Back on the Track • The 25-Year Gap • #1
I "retired" from track and field athletics 25 years ago. I'm back. I'm back as a masters athlete (translation: old) and as a future coach
I quit. Twenty-five years ago, I hung up my spikes and never stepped on a track again for over two decades.
But two things happened last weekend:
I started my Coaching Assistant course
I got myself a pass at my local track
…and a third thing:
I attended my son's first athletics competition
I used to be a serious amateur athlete—a sprinter. I trained for the 100m and 200m, and I also had a decent triple jump. But several coaches over the years told me I should have focused on the 400m instead. But I was stubborn.
And when I say serious, I mean the nine-sessions-a-week type of serious, never missing a session, whether it's in a storm or the day before an exam.
I went through the junior ranks with some success. And in my early senior years, I “had potential”—or so everyone said.
But persistent injuries sapped my motivation. I'll write more about this in a future post since it's relevant to the present.
I retired—can I say that word in this context—in my early twenties.
Now, I’m back!
Twenty-five years after the last time I put on a pair of spikes, I’m Back on the Track. And it’s two-for-the-price-of-one since I’m back as an athlete but also as an aspiring coach.
The Road Back • Let's Go Back to Last Summer
My son started running casually at school. Eventually, he wanted to join a club and try it out. So, last summer we did a few trial sessions at various local clubs, chose our favourite one, and signed up.
When I mentioned my athletics past to the coach, he suggested I could help him run the sessions. He had over 30 athletes in his children and teenager group, but he only had one assistant. I promised I'd turn up in trainers and a tracksuit at the next session. And I did.
Twice a week, I spent an hour with my feet on a track. Memories started coming back. I was itching to do the drills with the kids. I joined them for a stride or two. And when a kid dropped out of a relay exercise, I stepped in. I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass!
Should I start training again? I wasn't sure.
The coach suggested I could start a coaching assistant course. That was an easier decision. I realised I had regrets from leaving the sport entirely for over 25 years. Starting the journey towards coaching qualifications was an obvious way to get back in.
But… should I also start training myself? Should I become an athlete again? I wanted to, but it had been too long. Maybe it was just too late…
My Son's First Meet
But then my son had his first meet. He'd been training since last summer, and now it was time to compete. I took him there on Saturday. We stepped into the stadium. Athletes pinning their numbers using safety pins, stretching and bouncing, chatting to their coaches, getting their spikes out of their bags, the starter's pistol going off. If you know this feeling, then you know this feeling. This was my time machine—the sounds, sights, sensations took me back to those days in the past.
That's it. It's decided.
The following morning, as I took my son to his Sunday morning light training, I got myself a track pass. I'm all in. I'm committed. And I hadn't yet signed up for the Coaching Assistant course. So I did that, too, and started the first online module.
I'm now a trainee coaching assistant. And I'm also an athlete.
You're My Accountability Buddy
And that's it. By publishing this post, I've made my intentions public. There's no going back. And I'm finally going to listen to my coaches from decades ago. I'm training for the 400m. It's May 2025. I'll prepare myself for the 2026 season. It's your job to make sure I stick to my word.
The Past • Technique & Injuries • Sports Science
When I was last an athlete, in my teens and early twenties, I was a science student. Evidently, I took an interest in sports science. As an athlete, I had a technique problem. I studied the biomechanics of the perfect technique, but I failed to implement it in practice.
I had lots of injuries. Lots. Including many hamstring pulls. Poor technique was obviously contributing to this. I had a flat foot, more pronounced on my right foot. The solutions coaches and doctors offered at the time never worked. And the shoes I wore then made my foot lazier, not stronger.
But over the past 25 years, although I never stepped on a track, I kept thinking about my flat foot, my posture and gait (a surrogate for running technique in my non-athlete days). I'll write about this phase at some point. Long story short—I'm reasonably confident I fixed most of my problems. My posture, walking technique, foot strength, they're all much better now than when I was an athlete. My second career is starting with an advantage over my first one…
…and a significant disadvantage, too: age.
Back on the Track • This Publication
I write a lot. If you're interested in Python programming, you can see the 100+ articles I wrote on The Python Coding Stack. But Back on the Track is different. This publication will serve as my journal, my notes, my accountability tool, my thinking pad.
Athletics has changed a lot in the past 25 years. I have a lot to catch up on. And I need to do this catching-up both as an athlete and as a coach. This publication is where I will document this process.
As a future coach, I found my first athlete guinea pig: myself. I need to update my athletics knowledge with modern practices and merge this with everything I've learnt about my own body over the non-athlete years.
I need to learn how to deal with an older body, one that hasn't been on a track for more than two decades. But I also need to (re)learn how younger athletes train and run since I want to become a coach.
I'm excited about this journey. These journeys—both the athlete one and the coaching one. Stay tuned, if you want…
