Friday, March 14, 2014

Masters Indoor Nationals '14 - Day 1

I did ok.   Not as well as I should have.

A season indoor best for the 400m - 56.48 
5th Place - my second fastest indoor 400m

I ended up the slow man in the fast heat with a bad lane: 2.  It ended up being 2 races in one..  the race for the Gold and the race for the Bronze.

The race for the Gold was won by James Lawson, as expected in 54.00.   He got World Champion Marcus Shute coming up the home stretch in convincing fashion, by about a half second.   The rest of us were far behind ... me, Nix, and Bynoe all within about .20 for the Bronze.   I was the loser, choked.

I was hoping I'd be in the slower heat with a better lane so I could run unhindered, but Proctor scratched, moving me into the fast heat.  All the other heats were way slow... 58+, this was the championship heat.

As shown in the first photo, my big mistake was to be 'too courteous' to Sunder Nix after the break.  I should have cut him off before the third turn since I had the inside lane, making him run outside.  I probably gave this '84 Olympic Gold Medalist a bit too much 'respect.'  Anyway, I paced pretty well,  ~ 26.25 was my first 200m split but it could have been .2 faster.




The photo shows the 2 separate races. I felt I had enough to have passed Nix on the back stretch but I held off, it cost me a few tenths.  I was surprised that I was so close with him, considering his background (running 44.75 in the '84 Olympic 400m Final). Anyway, if I hadn't had someone in front of me, I might have had a shot at a faster time.  Bynoe - an 800m guy came from behind and got us both in the end. It was very close, Nix got me by .07 and Bynoe by .23



Next up, 3 races tomorrow if I make the finals of the 60m. A little nervous about the 60m, I hope there are no injuries. I haven't run a 60m in a long time, but I did run a 100m back in Sept. I will also anchor the GPTC 4 x 200m relay. Should be a good workout.

With '84 Olympic Gold Medalist - Sunder Nix

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