I got out around noon for a workout on the cinders this, first autumn-like day. It turned into one of my more taxing workouts of recent time. It began with a leisurely one mile of walking, jogging and stretching. I decided to run several 200m repeats with 200m recovery. I began by walking most of the recovery,but proceeded to jog more frequently as time went on. As my trepidation grew along the way about a potential breakdown of these old legs, I tried to embody the message of the poster on my bathroom wall. To my surprise I was able to run 20 repeats for a total of 5 miles. I slept very well on Thursday night and rested today. Legs are feeling ok!
“What am I doing— nobody cares. It’s just personal satisfaction. ~~~Kenny Moore USA (4th 1972 Olympics)
Feeling more and more like this every day. And that is perfectly okay.
Sunday was a beautiful evening on the beach in Belmar. I ran along with the boys for 4 miles. Along the way I did about 15 Speed Segments (SS) that felt fast, smooth and relaxed(MMF). Afterwards I ran four x 100m with the guys. It was a very nice night.
Today I started out with tired legs but did a lot of warm up exercises and some slow running on the track at Jackson Liberty. I began by running some 100m strides (SS) with about 2 minutes rest in between at about 25 seconds per. After about six of those, I timed the cross country runners in their pre-meet 200m runs. After they left I ran 2 x 1 mile efforts in 9:06 and 8:37. I was pretty impressed with my performance on tired legs. I am continuing to practice mindfulness and belly breathing as I do these workouts.
Stats-
Weight – 151 lb. Steady
Diet – 7 Too much beer and ice cream. All else good….
Sleep – Getting 6 to 8 daily
Foot indexes – 3/4 in a.m. for first few steps. No distress while running…
After a lengthy debate with myself this afternoon, I decided to head back to the cinders to attempt the aborted thousand repeats workout from last night. It was a perfect night for running and I got out early enough to avoid the darkness. I decided to try five times 1,000m. I thought it might be possible to do them in a progressive manner because I felt better on the second one last night than the first one. I use the 1,000m as basically a warm-up in 6:50. I took about 2 minutes rest in between. Each one did get progressively better.
5:54, 5:46, 5:27, 5:17
I finished running relaxed and very strong. Positive work!
Quick note- Rhythmic belly breathing, mindfulness and short striding have contributed greatly to recent successful workouts.
Late tonight I went over to the cinder track to do some work. I wanted to run a serious workout of some 1000m repeats. I only managed to do two cuz it was getting dark and the cinder half mile is a little scary and lonely when it’s dark out on the far turn. I did run 2 x 1000m. The first in 6:20 and the second and 5:36. Finished up with 8 x 30/30 speed segments on the lighted side.. Not bad, but I have to get out earlier because darkness is coming sooner every night. I think I could have done four or five times 1000m if I was not spooked by the monsters of the night..
Yesterday, Friday, was an off day because I was very tired. The previous three day’s workouts had consisted almost exclusively of various speed segments. The distance was only approaching three miles on each of these days. I’m not quite sure why I was running such limited mileage. I guess I was crunched for time during these workouts. My legs were shot on Friday morning.
So, I have been getting some work done and I did get a new calendar and all Is right with the training program. I’m still searching for a goal race in the next couple of months. I think I will become much more focussed once I have established that. Maybe a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving is the thing.
Happy to get back to the cinder track for 4 1/2 miles with 15 speed segments (SS). This felt very good, best running workout for a while. I alternated one minute run with one minute walk (MMF) after half a mile warm up and with a half mile cool down. The total was 51 minutes. The time and distance passed quickly, tempered with some classic rock and a catch-up conversation with Rob via my high tech ear piece and phone along the way. The speed (SS) segment’s pace averaged between 7 minutes and 8 and 1/2 minutes.
I just checked my written calendar log and realized that I just completed one full year of entries. (Picture above) Need to buy a new calendar. It’s a year of work, mostly in preparation for the senior Nationals. Somehow it worked out and I was ready to go in June. Since then I’ve been on cruise control but still ran a decent 5K last week.
Stats are solid.
Need to set a new medium-term goal as I start the month of September. Maybe a 10K in October or November.
Today was the annual Jason Memorial 5K run at Hillsboro. I entered this year with some apprehension because I was not very happy with the consistency of my training this summer. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that I have been less motivated to get out on a daily basis since returning from the Senior Nationals. I entered today’s run with two basic goals. The first was to not exceed 30 minutes. The second was to attempt to run a negative race; that is to finish stronger in the third mile than in the first mile. It has been difficult to have confidence in my aerobic fitness given the large number of days I have not run for the last 2 months. So I approached the line with some trepidation today, but was relaxed because of my limited goals.
The race-
I was very comfortable running just below 9:00 pace for the first mile. During the second mile I tried to sustain the same pace. The split times were 9:01 and 9:06. I was quite surprised at how comfortable all of that was. I made a conscious effort to try and increase patience during the third mile. My watch was telling me that I was running somewhere in the 8:30 range. So, I finished feeling pretty frisky and not too drained by the race at all.
The final 5K time worked out be 27:31. 🙂
The third mile time was 8:30. 🙂 🙂
So, both of my goals were achieved. 🙂 🙂 🙂
This performance restored confidence in my ability to run a competitive 5K in the future.
With my renewed enthusiasm I’m sure that I will be much more focus on stats in the upcoming days. Right now I will just say things are stable.
” You may be right, I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for.” Billy Joel
It was 91° at 7 p.m. tonight with a real feel of 99°. I had chosen not orun for two days because of heat and humidity. The Jason Walton Memorial 5K is on Sunday. So, today was likely the last day I could do any serious work in preparation. But I thought to myself doing a running workout on the roads in 99* real feel is a bit of lunacy. But then I thought , “Why not be a lunatic once in awhile?” I set out tentatively but kept going for 4 miles which took me 46:37. I was soaked with perspiration when I finished and weighed 149 pounds before I took a shower. It was a rather comfortable and pleasant run considering the conditions. Rich Refi referred me to the song posted above which seems to fit the occasion.
It’s been 6 days since I have written a post. I really don’t write these posts; I actually speak them and correct afterwards. Sunday and Tuesday were decent runs with some speed work in the middle. Rest of the days were very light. Today I did not work out. So, I ask myself what exactly is going on here. Since I returned from Albuquerque I have not done many demanding workouts nor have I posted very much. There doesn’t seem to be a lot to write about. I guess it’s a post Nationals funk. I think I’m asking myself the question, “Do I want to be a competitive runner or just a semi- fit 76 year old guy? What is keeping me from gettin out on these summer days? Too hot? Too lazy? I am eating very healthy, getting plenty of sleep, and at this moment I am totally devoid of any aches or pains or injuries. What more could I want.? Can I really keep improving if I worked my ass off?” When I do get out and get rolling I am anxious to work hard and usually do. But after each serious workout I recoil from work if I feel the slightest tinge of an injury coming on. And I opt for a day off. I tell myself that my enthusiasm may return when the weather cools off or when I set a new goal. I’m not sure if I want to publish this whiny nonsense that I’ve been spewing here. So here’s what I’ve decided. I’m going to keep doing some hard MMF workouts and get on the bike or to the pool and the clubhouse in between so that I stay away from injury. That worked for me before and it’s going to have to work again.
Wrestling with the hint of a few lower leg aches that I don’t want to develops into actual injuries. (Achilles tendon, lower calf) Thus so many ‘rest, caution’ days. Still got to run 3.5 miles with 11 SS on the cinders in 85* on a humid evening. Have lost appetite for biking and swimming lately. Don’t know why ..? Anyway still keeping steady stats; particularly weight at about 150 lb, getting good sleep, eating well and keeping injury indexes at a low level. I wouldn’t say I’m actually killing training, but maybe staying somewhat fit. Don’t want to embarrass myself at Jason’s run in 2 weeks. I thought I would be fit to post a good time at that event, but my confidence is waning. Definitely not getting enough miles in for a strong 5K. Pushing on……..:-):-)
