Sprinting At 60

Saturday, June 13, 2026 Yesterday evening I ran my first 800 meters race of the 2026 outdoor season at the East Coast Track and Field Championships in Somerset, NJ. Alison and I drove up part of the way together. It was her season opener as well. I ran a PR of 2:18.73 (a second faster than my indoor PR in March), which I'm happy about. More than anything, I'm happy because I felt great--none of the usual 800 pain that I have experienced. Plus, it wasn't a crowded field for me and my competitors (there was a group of Open athletes at the front, Mark Williams and another young guy ran 2:05). I had one guy for competition--Anselm LeBourne (he's 67--he beat me at the Bella Mile last week in 5:32; he's more of a distance runner--BUT five years ago he was #1 in the country and top in the world in the M60 800 meters! He was running 2:11/2:13, so there is a superstar still there in him!) Anyway, I stayed behind him until the last 150 meters--he ran at a great pace, I think ...

 Wednesday, June 10, 2026 Heading into lap 2 in the mile at the Bella Mile Meet Saturday morning, Alison and I headed to New Jersey to compete in the Bella Mile meet. Alison is recovering from a torn up knee that she developed when she took a fall on her driveway. The fact that she competed at all is amazing. She did well, ran 5:58.1. I did OK, ran 5:51.0. Age graded it comes to 79.49% . . . which vexes me--I really wanted to hit 80% at least. I improved my first outdoor time over my first indoor time in January by 5 seconds . . . so that's something I guess. This is just not my event, really. I haven't ever trained for it, and I don't like it very much (too long), but Alison insists it will be added training for our 800s, and she's probably right.  The exciting part is that Rick Lee (now 65 years old), who was in my heat, set a new American Mile record for his age group! 4:56.1, and he set a new 1500 World Record (en route). I was thrilled for him. What an athelete! An...

Monday, June 1, 2026 Thought I'd check in here since I haven't posted since April and now it's June! I took two, six-day trips in May (one to California to see my mom for Mother's Day, and one to Chicago for a graduation). I patched together runs and workouts while away, but the travel days and time changes cut into a smooth training routine (and I missed essentially two weeks of Pilates lessons at the studio!). On the 15th I turned 62! As I mentioned previously in a blog post, all of my track workouts and other activities (walks, Pilates, outdoor runs, gym workouts) I post to Strava. I still enjoy touching base with this blog, even if I don't have any meet results to share. I will be competing in the Bella Mile meet this coming Saturday morning. Alison and Lorraine are going, and I thought it might be a fun (albeit painful) kind of training session for the 800 (I will be racing in an 800 the following Friday at the East Coast Championships meet). I will have one mo...