BANG!

It was 8pm, but you get the picture, the stands are filled with experienced Masters athletes, coaches.

BANG! The starter’s pistol fires. Everyone is off to a great start, except Lane 1 (me).

So nervous standing there watching all the others get set in their starting blocks, that my first step was not an explosive jump forward, but a nervous half back-step, as if startled and afraid by what just happened.

Too bad so sad. Go, get moving.

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Runners To Your Mark

Lane 1 is the tightest turn of all the lanes. The second slowest runner goes there.

If Lane 8 is the worst because the slowest runner gets it, then Lane 1 is the next to worst because of the tight turn.

The official barks out, slow and deliberately, “Runners to your mark!

All the runners but me get down into starting blocks. jeff noel is only one using a standing start (Rookie!), in Lane 1. What seems like forever, and the official barks, “SET!”….

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Now What Will You Do?

After 7 years of running, was seeded 20th, M45-49 400m. Not bad for a rookie at the 2006 National Championships.

Make the most of it. Ever mumble those words under your breath? There was no other choice (except quit). Never forget, everyone struggles. So, there, all’s fair. Get over the pity party.

You know the feeling about needing to use the restroom before some big event you’re involved in? Think of it on steriods. Plus, had to (try and) manage the warmup timing. Too little and you’re unprepared for excellence. Too much, you might miss the heat announcement.

Where you get to warmup, it’s not easy to hear announcements.

I was a rookie at every step of the process.

You could feel the veterans looking down on you, thinking, “Rookie!”

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USATF Masters National Championships Here We Come

It’s an officially sanctioned USATF Track & Field Meet.

Ever follow a dream where you work so hard, you can almost taste success? But then before you know it, judgement day arrives?

The track officials halted all competition for 8 hours, due to the heat index being too dangerous for older runners. The meet would resume at 8pm.

Are you kidding me? This is almost bedtime.

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It Almost Didn’t Seem Worth It

New pair & old pair of resting foot splints. I wear one on each foot while sleeping – have for a decade!

Spent three months going 2-3 times a week to physical therapy at Florida Hospital Celebration, two blocks from work. Harder than it seems, because of frequent travel.

Almost didn’t seem worth it, all the rescheduling and missed appointments. Would have been easier to quit. Quitting always is the easiest option, isn’t it?

In the end, there was no quitting. And it was time to buy a plane ticket. To Finland.

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