Stay Loose

3/18/19-
3M around the YMCA neighborhood...in 23:00. Lifted

3/17/19-

Met up with guys at Germantown Academy for 300s. The initial plan was to do "Russian" intervals. As designed for a high school 2:00 800m runner, Russian intervals consist of 5x(3x300m @ 48 w/jog 100m at 30-sec) with an 800m jog between sets. My plan was to have us do "modified" Russian intervals: 5x(2x300m @ 48 w/60 sec rest) with an 800m jog (7:00) between sets. 

On this 35-degree but sunny morning, I chose to assign us four sets. 

Chuck S. and Bob were supposed to run theirs in 54 (18s/100m), Bruce was supposed to hit his in 51 (17s/100m), and John and I were supposed to make 48 (16s/100m). Chuck and Bob would take off, followed by Bruce three seconds later, followed by John and me.  

My runs:
48-mid/50-low
49-low/50-low
49-mid/49-high
49-low/47-high

Sat, 3/16/18-

Went for a recovery run of 2.5M. 19:15.

Fri, 3/15/19-

Left home at about 3:30 to head to The Armory for the Front Runners Invitational, the last of the season. I arrived way too early, it seemed. The meet organizers were still setting up at 5:15. 


By the time Bruce, John, and Chuck S. arrived, I was getting my mind set on my goals. I viewed the meet as an opportunity to break the barriers: 8.00 in the 60, 25.00 in the 200, and 55.00 in the 400.  

 I started warming up at about 6:15, in preparation for the 60. Ross and Bruce did the same.

I wound up being assigned heat 4, lane 6. Ross was in line lane 5. Even though I had practiced a couple of starts, I did not feel explosive when the gun when off. I felt a little off kilter and sloppy throughout the race, stumbling with my head down over the last 15 meters. I still managed 7.97. Check! Age-group gold.

I walked and jogged around, trying to stay loose for the 400. 

When it was time to check in for the 400, I had broken a decent sweat again and was ready. I anticipated a competitive race against Mark Williams, teammate John Curtis, and Andre Millar from Southwest. As it turns out, I was placed in the wrong heat. Just as I was getting my mind set on being somewhere around heat 9 out of 17, I was told I was in heat 1 and that we would be up in just a few minutes, as they were only four heats of the women's race. Seems they had me listed as 19 or under! (I had figured something was wrong because when I retrieved my medal for the 60m, I could not locate my name among the 40-49 year olds. It was only after searching did I see it among the youngsters!) I petitioned to get my heat changed, as I saw that the seed times in my heat ranged between 49-53, too fast for my blood. 

The best they said they could do was change it to one of the latter heats and place me in lane 1. I thought it would be useless to run in a heat where the times were 75 seconds-plus. So, I elected to stay in my heat, which was now ready to go off. So, without my usual last-minute preparation, I stepped into lane 2 of heat 1. Turns out there were three scratches. Now there were only three of us in the race. Lanes 1, 3, and 6 were empty. 

I knew things weren't going well when the gun went off. I went out too slow and was anything but aggressive. In fact, I ran the first 200 in 26-high! I cam e back in a measly 29-low for a 56.10. Not a good run. Age group silver. Several heats later, an exhausted John would step off the track at the 350m mark, while Mark finished up in a strong 54-mid.

I walked around after the 400 and did some jogging, again trying to stay loose for the 200. I wasn't dead, as I hadn't put it all out there. 

After a generous recovery, it was time for the 200. Once all was said and done, I'd be in lane 6, to the outside of Rawle DeLilse. After the gun went off, he wasted no business in passing me. So fast was his pass that I nearly caught a cold. I posted 25.3x to his 23.4. A miss on my part for sure. Are group silver.

Not a great night, although I enjoyed hanging with my teammates. Our time at Coogan's afterwards was fun. A little late night!

Thurs, 3/22/18-took off