I'm Officially an Elite Athlete

That's right! I said, "I'm officially an elite athlete."

Bold words coming from someone whose fastest mile is 7 m 45 s?

Perhaps.

But, I do train alongside Olympic athletes, so, I must be elite myself.

That's how it works, right?

Here's the tale:

I was doing my speed work on the track at Santa Monica College (which they graciously open to the public, probably because the public paid for it since it was built for the L.A. Olympics).

Other than me, there was one other guy working out on the track. He stayed off to one side and was doing high leg sprints back and forth. There was another guy watching him that I assumed (and still assume) was his coach. I figured he was a member of the Santa Monica College track team and didn't give it another thought (except to make sure I stayed out of his way on my laps).

As I was packing up to leave, the people that had been working out on the football field (it's in the middle of the track) came over to the guy and started asking him if they could take a picture with him. One guy took off his shoe and asked the guy if he would sign it. He was very gracious about all of this and did not hesitate to sign the smelly track shoe.

I was done packing up and started to head back towards my bike. Someone else leaving at the same time saw one of his friends and said, "Dude, do you know who that is?" The guy didn't. I was hoping the first 'dude' would illuminate him so that I would also learn who the celebrity was. Luckily, he did. "Dude, it's Tyson Gay!!!!"

I had never heard that name so I Googled it as I walked to my bike. Apparently Tyson Gay is an Olympic level sprinter that is supposed to be the sprinter that has the best chance of beating Usain Bolt (who I have heard of, but only in the context of him being very fast and winning races).

So, there you have it.

I train with the man who may become the fastest sprinter in the world. I must be awesome!

Of course, his fastest 100m is 9.69 seconds and mine is 22.8 seconds, but, that's because I'm a distance runner.