Saturday, April 30, 2011

Memphis Invitational - my first 400m/200m double



A decent performance but short of my goals. 56.64 for the 400m was a new personal record but only by .07 sec.

I felt weak before the 200m and was a bit nervous that I might strain something. My 25.57 time was disappointing, but still 5th ranked in the USA M50 Masters Rankings and .13 faster than the TN Senior Games State Record. I'm fairly confident that I may be able to break 25 when I'm fresh, and I'll just have to train harder!
I think my 200 split in the 400m race was pretty close to my 200m race time.

I haven't done much power work to get ready for the 100m and 200m, but I expect to run both in Huntsville on 5/21... my next opportunity for an FAT time. (...that's Fully Automatic electronic Time, as opposed to 'hand timed').

The best news is that I am healthy, strong, no strains, and I can up the quality of my workouts and hopefully make some improvement.

I was hoping to go under 56 in the 400m and 25 in the 200m. Close but no cigar. My 200m time missed the All-American Standard by just 0.07 sec. Next time!

I am astonishingly light: 135.2 lbs. That puts me at 9% body fat. Now, to build some muscle.

I'll be able to get one good hard workout on Mon before running in the Chattanooga District Senior Games on Thurs. This meet will essentially be just a time trial for me. There will be no competition which will make it hard to run a good time. It will be hand timed so nothing super official but, the Masters Rankings do accept hand times for rankings in races 400m and up.

Running in lane one for the 400m is not so good. Maybe Thurs I'll try a middle lane.

I'm pretty sure I was the only Masters racer (old guy) there, probably the only competitor over 23. I had some fun conversations with other athletes, they always addressed me as "sir." Good kids, very polite, respectful and encouraging. I could be 10 years older than most of their parents. I consoled a girl who was crying her eyes out after a disappointing performance. I told her it's a gift to be healthy and to participate. She smiled.


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