Goal C: To complete my first track race without disqualification,
Goal B: To run a 400 meter dash without being last in my heat,
Goal A: To run a 400 meter dash faster than 1 minute, 45 seconds, based on the 7:03 run in the Morningside Mile in late March
The Atlanta Track Club has held the All Comers track and field meets for many years, on the athletic field and track at the Woodruff P.E. Center at Emory University. I have a fairly good view of the field from my office on the sixth floor of the Sanford Atwood Chemistry Center. Yet in seventeen years at Emory, I've never before wandered down to the field to watch the fun.
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| The view of the field from my office, around 6 pm in the evening. The first events had begun, probably the 100 m hurdles. My event wasn't scheduled to begin until after 8 pm. |
Tonight was different. The key to my participation was that tonight's 400 meter dash was part of the Grand Prix series of Atlanta Track Club races. The Grand Prix series consists of a dozen events over the course of the year, most of which are free for track club members. And members that complete 6 out of the 12 events get something at the end of the year, I think a t-shirt. Yes, I'm going for the t-shirt! So far I've run the Peachtree City 10K, the Spring Tune-Up 15K, and the Singleton 10K. I'm definitely planning to run the Decatur/Dekalb 4 Miler in July, and have already registered for the Atlanta 10 Miler in October. For a sixth race, this evening's 400 meter dash seemed a good opportunity for a few hundred steps out of my comfort zone.
You see, I've never run a track race in my life. We had a nice track at my junior high school, and I remember running laps on the track, but I don't think that we were timed. If we were, it wasn't a significant event for me. Sadly most of what I remember about junior high P.E. was avoiding any attention from the coaches. A couple of the coaches were unbelievably mean and sadistic. Those guys would be prosecuted today for the savage brutality of their corporal punishments. Unfortunately in the 1970's, the abuses of schoolchildren in the boys' gym classes were all too common, and were accepted in my hometown. Fortunately for me, I was never hit, but it was terrifying to watch it happen to classmates. I wish that I hadn't been so afraid to speak up or to speak out back then.
Wow, where did that come from?!
Anyway ... I ran my first track race this evening. We were organized in heats by age group, and I ended up in the seventh heat of 20 men's heats, in a group ranging in age from 48 - 52. I didn't recognize any of the names in my heat, but saw the two guys that have most often won / placed in the 50 - 54 age group in the heat ahead of me. I will confess that I was relieved that I would not be competing with them! Somehow I was assigned to lane 3. Now I know next to nothing about track, other than the importance of not straying from the lane, but I had the impression that lane 3 was the best lane on the track. I gather that it's a compromise between the curvature of the oval [tightest for lane 1, easiest for lane 8] vs. the ability to see the other competitors at the start. The lane 1 runner can see the other seven runners in front of him at the start, and can enjoy the motivation of running to catch up to the others, whereas the lane 8 runner is blind to those behind him in the first part of the race.
The progress of the heats before us was relatively slow, with one of the preschool-age children's heats taking a bit more time than expected, although fun to watch and cheer for the kids. In 10 - 15 years, those kids will be blazing past me in 5K - 10K races. In the meantime I had plenty of time to warm up, including some 100 m sprints on the grass, covering the distance in 25 seconds or so. The pace of the heats picked up once the adults began running, from oldest to youngest. The women went first in 15 heats, then it was the men's turn. As the first heat of the men's 400 meters dash began, the runners with me in heat 7 gathered at midfield to get organized. I introduced myself to the runners assigned to lanes 4 and 2 as we waited. Then we were brought closer to the track for final instructions from Rich Kenah, the Atlanta Track Club president. As soon as the heat ahead of us had finished, we ran up to our starting positions. I didn't try to start from a 3- or 4-point stance, as that would not have been efficient for me with my inexperience. I didn't have to wait many seconds before I heard "On your mark", and then the starting gun sounded.
From a standing start, I needed several short steps to start running, but I felt good in the beginning. The announcer had been talking during all of the earlier heats but once we were running, I didn't hear a thing outside of the 10-foot circle around me, I was so focused! As we turned the first curve, I caught up with the runner in lane 4 and we were even as we began the first straightaway. But behind and to my left I could hear the pace of the lane 1 runner rapidly accelerating, and he zipped past me running strongly. So I knew early on that I would not be winning tonight's heat, LOL. I was sixth in a group running fairly closely together down the straightaway. A track club staff member was calling out times, and I heard "37 seconds" as I passed her.
As we entered the second curve of the oval, I could feel myself slowing down. Four of the runners increased their lead to the point that I knew that I would not catch them. A fifth runner to my right was initially slightly ahead of me, but then he suddenly dropped back. I was feeling some fatigue, having started too quickly in the beginning, but I was still able to run fairly well, I think, even though I was breathing heavily and rapidly as I tried to power down the last straightaway. Again I didn't hear a thing from the crowd or the announcer, but just tried to keep going as fast as I could manage, and focused on staying within lane 3, lane 3, not lane 2, not lane 4, lane 3. At least I didn't hear anyone coming up from behind, and the four runners in front of me didn't seem to be opening much more of a gap as they neared the finish line. Best of all, I reached the finish line under 1:30, considerably better than I had hoped I could manage.
All goals for the evening were accomplished! Even though I was fifth in my heat, it's a time and an experience that I can build on. Now I should try to learn something about strategy and tactics in sprinting, and certainly continue to work on improving my endurance so that I can keep up a steady pace from start to finish. After all it's just one-quarter mile. The ability to run more quickly when tired will be useful in finishing longer races.
Revised, May 14: I thought I had seen 1:32 on the clock when I finished, but I wasn't sure at the time, and was waiting for the results, which I found today on the track club website. My official result reads 1:23.38, less than 6 seconds behind the winner of the heat! I guess I was temporarily dyslexic at the finish line. My heart rate was 173 bpm when I checked within a couple of seconds of finishing.
Below are the finishers in my heat by lap position:
Lane 1, 1:20.45 (-2.74), 3rd place
Lane 2, 1:45.50 (-27.79), 7th place
Lane 3, 1:23.38 (-5.67), 5th in heat; 8 / 12 in 50 - 54 age group and 85 / 127 among all men
Lane 4, 1:17.71, 1st place - congratulations to Nguyen!
Lane 5, (did not show)
Lane 6, 1:25.43 (-7.72), 6th place
Lane 7, 1:17.76 (-0.05), 2nd place
Lane 8, 1:23.24 (-5.53), 4th place
The times were reported to 0.01 second, although I don't think that they could have measured our times that accurately. This disclaimer is for any scientists or engineers reading this blog that may be wondering about significant figures.
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| A few of the other competitors, covering more than 85 years from youngest to oldest! |
The progress of the heats before us was relatively slow, with one of the preschool-age children's heats taking a bit more time than expected, although fun to watch and cheer for the kids. In 10 - 15 years, those kids will be blazing past me in 5K - 10K races. In the meantime I had plenty of time to warm up, including some 100 m sprints on the grass, covering the distance in 25 seconds or so. The pace of the heats picked up once the adults began running, from oldest to youngest. The women went first in 15 heats, then it was the men's turn. As the first heat of the men's 400 meters dash began, the runners with me in heat 7 gathered at midfield to get organized. I introduced myself to the runners assigned to lanes 4 and 2 as we waited. Then we were brought closer to the track for final instructions from Rich Kenah, the Atlanta Track Club president. As soon as the heat ahead of us had finished, we ran up to our starting positions. I didn't try to start from a 3- or 4-point stance, as that would not have been efficient for me with my inexperience. I didn't have to wait many seconds before I heard "On your mark", and then the starting gun sounded.
From a standing start, I needed several short steps to start running, but I felt good in the beginning. The announcer had been talking during all of the earlier heats but once we were running, I didn't hear a thing outside of the 10-foot circle around me, I was so focused! As we turned the first curve, I caught up with the runner in lane 4 and we were even as we began the first straightaway. But behind and to my left I could hear the pace of the lane 1 runner rapidly accelerating, and he zipped past me running strongly. So I knew early on that I would not be winning tonight's heat, LOL. I was sixth in a group running fairly closely together down the straightaway. A track club staff member was calling out times, and I heard "37 seconds" as I passed her.
As we entered the second curve of the oval, I could feel myself slowing down. Four of the runners increased their lead to the point that I knew that I would not catch them. A fifth runner to my right was initially slightly ahead of me, but then he suddenly dropped back. I was feeling some fatigue, having started too quickly in the beginning, but I was still able to run fairly well, I think, even though I was breathing heavily and rapidly as I tried to power down the last straightaway. Again I didn't hear a thing from the crowd or the announcer, but just tried to keep going as fast as I could manage, and focused on staying within lane 3, lane 3, not lane 2, not lane 4, lane 3. At least I didn't hear anyone coming up from behind, and the four runners in front of me didn't seem to be opening much more of a gap as they neared the finish line. Best of all, I reached the finish line under 1:30, considerably better than I had hoped I could manage.
All goals for the evening were accomplished! Even though I was fifth in my heat, it's a time and an experience that I can build on. Now I should try to learn something about strategy and tactics in sprinting, and certainly continue to work on improving my endurance so that I can keep up a steady pace from start to finish. After all it's just one-quarter mile. The ability to run more quickly when tired will be useful in finishing longer races.
Revised, May 14: I thought I had seen 1:32 on the clock when I finished, but I wasn't sure at the time, and was waiting for the results, which I found today on the track club website. My official result reads 1:23.38, less than 6 seconds behind the winner of the heat! I guess I was temporarily dyslexic at the finish line. My heart rate was 173 bpm when I checked within a couple of seconds of finishing.
Below are the finishers in my heat by lap position:
Lane 1, 1:20.45 (-2.74), 3rd place
Lane 2, 1:45.50 (-27.79), 7th place
Lane 3, 1:23.38 (-5.67), 5th in heat; 8 / 12 in 50 - 54 age group and 85 / 127 among all men
Lane 4, 1:17.71, 1st place - congratulations to Nguyen!
Lane 5, (did not show)
Lane 6, 1:25.43 (-7.72), 6th place
Lane 7, 1:17.76 (-0.05), 2nd place
Lane 8, 1:23.24 (-5.53), 4th place
The times were reported to 0.01 second, although I don't think that they could have measured our times that accurately. This disclaimer is for any scientists or engineers reading this blog that may be wondering about significant figures.
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