April 25th,  Monday,   9:30 p.m.

Broke out the bike today.

Pumped up the tires on the bike,  threw it in the Escape  and headed for the Belmar boardwalk for the first ride of the spring.  Today there was a pretty strong wind blowing from the south as I measured the new Belmar boardwalk to be 1.3 miles each way.  I finished two laps for a total of 5 miles.  That was enough for the first time on the bike in months.  The rides south were a little rough into the wind,  much more pleasant and easy on the legs  cruising north with the wind at my back.   It is nice to have the bike again as an option going forward on the days when my legs need a break.  In the early days of my training down in Atlantic City I rode the bike frequently for 10 to 12  miles along Atlantic Avenue from Atlantic City to Longport and back.  I  have decided to use the bike and  pool on alternate days from now on until my left foot and Achilles tendon are totally healed.  I have the time.   I don’t have any competitions planned, and I can stay aerobically fit with 4 workouts a week on the cinders  or rubber and 3 days off my legs.

Tomorrow I will be going down to Liberty High School to watch and maybe help time at the tri-meet..  I will dress out and get some work in on the rubber  track.  Maybe a dozen or so 100m strides in the course of a 3 mile run.

Great weather for getting fit!  Happy training….

Stats –

I-MAD –    3.5

WEIGHT  152#

a.m. HR –  54

Sleep – 7 hours   +  1 hour nap

Workout  –  bike 5 miles

  + paint  back door trim  & back steps

April 24th,   Sunday,    11 p.m.

Comfortable Quality at Dusk

Got out to the cinders  today about 7:30 p.m. after a day of work around the house stripping and painting.  This evening was pretty ideal with 58 degree temperature,  calm wind and the sun fading behind the trees.  My legs were not displaying any discomfort as I started the first mile of this workout.  I had prepared with 30 minutes of heat, my compression sleeves and nylon tights covering my hamstrings.   All of this felt very compressed and comforting.   So the first mile was 12 minutes.  I stripped down and set out to do a few CQ miles before darkness encompassed  the track. The first was at 9:48 and the second was at 8:37.   I could not be unhappy with either of those.   As usual after a full 30 minutes of solid movement I was completely open and relaxed.  The darkness descended as I cooled down with a  10 minute comfortable jog.  Total workout was 40 minutes.   I liked it!  

 Rest and cinders do wonders for my legs.

PS- I was going to do 3 but I chickened out because it got too dark on the far side of the track.  I was the only one out there, and it was a little bit spooky. The guy I met last week named Orlando told me that he usually runs at 3 a.m. . Clearly, he is braver than I.

STATS

a.m.HR  – 54BPM

I-Mad  – 3.5

Weight – 153#

SLEEP  – 9.5 hrs

Workout  – 40 minutes ,   3.5 miles  with  2 CQ @ 9:48 & 8:37

April 23rd Saturday 8:30 p.m.

“Tighten Up”     Archie Bell and the Drells 1968

https://youtu.be/uN7vm-k-AaA

Today is the first time since I started running that I actually have tight hamstrings from a workout.  Now I haven’t run hard since the workout I did on Wednesday that I described as a 30- 20-10 workout.  During that workout I ran at Max Speed for 10 seconds 15 separate times.  Now I’ve counted the steps, that’s about 25 – the 30 strides in 10 seconds.  I can honestly say that is the first time I have it ever attempted to run at Max Speed in the last 5 years. The workout was going so well that day I didn’t think much about it.  I just enjoyed it.  So, that was on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday I was at the relay meet and did a recovery in the clubhouse.   Friday I did 4 miles that resulted in my junk miles rant.  Today I woke up just plain tired, all over body tired. I decided to stay off my legs, off the roads and head back to the clubhouse.  I proceeded to complete one hour of moving activities at a very controlled rate. This  consisted of 10 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes doing an arm weight  series, 20 minutes swimming in the pool and 10 minutes running in the pool.  All of this was very controlled and very slow.  When I arrived home I felt pretty used up but happy that all of my joints and muscles had been in motion.   I guess I will have to designate this as another recovery day where I didn’t do any damage to my body.  But the strangest thing of all was that in each of these efforts biking, running on the treadmill , and swimming I could feel that soreness in my    hamstrings,   very very unusual event.  Then it occurred to me that I may have been experiencing RDOMS!  (Really Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness )  Ha Ha .    15 x 25 strides at Max Speed = almost 400 strides.  @ 4ft per stride that is almost 1/4 mile at Max Speed.   That = tight hamstrings!

I must remember to watch for those PIZ moments.

There will be an update tomorrow.

STATS

I-Mad  – 3.5

a.m. HR –  55BPM

Sleep – 9 hours

Weight  – 153#

Workout – 1hr of movement @ FSML Clubhouse

• April 22nd,    Friday,      9 p.m.

Today’s run consisted of 4 of what many would consider junk miles. (4 miles in 50 minutes and 36 seconds) Now many very successful coaches at high school, college and elite level have suggested that junk miles are a waste of time .  They claim there is no physiological advantage gained by running slow miles.  I  believe as a + 70 Runner that there are a number of advantages to slow miles.  For the purposes of my age and fitness level, I’m going to define junk miles as anything slower than 12 minutes per mile. That  is 2 minutes slower per mile than my Comfortable Quality miles and 4 minutes slower than what I hope to be my 5K race pace..   However, I can think of four areas in which  so-called junk miles can be positive for me.

• Bone building –  (4 miles = about 7,000 foot strikes )  I have read studies that conclude that humans are able to continue to build stronger bones through the 70s if they continue to stimulate bone growth by foot strikes. Every time the foot strikes the ground a message is sent to the bone to generate stronger and thicker bone marrow in the core. This is why seniors are constantly being told by those who are supposed to know that they should be continuing to walk into the seventies and eighties and nineties. So 7,000 additional strikes can have positive effect if it does not lead to something negative like a bone fracture .

• Aerobic strength –  Even 12:00 miles raise my heart rate and keep it in a raised state, as today for 50 minutes. This is clearly an advantage and a benefit for my aerobic conditioning.

• Toughness –  the only reason I would have for running miles slower than 12 minutes would be because my legs were heavy a sore at the start of the Run. But to continue to run through a little discomfort or even significant discomfort I think builds a little mental  callusing.  That allows me to run through some of the hard times when I’m doing a quicker workout or during a tough patch in a race.

• Confidence – I am constantly amazed at the way my body is capable of responding on days when it seems like I have no resources.  After the first two miles in twenty six and a half minutes today, my body began to feel loose and comfortable and finally relaxed.  Each mile was getting a little quicker.  I don’t know where those reserves come from, but it gives me great confidence to know that they’re in there.  The last two miles in 23 minutes would actually not even qualify as junk by the definition above.  So, I guess the final benefit is that even slow miles on tough days add to my confidence.

Most likely you will catch me out on the road still running those slow miles some day in the future.

• STATS –

I-MAD – 3. 5

a.m.HR  –   52

WEIGHT  – 153# a.m.   &  151.6#  after run

Sleep  – 8 hours

Workouts  – 4 miles  in 50:36

1 – 14:46  with  walking 1st 5 mins.

2 – 11:44

3 – 11:06

4 – 11:33   Stopped to loosen laces. Tightened up laces at start of run today to feel better support.  At the beginning of mile 4 Achilles tendon started talking to me. So I stopped to loosen laces and that seem to relieve the discomfort. Still working on that laces thing . Loser laces seem to have a positive effect on the whole food area. This surprises me because most of my life I have laced my running shoes quite snugly.

Heat pre & ice and chocolate milk post + My green tea and tart cherry juice cocktail     —  Yummmm!

• April 21st,  Thursday,      10 p.m.

• “Put me in, Coach.”

I caught up with some old friends at the Somerset County relay championships at Ridge High School this afternoon.  The day was beautiful and sunny and about 70 degrees, perfect for a spring track meet.   Arlene and I traveled to Basking Ridge for the afternoon event.  Coaching and watching relay meets has always been the most enjoyable part of the track experience for me.  Something is going on at every moment in 10 different places throughout the facility.  It is always exciting to watch athletes doing it for the team.  The competition is always fierce,  and everybody wants to be in the game participating. These are the meets wherein athletes have to dig deep, running those doubles and triples and sometimes quadruples. Nothing can make a coach prouder  than hearing a nearly exhausted runner plead, “Put me in, Coach, I’m ready to go.”

I was happy to see my friend Jimmy O’Connor looking and feeling well and his son, both coaching the jumps of course at Ridge High School.  I got to speak for a while with Coach Jim McCluskey an old rival and good friend.  With Jim O’Connor as my assistant in the 1990s we put together some of the best track teams ever seen in Central Jersey.  At the same time we were battling tooth and nail with Jim McCluskey’s Franklin High School teams that were equal or better during that entire period. Both of those teams provided some of the best performers ever to come out of track and field in central New Jersey.  It was good to see those guys again.

I spent a few minutes with my old coaching mates at Hillsborough Eric, Tierra and Rich.  All were very excited about the team’s prospects for the day and their performances so far this year.  Everybody is getting ready to go to Penn Relays next weekend.  The competition for the team title was very hot in both the boys and girls division. When I left the titles had not yet been decided, but both were very close.

After returning home I headed over to the clubhouse to get in a little work. The pool is open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays so  I was able to swim for 20 minutes. My swim routine is to swim alternating laps of Australian crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.  Tonight the swimming was a little rough because it has been a while and, I was pretty tired by the time I got to the 20 minute mark.  It was still a good aerobic 20 minutes.  Next I went to the deep end with my noodle under my arms and ran very controlled full extension strides for 10 minutes.  (Exaggerated back kick,  to exaggerated  knee lift,  to full lower leg extension ) I find that I can only perform this totally fully extended stride in the pool and I very much enjoy doing it.   Next into the whirlpool for 15 minutes to heat up my sore foot and my tender Achilles tendons.

• Not a very demanding workout but 30 minutes of full body movement with the absence of any impact.

My idea of a perfect recovery for a

+ 70 Runner.

Stats

a.m.HR – 54BPM

I-Mad –  2.5

Weight  – 153#

SLEEP – 9 hours

Workout  – 30 minutes  in pool—-20 swim , 10 run

April 20, Wednesday,    5 p.m.

FORTUITOUS BREEZING!

On this bright and sunny spring day I was very fortunate to get in a workout that I did not anticipate.   I haven’t been very happy with the way my left foot has been feeling over the last few days.   And I was determined not to run again until it felt completely healed.  This is the foot I believe has been compensating for my sore Achilles tendon.  When I woke up this morning there was pain in my left foot again.  I decided that this would be another non running day.   I heated my left foot for 30 minutes before I began walking on it this morning.   This would have to be a swimming and biking day for sure .  On a trip to Home Depot early in the afternoon Arlene  and I passed the Horse Track.   I felt the cinders calling, and we decided to stop and walk a little to see how my foot felt.   It turned out there were no negative feelings, no soreness as I walked and began to jog.  It occurred to me as I was jogging that I was wearing my old Brooks trainers instead of my newer Asics. The shoe seemed to fit more snug then the ones I have been wearing lately to train.   Anyway my foot felt good!

So I made a decision to try a workout that did not involve too much running. I settled on one of Dr. Mirkin’s suggested workouts . The 30 +20+ 10 workout incorporates almost all of the essential elements of training with limited miles run. Dr. Mirkin  cites studies that have shown that six weeks of training twice a week with the 30 -20- 10 plan reduced 5K Runners average time by 38 seconds. Here is how it goes.

The 30 + 20 + 10 refer to periods of running at a specified  pace  The idea is to run 30 seconds at road training pace + 20 seconds at 5K race pace  + a final 10 seconds at maximum speed.  That is one full minute of running.   That is followed by one minute of slow jogging or even walking.   Each set consists of five of these segments.   A typical workout would be three sets with 3 to 4 minutes recovery between sets. The total of actual running equals only 15 minutes.   the heart remains elevated for 35 minutes.  There are 15 ten-second bursts at maximum speed. There are 5 minutes of running at 5K pace and seven and a half minutes of running at road training pace.

Running this workout today with 72 hours of rest was very exciting.   I felt like my body was firing on all cylinders.  Each of the elements I try to concentrate on were smooth and relaxed.   My breathing, my stride, my arm carry  and my foot plant all seemed to be in sync today and I was ‘breezing’  along with ease.  An apt term for a workout on a Horse Track. Continue reading 30+20+10×5×3 = 15 That’s Training Math! →

April 17th,  Sunday,   10 p.m.

Bright Sun, Blue Skies, 58 degrees, wind steady and brisk 10 mph out of the southeast

About 5 p.m. this evening Arlene and I headed to Avon.  While she took pictures of the beach and inlet, I ran on the boards.   It had been a  few months since I  trekked the synthetic compound that nowadays passes for boardwalk.   This particular Boardwalk is about 700 metres long.  It was quite chilly with the breeze coming off the ocean.  So I started slowly, no walk today, but slow jog for about two and a quarter miles.  Feeling okay I stripped my sweats off and decided to try for 2 CQ miles.    I was pleased to be able to run 8:43 for each Mile with a 3 minute break between.   I may have to recalibrate the range I created for Comfortable Quality miles.  My initial feeling was that 9:30 to 10:15 was a reasonable range.   Over the last few workouts I’m beginning to feel comfortable and that 9:00 range.   So I might alter that to 8:45 to 9:30.  The wind from the south was pretty strong so it was two different courses going north and south.  Running north was quite comfortable and relaxed, running south was more difficult.                                     All in all it was a pretty successful workout by my standards.

I really like the picture Arlene took of me running toward her that is placed above.   A close look reveals that at the time of the picture I am suspended in the air with both feet off the ground. Pretty cool. Arlene also took a video of me while I was running when I was not aware. It is  at the bottom of this post if I am able to manage it.

•  Stats –

• I-Mad   3.0

• a.m. HR   54 BPM

• Weight  154#

• Sleep   9 hours

• Workout- Covered 5.4 miles with 2 CQ MILES @ 8:45

“You shake my nerves and you Rattle My Brain”

Jerry Lee Lewis

April 16th,  Saturday,    7p.m.

Today I covered 4 miles in 55 minutes.  The macadam never felt so hard on the Jackson roads.  On each foot strike I could feel the vibration rattle all the way up through my legs, my back, my neck and into my brain.  Even though I had heated my legs for a good 20 minutes and walked the first mile, when I started to jog lightly there was nothing there.   Now, as my muscles became warmer and more supple I was able to execute some leg lif in miles three and four, but each plant was that same jolt.

Yet, but a small price to pay for a great workout yesterday!.

STATS-

I-Mad  –   3.5  Not bad after intervals.

a.m.  HR –  54 BPM

Weight  –  154#

Sleep –  9.5 hrs

Workout –  4 slow, brain rattling miles on Jackson           roads    ♒?

April 15th Friday  5 p.m.

What a difference a day of rest makes!

Today my legs were are light and springy.☺

I took advantage of my happy legs, the quality weather and the Cinders today to complete an interval workout.   It had been a while since I ran at a quick pace.   So I decided that today I would go for some 8:00 pace intervals.   I like 8 minute pace because it makes for a simple timing;  2 minutes for a quarter ,  4 minutes for a half.   My original goal was to try to get in 3 miles of work at that pace.   I took a long, 26 minute warm up of about a mile and a half with walking , jogging, stretching and 3 light pickups.

I started out doing quarters at 2:00 with a 1:00 recovery.  I did the first six at under 1:55.  Than I got a little braver and did a half at 3:48.   Followed that with two more quarters, both under 150.    Stopped  after two and a half miles .  I probably could have completed 3 miles but didn’t want to go into that dangerous PIZ and lose time because of soreness or injury.   I felt this was the best workout I’ve done since we  got home from Florida.    I am very pleased with the ease at which I ran within each of the intervals today @ 7:30 to 7:45 pace with no difficulties breathing or with my stride.  Best pace today was @ 6:15?♨

I do love the cinders.

Finished up with half mile jog.  Total time for workout 1 hour.