Breaking the speed barrier!

With Christmas and New Years out of the way, the athletics track and field season resumed today.  Today was a regular meet, and I entered 5 events - the 100m, shot put, long jump, 400m and javelin.

First up was the 100m.  Conditions were perfect for a good time, with a forecast temperature of 38C and a light NE wind, which would be mostly a tailwind on the straight.  The heat and wind conditions were ideal for me.

After the usual warmup, I lined up at the start, with the goal of breaking the 13 second barrier that has eluded me all season, with several near misses.  After a false start (no,wasn’t me! :) ), the race got underway.  Made a tactical mistake in the early stages, which cost me significant time, affecting my acceleration.  Wasn’t sure if I had achieved my goal, but a check of the results some time later showed a time of 12.99 seconds - yes, I had finally done it, and with a less than ideal race! :)

Following the 100m was the shot put.  First throw, I tried a different technique, didn’t work, ended up with a no throw, and followed that with an ordinary 5.50m.  I passed on my third throw, to get over to the long jump, where I jumped 3.79, then 3.80m, before passing again, to go over to the 400m.

By the time the 400m was run, wind conditions were a little tricky.  In my heat, the wind turned during the race, to be a headwind around most of the lap.  Finished with a reasonable time of 1;02.58, 0.1 seconds short of my PB, with almost nothing left in the tank.

Next up was the javelin.  First throw was a no throw (landed on its side - AKA “belly flop”).  Second throw was over 13.9 metres, a PB.  At this time, I had to go to the 4x100m relay, where I ran a solid first leg, before returning to the javelin.  My final throw was 13.99m, another PB.

So, another good way with 2 PBs and some solid performances.  Now, for a couple of weeks break from athletics as the fire brigade season kicks into top gear.  My next track and field meet will be the Victorian Country Athletics Championships on 26-28 January.

- Tony via Tumblr http://ift.tt/2iOl7UZ