Senior Olympian Sprinter

The Senior Olympics held their Tennessee State Finals last weekend at Battleground Academy.  The school had just done some work on their track and it was in great shape and fast. The old track was black and they have coated it with a blue material for a uniform surface and a great look.   The picture at the left is a 98 year old women who competed in  all the running races.  Her was 1500 was at 21 minutes in stifling heat, I thought she did a great job of finishing them all.   The weather was summertime in Tennessee, relatively sunny  with heavy humidity.  The humidity is  great for my breathing, but it was quite hot and shade was necessary to survive.  Any breeze was a welcome relief.    This season I was going to attempt to compete in 5 events, the usual sprinting races and the High Jump. I had not done any field events at the State meet.   I jumped 4'8" last Fall in the qualifier and knew I could get a shot at a win if I did my best.   The high jump was Friday afternoo

Our grand daughter visited last weekend --Fathers Day-- with her Moms and we had a great time with June.  BUT, she will wear you out. She takes two naps during the day and she is up at 5:00 AM sharp-- ready to go.  Just hang on from there, she like to drive the bus really fast.      Linda and I were both just exhausted after two full days and three nights with June in the house.  We need to get in better shape for this stuff.  It was worth it, she is just the sweetest thing ever!  She loved playing in the creek with a bucket, some sticks and of course a dinosaur floating in the bucket.  I think it was some soup starter.   We see her again in two weeks!!  Grandma made cookies for June  and a banana crème pie for Fathers Day along with a killer pot roast and we just had a great time.  That was a fantastic Fathers Day treat with June, Linsi, Betty and Bruce the pug in town as well. The week after the Southeast Regional meet I was in NY state and was doing some speed work and got a

Last weekend the Masters met in Birmingham, AL for a regional track meet.   I ran the 400 and 200 meter events and showed some definite improvement from the slogfest at Whites Creek.    The weather was hot!  Sunny with a nice breeze ( thanks for that relief) and the humidity was just awful.  I like hot and humid conditions, but this was over the top in terms of discomfort. Ok, enough bitching.  I ran the 400 first and was in a slow heat ( 3 runners)  and I  basically made my own pace and won my class easily.   I improved my season best time to a 65.65 which is 7th quickest in the USA this season in my 60-64 age group.  I could have found some more speed, but I was going to run another race that day and I felt pretty good and was strong at the end.   I did concentrate on form and my arms to make sure I did not fade at the end.  My recovery was good, so my fitness is improving as the season progresses. The 400 is typically the race with the lowest turnout, just not that many crazies th