200m - 25.22
It was a better showing than last week. The conditions for the 400m were decent, but warm. About 84º and humid, heat index about 90º but mostly cloudy and no wind. The track was your typical black high school track, seen worse. I seemed to tire quickly in my warmups and was sweating like crazy in 10 minutes. Not used to the heat or running in the morning, I rested in my car in a/c til 10 min before the race. I was feeling a bit nervous because I felt prepared and didn't want to blow it. Ultimately, I wanted a PR and to break the Jim Mathis record, but that didn't happen.
In lane 4, I got out in front entering the back straight and never saw anyone, so it was like a time trial. Someone in my heat ran a 58, which is faster than what I usually see at these meets but, I never saw him. I thought I'd have a chance at a PR since the meet clock was at 51ish with 25 meters to go. Again, my last few steps were slow, but I didn't rig up and I didn't feel as 'beat up' as I did after that race last weekend where I ran a second slower. It was 0.07 seconds under my M50 State record of 55.85.
I then watched Stanley Patterson break my M50 400m record running 55.55. Never thought my record would go down that fast since the record I broke was a decade old. Stanley is for real.... the first world class guy I've seen in the local Senior Olympics program in my 5 yrs ... just one look at the dude, definitely a superior athlete. He's 53 now, turns 54 later this year so for Senior Olympics, I race him in district meets this fall, because they go by what age you will be next year - at the end of the year. So, you can be 53 and race in the M55 age group fall district meets. Odd. They don't do it that way for any other masters program.
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| Stanley - the new TN M50 400m record holder |
The 200m race was the final event in the meet the next day. The usual ankle soreness went away with my warmup. I was about 1.5 lb heavier on Sunday, but still OK, about 144. By the time our heat came around at 11:30 am, the heat was pretty intense on the black track with clear skies. It was near 90º with a heat index near 100º. Most of the 200m guys scratched... of the 9 or 10 scheduled, I think we ran with 4. Just before we started, a light headwind kicked up. We had a tail wind earlier, but it shifted.
I got a really good start and felt pretty strong coming off the curve. I felt Dwayne might gain on me down the straight so I put the hammer down just a bit too early and tightened a bit toward the end, and that cost me a sub 25 and the record. Again, another chance to break the ancient J. Mathis record of 25.0 was lost. My 25.22 was much better than the disastrous 200m race I ran 2 yrs ago, (25.71). This would have easily been an M50 record, which stands at 25.7.
Sorry to see Dwayne go down with an injury in that race. Sorry to see Stanley scratch the 200m, as he had won the 800m earlier in the day in 2:19.
Bummer, I think that was my last best chance at these records because next year, I may not run this meet, especially if I go to indoor worlds, and, they will probably have a poor quality track again. We'll see. Anyway, at least I have a local guy to race with now.
Overall, a good showing. If I can run these times on a black HS track, I should be able to improve significantly on Mondo, and with some more training. These times are better than my pre-Nationals races last year where I ran 56.23, 56.22 and 25.38, 25.29.
I wouldn't mind not winning at Nationals if I can go sub 55. That is what I've been after for years now.
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