Silver Medal - 800m, USATF Masters National Championships

I ran ok today, it was close between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.   My time was 2:22.02, actually the slowest of five 800m races I've run in the past 2 yrs, but not by much.  Just 0.49 sec slower than I ran at Hayward.   (All 3 of my 800m races last year would have won this race).   The winner, Roger, had never run this fast before and I truly expected him to fold, but he didn't.  He led from beginning to end and won by a convincing margin, 2.5 sec.  I was not expecting him to be in the mix.  I thought it would be Kevin, David and I for the medals.  Oh well.  It was a good training run.  My splits were 69.90 / 72.12.   At Hayward: 70.02 / 71.51.  Pretty darn close.   

All my 800m races have been in a close range: 2:18.74, 2:19.02, 2:19.22, 2:21.53, 2:22.02.   The bottom line is:  NO! I am not moving up to the 800!

I actually find this race a bitch.  The only good things about it, is that it can be tactical, low chance of injury, and it doesn't require much of a warmup.  I don't think this will be my last 800m, but I wouldn't miss it if it were.  

Good news is that I ran it completely injury free, and am good to go for the 4x400m club relay tomorrow.  The GPTC has been exceptionally generous to me over the years, reimbursing me $$ for world and national meets.  Along with the USATF travel grants, I actually brought in a little $ this season.  

It's been great to see friends, had dinner with team members last night and a great seafood dinner tonight with Stephen, a killer Key Lime pie, and hanging out at the local funky coffee house.  I hope I don't gain too much weight now the season is over.

Sprinting makes you young.  We're all over 60....