Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Checking in...

This is the longest period I've not posted on Sprint Forever.

Just wanted to check in and report that I've been staying off the track and continuing to stay active with resistance work, bicycling, swimming, and some running on grass.   The initial report on my MRI shows no significant issues that would indicate surgery or treatment.  I am awaiting the hard copy of the report and a follow up with the orthopedist.

I've been shifting my emphasis to guitar playing, which is my profession.  The time I've taken away from it has increased my passion for it.  Life is a balance.  So, instead of sore feet, I now have sore fingers from playing so much, and it feels good.

Compared to last off season, I am in exceptional shape.  With the pubalgia issues behind me, I am working daily on core and upper body.   I did 3 sets of glutes last night and am getting anxious to get back on the track but I really should not do more than once a week , maybe beginning in mid Sept.  I need to keep the spikes off until maybe Nov. and I'm looking at new training shoes.

While I'm sure I've lost some aerobic fitness, I'm pretty certain I could turn a sub-59 sec 400m right now.  My weight is excellent and I've kept really low body fat.  I'm still at race weight despite the fact I'm eating pretty much anything I want... bread, chips, occasional greasy food.

I was 139.4 lbs this morning.  If I can maintain this level of fitness, I should be rarin' to go by the time the MTSU Christmas Invitational comes around in 14+ weeks.

3 comments:

  1. Bill, good that you're keeping your weight down (139.4) and that you are not punishing yourself right now. Personally, I am down to about 197.5 but my physician wants me below 190. (Yikes. I work out 7 days a week and eat only 2.5 meals a day. Have a resting pulse of 52 or so. What more does she want?$$!!?).

    More seriously, are you going to indoor nationals in Landover, Maryland? Meet begins on March 22. On the good side, there is no way the meet does not draw 900 competitors, which will rank second in the all-time list behind Landover 2009. That means a ton of competition.*

    Bad side is that the track is completely flat. For me, acoustics there have been quite bad over the years, but I am told they are better now. Hope so, as I will be announcing the meet.

    * Why so many competitors? Think New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Virginia Beach, etc., etc. For crying out loud, even some of North Carolina is within a 5.5-hr drive. In 2009 a ton of people simply drove to the meet rather than flying. There's your big turnout.

    BTW, the modern record for worst turnout is held by Bozeman, Montana, at 300. As in three hundred, as in 295 above 5. I'm guessing that 5 people lived close enough to Bozeman to drive.


    Peter L. Taylor

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  2. Glad your life is going well.

    Me, I am working hard to improve my strength/fitness - I realized mid-summer that I wasn't going to make much progress towards my 400 meter goal without working MUCH harder than I had been previously. Onward and upward.

    ...Tim

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  3. Peter,
    I certainly expect to go to Landover. Turn 53 next year, probably won't be as competitive with the likes of the new crop of extremely fast M50s (Shute, Faulkner, etc...). It'll be fun regardless. Good to see you in Lisle. It wouldn't a Masters Nationals without you.

    Tim,
    What you had been telling me about aiming for more even splits has finally sunk in. The 400m is a race of patience and reserve. In the Olympic trials, Merritt won and had remarkably even splits, moreso than the other competitors... 21.8/22.3 ... and he had the fastest last 100m by far: 11.7.

    I learn more about the 400m every time I run it.

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