Track and Field

Today I learned that a new world record was established in the 100 meter dash. Usain Bolt from Jamaica set the new record with an amazing run. How ironic his last name is Bolt! He ran like a bolt of lightning for sure by finishing first in the 100 meters at 9.72 seconds. He specializes in the 400 meters and only runs the 100 usually for practice because the 400 is so grueling. At 6' 5" tall, he is amazingly tall for a 100 meter sprinter.

I watched this video over and over because the 100 meters is one of my favorite events in sports and is amazingly difficult and full of stategy for an event that is over so quickly. It brought back memories of when I was in high school and full of dreams about setting records in track and field.

I mostly did field events, including the high jump (6'4" was my best), Broad Jump (23' was my best) and Triple Jump (43' was my best) I also did some hurdles when needed as well as 400 and 100 yard dash. At the time, in high school, I was fairly tall compared to competitors and was considered a very good size for the 400. I did run it once in practice and I thought I was going to die when I finished. It is an exhausting all out sprint as fast as you can run for a quarter of a mile. My time without ever having practicing it before was 58 seconds (the current world record for 400 meters is 43.18 seconds held by Micheal Johnson) and was very good for a high school kid that was doing field events and not really that conditioned. It was so exhausting, I did not ever want to run it again, unless I had to, so I never trained at it. I really should have worked on it a little and competed more in it, but field events were just too easy for me and I was spoiled by them. I did do some short distance hurdles and once ran the 100 yard dash in 10.1 seconds. I really could run sprints pretty well, but without practice and conditioning, I just mainly stuck to my best events that involved jumping.

I can not wait until the Olympic track and field events because I love to watch these incredible feats of human speed, leaping and endurance. I also have much respect because I know what kind of training and ability is needed to be at a world class level in these events. Running a sprint is so basic and I think that is what makes it so beautiful. I find it amazing because these humans can actually outrun a quarter horse in these short distances.