I don't know how many of you are familiar with the phrase Citius, Altius Fortius. It is in fact the Olympic motto and is Latin for faster higher stronger. Since I mentioned the Olympics, I suppose by now that everybody knows Benn won the Pan Am Games and thereby qualified a C1 slot for Team USA in the Olympics. First box checked. Now he needs to win the spot for himself. Stay tuned.
That is not actually why I mentioned the Olympic motto. I did so to lead into what I did this past weekend. I went to the USA Track and Field Masters National Indoor Meet. The motto there is somewhat different depending on who you ask. Some will say it is, "Slower, Lower Weaker." Others say, "Older Slower Lower." Either way it is the perfect motto for a track meet where you might see studly thirty year old competitors who could have even competed in Olympic trials four years ago. Then in the very next competition you might see ninety year olds who...well...probably didn't.
I have a 72 year old friend who throws in almost every throwing event. She has a 93 year old friend who throws at least the shot put. I know because I saw her set a US National Age group record. I also watched a group of six 80 to 84 year old men get down in the starting blocks for a 60 meter dash. Just as I was wondering if they would be able to get up, the gun sounded and they made their way at various speeds to the finish line. I have to admit that the photo finish between the two leaders was pretty exciting and way faster than I would have guessed. I find that more than interesting, maybe even inspiring, but not the best part of the meet.
The best part of the meet is that I, at 53 years old, can surround myself with serious competitors in a variety of events, not just how fast is your 5k time. I train. I learn new skills and new events. I go to compete, and I am serious about it. Did you suppose the fire in my kids bellies was spontaneous combustion? Let me put that notion to rest. My kids were raised on the sparks of their parent's competitive embers which may have cooled a bit over the years but now that I have found track and field heaven, will never die. And I would not be able to rest if I didn't mention here that they got a double dose. I am no more competitive than Marsha, although she has yet to bring home three medals from nationals. Oops, there goes that competitiveness again.
Marsha went with me and was my wing man. We had a great time. She even gave me some coaching during the 25 pound weight throw. She at one point gave me the following technical advice, "Get your head out of your ^$$ and throw it farther." And I did. That's my girl.
I didn't bring home any gold. Maybe next year. I took silver in both the 25 pound weight throw and the 56 pound weight throw and I took bronze in the shot put. I heard a phrase while I was getting warmed up for the 56 pound weight throw. Somebody reminded a friend that, "At your age there is a brief window between warmed up and worn out." When all my good throws turned out to be in the warm up and I could barely lift my arms for the competition throws, I realized what he meant. I pretty much shattered the window with my warm up throws. Lesson learned, don't warm up for the 56 pound weight throw.
Here's the cool thing though so that I leave you with some understanding. One guy threw the shot almost 2 meters farther than I did, but I encouraged him to throw farther. Another guy got ahead of me with a 13.15m throw. I answered and jumped ahead of him into second place with 13.19m. He followed with a 13.18m throw. All the while we encouraged each other and both worked hard to win. He finally put it away with a 13.5m pop that I had to be proud of him for. Afterwards we introduced our families. How cool is that? Two guys in their 50s can compete very seriously with each other. I can't say I loved finishing third, but it could have been worse. I can say that I loved competing with that guy and hope to see him next year. The same goes for those other guys in all three events. I have a renewed passion for competition.
So do you think that Benn will have enough Fraker mojo to carry him through what he has to do over the next few months? The spark is there. It all comes down to keeping his head out of his ^$$.
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