February 9, Wednesday

Bike to beach 1 mile, run 3 miles in 39:25, 1 cold draft in the sun, 55*, bike home 1 mile. Bright sun, blue skies, still windy

Wednesday – long walk, cold north wind. 46*

February 4 -5-6-7,  Friday to Monday

The first Summerlike week ended on Friday with the weather once again near the 80s. Over the weekend normal St Augustine February, weather returned.

FRIDAY – 3 COMFORTABLE MILES

SATURDAY  – 6.5 MILES ON NEW BIKE, VERY WINDY AND 40’S

SUNDAY – STORMY DAY, REST

MONDAY – 3 MILES IN 36:34 + 6 X SPEED STRIGHTS IN 6:00 TO 7:00                        PACE. 48* and less wind.  Today was the strongest I                                have felt since arriving in St Augustine.                                                         5k race in 5 days! YIKES!

GOOD STATS

February  3, Thursday

Continuing to run on the beautiful beach,  I managed two solid workouts in the last three days.  On Tuesday the weather warmed into the 70s. I was overdressed, but I managed to run 3 miles finishing soaked with sweat and having wet feet from running through a river on the beach when I got trapped.   Today the temperature remained high, but the beach was cooled by a steady 15 mile an hour wind from the south.  Early in the afternoon I found  a used beach bike for $45.  So, after Alene and I had completed our daily 30-minute walk, I rode the bike to the beach and ran four miles. This time I ran in shorts and a t-shirt which was quite liberating. The most satisfying part of this run was the final mile which I completed in 10:07. Mile one was a warm up heading north with the wind at my back. Miles 2 and 3 were  buffered by the wind running south.  In the fourth by mile I was rejuvenated by the tail wind and pushed it to that faster pace.  (Final time 47:07)

Biked the half mile back home feeling pleasantly fatigued.  Tomorrow I will recover with a moderate bike ride.

I signed up for the Lighthouse 5K today.  It is much earlier this year on February 12th. Normally it is the first week of March. So I only have 10 more days to prepare. But I will do what I can do.

Stats-

Weight back down to 145lb.

Sleep steady at 9/10 per night

AM heart rate measured at 50 beats per minute today.

Diet has been good

and there are no leg or foot issues at this time.  🙂

January 30, Sunday

 Flat, Firm and Endless

It was the perfect day for the 1st run of 2022 in St. Augustine. The temperature was 56°, the sky was a deep blue and the sun was shining brightly as I started to run on my favorite beach.  It had been two years since we visited St. Augustine because of the  pandemic. I ran 3 miles in under 40 minutes after a 7 minute warm up.  I could not stop thinking throughout  of how lucky and how thankful I am to be here right now.

Arlene and I had scrambled to get out of  New Jersey before the snow that was coming. We went to bed on Thursday night around midnight with the car, finally, totally packed and ready to go. We were on the road by 5:30 AM and drove for ten hours to Florence, South Carolina to stay over for the night.  The roads were clear and the traffic was light for the whole journey.  We slept in, had a lovely breakfast and got on the road at 11:00 AM for another sunny, six hour ride to St. Augustine. We will be in our beautiful condominium til mid march.

I am totally excited for six weeks of beach walks, soaking up sunshine, serious training, good food and healthy living In the northern Florida winter where the temperature hovers in the 60’s and 70’s on a daily basis. ☀😎

I hope all my family and friends in the North stay safe.

Stat reports will resume after my body stabilizes.

January 16-20, Sunday to Thursday

Champions are made when no one is watching.  Anonymous

Locked in 3 good workouts this week on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Sunday as darkness fell I bundled up and headed out for what I thought might be 1⁄2 an hour run. But it turned into 4 miles in 56 minutes with several speed segments.  It was a very draining effort because of the weather conditions and extra weight.  Ate well and sacked out for 11 hours afterwards.

Tuesday I did 3.5 miles on the cinders in 40 minutes, once again adding some strong speed segments.  It takes in excess of 20 minutes these days to open up and run a comfortable stride. But once it occurs my legs are feeling very good.

Thursday I got a little braver and decided to try running some hills  in my neighborhood. I have not attempted a hill  workout in months.  Once again it was very cold and I was heavily padded.  But I managed 4 miles in 50:31 with 4 times 200m hill surges in the middle.  I was pleased with the effort, the time and the distance.

My legs feel good as write this on Friday, surely helped by the fact that I have been getting extended rest this entire week usually exceeding 9/10 hours per night. Plus I am resting every other day!

800m race at Monmouth College indoors on next Thursday, 1/26.

I am very psyched at the thought that I will be running in shorts and T-shirt in Florida in 10 days.🎽🏖☀   🌬❄

Good stats!

January 14, Friday

“Why would I practice running slow?  I already know how to run slow. I want to learn how to run fast.”            Emil  Zatopek

After a few bitter cold days that kept me off the road, I had two good workouts on Wednesday and Thursday at the cinder track. On Wednesday my legs felt strong as I ran 3 1/2 miles in 40 minutes with a few speed segments along the way. On Thursday I went back to the cinders to do some faster work. The goal was to run 4x  800m intervals as close as possible to 4:00 each. The weather was a balmy 49 degrees at the time. After a mile and a half warm up I actually stripped down for the first time in a while and set out running my 800s.  It was pretty demanding but, all in all, comfortable. I rested 2:30 between each interval. The times were 4:08, 4:20, 4:15, and 4:19.  My Garmin app rated it as a Overachievng workout (5) and recommended 72 hours recovery. I began with 10 hours of sleep last night.  Today I took the dog for a long walk.

Stats are steady and legs are feeling fine.

January 7and 8,  Friday and Saturday

Friday- Some good work on the dreaded treadmill this evening. 2 miles + 3 x 800m at 5min

Saturday- a surprisingly productive four and a half mile run and 59 1/2 minutes in 29* fortified by multiple layers

Stats steady

 December 31, Friday –     1  hour to 2022

Well,  on December 23, I had my second cataract surgery.  This was not a serious problem, basically elective surgery to improve my eyesight. As a result I had to take a few days to recover. But, fortunately, the final week of the year worked out pretty well for training. I have expanded my  workouts in both time and intensity.   Recent workouts have been between 45 and 50 minutes with frequent speed segments added along the way. Tonight’s final run of 2021 was 4 miles with more than a dozen speed segments of 50-100 strides each.  And my Garmen Connect  app gave me a “STRONG FINISH”  badge.  Perfect !     🎆 Happy New Year 🎆

Good stats….

December 21, Tuesday

Push Your Pace

A tribute to Justina and Rich

On Sunday I ran my second consecutive four mile run in 45 minutes on the cinder track.

Today while doing my bundled up warm-up I got an inclination to run a time trial to see how my 40 minute aerobic workouts have helped my fitness. I decided to attempt a 2 mile with a goal of 20 minutes. I told myself I would attempt to run each half mile lap in five minutes or better. if I failed to hit that pace at any point I would stop. The outcome was better than I anticipated. I was better than five minute pace on each lap and ended up running 18:38. I finished strong feeling no aerobic or anaerobic stress. And it was a negative effort with the first mile in 9:28 and the 2nd mile and 9:10. I left the cinder track feeling very satisfied with the current level of fitness.

STATS-

Weight- 146*. A little bump, Everybody tells me I’ve gotten to thin.

Sleep- 8/9 daily

Diet- 7/8 Beer and chocolates!

Heart rate- still in mid 50pm. resting

Foot and leg muscle indexes are strong

December 17, Friday

The full moon was shining over the cinder track as I arrived trying to get a workout in ahead of the setting sun. It was still light out at about 4:20 when I started my run, but the moon had already established itself self clearly in the eastern sky.  As I ran the sun disappeared and the area was bathed in soft moonlight. I was listening to Frank Sinatra throughout my run. Yes, he actually crooned a lovely version of “Moonlight Serenade”along the way.  Truth!

Inspired by the ambiance surrounding me, I extended my normal 40-minute run  to 4 miles in 45:17 and relished every minute.   I am continually thankful that I can still enjoy these wonderful experiences running as a 78-year-old.

Steady, solid, positive stats.