dave albo's blog

Well I finally did it. Under a hail and rain pummelled tent Patty and I exchanged vows and began a life together in marriage. Since this is yourrunning.com I'll focus in on the running component of this union and give that some examination.

We are both very much fans of all things running, actually competing to see who gets their hands on Track and Field News first each month, for example. Never is a race or track meet on the TV missed.

We both enjoy that uniquely intense experience garnered by racing.

While at the Olympic Trials we walked up to "Pre's rock", the spot where he met his untimely end May 30, 1975 - 34 plus years ago. It was apparent that Pre is still a big deal. A giant poster of Pre greeted those entering the trials. The book store had at least 3 Pre books front and center, at least one of which was new. Pre t-shirts were everywhere, including the famous Stop Pre shirt

http://www.stevepre.com/togo_clothing.html

along with a few "Stop Rupp" one offs. At the All comers track meet I won a "Stop Me" version.

Yesterday, Saturday was my 52nd birthday. I had just come off of back to back hard track days, with Thursday night racing both 400 and 200 meters, and Friday morning running a moderately hard 600 meter time trial.

Kevin the idea man called us track-letes.  Track-lete runners are those of us who would rather run in a smallish circle or some subset thereof. This is in contrast to regular runners who like moving along a road or trail, and like the challenge of distance, in some cases with apparently no upper limit (for example the endurathon held here last week, all of 103 hours (thats 4 and 1/3 days!).

I was running along the Charles river in Boston this morning contemplating the last two days of racing, when who came up on me but David Cannon, winner of the mile and 3k in my age group, all smiles. We ran together and talked about great it was to be here racing. One big theme for this masters track racing scene is the friendliness and inclusiveness of the participants. We want to race all out and put the hurt to the other guy/gal, but before and after its very friendly and gracious.

"This is the best I've ever felt!" I said to Ric after finishing the 800 meter race. "I'm not even breathing hard".

I've been doing one mile training with very little faster paced speedwork.  We went down to the Air Force Academy yesterday where I intended to race 800 and 400 meters... both to be first forays into the faster than one mile realm.  What would all the sprint strength and flexibility work do to performance? A big unknown.

What a great meet the Hartshorne Masters Mile is! This was surely one of the best if not the best races I've ever been a part of.

I recently heard it said that people do not exercise because they believe that it will kill them (literally!). The feeling of heart rate going up is scary when you are not used to it. In a few cases pushing things actually is dangerous given various diseases and problems but in most cases it is just plain old fear of something that is unpleasant.

I've from time to to time had the opposite belief, namely that if I do NOT exercise it will kill me. When taken to an exreme this mindset has some similarities to its opposite. The motivating force in both cases is fear...

I've turned a new leaf at age 51.5. I decided to give actual sprinting a go, and enlisted the services of an actual sprinter coach, Heather who's partnering with Ric generally in coaching some sprinters and youth. So yes I have two coaches right now. One was just not enough! Ric and Heather provide me about as complete a coaching package as anyone could hope for.

As a miler I'm still savoring Patty's big sub 5 minute mile equivalent 1500 meter race at the world masters championships in Italy. Going in it was clear the eventual winner Corrine would most likely be untouchable. Corrine is an outstanding athlete who took home 4 gold medals (800,1500,5000 and cross country) with excellent times in all 4 events. Patty just may have challenged Zofia from Poland for 2nd had she made her move just a little bit earlier. Nonetheless the race and especially the finish offered high drama and excitement for this photographer.