I have managed to find a wonderful community of runners here on Steemit, thanks mainly to @toofasteddie and his @runningproject. Like most adult runners, I became more involved in the sport by doing some road races, a triathlon here and there, etc. In truth, I hadn't run much in my late 20s to early 30s, and then I met my wife who was training for her first marathon. Let's just say I really liked her, and as much as her backside was part of the total equation, I realized I needed to catch her if I ever wanted things to progress! She politely asked me to join her on a leisurely 5 mile run through one of the most beautiful parks in Philadelphia, and it was one of the worst days of my life. That's an exaggeration, but it did leave me hurting, but I gave up cigarettes for good later that week and the rest is, as they say, history.

A few years later I was running my own marathons, and even completed an iron-distance triathlon, and as great as that was, I knew it wasn't really my true nature to be a long distance runner. In high school and college I was a sprinter, with my specialty being the 400 meters (although my 200 was technically better). I was one of the youngest kids on my block growing up, and I still attribute some of my "natural" speed to desperately trying to keep up with older kids. We played hours and hours of Run the Bases, (a game that simply involves trying to get from one base to the next while two fielders toss a baseball back and forth trying to tag you out) and I think that game had the single biggest effect. I am a high school track coach today, and I once tried to teach my kids to play Run the Bases and failed miserably. Most of them couldn't play catch to save their lives!

As I said, the long distance running wasn't really my nature, and although I enjoyed racing 5Ks, I kept thinking I just needed to sprint now and then. I still remember my first attempt. I went to the local track where my wife and I would regularly do 400 repeats, and I tried sprinting some 100s. The first one felt incredibly awkward. The second only slightly better. On the third one I strained my hamstring and almost face-planted. It was a horrible failure, and I left thinking this was why grownups don't sprint.

And how wrong I was!

It turns out there is an entire running universe of which I somehow had no awareness. Masters Track and Field is a global phenomenon, and it is something that without exaggeration changed my life.

I discovered Masters Track when I decided it would be fun to run at the Penn Relays again. I ran there four times in high school and college, and still have a 3rd place medal and photo of myself on the starting line for the 4x400 relay. Running at Penn is one of the single greatest experiences of my youth. It is a massive relay carnival held every spring at the historic Franklin Field. Four days of non-stop races from middle school through college to professional world-class athletes. Regardless of what level, everyone who races at Penn has to deal with a certain amount of inconvenience because of the size of the meet. For the high school 4x400s you have to start lining up in "the paddock" about 30 minutes before your heat, and the slow parade from the area just outside the stadium, then entering the stadium where up to 30,000 people are packed in, to the walk along the first turn, and then to the final staging area is like nothing else in track and field. When I ran there in high school I seriously thought my nervousness was going to crush me into the ground. When its your turn to race, you have to walk through a narrow shute from the paddock to the track, along the iconic red brick wall that wraps around the entire stadium. Back in the day, a certain famous Philly comedian and icon used to be sitting just above that spot, and he would smile and say hello to anyone that recognized him.

I found out very quickly that the only way to run at Penn as an adult is to be a member of a legitimate track club. That led me to Greater Philadelphia Track Club, and right away I began training to qualify for a coveted spot on their 4x400 team. Greater Philly has boasted some awesome accomplishments. An adult-only club, it has over 200 active members who compete in every distance from 60 meters to the marathon. The club regularly wins multiple age group awards in road and trail races all over the region, has won several masters cross country championships, and currently holds the masters club world record in the 4x800 meter relay. The 4x400 relay teams compete annually at both the Millrose Games, where last month both the 40+ and 50+ teams won gold, and the Penn Relays.

The club held a time trail that same year I joined because several new people had joined and there were not many meets available to get an official time in an open 400. That was my initiation to masters track, even though it was just a handful of club members on a chilly, windy day in December. I was petrified. The veteran members looked like super heroes to me. Old men, more or less, with wrinkles and graying hair, but the moment they started warming up I was like, "Oh %$#t."

I ran, and I did okay. Actually, my goal was to just break 60 seconds, and by this point I knew actually getting a spot on the team and running at Penn was unlikely, but I ran 58.8. I was pretty psyched, but what really struck me was that running an actual 400 race unlocked so many old memories. The first thing I noticed was the raw, nervous feeling stepping up to the line, moments before the gun; the point of no return. If you've race the 400 for real, you know what I mean. In my opinion its the scariest race there is, because you know you will be throwing yourself to the wolves and experiencing some serious pain in about 40 seconds.

I got lucky that first year and was given two fantastic opportunities. First, we were awarded two spots at Millrose for the 40+ race so I got to run on our B-team. It was the last time the Millrose Games were run at Madison Square Garden, so that was really special. Later that spring, I earned a spot not on the 40+ team, but instead our Olympic Development squad. Now that was just nuts, because Olympic Development at Penn means there are teams in the heat running very close to the top collegiate times. It is a little bit of a misnomer as few of the athletes in that division are actually headed to the Olympics, and then there are teams like ours that year, who are just taking lanes to make it a full field. But it was still my chance to return to that hallowed track! I jumped at the opportunity. I also earned a spot on our 40+ 4x100 team, which was great, but the 4x400 is where its really at.

The big day came and I had been freaking out for about two solid weeks before, just like in high school! I knew it didn't mean anything, really, but that's how track is. It is an existential experience, but also just a completely made up game. I ran the 4x100 with my new club buddies and I suffered a mild strain in that damned hamstring. immediately after the race I thought I was done for the day, my dream of running the 4x400 at Penn again dashed, but after a visit to the training room I was all set to go for it. The trainer did a test and then assured me that it might hurt, but nothing was torn. He wrapped me up, and then I spent the next coupe of hours reliving that crushing nervousness. So this is the first big realization of getting back into track as an adult. I have always heard that women forget the pain of childbirth, which is probably some essential aspect of our evolution that actually makes women want to have more than one child. I make sense of that as a man when I think of things like how nervous I got as a high school runner -- I remember it, but only so much. That day running at Penn a few years ago brought the experience back in full. In the moment, making the walk through the paddock to the point of no return, I new I could only really know the feeling while it was happening.

I tried to calm myself down, but this moment was so loaded. I just can't explain what it meant to be back there. As I took the final steps through the narrow shute, I paused and held my hand on the warm bricks. I told myself to soak up every ounce of this experience that I could. I looked out across the infield, and up into the stands. I reminded myself that I was incredibly lucky to be healthy enough to even be standing in that spot at that moment, and that I might never get to be there again. And then we were out on the track taking striders and suddenly the gun fired and the lead-off runners were off.

The actual race was a total horror show. We were actually on the track with a Jamaican masters team that included two former Olympians. There were about 15 teams on the track, and we were the second slowest. The team we beat was another Jamaican team -- four middle-school kids! I have no idea how that decide who runs the Olympic Development race, but it was just a wacky scene, and my team was almost lapped. I don't remember much about my leg. I ran okay. But none of the details really mattered. I was back, and I was certainly hooked.

Since that day at Penn I have returned three more times to run on the Greater Philly 40+ 4x400 team. After that first year, I got into a great training routine and consistently ran faster and faster, dealing with various injuries that just seem inevitable when you decide to sprint, but also learning massive amounts of information about myself and the sport. I became a high school coach shortly after that, and I began competing in masters meets all over the northeastern US, including USATF National Championship meets. At one point I got my 400 meter time down to 55.8, and that same season ran a 55.2 split at Penn Relays, when my team placed 3rd in the masters race. I now have two Penn Relays 3rd place medals, won 25 years apart, and side by side they mean the world to me.

Today I am the vice president of Greater Philadelphia Track Club, I've been coaching high school teams for 8 years, my wife and I started a 100% volunteer-run youth track club in our town, and our son and daughter, 8 and 6 years old, are naturally becoming quite the little runners. None of these things would have likely come to be if I hadn't discovered masters track and field, so when I say it changed my life, I really mean it.

If you are interested in learning more about Masters Track and Field I recommend visiting the following:

USA Track and Field

Masters Track and Field Facebook page

To get involved in the Steemit running community visit @runningproject!

If your are in the Philadelphia area check out Greater Philadelphia Track Club!

About Me:

I am an avid running and coach. I have competed in every distance from 55 meters to iron distance triathlon, including a handful of marathons. As a masters athlete I focus on the 5K (masters pr of 19:40), 800 meters (2:12) and 400 meters (55.2), but I also run the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 miler every spring with my wife (1:16). I am not a fast distance runner, but partly because I am a sprinter at heart. I currently coach sprints at my local high school, and help my wife with her cross country team in the fall, as well as the winter track program at her school. I am also the vice president of Greater Philadelphia Track Club, the president of a youth track and field club that my wife and I started last summer, and hold a USA Track & Field level 1 certification. I have done extensive technique training and coaching, and attend two coaching conferences every year to keep up with the latest ideas. This summer I will be completing my USATF level 2 certification, most likely with a concentration in youth track and field.