[Wednesday: 3 miles; today 1 mile plus track races]
We drove down to Des Moines after work yesterday and stayed overnight in anticipation of the Iowa Senior Games today. The event was held at Valley High.
My first event was the 100 meter sprint which started at 9:15. I got signed in, then we walked around for a bit and I ran a mile on the sidewalks in the neighborhood to get warmed up.
They did the women’s races first and then the men’s, going by age groups younger to older. There was a table set up with sheets of paper giving heat and lane assignments. We didn’t wear numbers but they knew us but what lane we were in. (That works for races shorter than 400 meters because you have to stay in your lane for the whole race.)
I was set up to run in the first heat of my age group for all of my events. They didn’t have a “semi-final/final” thing, it was just the heats and your time was used to sort out the overall order of finish… medals for the fastest three.
Anyway, I saw the women race and then the younger men then it was my turn. I decided to use the starting blocks for the 100m which was really my goal event. I was able to mess around with them a bit before the race and figure out how I wanted them configured. That worked out pretty well. Also I wore my new track spike shoes which also went well.
They did the places, set, <bang> thing, just like watching the Olympics or something. And we were off. I don’t remember exactly what I did but I ran as fast as I could. There were a bunch of people in my heat and some really fast guys. But I was ahead of a couple at the end. I was happy with my effort and focus.
Then we had a few hours before the 50 meter race so we went to a place east of Valley West Mall and had some brunch. I kept it light.
I noticed that I had a new twinge in my left hip so for the 50 I decided not to use the starting blocks. That race also was multiple heats and again most were faster than me but I held off one guy. I didn’t really have a goal time for the 50 but again I was happy with how I did.
Then the last event was the 200 meter. That involves a staggered start and going around the bend of the track before accelerating down the straight. Again I did not use the blocks. I was in lane 1 which is the sharpest bend. We were off and the guy I held off in the 50 was in lane 2 so I was looking at everyone’s back going around the bend but noticed he wasn’t gaining on me like the other one’s were. I started the acceleration and was reeling him back in. We crossed the line close together but he was a bit ahead.
My goal for the 100 was to be under 19 seconds with a dream of low 18’s. The result was 17.75 seconds. For the 50 I was a bit slower with 9.34 seconds. For the 200 most of my training runs were in the mid 40’s but in the race I got 39.36. So I am happy with the results.
Actually my goal for the 100 was to be under 2 UBPB which stands for 2 times Usain Bolt’s Personal Best. Here are his numbers and my results translated to units of UBPBs:
| Distance | Usain Bolt PB | Me | |
| 100 meters | 9.58 seconds | 17.75 | 1.85 UBPBs (yay!) |
| 200 meters | 19.19 | 39.36 | 2.05 UBPBs |
| 50 meters | ?? | 9.34 | ?? UBPBs |
There were a lot of fast runners, much faster than me.
They had one guy doing the starter pistol thing and one guy getting the people in the right heats and right lanes. And there were other people working on the timing system and stuff. I appreciated those particular two because they were good at explaining what was going on. Also they had a PA announcer and he did a good job too.
Here are screenshots of the online results. (They don’t have everyone sorted by finish time.)
