This past Sunday, I participated in the USATF. That's the United States Track and Field Association's masters national twelve K championship. This was my first USATF sanctioned masters is race. And for those of you that aren't familiar with the rankings, master's means athletes over 40 years of age, and it's broken down into age group increments like 40 to 45, 45 to 50, 50 to 55, and so on, all the way up to age 85 and beyond
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:41
Hey, Ray. I'm so excited to share this moment with you. How extraordinary. I know what it takes to just get in there and do it and go through the strain, go through the pain. But look at the pleasure. I mean, you are there. You have arrived. You're such an inspiration. I just tagged a few people that I know will celebrate with you. And we all need inspiration
phil spade
@Phil · 1:51
And that ten K, twelve K distance for me is just absolutely perfect. I don't like to do much beyond that and I haven't run competitively, but hearing you talk about it kind of gets my juices flowing to get out there and do it again, because I really like it
Eric Owens
@EricG · 2:59
I ran track and field across country in high school. Loved it, kept me healthy. I even ran a mini marathon that was over 13 miles and there were over 3000 runners and I placed in the top 500. And for a young 17 year old, I thought that was pretty impressive. I was pretty proud of that. And then in my late thirty s and forty s, I trained in martial arts for years
Ray Garraud
@RunCoachRay · 0:59
We really support each other in every way, and that helps us grow and develop and become the best that we can be. It's a personal thing. It's a personal goal. We don't compare ourselves to others. We just due versus us or me versus me. I try to be better today than I was yesterday and enjoy the process. But thanks again. Hope you're having an amazing day. Bye
Ray Garraud
@RunCoachRay · 2:39
If you take good care of it, it will take care of you as well. And also, as you said, those guys that are doing sub six minute per mile pace at our age, at my age over 60, it just to me, is simply mind boggling. But I suspect that those guys have been running most of their lives. They were probably some more pro athletes in their younger years, and they just maintain their fitness over the years
Ray Garraud
@RunCoachRay · 1:51
Yeah, I'm still running marathons at this advanced age, I'm blessed to be able to do so. Although I'm not running fast. My last marathon, I did at ten 30 /mile pace covered the 26.2 miles. I was a Richmond, Virginia Marathon. And this upcoming New York City marathon. I'm running with my daughter. I'm going to be pacing her to see if I can get her to finish under 5 hours. So that should be a lot of fun
Eric Owens
@EricG · 4:51
How do you pace yourself? Is there a certain way to swing your arms and hold your upper body? And one of the things I learned I don't know if you may have done this, is that way back when I used to do long distance, whenever I was starting to run down a hill, I would lower my arms and I would slow down and I would relax, and I would breathe in as much oxygen into my lungs as I could
Ray Garraud
@RunCoachRay · 3:10
Get the blood flowing, get the blood, get the muscles to respond, et cetera. And it definitely helps. And you mentioned consistency. Yeah. I love that quote. That quote from Bruce Lee, a few other men who practiced one kick 10,000 times. That's where the consistency comes in. I always say to new runners that just be consistent, just go out there. Don't try to go out there and work hard all the time and get injured
Eric Owens
@EricG · 4:54
Hey, morning raid. Eric here. Thanks for your reply. So, to answer your question, the disciplines that I trained in, a martial arts, it was more than one. The excuse me. Me. The letters on the back of the uniform stand for American Takwondo Association, which was started by Grandmaster Lee, who was trained by Bruce Lee. It's the largest takwindo association and the lower 48. Not sure if I think that includes Alaska
