August 7th, Saturday

“I train to race.  I love train, but I love to race even more.” Lynn Jennings

On Saturday I went over to The Peddie School to run an 800m in the Shore AC event that they call the New Jersey International Track and Field Meet.  From the promotional information regarding this meet one would get the impression that at one time it had quite a prestigious profile. The names of the events and the record holders are some of America’s best runners and international Olympians.  (You can look it up.)   Somehow this meet has been organized and run for the last 34 years completely under my radar as a New Jersey track enthusiast . It turned out to be a relaxing, lightly attended, Saturday morning event  in a picturesque setting.

Because of the small entry list, all of the categories and classifications were combined  for the 800m race. Once again I was was the oldest guy in the race.  There were runners who could hit two flat in the field, and they did!   So, I was out of contact with the field from the start not really knowing what sort of pace I was running for lap one.  It did feel quick and comfortable and smooth, and lonely and not overly motivated. As I approached the clock at the  400m mark it was reading under 90 seconds!  That is the fastest 400m I have run in an 800m race since 2017 in Birmingham, Alabama at the National Senior Games when I finished in 2:57.4.  The possibility of bettering my race goal of 3:10 became a reality.  I pushed the second lap pretty hard and came across in a respectable 3:07.4.  I had set what I thought was a pretty lofty goal, but I had  little confidence that I could run close to that number. I only chose that number because it’s what I ran two years ago in New Mexico at the National Senior Games to win that race.

I am thrilled at the thought that my training is somewhat validated, and I have increased motivation to maintain and improve.

Another bonus on this lovely Saturday morning was that my nephew, Matthew, showed up and recorded the entire run.  And to top it off Matty and I stopped at a local brewery to have a few IPAs before I headed home. Perfect!!  🙂  🙂

I have a copy of the recording and am going to try to put it on Facebook.