Foot still sore. Heat, stretch, ibuprofen. Several online sites like Runner’s World say ice and stretch, but I do not understand that concept. Ice contracts: heat expands. So I have chosen to do heat and stretch because it seems to me that the goal is to elongate, stretch the area. Therefore I have not opted for ice. Hope to get some work in tomorrow.
Sidelined today because of nagging soreness in arch of left foot again. This is similar to pain I suffered last spring after my 5K race in Freehold. It’s not as severe, but I am exercising an abundance of caution by taking the day off.
Sunday – Resting and sleeping all day. Multiple muscles are still feeling quite sore today. It has become apparent to me that the workout of repeats on Friday was quite a stress on my total system. I have to remember that DOMS for older runners means a 36 to 48 hour delay. Also for the first time I am feeling tightness in my hamstring muscles. That is a sure sign that I have upped my training level. I used to tell my runners that as training level intensifies, muscle soreness rises up the legs from calves to hamstrings, and reaches the gluteus maximus (butt) as the highest levels of fitness are achieved. Most middle-distance runners can remember that excruciating pain in the butt during workouts at the end of the season. I can!
Monday – I arose refreshed after about 12 hours of sleep. With hamstrings still sore I chose to run some totally aerobic, 11:30, miles for approximately one hour today. Walk and slow jog for 20 minutes and then 3.5 miles in 40 minutes. It seemed like just what I needed to get back in the groove.
Took day off to go to Farmer’s Market and St. Augustine Irish Festival. A lot of walking… a little sore. All good!
Ideal conditions; 75*, overcast, gentle breeze and scenery on the beach improves markedly as Spring Break arrives.
An interesting run today of 6 miles in 1 hour and 22 minutes. The goal was to run some 400 meter intervals at 8:30 pace. Here is what happened. I jogged for 20 minutes to warm up. I ran 8 x 400 meters at about 8:30 pace in a 3 minute cycle. This was in fact the first true interval workout I have tried in this journey toward the National Senior Games 1500m championship. It went pretty will I thought. All this happened while running south, and I lost track of the distance. So, when I turned around I was more than 3 miles from home. Now, I never intended to run a 6 mile workout today. So I started to jog the long journey back down the beach. Eventually I decided to walk because it looked really far. Then I had the brilliant idea to take my shoes and socks off and soak my legs in the cool, stimulating ocean surf as I walked. That was very refreshing, but I was making very little progress on my way back. With the Saint Augustine Pier, which was my starting point, looming far in the distance; I put my socks and shoes back on and began to run again because I was anxious to get home. Remarkably my legs had recovered pretty dramatically from my work out, and I was able to run the remaining one mile home in about 9:35. I was pleasantly surprised, exhausted and exhilarated.
https://youtu.be/xrWM3vh41Bw
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As February slips away, I am taking some well needed rest. I think that I got a little over zealous last week. Took off two days. A few easy pre-race days and a 5K on Saturday will reveal my current fitness level.
Ran 4 miles on very tired legs today. (54:35) Nothing to write home about.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse 5K is in 6 days. So I will need to recover and rebuild my legs this week. Looking for a solid 3.1 somewhere around /under 27 minutes.
I-Mad = Still 0 !!?
Weight = #153
Sleep = 6 hrs. Up at sunrise ?over ocean for birthday.
a.m.HR = 153BPM
Workout = 4 tough miles at 13:23