After running my ill fated 400m race in the National Finals, I swore I'd never run that damn painful race again. (Even my Dad said... "I don't blame you.") But... that's really not me to shrink from a challenge, so... I take that back. It is truly a painful race and not as much fun as the short sprints, but it is a challenge that may prove to be something I may be able to excel at, and it wouldn't hurt to try. My poor performance in the National Finals has showed me that there is a helluva lot to learn about technique, training, and racing. It's not all blast and power... there is a lot of technique and thinking that goes into a race. Mental preparation... who would have thought!!?? Each race is multi-faceted, especially the 400m, and even the 200m and 100m.
PHOTO: Masters National Championship M50 200m Finals - 70m from the end, running along side former World 400m Champion James Chinn, chasing Ben James - who won the race easily (despite severely pulling a hamstring).
Running along side and meeting former World Masters 400m champion, James Chinn was really great. James is a highly experienced master technician who seems to know every step of a race. I was really happy to have him ask me for my phone number suggesting a possible spot in his Penn Relays team. Talking with legendary masters sprinters George Haywood and Charles Allie was also great. George tried to school me on how to run a 400m race in the hotel lobby while I was waiting to leave.
How this madness started:
This all started in Dec. '10 after Christmas. I had just eaten a delicious huge sea bass dinner at friend John Pollock's house. When I got back home, I felt so incredibly stuffed and heavy, even with my regular 3 and 5 mile runs, I stepped on the scale and weighed 168 lbs fully clothed. It was shocking to see myself weigh so much, even though my real weight was probably 161-162. So, I knew I had an annual blood work coming up in a week and the next day I started a fast. On that same day, I ran 7 miles through Conklin Forks. The next day, all I had to eat were some grapes. The next week, I decided I'd eat a 'cleansing diet' of raw fruit and vegetables for a week before fasting again for my annual blood work. My cholesterol was 150... I can only imagine it was probably 250 when I was stuffing myself with holiday cake.
By January 1, I started thinking for the first time about running indoor track. I knew I was still too heavy, about 150 lbs. So, I kept running distance to burn calories. On Jan 1st, at 8am in the rain, I joined Bill Minehan in a traditional run up Signal Mountain with a group of friends. On Sat. Feb. 5th, I returned to the track in a 55m race in Sewanee. I had dropped my body weight down to 144 lbs. (7.74 was my time for the 55m) ... and I was hooked. Those butterflies in the gut when the man with gun says, "Gentlemen, stand ready by your blocks." The excitement and feeling was additive. I went to 3 more indoor races, including one that was 5 hrs away in Indiana. Crazy!
In my second meet on 2/25, I remember Will Crawford from the Atlanta Track Club ask me if I was going to run the outdoor season. I said "no, I just like these short indoor races, I wouldn't be very competitive in the 100m and up." But, I tried the indoor 400m in Louisville (61.) and the 200m in Indiana (26.30). I then decided to try a 100m at Austin Peay Spring Fling meet on 3/19. I had no idea what I might be able to run, I was shooting to get sub 13 and got 12.56. That was encouraging. So, I signed up to run the 100 and 200m at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold meet the next weekend 3/26. I strained a hamstring (and even still... ran 13.10). I was out of competition for 4 weeks.
Then, to help myself recover from the injury, I decided to do long sprints. By mid April my weight had dropped to about 140 for the first time since highschool and I ran the first 400m of my life at Vanderbilt on 4/23. My time of 56.71 (faster than I ran in the National Finals) was surprising and encouraging to me. I then started training for the 400 and that's how this all got started.
I also had my body fat tank tested at this time weighing about 142 lbs. I was about 13% body fat and that indicated to me my best race weight would be around 136 -137 where I'd be closer to 10% body fat. By season's end I was racing about 137 and I think I had put on at least a pound or 2 of muscle, my body fat was most certainly below 10%.
The best things I learned during this period was: 1) how to warm up and 2) the high rep resistance band work that has helped my legs stay relatively injury free since that hamstring in March.
Here are my PRs for the season:
55m: 7.43 - Indiana Masters Indoor, 3/12
100m: 12.26 - Alabama Sports Festival, 6/25
200m: 25.26 - Masters Nationals semis, 7/30
400m: 55.54 - Southeastern Masters, 6/11
It's been a learning experience.
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