Very Tardy Lexington Report...
M60 (62) 800 Saturday afternoon. Nice and hot & humid & very light breeze. As usual a barn-burner and a proper competitive race. Case in Point there were two full heats. Fast Heat and Faster Heat. I coach high schoolers and always tell them there is no such thing as a slow heat. As for M60-64, I always say it's virtually the same high quality fields since I started in Eugene 2002 - only 20 years older and slower. Gun goes off and with that bang Mr. Chapman 58pt 400 guy is gone. He told me in Miami he would get me back in that 800 I won by the skin of my yellow teeth. He did come back some but held GOLD in a SB 2:19.54 SILVER went to 56pt 400 guy Mr. Yelverton in 2:22.02. Me? Did my typical hold the rail in a good position to strike. Did but only got one or two in the last 150m for a very close Bronze and my third 2:22.27 in a row. Dang that! A fine FOURTH went to Mr. Westenburg 2:22.57. And Mr. Neff was in the mix with 2:23.27.
M60 (62) 1500 Sunday morning. Very nice and cooler light rain. championship Racing at it's best with a big field aiming to sit and kick. Mr. Westy took us through the first lap in 82, second lap in 84, third lap in 80. By then we were still three ducks in a row with Westy, Neff, KP when the heat was on. Truthfully, I tried to hang on, barely did so to 1350 meters before running out of fuel. Neff ran 74 for his bell lap and GOLD 4:59.83. Westy 75 and SILVER 5:00.88. KP 79 BRONZE 5:05.21. I foolishly jogged across the line and almost lost the medal to the 4th place athlete. Whew!
All in all another terrific, challenging, competitive, and fun USATF Nationals. Always a highlight for me is to walk away with rekindled and newly established "Friends For Life". Masters Athletes shake hands before and after every race. Yes, we aim to kill each other during the battle but there is no bull posturing before and after. One of fave parts of Masters.
Post-Note. And now for the excuses. I believe I have a torn hip labrum. It's been limiting my mechanics and training since January. I was only able to do 20-25 miles per week this summer (normally 40-50) and had to cut back from my tested and proved middle-distance training that my friend Tom Carleo coached me with since my Masters Sub 2:00s 800m & 4:04 1500m at age 45. After Westy and other competitors shared their similar injury diagnosis and solutions it feels like I need to get mine taken care of. Welcome all advice from this most excellent thread.
Thanks for listening. Y'all be Good. KP