R n R, track babbling

It's been a week off from running and my feet are recovering nicely.   I can get up in the morning and walk with no soreness.

I feel a bit guilty for not supporting and participating in today's TN USATF's annual masters meet, the Nashville Masters Classic.  But I really needed this time off, if I'm going to be able to retool for Nationals and N. American Championships.  I could compete as soon as June 17 in the AL State Games, but I may wait til the following weekend til the TN State Finals.   Too bad that meet wasn't in April, I probably could've broken Jim Mathis's 24 yr old 200m record of 25 flat. Since March, I have run seven 200m races and most of them were under 25....  5 indoors: 25.22, 25.07, 25.05, 24.86, 24.82, and two outdoor: 24.92, 24.84.

M55 100m 
M55 WR holder Willie Gault ran the 100m at the Oxy meet on Sat.  He rarely races, maybe once or twice a year, but every time he does, he either sets or comes close to a WR.   Gault has the WRs for M45, M50 and M55 in the 100/200.   He came close to his WR of 11.30 on Sat., he ran 11.36.   54 yr old Lonnie Hooker ran 11.31 at Penn.  I think he's got a shot at Willie's record.  Amazing dude. Lonnie's as fast right now as I was at 17.

Retaining speed
I think I reached peak speed during my first college indoor track season, winter '79.  I really wish I could remember my times during that season at SUNY Cortland.  It was the only time I got to compete on a rubberized synthetic track with spikes.  (Spikes were illegal for indoor track in highschool, which seems crazy nowadays).  I remember running the indoor sprint and long jumping 21'3" at Syracuse, which was a few inches better than I did in HS.   Not sure if it was a 60 yd or meters race, but I finished mid-pack.  I really wish I could find a SUNY Cortland archive with meet results of that '79 indoor season.   It was a weird time for track.  The transition from yards to meters wasn't complete (the NCAA D1 '79 indoor championships was still yards).  And, electronic timing wasn't standard in every meet yet.   Also, I think the short indoor sprint was not standard.  It was sometimes 60 yds, sometimes 50m, etc...  depending on the venue.  In HS, we ran indoor meets in weird places, like the Broome Co. Arena lobby, etc...

The only time I ever ran 100m in HS was on a hard black top track, 11.1(h).  I'm thinking under ideal conditions, I might have been able to run 11.1 FAT, but probably not much faster.  I was usually running 10.4(h) 100 yd races on cinder tracks.  I was also running 60 yds in 6.6(h) in sneakers on a gym floor.  The reason I mention all of this is to point out, I never had elite sprint speed, but now I'm running somewhere around 93-94% of my high school speed at age 56.  Bill Collins and Willie Gault were bonefide elite sprinters during their hey day.  Doing the math, both Willie and Bill are/were running at 89% of their peak speed at M55.  In masters track, it's all about retaining what we once had.   Lonnie ran 10.5 100m in college, that would put him at nearly 93% of his peak speed.

About time...
After not doing anything for a week, I may do some rowing, weights and maybe some stairmaster or biking tomorrow.  My weight isn't too bad, still under 150.  It was really great to eat fries and beer with my dad and teamates after the Penn Relays.  I haven't had french fries and beer for as long as I can remember.