On June 18, my 55th birthday, I ran a sprint workout (6x60 barefoot on artificial grass at Patrick Henry HS in San Diego). On my last rep, I went all out. Bad decision. Tore my left hamstring with Oshkosh nationals only weeks away.
So I rested, got deep-tissue massage and went to Oshkosh with hopes of being good to go for the 100 and 200. But then I went and conked my head on the high jump standard on my first attempt. Eight staples were removed from my scalp about 10 days later. But I scratched from the 1 and 2 on doctor's advice.
So maybe it was a good thing that I didn't stress my hammie in Wisconsin.
But ramping up to Lahti, I was still worried about my hammie. And in recent workouts, I've felt a tenderness in my RIGHT hammie.
So I got a nearly hourlong massage Wednesday, the day before my 100 at Lahti worlds. It apparently helped.
I stayed focused Thursday. I did a 10-minute jog in a gravel field used for throws near the track. Then I bought myself bottle of water for hydration (even though the temp was a wonderful low-70s).
I made my way to the backstretch stands of the main stadium and did my stretching and limbering drills, including leg swings. And then I ran 4x50 strides in spikes (a track surface was laid in a wide portion of the stands).
I then went down to the track for more sprints. Felt great! No issues with either hammie.
Around 11:20 a.m., I reported to the call room under the main stadium stands and joked with Dr. Stephen Peters, my archnemesis from Gateshead worlds of 1999. He went along with my joking about how I would play with his mind. (He's a sports shrink; his doctorate is in psychiatry, and he helped prepare the British cycling team for its dominance at the Beijng Olympics). I pointed at his orange spikes and said they were two sizes small. I put my hands on Steve's shoulders and said, "I'm sorry, but your great-grandmother has died!" He enjoyed the ribbing (I think).
Turns out I was in the wrong section of benches for the M55 heats. So when I heard my name called for Heat 2, I went elsewhere to sit.
Time soon came to move out. Carrying our gear in track bags, a lady in her early 20s led us under the stadium, out onto the track and around the backstretch until we were close to the starting line. We donned our spikes and took some sprints. After Heat 1 was off, we fixed ur blocks. Mine wasn't straight, so I realigned it. Didn't want to shoot into an adjoining lane!
We were called to our blocks.
I was in Lane 3, and I shook hands with the next-door German and another middle-age sprinter.
The Finnish starter said: "On your marks" -- with a slight accent. Then set. And the gun. No false start!
I pushed off hard, focusing on vicious arm action. Despite my concerns, I went all out. Everyone pulled away, including the German whose seed time of 13.7 gave me hope I could keep up (since I had run a windy 13.9 earlier this year). In the last 10 meters, I told myself not to quit. Then I dipped at the finish line -- last place but joyful.
I had run my first 100 in worlds with no pain or strain. I was now eligible to run in the 4x1 relay for Team USA at the end of the meet. (I just have to stay unhurt and hope three other M55s are ambulatory and present on Aug. 8.)
After a few minutes, the electronic scoreboard showed my time: 14.08. It was not the 13.XX I had hoped for, but it was my fastest legal time in three years. And it was done after six weeks of no sprint workouts. So it gave me great hope for a 28.XX in Sunday's 200 prelims.
The next day, my Lahti roommate (M45 world 400 champ Jim Chinn) told me that I was the top American M55 sprinter at the 2009 world championships! I realized he was right! Two other USA M55s had not run in the event as promised by the Status of Entries at usatf.org.
Eat your heart out, Bill Collins and Oscar Peyton. I'm the best American M55 short sprinter at 2009 Lahti worlds!
_________________ Ken Stone
http://www.masterstrack.com
Last edited by Ken Stone on Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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