The Huntsville Track Club Harry Williams All Comers Meet was kind of a weird event. An all-ages event, there were competitors from 5 to 70 yrs of age.
It was one of the worst tracks I've run on this season, Bob Jones High School, Huntsville, AL. The lanes had perceptible dips, unevenness and with the temperature in the 90's and the sun still shining on the track at 5 pm, the track felt soft and mushy. Add to that a slight headwind and the conditions were not great. The starter was very inexperienced, very predictable. I felt a little soreness in my left hip flexor in the very first practice start I took. It wasn't serious so I competed in both the 100m and 200m and it didn't get worse.
100m: 12.24
My start was ok, not great, but I was in a slow heat with guys my age and older. I won my heat by a lot. The timing system was weird. They had an official timer and backup timer. The backup timer had me in 11.84... I was skeptical. The conditions didn't seem right for such a fast time. I asked the official timer and he said 11.51... but he was mistaking my heat for the previous heat of younger guys. When I got to the awards table, I was disappointed to learn my time was officially 12.24... which seemed about right. The official timer had this thing called a "Time Machine"... a digital hand operated clock attached to a computer printout. It was not gun activated so it was not FAT time... but the guy was an experienced timer and it was probably as accurate as any hand time, and then some. I was really disappointed when I saw that 12.24.
200m: 24.67
I did get a good start in the 200 and the fast young guy was in my heat. He smoked me by about 5 meters, but he had 15 years on me. He was the guy who ran 11.51 in the 100m. My official time was 24.67. Considering the great distance from the finish line to the gun, I project it was about a 25.25 FAT... it just didn't feel all that fast.
A nominal performance, easily winning my age group, but nothing great. Tells me I have a long slog and some hard work to do if I expect to improve. I don't know, maybe I've found my limit?
UPDATED:
I will endeavor to persevere. No significant strains so I should be able to train hard this week. Strains sometimes don't appear until the first workout after a meet. I am a bit sore this Sunday morning as I update this...
This was my 11th track meet this year. 4 more to go, and 3 of them are Championship meets. Next is the Southeastern Masters Championships in Raleigh, NC in 3 weeks. I need to really step it up if I'm going to do a triple.
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