in USATF. The 4 x 800 is not something I would want to try. So, I am signing up and will be a member shortly and displaying the So Cal colors. They are trying to get a big showing at Baton Rouge this summer. My ability to deal with humidity will be quite useful during the national Outdoor meet. I am excited to be on a real track team again and hopefully I can pull my weight and score some points--I had 4 in this meet.
I know what needs to be done to get faster, now I just need to carry out my plan and stay healthy. I intend to stay healthy.
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| # 4 bib. |
There were two heats of the 400 and my heat was first (slow heat) and I was on the outside lane (6) and started on top the banking. You run a 2 curve stagger and then blend just like the 800 and longer events. I like that style of racing, you can actually race a little by picking a spot to accelerate and overtake. I won the heat easily at 63.45 seconds and waited for the faster heat. I finished fifth and did score two points in the meet for that finish. This time as 1.5 seconds quicker that the earlier indoor time and the fastest for me in two years. I felt good the entire two laps and did tie up a little near the end, but was real strong and had a little there if challenged. Nice run for me. If I could have made the fast heat, maybe a little quicker--you do not know. According to the "World Masters Ranking" that is the ninth fastest time in the world currently for an indoor 400 for my age group of 60-64. I will take that all day long. MastersRankings.com is the web site for these results. I am a member and have access to the data and it is useful to track your progress and how competitive you really are in an event. My next race would be tomorrow afternoon and it was time to recover.
I took Lyft back to the hotel and got a hot bath and relaxed and then headed out to dinner at Chick Fil A. Chicken fingers and a milkshake were a great fit. I was struggling at this point from the altitude and had to get cough drops to help the hacking and I was getting the altitude head ache as well. I started on some Motrin and took a lot of electrolytes. The head ache did subside over night, but the lungs were still a little sore in the morning. On Saturday morning, I rented a car and headed out to get some fresh Motrin and I wanted to see if anyone had any oxygen. I had an gentlemen at our gym who travels to altitude a lot, tell me about canned oxygen that will help the starvation. I found some at Dick's Sporting Goods along with another roll of KT tape. I used a lot of tape this meet. The Boost is 95% oxygen and you basically huff the stuff. I used it heavily Saturday morning and felt better by race time. Was the Boost the difference? I am not sure, but I think it did help get me ready to race.
Saturday afternoon the 200 preliminaries were run in three heats. My heat was first and I was in lane 6 again. One lap and stay in your lanes. The finals would be each heat winner and the other 3 quickest runners. I knew that I was going to need a fast time to get in, so I ran full tilt the entire lap and finished second by a step. 27.79 was my time and that should be OK, but you still have to want. After about 20 minutes of trying to find a result, they were posted and I was fifth quick and in the final on Sunday! I was pretty excited about making the finals. Time to recover and it was a lot better the third night. I still had trouble sleeping, because I was close to medal speed and was 'nerved up' and just rolled around all night.
Sunday's race was at 11:00 AM and I did my routine and got ready to run. I was seeded in lane 2 this time, so I could watch everyone during the race. It does not work that way, the track is a little narrow and you really concentrate on staying in your lane and the lean in the corners. There is little time to look around. Again, I ran as hard as I could the entire lap and finished 5th with a slight improvement in my time to 27.71. It was good trip for me, but they are faster. Period. That time is currently 14 th in the world in World Masters Rankings. Oscar Peyton won it. He is still the king at 64 years old and was very sick from the flu and altitude, but he still won easily!
Overall I had two fifths and ran very good times and was happy with that. Going forward I need to get my 200 time to 27 flat and the 400 in the 62 range to challenge for a medal. I want to get my weight down to 188 and I raced this event at 194. I still have some work to do on the diet. I had my body fat checked Tuesday after the race and it was less than 19% and that is considered "lean". My running has been helping a lot, and my muscle mass is increasing--my legs are getting bigger and harder each week. The spoils of victory was two ribbons and some PBR. The post race PBR is getting to be a tradition and it typically tastes pretty good. leading up to the races I will cut out any alcohol for at least a week or two to make sure my gout inflammation does not appear and mess up my stride.
The USATF runs a very organized meet with everything on time and no problems with keeping the show rolling. They also take great care of the athletes with a full medical facility and trainers and massage therapist available to work on muscle related issues. All the services are free. They also provided Gatorade and electrolytes as needed. The massage tables were full late every afternoon. I did not need any help, but I now know it is there if I need to rub out a cramp or two. The events are also recorded and you can get replays of your race a few hours after it finishes. I signed up for the video service--a fee is required. I reviewed each race and it was very helpful in pointing out the points in the race you gained or lost ground and this does come into any strategy you may need to use. It will also be useful for relays to see how to stage your athletes to match up correctly. You can also play the video on your IPad and record they with your phone and message them to your wife. I like that option too. Linda can give excellent feed back on the races as well. She knows what it takes to stay in front.
I was asked by Bill Cheadle to join the So Cal Track Club. It makes a lot of sense for me to get involved with a Club if I am going to race in this league. They are a large club that wants to win the team point total at the National events and have athletes from all over the country in the club. They recruit all the time to keep a large group ready for the National events which they want to win. There is a trophy given to the championship team as well by USATF. Several runners top runners from Tennessee are in the club. The club has it own area at big meets for shade and has a massage therapist on site. Nice! This would also get me in a lot more relays to help win team points--it is always a lot of fun to do relays. I could do the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 in USATF. The 4 x 800 is not something I would want to try. So, I am signing up and will be a member shortly and displaying the So Cal colors. They are trying to get a big showing at Baton Rouge this summer. My ability to deal with humidity will be quite useful during the national Outdoor meet. I am excited to be on a real track team again and hopefully I can pull my weight and score some points--I had 4 in this meet.
I know what needs to be done to get faster, now I just need to carry out my plan and stay healthy. I intend to stay healthy.
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