2009 World Championships In Finland

Yesterday at the United States of America Track & Field Master’s National Championships, a world age-group record was set in the women’s hammer throw.

If I had been there like planned, you know I would have found her, and with pocket camera rolling, asked, “What motivates you? And, What does it feel like to be a world-record holder? And finally, Any advice to the viewers out there?“

Will you be exercising today?

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Deadline Is Midnight

The 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin in 21 days and nearly 1,300 athletes have entered to date.  If you have not entered yet is not too late.

The championships are being held in Sacramento, Calif. on the campus of Sacramento State University, site of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

PS. Hope I’ll be ready by July 2011…

Finland, August 2009

Are you a storyteller?

No matter your answer, you are a storyteller. We all are.

We tell stories through our actions, by the things that we do, and don’t do.

For example, people who exercise and use greater self-control with their food choices, are going to appear healthier than those that do not. It’s simply a fact of life.

It’s like two gardeners. One spends a fair amount of time, each day, weeding, pruning, fertilizing and pest controlling. The other does not. Do I even need to ask, “Which garden will bear more fruit?”

Lane 8 is a metaphor for life. It appears Lane 8′s story may be picking back up where it left off last August, in Finland.

It takes passion, inspiration and motivation to continue to remain active and healthy, well into our midlife and senior years.  How do they do it?

Well, for starters, they’ve got soul:

Maybe your impossible goal is plain and simple. Once you get healthier, stay there for the rest of your life.

Special Moments Happen Unnoticed

Last night, while watching the Super Bowl, did some blog surfing and found this Lane 8 healthy blog post from last April.

It’s a story about a Father and a Son having a casual conversation that was as significant, as it was insignificant.

These are the small, often unnoticed moments that make life exciting.

You have one you’d like to share?

Hayward Field, Oregon 2009

World Championships, Finland 2009

What is Lane 8?

Lane 8 is the worst lane in Track & Field.  Fast runners are put in the middle lanes and slower runners are assigned the outer lanes.  The slowest competitor is always assigned Lane 8.

And in the 400 meters, which I compete in, you stay in your lane the entire race.  The way the starting lines are staggered, makes it look like Lane 8 is way out in front, when in fact, it’s the exact same distance as the others.

So many consider lane 8 the worst lane because you cannot see any of the other competitors, until they pass you.

My goal is to be in Lane 8, the worst lane.  And I also don’t care if I come in last.  Seriously.

Our son (9) says, “Dad, you want the worst lane and you don’t care if you come in last?”

(Pause for effect, and read each of the next three sentences with decent pauses in between)

“That’s right, son, Lane 8.  In the finals.  At the World Championships.”

I continued the answer for our son, “You can come in last and still be the eighth best in the entire world.”

I then shared the moral of the story with our son:

“You can go through life and set the bar low, reach it, but then live with the regret of wondering what you could have done if you tried harder.  Or, you can set the bar ridiculously high, fail, and yet live with peace because you know in your heart you did your very best.”

Ya with me?

Face to face questions, as well as emails, ask the same thing, “Are you preparing for any upcoming meets”?

Yes, and no.

YES, there are two big meets in 2010.  The WMA Masters Track & Field Indoor World Championships in early March, in Kamloops, British Columbia.  And there’s the USA Masters Track & Field National Championships, in July, in Sacramento, California.

NO, the left heel pain precludes me from anything remotely intense enough to be considered world class training.

This may be a good thing. If you don’t know, it was never the intent to become a world class Master’s athlete.  But after several years of running and making common sense, common practice, I wanted to see if it could actually be done.

Tomorrow I’ll describe the level of fitness that I didn’t even know I had achieved.  And what it feels like to see it slip away and the thought process on how, and if, I should deal with that.

My excitement for You Tube predicts 100 You Tubes:

Lahti Travel and Do Your Best:

Blooper – 3 seconds:

Make it a GLORIOUS Sunday. It surely will be. Up to us to notice though. Carpe diem, jeff noel