Getting Fast at 40

As you know by now, bragging about our student body is tops on the DEUCE Gym list of hobbies. The coaching staff recently received an incredible email from one of your classmates about a day at work. On one hand it doesn’t mean much beyond a fun fish tale, but on the other hand it means everything. Check it out:

Coaches,

If you’ll recall, last week I scouted The Rose Bowl for a [commercial] shoot and emailed you both about the realization of my newly advanced vertical jumping ability, courtesy of DEUCE Gym (ahem, FFOTB). Yesterday, I returned to The Rose Bowl for the shoot-day with the crew.

Typically, I am the first to arrive at the shooting-location by two hours. I toured the facility with the Engineer to discuss the day’s plan. After our walk-thru, I returned to the field alone. Just me, the field, and a whole lot of majesty and history. We had the field freshly cut and painted to World Cup Soccer spec for the shoot. I walked across the turf, stood at the goal-line and looked down the field. I felt compelled to jog, faster and faster, to the other end. 120 World Cup yards.

Arriving at the far goal-line, I contemplated the feel of the world’s most perfectly grown, groomed, beautiful, wide open drag-strip-for-humans beneath my feet. GO TIME! I turned, set my stance and sprinted the distance back at max-effort. 120 yards, Ray Bans, watch, thick fancy-jeans, dress-casual shoes, collared shirt, shiny steel collar-stays…15 seconds. Not bad?

I decided that over the course of the approaching six hour shoot-day I would get 9 more of these sprints in.

Two hours later, the shoot was in full-swing high up in the stands when the day’s work-flow brought me to the East-sideline with the Producers and Execs to discuss next week’s shoot. After our little pow-wow, I turned, stared down the “drag strip” and put in 4 more sprints. Consistently 15 seconds each, tweaking my runs, searching for one less second.

Meanwhile up in Section 28, the camera was pointed at the models. Female. All were typical fashion/exotic models. Some had the additional distinction of being competitive athletes/ex-athletes/trainers. One of them, [Trish] (6’3″, blonde, built like a gazelle), galloped down the stadium stairs and approached me on the field, dressed head to toe in shiny new Summer-2014 Nike running apparel and sprint shoes.

Trish: “How far is that?”

Brian: “120 yards.”

Trish: “Of course if I run it, that’s just when they’ll call me back to camera.”

Brian: “You’ll be there in 15 seconds, back in 45.”

She set her stance. I set mine. I looked at my watch. 10…5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!

At yard 70, she was just behind my right shoulder. I turned to her and baby-talked, “C’mon, c’mon…” She laughed as we crossed the 100 yard mark, and as we crossed the far goal-line, she said those three little words…”You are fast!”

What?! I’m fast?! This coming from an ex-college track star that dropped out of college because she had hit big as a globetrotting fitness-model/actress.

Over the next ten minutes, we went three more times before she was called back to the camera. Final score: Courtney – 2. Brian – 2.

I remained on the field to finish my last sprint of 10. Still at 15 seconds. Exhausted in my dress-casual shoes.

Not bad for a 40-year-old kid, huh?

Not bad at all, Brian. Not bad at all. Two things come to mind for me. The first is the progress you’ve made from “normal human being” to “fitter-than-your-competitive-lifegaurd-days human being.” The second is that by way of some self motivated guilt/duty that you chose to run wind sprints at work.

Let’s think about that for a moment. Brian is running sprints at work, I walk through Whole Foods to catch our army of DEUCE athletes that work there doing self-proclaimed “victory squats’ as they restock the aisles, and every day I hear about more routines away from the gym that are inclusive of fitness.

I know this gig kept you away from the gym, Brian, but it obviously didn’t keep you away from your fitness.

I’d argue that those fun, impromptu wind sprints held more fitness adaptation than the laborious, check-that-box-fitness routine that many folks that had the opportunity to go to their local gym did that day, too. Your lifestyle is forever changed, sir. Well done!

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach