July 28, Sunday

“The thinking must be done first, before the training begins.”                                                      Peter Coe   (That’s Seb’s Dad.)

Quick post – Still 86*  at 8p.m. What!?  Today I was looking for a final chance to run a workout before I race the Monmouth mile on Thursday night. I waited all day for the temperature to cool down, but when I got to the track at 7 pm it was still 88°. As I warmed up I went through a litany of possible workouts that I can do in such conditions. I settled on 400m repeats in the shaded part of the track.  The original goal was to do four under 2 :00 with equal rest. As I went along I was feeling pretty good: so I decided to up it to six. I continued to feel strong: so I made the call and decided to go for eight.

400m x 8. –  2:04,  1:58,  1:56,  1:53,  1: 51,  1:47,  1:54,  1:45  with equal recovery + a little

15:00 w-up, 12:00 c-down.    60 minutes in motion

That was more than I expected to accomplish.

STEADY stats.

July 21, 22, 23 and 24

Sunday, Monday,Tuesday & Wednesday

Still mourn and miss you, Jason, your gentle manner and unparalleled explosiveness. 

Sunday- just a late evening visit to the clubhouse during the biggest heat wave in New Jersey history to do 20 minutes of weights and 20 minutes of swimming and running in the pool

Monday- A good session at the clubhouse of 15 minutes on the elliptical and 40 minutes on the treadmill doing alternate 2:00 intervals at 10:00 pace and 15:00 pace.  Probably my longest treadmill run, much better than anticipated.

Tuesday – 3.5 MMF miles on the road with 14 solid SS of :30 to 1:47  @ better than 8:00, 7:00  and even under 6:30 pace occasionally.  My body felt good and got better as the run continued.  Last SS was the longest sustained and up hill.

Wednesday – Took a chance at 8 days from the Monmouth Mile to do some longer speed segments at faster than target 6:30 mile pace. Started with a 400m at 1:40, a little slower than hoped.  Probably not warmed up enough.Next 400m was @ 1:31.. on target!   But had an unusually hard time recovering.  This led me to believe that I could not possibly run a mile at that pace, a little discouraged. I almost called off the rest of the workout, but took a little time and decided to continue with the goal of running some quick 200m instead.  So, I ran 5 more 200m ranging from :48 to a final at :45.  I seemed to be much more relaxed and composed in those 200m while maintaining a respectable speed.  I can’t predict if this will transfer to a mile, but I’m glad I got in some speed work a week before the race. Also running on a rubber track, in spikes, at 6 p.m. with supporters should give me an edge.

So, I cruise on, happy to have no injuries and maintain stable stats throughout.

July 18, Thursday

One brick at a time………

This morning I was at the cinder Track by 6:30. That’s the earliest I’ve gotten there so far. It was a overcast morning and quite unit with the temperature probably in the high seventies already. It was not unbearable running conditions but it was someone tough getting oxygen. I managed to get in a pretty good workout under the conditions.

A total of 5 miles in motion.

Half mile walking and stretching-

4 miles of MMF with 24 x SS of  30, 45,  60 and 120 seconds done randomly with equal walk.  45 minutes

Half mile jogging walking and stretching to cool down

STEADY STATS

July 15th, MondayLove my cinder track!

Continuing the a.m. plan, I arrived at the cinder track at 6:45 am.  The temperature was surprisingly in the mid-60s. After a 2 lap warm up with sweatshirt and sweatpants on ,  I began a work out of 800 meter repeats. I ran a total of 5 with a 2/3 minute walk between each. I started out with a goal of running a 10 minute pace. I ran each repeat faster than the last in the following sequence;  5:00,  4:32,  4:22,  4:10,  4:24.   The sun was starting to get hot as I approached number six. So, I dropped it to a 400m effort which wound up being 2:01. It was a quite demanding workout yet also quite encouraging. I am growing more comfortable and happy with my early morning workout decision. This is especially important because the next 10 days are scheduled to be in the 90-degree range.

Stats –  Positive and stable.

July 12, Friday and July 13. Saturday

” You can’t talk yourself into shape.  Either you can do it or you can’t.”  Frank Shorter

I decided on Thursday that this summer’s heat is so intense that it doesn’t cool off in the early evening like it should. So, trying to run at 7 or 7:30p.m. is still running in tremendous heat and humidity making it almost impossible to do a strong workout. So, I committed to rising early before the sun gets hot for the remainder of the summer to get some positive work without melting like the Wicked Witch of the West

Friday morning I woke up at 6 a.m. and got to the cinder track by 7.  I completed  5 miles of My Modified Fartlek (MMF) in 62:00 with speed segments (SS) every one of the 10 laps totaling at least 25.   Most of the SS were 30, 45, or 60 seconds with equal walk. As I went along I extended  to 2 minutes, and on  the final  three laps I extended the SS beyond 5 minutes.  I was pretty shocked that I could do that. I felt like it was a good day’s work .The sun still rose too fast, and I was a wet  washcloth by the time I finished.  I will have to start even earlier!

Saturday – When Rich Refi told me his girls were going to be having a practice on Saturday morning at Holmdel Park, I figured it would be a perfect time to stop over and say hello to Rich and the girls.    Plus it is one of Arlene’s favorite spots.  We got to the park about 8:45.  I never saw Rich or the girls anywhere but Arl and I had a lovely day in the park and I got a hill workout on the shaded, paved path that parallels the start of the cross country course.  I ran the 300 plus meters hill six times increasing speed each repeat with a quick walk down..  It was an unusual workout for me, and I am anxious and curious to see how my feet and legs respond to it. Tomorrow seems like a good day for a bike ride or a pool session or both.

Stats have been steady and very good.

July 9,  Tuesday

After a few days off, this was a 90* day to opt for the indoor exercise room and the pool.   Got a good amount done.  A few minutes on the bike, a few on the eliptical, than 30 minutes on the treadmill running negative miles; 10 minutes at 15:00, 10 minutes at 12:00, 10 minutes at 10:00.  Dripping wet.  Then to the pool for 15 minutes swimming and 10 minutes running. Then a 15 minute whirlpool.  Not too bad!

Good stats. Quite stable!

July 3, 4 and 5

Wednesday, 3rd  –     3.84 miles on cinders in 45:00 with 20x 30                              second  SS with 30 second walk. Felt hard, hot and good.

Thursday, 4th –   Rest

Friday, 5th –  My legs felt good tonight after a day off. So, I decided to try some 400m at 8:00 pace in anticipation of running  a good 5K in 7 weeks. The temperature was still near 80° under a cloud cover sky at 7:30 p.m. with a humidity of a 100%. Doesn’t 100% humidity mean that you are in the water?  Anyway, it felt like I was raining with the amount of water coming off my body. Somehow I managed to run 4 miles with 8 x 400m in the middle, all under  2:00  per with a 2:00 walk recovery.  Once again it felt hot, hard and good.  Getting 8 done was way beyond my expectations. My original goal was to try for 4. But I kept upping that as the workout went on, and I was feeling no aerobic or muscle distress.

JLHS XC: Congratulations to our own Coach O’Rourke, Senior T&F Games 800m Champion!!
rmd.me/Z8t0dyTqL7v

Copy and paste into browser to watch.

Preserving for posterity! 🙂

June 27 and 28,  Thursday and Friday

Thursday – Spent about 40 minutes in the pool swimming and running.  My legs were surprisingly sore from the slow 5k on Tuesday.  The water was the perfect medium, including a 15 minute hot whirlpool.

Friday – Tonight I spent an hour in motion on the cinders that covered 4.56 miles.  After a one mile jog, I ran and walked alternately for 30 seconds. My plan is to run frequent 1 hour efforts using the MMF (My Modified Fartlek) plan with the goal of steadily increasing the distance covered in the hour.  Tonight was 4.56 miles with heavy, sore legs in 80+ degrees. Is a goal of 6 miles by mid August too optimistic?  That is only 10 minute pace.  I am pretty sure this plan well require some early morning run as the summer heats up

 Stats-

Still weight = #149

Foot Indexes  =  2

Sleep = Forever

June 26, Wednesday

” We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.” ~ Alberto Salazar

Well, it’s been a week since I ran the 800m in Albuquerque. I have enjoyed basking in the feeling of accomplishing a goal and even hearing and reading all the congratulations from people who are aware of my victory.  But I have had little incentive to run or to post during that time. I have come to believe that the five-day trip to New Mexico was a complete drain of my energy resources. I’ve been sleeping 10 or 11 hours at night and still feeling pretty tired. So, I made a decision on Sunday to enter a 5K race in Princeton just to force myself to get moving again. Last night I ran the Firecracker 5K in 31:12. I wasn’t trying very hard and the time was not very good, but I think it was what I needed to start my reboot. I did get a medal for winning the over 75 year-old division which consisted of exactly two men.     I have a whole list of rationale as to why the time was so slow:

It was very hot and muggy.

I forgot to bring my watch so I never knew how fast I was going and there were no markers along the course.

I had no incentive to run fast.

I am probably not fully recovered from my trip to Albuquerque.

I haven’t run more than 2 1/2 miles on any single day for 17 days.

They were six Hills on the course including three that were about a half-mile from the Finish.

Sean Dolan from Hopewell HS, and Meet of Champions winner and one of the fastest High School runners in America, won the race in 17:15. I think he is easily capable of running 2 minutes faster than that on a road 5K.

There it is!   My plan is to log lots of miles in the next 2 months in preparation  for a respectable performance at the Jason Walton Memorial 5K in late August.

Have not been monitoring stats.  Must start.