My name is Tony and I am 51 years old. I was born and raised in Napa, California, and live there today with my wife and two sons. One son is a sophomore at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, the other is a senior at Napa High School.
I am the owner of HealthQuest Fitness Center. Obviously this makes training very convenient for me. I am at the Club just about every day, and I can usually coerce myself into some type of workout, whether I feel like it or not.
For as long as I can remember I have loved to run fast and to jump. This developed into an interest in track and field. I can remember filling burlap sacks with grass clippings when I was in grade school in an attempt to construct a high jump pit. Itchy!
I didn’t go to a school with a track program until I reached 9th grade, and by then I had developed other interests. But during my junior year a PE teacher saw that I had some talent and suggested I try out for the team. That recognition rekindled my love of the sport, and I ended up having a fairly successful high school track career (MVP-1976…yeehaw!).
During my junior season I high jumped, long jumped, tripled a couple of times, and started pole vaulting. During my senior year I pole vaulted (13′), ran the 100, 220, and anchored our 4×100 team. There wasn’t any one thing I was great at, but I was pretty versatile. I could even thow the shot and discus (just fooling around) nearly as well as some of the big guys.
College wasn’t in my plans, but my coaches did tell me there were schools that were interested in talking to me about becoming a decathalete. Looking back on it now and knowing what I know now I think I would choose a different path, but who knows. I was pretty lazy back then (training-wise), and I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it.
That was the end of my track career until 2002, when my sons became involved in the sport. I volunteered as a high jump coach for the Napa Track Club, and have been coaching ever since, both with the Club and with the high school.
In 2008 I began coaching my son and a couple of the other kids in the multi-events. There was a lot of “learn-by-doing” for me that year: hurdles, javelin, shot put, middle distance running. I also turned 50 that summer. Somehow that combination got me interested in testing myself by competing in Masters competitions.
What I found when I started training is that just like in high school, I don’t excel in any particular event. But I am very good at quite a few different things. So I decided that my main focus would be to compete in multi-event competitions. I don’t know if it’s because I missed out on a college career or that I tend to fixate on my hobbies, but I have pushed myself harder physically doing this training than I ever have before.
Most of what you’ll read here is a recap of my experiences. I write mostly about the ups and downs of my training program. Gone are the good old days of no warming up and very little stretching. Getting a 50+ year-old body to do stuff it doesn’t want to do is hard work!
There are also results from the competitions I’ve done. So far I’ve been reasonably successful. I didn’t get the national championship I was aiming for yet, but there’s always next year.
Hi Tony,
Really enjoy reading your blog. You’re a good writer! Are you planning to compete in the Nationals in Sac this July and/or the Manteca games in May? If I don’t totally blow out my Achilles, I’ll look forward to meeting you.
- Deeker
Hi Deeker, thanks! My #1 goal for 2010 was Masters Indoor Hep National Championship, but it’s not on the schedule this year, so I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do.
I looked at Manteca last year, but I think my son had a meet the same day that I went to instead. Sacto is tempting…it’s so close…I guess it all depends on how the training is going.
What events are you training for?
Tony, you got to get out there. You’re way too competitive not to be in the show!
I’m training for the penthalon. It’s all pretty new to me. Learning has been a blast! I’ve always liked sprinting, long jumping is cool and I’m really digging learning the throws but the 1500 scares the bejesus out of me. Hate training for endurance – intervals, etc. – but am forcing myself to do it (the best I can with two bad Achilles tendons). I have what would seem modest goals for an athlete of your caliber – don’t expect to win any of the events – just break in and work towards 2011 season when I turn 55 and hopefully compete in the decathlon at the worlds. Been keeping a training blog which you actually commented on a while back. I’ve entered the URL in the “website” text box of this form.
I knew your name sounded familiar…I did a little searching last night and re-visited your blog. It looks like you’ve really come a long way and are doing great!
Yeah, that outdoor pent…I don’t know…maybe. I’ve played with the jav a bit and it just tears my shoulder to pieces.
I’ve been running longer intervals just in case I try a decathlon this summer…I wish I could tell you it gets easier. I’m definitely getting faster, but only because my capacity for suffering seems to be increasing!