I went on vacation a couple weeks ago to Canada and where I go we can’t watch any TV or internet access so I only knew a little bit about what was happening. Luckily, I returned last week and got to watch my favorite part of the summer Olympics which is track and field.

When I say track and field, the obvious main star is Usain Bolt. People were asking me what I thought about Bolt having to sit out the Jamaican championships and basically be given a pass to make the Olympic squad.  He had hurt his hamstring, thus he couldn’t compete.

My response was that there was absolutely no way in Hades that the Olympics or Jamaica was NOT going to allow Bolt to run. He’s their biggest draw. He is going to run.

And did he put on a show!!

Every time his face was shown or he was announced on the track, there was a huge applause. The other track runners knew who the crowd had come to watch.

Prior to the 2012 games, I had written a blog post on Usain Bolt’s workout leading up to those games. Or at least what I could find on my own. Plus, I added a few of my thoughts.

I wanted to see if this year was any different than the previous time because Bolt is getting up there in years. He turned 30 yesterday. In track terms, that is ancient. You also have to start training your body differently because maybe you need more recovery.

The other thing that was different about this year is that he has been battling injuries. For an older athlete, those are tougher to recover from. He battled ankle and back issues earlier this year plus the aforementioned hamstring injury.

Because of those injuries, early on Bolt might have been doing double session workouts to make up for lost ground. Three times a week, he would do double sessions working out possibly a total of 10 hours a day.

Now that time includes weight training, running workouts, core work, then recovery time. But, the training of a professional athlete is much different than your average high school athlete. 1½ hours of weights, 3-4 hours of running workouts, and then another 2-3 hours possibly of core and other exercises the coach might have him do.

If you go to Usain Bolt’s Instagram account, you can see some of the workouts that he does. He has been shown doing the high hurdle run throughs, leg press, high step ups, and sled runs just to name a few things.

I also find it interesting that he finds time to do other activities as well. This includes an aerobics class, cricket, softball, and a favorite of his soccer. Don’t get hurt!

Bolt has said this will be his last Olympics and then after the 2017 World Championships, he will call it quits. After watching him run and by how much he has beat the competition, I would love to see him run one more time. Obviously, I’m not the one who would be training, but I feel he could still stay at tip top shape and get it done.

Personally, I would love to see him run the 400. Early in his career, his coach wanted him to double in the 200M and 400M, but when he set the record in the 100M, they stuck with that race.

Enjoy it while you can. Usain Bolt is doing something in track and field that we probably won’t see in a long time. The only thing that will be able to slow him down will be Father Time.

Photo courtesy of Nick Webb on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickwebb/