Saturday, March 25, 2023

First Day in Poland

Left my house about 8:30am on Friday for the journey, arriving just before sunrise in Amsterdam and then on to Gdansk just before noon local time.  So, I completely missed a night of sleep.  Got my car and drove the almost 2 hrs to Torun through mostly flat green farm land, ancient farms, and modern wind turbines.  I haven't seen much of the city, but outside of the historic medieval part, the city is rather bland ... reminding me of parts of the NE US where I'm from.  So driving up on this incredible world class modern track facility, it looks sort of out of place.   I must say, this track certainly rivals the Armory, it is one of the finest indoor tracks in the world, and totally different from the track in Louisville where we ran Nationals.  I'd say the straights are 15m longer than Louisville and not as much turn.  The layout, lighting, big screens, and technology is second to none.  When I walked in, they were preparing for the opening ceremonies with a setup for a full orchestra and bleachers on the track, etc...  I had the time to do a short workout but frankly, my foot was hurting from walking miles lugging luggage in the Amsterdam airport, and I was extremely tired so I got my packet, went grocery shopping, and to my hotel.   I chatted with US teammates Ben, Damon, and Paul from the UK, and Thomas from Switz.  

My hotel is a 19th century palace, a large mansion on many acres of park-like land in the middle of a rural farming area about 10 miles outside of town.   So far so good.  It has a complete kitchenette but no stove, just a microwave, refrig, sink, kettle.   No bathtub, just a shower.   So, I got back late afternoon, took a  short walk around and went to bed about 7:30pm.  The place does have a sauna and hot tub, but I don't like public hot tubs.   I fell asleep after I called my dad, slept 3.5 hrs, now I'm up at after 2am local time writing this.   I expect to get my second round of sleep soon.  

First Round 400m - tomorrow

Heat sheets are out.  There are 36 declared competitors in the M60 400m - more competitors than any age group in the 400m, 18 countries represented.  11 have seed times under 59 sec, but probably half that many will produce that.   They are using all 6 lanes and are going with 6 heats of 6.  Heat winners + next 6 fastest will go to semis.  I think they may go with 3 heats of 4 in the semis.   If so, heat winners + next 3 fastest. If they do 2 semi heats, it will be top 2 each heat, next 2 fastest.  I like the 3 heats better.   Semis will be a completely different ball game from the first round.  

I lucked out in the first round with lane 6 and a relatively soft heat.  I doubt anyone in the heat can break a minute, and in lane 6, I'll probably not see anyone.  So, heat 3 lane 6 in the first round.  In my heat I have guys from the UK, Poland, Denmark, Mexico, and Sweden.  The 2 fastest are the Pole and Brit.   My only issue is that I hope my body hold up to the rounds. I just need to get through this first round without injury and with a good time to secure a good semi lane. The 200m is bigger, about 50 competitors.

Poland is 6 hrs ahead of eastern time.   My race is after 5:30pm Sunday (11:30am eastern), so I have plenty of time to sleep again.

Find coverage here:

Results

Streaming

Schedule

Torun Sports Arena

My Hotel: Pałac Romantyczny 
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