Skip to main content

Reactor Poisoning

Linda and I recently had an opportunity to watch  the HBO 5 part series Chernobyl.  That series just left you limp from the stupidity of the entire event.  Linda was living in Europe at the time and had first hand knowledge of the events and more than likely was exposed to some radioactive materials.   I am not going to spoil the show if you have not watched it, but when your reactor is full of poison, in this case an isotope of Xenon, you need to work the process and take your time getting things safely under control.   Check it out if you get a chance.  

Last weekend I traveled to Ames, Iowa for the USATF Masters National Outdoor event.  I was going to run the 100, 200, relays and HJ.    The weather was quite warm with few clouds on a couple of the days and that made for a hot slow track.   I came into the event with a right hamstring that had given my a scare or pause the previous Friday near the end of one of my speed workouts. I had a 'grab' in the hammy at the start of a 100 meters grass rep and that just ended my workout right there. I rested it for 5  days and had not done anything at max effort sense the 'grab' until the HJ on Friday.  I warmed OK and jumped OK, but finished at 1.40 meters in 8 th place.  Nothing to write home about, but the legs were OK.   I ran the 100 prelim later that day and finished as 6th quick and made the finals the next day.  Our massage specialist had made my hammy feel really good and it held up the rest of my events.   I was feeling much better with my personal reactor poisoning out of my system. Thanks a bunch Wild Bill.  

Saturday morning we ran the 100 finals and I had a pretty good start and was challenging for a medal (I think) and at 70 meters was reaching for another gear when my left groin gave me a little tug and I eased off to finish 5 th in a slow time of 14.03.    After the race it was clearly evident that I was going to be done for the meet.   I did the ice treatment and threw in the towel.   It appears that my adductor longus was strained during the 100 meters.  That is the first time in forever I have had groin problems, but it happened.      Three days later, it is progressing well, but it will be 3 to 4 weeks of rest required to get back to anything like a leg workout.

Why this meet?? I had an iffy hammy and maybe I changed my form a little to compensate for that body part.  Or, a much better culprit is the closing of my gym several months back and I did not do my normal cable and leg work during my training period.  After the closing, I did not round another gym right away and with the pending move, found it a waste of time.  I think I was dead wrong.  I think my legs were not as strong as normal and that lack of strength was the real reason I had a failure in my left leg,   Hydration was an issue as well, I drank water and sports drinks continuously on Friday and could not get ahead of the clear skies.  I was not really hydrated until day 3, when I was drinking just as much liquid, but actually had a to pee a couple of times.    Hydration is always a big deal a these meets.

Was it a complete waste??  No, the SoCal team took the team title for the 17th time…I only provided 2 points but, I did a lot of cheering once I was out of the action.  Even though I was out, the team delivered!! and it is always fun to be a champion again.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Really Important Information

I participated in the USATF Masters Indoor National meet last weekend in Winston-Salem, NC.   It was good meet for me and I will add the details of the results in another post later this week.  What I want to reflect on here is the quality of people in that building.   I am just so impressed with the high level of competition and caring for each other that goes on for 3 days.  Hug and Cry Area for Awards  There were around 1000 competitors for the event, and with families and officials, generally 500 to 2000 people were in the building during the times the track was open. It was not completely full at JDL Fast Track, but a really good crowd. North Carolina passed some very hateful and just plain repressive legislation a few years back concerning rest room usage and anything that did not meet the "hateful Jesus" religion that they were  promoting.   The NBA pushed back and moved their All Star Game location and I think this may hav...

District Qualifier

Last Saturday the Greater Nashville Senior Games District Qualifier was ran at Brentwood High School Track.  I ran in the 4 sprints and took three gold and a silver medal.  Overall it was great event for me.  I ran in a new class, the 60 to 64 year old class.  I am actually 58, but in Olympian years I am 59 and next year, when they run the state meet for which we qualified, I will be 60 in Olympian years--confused, that is OK.  Kinda messy to figure your Olympian age.   I wore pinks sleeves the first three races because I was chilly after I got sweaty warming up around 8:30 AM.  I also wore the pink sleeves to celebrate those who have battled breast cancer and won.  Breast cancer has got to be an absolutely horrible way to be tortured by cancer.  I posted the picture of my sleeve and medals on Facebook and one of my high school class mates responded that she had been a 10 year survivor--- I nearly cried.  ...

Music City

Nashville is the Music City in more ways than one.    Linda and I went downtown last Friday night to get some dinner, one of those situations where you just see what happens.   We were going to eat at a little restaurant in the new Omni Hotel which is right smack in the middle of downtown.   Parking was a piece of cake, give the keys to the valet and the restaurant comps your parking.  Katy Perry was doing a show next door at the Bridgestone, so the place was pretty lively around showtime and a lot of hustle was headed to the arena.   Dinner was fun, we had some southern food done with a little twist, quite good.   Although,  the strawberry -rhubarb pie could not hold a candle to Linda's or Lillian Beeler's.    Linda makes great pie with the lard crust and  some zing to it and Lillian made pie for me while I worked on their farm doing college.  You feed a college kid, he will wo...