5k Title Run

     July 25, 2010. First time at a US championship track meet since 1991. To compete anyway. The race was scheduled to go off at 10:30 a.m. to escape the afternoon heat. I was up at 6:30 for a small breakfast and to wake the body up before heading to the track. Staying at my college teammate's house was great because I got to make my own breakfast instead of going to a restaurant and risking the menu choices. This was also the day of the last climbing stage in the Tour de France. To say the least, I couldn't leave the television despite the fact I wanted to get to the track a little early and relax. Talk about some inspiration!!
     Warmed up and ready to go, we had to wait for a couple 200m races in the men's 60-64 pentathlon. No big deal. We finally got on the track for a few strides, then lined up for the start. Now, having looked over the entry list and doing a little online research, I figured it to be a 4 man race. Three of us had marks under 16 minutes and Pete Magill, entered without a time, is the American record holder in the event. I figured correctly, as Francis Burdette took the lead and Pete, myself, and Kevin Forde fell in behind. Pete took the lead after 3-4 laps and we passed through 1600m in 4:55. Soon Francis fell off and Pete opened up a 10m or so lead on Kevin and I. Going through 3200m at 9:55, Pete was now 15-20m up on me and Kevin was slowly losing ground. I needed to make a decision. With just over 2 laps to go, I glanced back to make sure that a failed bold move would still give me the silver. I was clear of Kevin and went after Pete. He seemed to have made a decision to increase his lead because I had gained nothing coming to the bell lap. But I sensed something as I moved into the backstretch. I started a long charge and soon had Pete within a stride as we hit the steeplechase pit. It was time to go, and I went hard as we hit the home straight. Not having raced Pete before, I didn't know anything about his finishing speed. We both dug deep, and I was lucky to have plenty left. Crossing the finish line with my first track title, I managed to win by about 1.5 seconds.
15:25.79, a season improvement of 23 seconds and 12 seconds better than last year! Most importantly, a good win against some great Master's veterans.  Kevin ran a phat season PR as well for 3rd.
     The weekend had begun. 48 hours to recover and prepare for an 800m final. The idea of racing again against the best had become a reality, and as Pete said later, THIS IS FUN!!!

The Return to National Track Championships

     After taking a stab at track racing again in 2009, it was clear I got the bug. I wanted more, and the USATF Master's Track and Field Championships were coming to the west coast. I made a draft training and racing schedule to include the 8k Cross Country Championships in Spokane and a spring of track meets leading to Sacramento.
     A little snafu in late January training didn't hinder my race (too much) in Spokane, as I placed 3rd overall and 1st in the M45 age group. However, I chose to spend the  next 9 weeks  putting in 30 minutes of easy running a day until the IT band/quad fascia was happy again. Then back to work.
     I entered myself in the 5000, 800 and 1500 for Sacramento. The 5/1500 double was a sure thing, but I figured if I was going, I may as well enter all 3. Little did I know what was to come of that!
     The season consisted of 3 meets beforehand: A mile race in Portland, a 5k/800 double in Eugene, and an 800 tune-up race at McKenzie High School about an hour outside of Eugene. Everything went well, although the mile race was difficult due to my work schedule that week (I spent some time at Hayward Field working for CBS at the NCAA meet).
      I hopped in my truck at 6pm on Tuesday the 20th and drove to Weed, California. A great place for a truck stop. I pulled in between a couple semis, laid down the seatback and went to sleep. Arriving in Sacramento the next day, I grabbed my packet and took a 30 minute jog through campus and headed off to Oregon teammate Harold Kuphaldt's house. Nothing better than dinner and a bed in a home before racing.
       Next stop, Day 1 and the 5000m race. Stay tuned.........

Getting started

     "Why do I want to start a blog", I ask myself. Well, I find other's interesting most of the time. My enjoyment of running and racing is related to my career as a Licensed Massage Therapist and the coaching position I currently hold at a local high school in Eugene, so I can meld my thoughts about all of them into one post. Maybe this act of writing will provoke some introspective thinking about myself and my purpose. It just might  also lead to other personal and business opportunities.
     Writing and posting my blogs on whatever regular basis it may be will hopefully add to the current skill level of using various types of social media. Electronic equipment has changed so much since I got my first Mac in the late 80's that I'm still trying to figure out how to use software on my 5 year old laptop while being completely baffled by OS 10.4 at home. It's easy to confine myself to the software I use everyday without exploring. Not that typing this blog is difficult. I will soon have to figure out how to post  it to my Facebook account when I finish.
    My next writing will be of my first venture back to National Championship track racing. I hope you find the writing as enjoyable as I have found my return to competition.