2021 in Review

I just realized that I have not done my annual Year in Review post. I like to look back, take stock of the athletic year, add up the numbers, and ruminate some on how and where I improved. At my age, improvement is rare. And I have noticed a new trend in the races over the last couple of years. They are now lumping the 60+ ages into one age group. Now, I no longer have one of the few thrills I used to get as an older man: ageing up. In the past, I looked forward to the new age group so I could compete with people my own age. Now, not so much. Now, I have to compete against those 80 and 100 year olds. Ain't fair.

I had a decent year running as far as total numbers go, but my pace is still very slow and I am beginning to think that it always will be. For 2021, I ran 1,066.62 miles. Those are decent numbers. I like to run at least 1,000 per year, which keeps me in pretty good shape and able to do races from the 5K to the half marathon. For the marathon, one needs a little more, and I am finding it hard to give more. With lifting and swimming, and a job, well, I get tired.

In the pool, I swam 566,125 meters which comes out to 351.84 miles. I had a good Senior Olympics, winning five gold and one silver medal. That was at the Mississippi State Senior Olympics. The nationals are this spring in Orlando. I did not swim the Chicot Challenge, however, opting to do the Great Geezer Run instead. I am now in that dreaming mode, coming up with all sorts of challenges to keep things interesting. I will most likely do Chicot again one day, but I have created a new sport for 2022, have a plan for 2023, and have ideas beyond that. 

In the weight room, I stayed busy. Just operating from memory, I don't recall maxing on the bench press all year. In fact, I once thought I would put a ceiling on how much weight I would ever attempt bench pressing to possibly preserve my shoulders. The number I came up with was 140 pounds which is 80% of my one-rep max if it is still what it used to be. I do, however, plan to max out at least twice in 2022. On the squat, I added five pounds. Huh? I was not consistent with that lift. It hurts, and I don't like pain. On the deadlift, however, I went up 55 pounds. Yeah, that is real improvement.

The gym, Plate City, made major strides over 2021. I added weight, machines, and I had Simon put in the wall which made it possible for me to clean up, organize things a bit, and add a TV. Plate City is a real treasure now, the best gym in town, in the state, in the nation, in the world. I plan to do an inventory of the weight soon to find out how many pounds of plates I have. It is not called Plate City for nothing.

Not only did the gym improve, but God sent me a training partner late in 2021. Tyler has been a shot in the arm for my program. He is even going to do the 2022 fundraiser with me, the one I have been promising to reveal real soon. I mentioned 2023 to him, and he said he wants to do that also.

So on balance, it was a good year. I finally placed in the Heart O' Dixie triathlon, qualified for the national senior Olympics, improved the gym tremendously, and kept training at a respectable rate. Due to COVID, after I qualified, the national games dropped all qualifying so now anyone can go to nationals. For me at least, that took a bit of the shine off. The one thing I failed at, however, was at losing weight. I dropped about three pounds and kept it off, but I need to lose another eighteen.

There you have it, I ran, I lifted, I swam, and by the grace of God my wife and I survived another year. Thank you, Jesus.