End of season meet: 100m/ 200m

I had really no reason to race in this meet but to just have fun.   I raced the 100m and 200m at the Greater Nashville Sr. Olympics District meet.  I like this meet because they hire a certified USATF official to start, and usually have experienced hand timers.

100m - 12.22(h)
200m - 25.62(h)

I hadn't run at all for 3 days and got there a bit late but had just enough time to warmup for the 100m.  My times weren't anything exceptional, about what I've been running in training (add 0.24 for standard FAT conversion).

There wasn't any competition there.   Duane was running in training shoes and just doing it to qualify for the state meet, not running full effort.  (I probably won't do much track this summer, may not run the TN state meet).  The 100m felt good, I got a good start but someone false started and we were called back.  My second start wasn't quite as good.  By the time the 200m came around I felt pretty sluggish, but got through it.  I had a slight knee pain so I scratched the 400m.

Although I am signed up to race at the Chattanooga Sr games in 3 weeks, I feel that this is the end of my season.  I feel a bit despondent that the work I put in after coming back from the plantar injury in March didn't come to fruition.  I lost momentum in June after a ham injury and in July after a hip flexor.  These were relatively minor, keeping me out for just 2 weeks each, but were at a very bad time.  I wish I could go back to June before that first injury.  I worked pretty darn hard this summer and feel in some ways, it didn't pay off.  This was the first year in my masters career I failed to run under 56 in the 400m.  The worst moment was my semi in Malaga.  I should have been in that final. My semi time would have earned me a 6th, and I should have been able to run at least a 56.5.

Time to rest, recover, strengthen, and retool for Poland.  I plan to be regularly in the weight room and lessen the resistance and do higher reps, and hit the track or grass for longer runs once a week.

Maybe give the long jump a try.   Curiously, there was no USA competitor in Malaga in the M55 long jump (an M55 WR was set at 21'3" !!).  At Nationals, Brian won with a jump of 18'3" but other medals were 'low hanging fruit' ... the silver and bronze were just 16'6" and 13'1" (!) ... only 4 competitors.

At the Nashville meet, I think I raced at about 147 lbs or so.  Afterward, I went to a local strip mall, had a bagel with cream cheese at Panera and an ice cream next door at Cold Stone, and a coffee.  I didn't eat much of anything the rest of the day except for some chocolate, fruit and nuts.  Despite this bad eating, I weighed just 145.5 this, the next morning.. the least in a week+.   Amazing how many calories are used in the warmup and execution of just 2 short sprint races.   Maybe it's just verification that 'calories are calories' and if you eat bad, fatty, sweet, carby foods.... as long as you don't eat a lot of them or do it often, it's ok.

Back to the solitude of Sewanee.  Will do some biking and maybe weights today, along with some guitar practice.  Lovely morning here... Jura coffee and a Panera cherry pastry.   Perfect weather.   Just a tinge of color as the leaves are starting to change and the sunset view returns to Champion cove and soon, 'fireplace weather' will be here.

Goals are good

I'm going to Poland.   I committed today.

WMACi '19
Torun, Poland
March 24-30

Maybe I'll do all 3 sprints.  Maybe I'll long jump.  It'll be fun, that's what it's all about

Sprints, blocks

I got to the track and wanted to do something to test my 100m speed as I would be racing the 100m this weekend and not training for the next 2 days.   So I brought my spikes and blocks.  It was partly cloudy, upper 70ºs at the Sewanee track.

Hoka trainers on 

4 x 100 on grass, stretches , drills 

200m (2 step flying start) - 25.68 

60m (2 step flying start) - 7.61

Puma Spikes on 

2 x 60m from blocks - 7.56, 7.43 

100m from blocks - 12.18 

Hoka trainers on 

200m relaxed - 27.00

Add 0.25 to these times for reaction (for a good start) and they are pretty decent.  The last 60m would be in PR territory (and consider, the World Champion ran 7.81 for this distance in Daegu.  Even with a 0.38 reaction, this last 60m would be that fast).  I made a slight change in my blocks, moving the feet one inch further apart.   Funny that my first 200m was faster than my 200s in Malaga.

My feet hurt before and after the workout, but with 2 or 3 days off, I'll be fine,

147.0 lbs after workout.

300, 200, 55s

Sunday, I got out and did a few sprints at Marist because I'm committed to racing in the Sr. Games on Sat. It was very warm, probably mid 80ºs.   I'm definitely not recovered from the season.  My feet still hurt when I get up every morning and I've put on about 5 lbs.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

300m - 42.8 

200m - 26.43 

2 x 55m - 8.10, 6.98

The last 55m was near full effort and seemed pretty fast considering my PR for that distance is 7.23.

Monday, I went for a bike ride and then went to the gym where I did a full warmup, some drills, cable work with my hams and hip flexors and a few cleans.  I seemed to sweat a lot.  I think that's a function of being out of shape.  When you're fat, ya sweat.   I am reminded of how quickly fitness is lost.  I think that increases with age.  I know I have to stop training on the track to give my feet some time to recover.  i am committed to another Sr games meet in Chattanooga in 3+ weeks, but I will reduce track sessions to once or twice a week max after Sat.

I'm about 148.5 lbs today.  I think I can be 145 or less by race day on Sat.

Today, Tues... I'll go to the track and warmup, do a few short sprints.

More touring in Spain

With my failure to make the 400m finals (by 0.07 sec), I had more time off than anticipated.  I made 5 trips in my little rented Fiat 500.  1) to Tolox, 2) Trevélez, 3) Ronda, 4) Cordoba, and 5) Granada, Sierra Nevada, and the beach near Nurja.

Trevélez
The first trip to Trevélez was recommended to me by a friend who had been there.  It is the second highest village in Spain at nearly 5000'.  I went up there alone on my day off on Friday after the 200m prelims.  Driving east toward Motril, then north to the great Sierra Nevada mountain range, my first glimpse of the Sierras was awesome.  These are peaks over 10,000' and look as high as the Rockies, particularly due to their proximity to sea level.   I've heard that on clear days, one can spot the African coast with binoculars from up there.  As I got higher into the Sierras, I came upon the Rule Reservoir and stopped to call my parents and take a few photos:

As usual, olive trees were everywhere and the higher into the mountains I got, I started seeing almond trees, which I stopped to sample.

I spotted Trevélez from a distance, a typical 'white village' of Andalucia, tightly situated on the mountain and made of white stucco with Spanish tile roof.

I drove to the top where the paved road ended, was sorry to not have an SUV to continue to the higher terrain.  The roads were ridiculously narrow and really meant for walking.  The locals eyed me but were probably used to tourists as is seemed obvious that is what their economy depends on.

This town is famous for it's dried cured hams, hanging in almost every store.  I don't eat ham but nevertheless I tried it.  It was quite good with the local manchego cheese, one of my favorite cheeses.  But, you'll never see the Spanish putting mustard on their ham and cheese.  Olive oil if anything.

I walked into a cafe a had a delicious cafe con leche and into a tourist shop where I bought a fig and almond bar.  I had a brief conversation with my limited Spanish with the owner who said he was 55 yrs old and had lived in Trevélez his whole life.    Not a bad situation.

Tolox
I wrote about my trip to Tolox in the mountains west of Malaga in an earlier post.  I went with John and Carlos.

Ronda
I went to Ronda,  with Sandy on Thursday. Ronda is a magical city built across the deep El Tajo gorge west of Malaga.  It was a cool drizzly day and was happy to find a cafe for some of the usual cafe con leche.  The views from and of Ronda are tremendous.  We drove both above and below the city.

I found a guitar shop and a local guy was about to play a concert for about 7 or 8 people gathered.  I wish I could have tried out some of the guitars in there.  There were some good ones but the concert was about to start and it wasn't a good time.  We decided not to stay for the concert.  

We drove back into the sunset which gave the landscape a beautiful tone. I stopped for a few photos ... wheat fields and windmills.

Cordoba
Saturday, Stephen had a car so we met for breakfast at my hotel and  drove to Cordoba to see the grand Mosque-Cathedral, and whatever else we could find.  I also wanted to see the Alcazar Gardens but they closed early (2:30).  But, I did find the guitar shop of José Rodriguez, and a nice cafe for an early dinner. 

Entering the courtyard of the cathedral, it was filled with perfect orange trees surrounded by moorish tile and masonry floors.  The  medieval Mosque-Cathedral, containing both Muslim and Christian motifs, was grand and immediately impressive for it's series of stone arches and highly detailed alters.

After enjoying the Mosque-Cathedral, Stephen and I navigated through the narrow streets to the guitar shop of Jose Rodriguez. It was a small shop with a tiny waiting area. I honestly could not imagine how this guy could get any work done, with his work space open to the public and people walking in and out.  He didn't speak any English and I stood around for 10 minutes with others and decided to leave and come back right before the 2-4PM afternoon siesta.  Stephen and I had a cafe con leche and I returned to his shop just before 2.  There was a guy in there who spoke a little English and I managed to tell him I was a guitar professor visiting from the US.  He closed his shop and showed me 2 spruce guitars and a flamenco.  His prices were high but appropriate.  4500 Euro for the standard concert model, 6500 Euro for his top German spruce guitar ($7650).  The first guitar was ok, but the second, his top model was really superb.  Very colorful and loud.  If it were a bargain, I would have bought it.  I played for about 15 min.  Stephen seemed to really enjoy the scene, me playing, Jose listening, and trying to communicate not knowing much of each other's language.  Stephen took a few photos, I thanked him and we were off.

We then had a great dinner in a street courtyard of fried cod and headed back to Malaga.

Granada, Sierra Nevada, and the beach
Saturday was my last day to tour and I could not find a travel companion so I took off to Granada on my own, with the goal of seeing the cathedral there and then driving up to the ski resort in the Sierras.  I arrived and found parking in an impossibly narrow 4th basement level urban parking garage.  Thankful for the smallness of this Fiat.  The cathedral did not disappoint.

After leaving the cathedral, I wandered around an upscale urban market close to the parking garage. It was a paradise of seafood, and produce. I could definitely see why people live well here.

Granada market

 I found my way out of Granada and headed toward the Sierra Nevada resort town of Pradollano, Europe's most southerly ski resort at 6900'.  The highest peaks of the Sierra Nevadas are over 11,000'.   Unfortunately, it was socked in with rain and fog,  I couldn't get much of a view.  The road to the observatory was gated and a sole gate tended sat in the isolated shack.  This destination was filled with empty hotels and bicyclists who would take van to the top and ride down.

I started back, stopping numerous times to enjoy the view below the fog and I decided to not take the highway back but to take a smaller road through the mountains.  It was really cool.  Fortunately, I found a gas station where I fueled up and had yet another cafe con leche.  Funny that gas station coffee in Spain is better than you get pretty much anywhere in the US.

As I approached Nurja, I decided to drive the coastal road and look at some of the beach views.  I wasn't planning on swimming but that changed when I saw a really cool beach.

It was 300' or so below the highway and above the beach were the remains of an old castle.

Granada market

 I carefully made my way down the difficult rocky slope and onto a pebble beach.  There weren't many people there.  Of the sparse beach patrons, some were naked or partly clothed, not surprising ... (and actually a bit refreshing compared to the conservative area of the US where I live).  The water was crystal clear and there was no sand!  It was all smooth pebbles, like walking in jewels.  I took a few stones as souvenirs.  I later found out that this beach was called Las Calas del Pino and was regarded as one of the finer beaches in the area.

Pradollano

Not having a towel nor a swimsuit, I stripped to my underwear and took a brief swim.  It was refreshing, the water temp about upper 70s.  I then scrambled back up the cliffside and had a brief chat with a local that could speak some English.  It was beginning to thunder and I started my drive back.  My time was short because I would be attending a flamenco show that night with teammates, Roxanne, Dale, and Lucho.

Road through the Sierras

Beach - Las Calas del Pino

Clear water pebble beach

I got back in time to attend the flamenco show near the Malaga cathedral. Due to the near impossibly navigated narrow streets in town we took a bus from a meeting point at the team hotel toward the Malaga cathedral.

I had a 2 course dinner of paella and turkey and potatoes with dessert.  The flamenco show featured a very good male dancer and few older and not so good female dancers and a singer and a guitarist who relentlessly hacked out very percussive rhythmic accompaniments, nothing particularly virtuosic or nuanced.  However, noticing the palmas (clapping) ... it was the real deal.  This was a popular restaurant version of flamenco.  Probably not the highest in the gitano art form but nevertheless, the first and only flamenco I saw there.  I was expecting flamenco to be more mainstream and visible but it still remains a subculture, even in Andalucia.  I met the guitarist afterward, he didn't speak any English but we compared nails.  I had the characteristic ping pong ball glue ons, he had very hard and long ceramic nails, hard as rock ... appropriate to his aggressive and percussive style,  He was no Sabicas, but got the job done and knew his rhythms. 

Malaga Cathedral

Flamenco show

It was just after dinner I got the text informing me I had indeed been assigned to the USA 4x100m team.  I actually didn't think my appeal would go through but it did.  It made for a nice end to the day, I'd get a chance to race twice on Sunday.

After the relay races on Sunday and the award ceremonies, I sat out on the lawn of the stadium, watching the sunset and I began chatting with a US teammate who was there with her daughter and were drinking champagne.  I had a glass and a nice chat with her.  I felt a bit sad that the meet was over and I didn't do well individually.  But nevertheless, it was well worth the trip.  I was really very hungry.  Not eating anything all day, due to the huge meal I had the night before.  I knew the hotel restaurant would be closed and so, still in my uniform, I put my t shirt and sweats over the USA kit and drove through the streets of the local village of Campanillas near my hotel just hoping to find a coffee shop or cafe open on Sunday night.  What I found was absolutely perfect...   a wonderful coffee house with sandwiches, pastries and the usual great spanish cafe con leche.   I called Roya and video chatted from this place. It was just what I needed.  Had a great chicken sandwich and 2 coffees and a pastry.  Was a bit sad knowing this would be my last cafe con leche in Spain, and I'd soon be heading for the 'land of bad coffee and rednecks'.  It was a great trip despite the disappointments.  

coffee shop in Campanillas

The trip back was exceptional because I had 3 seats to myself.  What luck!  I arrived back in Sewanee for a stunning sunset, the same day I left Malaga.   Life is good.

Welcome home sunset - Sewanee

I'll probably expand this post in the future with more details, but that's it for now...  

it's about the journey.  Athletics, a good way to see the world.  

Maintenance workout

Four days no exercise, eating freely has put a few lbs on and left me feeling pretty soft.  After a massive lunch of a lb of fried fish, fries, and apples, and sweet peach tea, I went to the track this evening.  Despite a decent maintenance workout, I still weighed 151.0 lbs afterward, most in several months.  It goes away fast.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

4 x 200m - 29, 28.5, 28, 27.8

Nothing fast today.  Just had to remind myself how to sprint.   There is no way I'll be in shape to race a 400m next weekend but maybe I'll do the 100 and 200m.  Need to lose a few lbs.

151 lbs for me feels heavy, although I don't look particularly heavy.  My present 151 lbs is a BMI of 23.7 - in the normal range.  (For perspective... a 5'10" man, with an identical BMI of 23.7 would weigh 165 lbs).

I hope to post more about the Spain experience this weekend.

Day 4 - Malaga World Masters Athletic Championships

My fourth day of competition was relay day.  I would like to post more about the entire Malaga experience - both as an athlete and a tourist, but I don't want to turn this into a travel blog.  However, in the days to come, I'll post more stuff about Spain, and my entire experience including the tourist things.  After all, I had more time off than I was expecting.

M55 4 x 100m - Gold Medal - USA:  47.40 (11.85 avg/leg)
This was the only day I'd be running at the big main stadium.  Seemed like a pretty nice track.   I really wanted to run on this team but didn't know if I would be til the last minute due to flaws in the selection process (see below).   We had 4 solid legs and if we could get the passes right, we could win. 

We met out front of the stadium, measured steps, and practiced handoffs for about 20 min.  Rob to Damon, Damon to me, me to Don.  I had 3rd leg, the turn and needed to get the stick to Don, hopefully with a lead.  Don was tired, having run 9 races by now.  The Brits had some fast guys, Neil and Paul who were 200m finalists in Daegu, and John who was a 200m finalist in Malaga ... so they had a solid team.  Australia did as well.  We had lane 4, Aussies in 5 and the Brits in 7.  I felt really good, no signs of ham soreness and a bounce in my stride.

The race started and Rob seemed to hold his own and the exchange with Damon looked ok but the Brits had a slight lead.   Damon came and I was about even with the Brits but ahead of everyone else when I got the stick in a good pass.  I was against Paul (4th in Daegu 200m) and I made up the split  and gave Don about a 1-2m lead.  Our exchange also went real well and I remember the baton slap into his hand and I ran behind him half way down the straight yelling 'Get it Don!! Get it!'.  I was a bit worried as John from the UK started closing the gap at the end but Don held on to win by 0.37 in 47.40.  Good time, not a great time as we were .25 faster in Lyon.  Our splits as posted on the team spreadsheet were:

Rob - 12.80
Damon - 11.80
Me - 11.40
Don - 11.40

We were fortunate to win as I had learned later, Damon had injured his ham during the race and had to withdraw from the 4x400m team. 

M55 4 x 400m - Silver Medal - USA:  3:51.31 (57.83 avg/leg)

We were not going to beat the UK in this one.  They had 4 of the top 5 finishers in the M55 400m.  So we were dueling with a strong Australian team for Silver.  They had Todd and Darren, tall 400m/400mH guys front loading their team.  Don led off for us, me second, Rob (subbing for Damon) third, and Marcus on anchor.  We were in lane 5 while the Aussies were in lane 3.  I got the baton from Don behind the Aussies and well behind the Brits.  Determined to beat the Aussies to the break, even though Todd had inside lane, I took it out a bit hard and paid for it in the end.  I took at least a few meter lead in front of Todd and expected to hold it, as I wasn't rigging, but to my surprise, the tall Aussie came loping by me in the home stretch and I passed off to Rob about 3m behind.  That sucked, I hate being passed in a relay.  Rob held his own giving the stick to Marcus just behind the Aussies.  Marcus at 6'4" tall was racing an Aussie who was about a foot shorter than he.  Marcus ran a good smart leg and finally passed the Aussie with about 40m to go giving us the Silver.  The Brits won by a ridiculous 9 seconds in 3:42.42, setting a European record - averaging 55.6 per leg more than 2 sec faster than our avg 57.83 per leg. 

Splits as recorded on the team spreadsheet:
Don: 57.2
Me: 56.6
Rob: 60.4
Marcus: 56.6

The Aussie who passed me on my leg, Todd is 58, and John, the Brit who won Silver in the 400m running 55.95 is 59 yrs old... and Gerhard who won M60 at age 62, ran 55.88 - which tells me M60 is going to be no picnic in the 400m.   I'm thinking I'd be more competitive in the 100m at M60 - the bronze medalist ran just 12.74 in the M60 100m finals.  Of course Don and Allan will both be moving up as well at the same time as me.

USA Relay controversy

Unfortunately, the USATF Masters committee is overwhelmed by the task of putting about 40 relay teams together, and because the decision has to be made quickly and the criteria is vague, the system often fails.  Filling out paper forms with some scribbled notes is not a good way to do things.  I will propose at some point an online form with clear criteria and links to athlete performances so everyone is privy to the situation and there are no politics involved.  It's a complicated issue, especially when comparing athletes who, for example - don't usually run the 100m, for placement on a 4x100m team relay.

All that said, there was controversy and I had to make my case that I should be on the team because one of the members - like me, who only ran the 200m/400m,  had: 1) ran slower than me in the 200m Malaga prelims,  2) ran significantly slower than me in our last recorded 100m races from '17 (12.25 vs 12.65).   I was told by team captain Phil, decisions are based 90% on performance at this meet.  I had emailed team captain with no response, talked with Rex the masters chair, no response, then finally contacted Robt. who agreed with my case.  He asked me 'why I didn't make my case to the team captains at the Friday night social?'  The fact is, I did.  That is when I talked to Rex.  I didn't know why I had to make my case if they had the data.   It was 11:30pm the night before the race that I found out they made the change and I was in the M55 USA 4x100m.   This unfortunately caused some bad feeling, particularly because, unbeknownst to me, someone close to me contacted the athlete in question and asked him to do the right thing to which he responded negatively and with some falsehoods.  I was very embarrassed and extremely upset that it had come to this.  I didn't need anyone meddling in my issue, didn't matter who was right.  I felt the fallout later.  I hope I can salvage an apparent lost friendship. 

In Daegu WMACi '17, I was placed on the M50 4x200m relay team by the team captain.  At the last minute I was replaced by a guy who in the same meet, had run a 26.31 200m.  I had run two 200s at 24.86 and 24.82 in the meet.  It was the wrong thing to do and I never complained to the team.  It cost me a relay gold, so I wasn't going to let this issue go quietly.

I've always produced fairly well in these short relays.  Setting the WR twice in the M55 4x200m in Albuquerque in '16 which still stands; and in Perth, our Gold medal M50 team ran a blazing 45.15 - that's 11.29 a leg.  I looked and it was significantly faster than Willie Gault's 4x100 in Sacramento. The only WMA M50 Championship 4x100m that was faster was the Bill Collins team of 2003, and only faster by 0.2.  We were just .6 off the WR.  So, I feel I can hold my own on a sprint relay.  I did my job and we won. Good passes, good leg.  As team co-captain Jerry told me afterward - referring to the fiasco, 'all's well that ends well'.    It's a nice medal... heavy.