December 18, Friday
Ran 4/4 with 7 MI this afternoon in 58:55 with 16 x 300m pickups along the way. Felt like a pretty good day

December 15, Tuesday

Arlene and I decided to get ahead of the storm this afternoon by heading out to Holmdel Park for lunch and a run.  The temperatures were in the low 30s. So, I dressed in about five layers and started circling the lower fields. I made a quick decision after about a mile to alleviate the boredom and head out on the actual course. My body gradually warmed and ,loosen until I was able to finish the second half of the cost at a solid 10 minute pace. It was a 4-mile day in 50 minutes. That is as good as I could have expected on this cold day.

Stats holding steady.

December 16th and 17th.   No running because of snow.

December 11, Friday

Another 5 miles at Turkey Swamp Park today.  Finding these five milers  very comfortable running after the day off.  Not looking for speed, but picked up for a 9:33 final mile.  57:31

December 13, Sunday

Took advantage of the beautiful Sunday afternoon today to run on the cinder track. The legs felt light in the very beginning today. So, I immediately thought I could get a strong  5-miler in given the excellent running conditions, 62* and sunny.  Turned out to be the bestest five miles I’ve ever run in a very strong Progressive manner.  One of my longtime goals has been to run five miles under 15 minutes. That does not seem so unachievable this time. 🙂

11:03 – 10:33 – 10:15 – 9:45 – 9:27  = 50.58.        Final 4 in 40:00

All stats on target…

December 9, Wednesday

Turkey Swamp Park Trail

Training during the early days of December has been hampered by a sore right knee. I have managed to run three  5 Mile + runs at Turkey Swamp Park in the first nine days.  I am convinced that this soreness is the result of running with the dog in lateral directions.   Joe Biden and I have to stop playing with the dogs, we’re too old. The knee is getting better each day, and I can run in one direction painlessly.  Heat and ibuprofen is the protocol for non-running days.t

The Turkey Swamp Park Trail pictured above has become my new go-to venue for distance runs. The dirt trail is broad, flat, clear, safe, private, serene and very forgiving on the legs.  So, for the immediate future I will be running distance on the trails and workouts on the cinders with an occasional visit to a rubber track when possible.  I have  eschewed the roads completely.  ( recommendation for Elaine for word of the day, eschew)

Stats are steady.

December 1st, Tuesday

MISSING PICTURE HERE 🙂  🙂  🙂

Set out today to test my knee on this cool afternoon along the forgiving, wooded trails at Turkey Swamp Park.  I did not experience any pain while running, albeit slowly.  I evaluated my knee as I passed each lap and pushed on each time to complete  5.8 miles.  That exceeded my expectations for today’s run by far!  It was both exhilarating and serene on the trails this afternoon, and I had to stop and take a picture to share  with my loyal readers.  But the picture that I took with my phone camera has too many pixels. So, it won’t load up to my blog. You will have to take my word for how enjoyable the trails were today.     🙂  🙂

I did ice the knee afterwords out of an abundance of caution.

Stats-

Weight = 143lb

Diet = 9

Sleep =  8/9  hours

a.m. heart rate is steady at 52 to 54 beats per minute

Foot and leg indices  = good.  Knee much better!

November 30, Monday 

That is it. Knee getting better.

November 27, Friday

2 mile warm up

200m, 400m, 600m untiimed to get fully warmed up and loose.

800m in 4::34

2 x 1000m  in 4:54 & 4:48

800m cool down

5 miles total

The original goal as I headed to the Cinders was to run some 1000s in 5 minutes or better.  I noticed  a very unfamiliar ache in my right knee as I was driving, and it continued to hurt as I started to warm up.  I can’t remember how this started, and I don’t think it has come from running. But it was quite painful, really.  So, I was hesitant and did a really slow, long warm up hoping that it would abate as my body heated up.  It turned out that lateral movements were the most painful and straightforward running was not so bad.  Still being cautious, I decided to choose the ladder rather than go directly to the thousands. By the time I got to the 800m segment, I was feeling very loose and relaxed and ready for some significant intervals.  In the end it seemed like it was enough to get in two of the thousands in under five minutes and call it a day.   Not bad under the circumstances.

Back home for ibuprofen, ice, chocolate milk and Thanksgiving leftovers

STATS are good except for inexplicable knee pain.

November 23rd, Monday

That’s it. On a windy afternoon I ran 5 miles at Turkey Swamp Park in 57 minutes.  It felt a little raggedy in the beginning, but I smoothed out as time passed.  Each mile was a little quicker, with a final mile time of 10:12.  It amounted to some well needed aerobic work.

Stats are stable.,

November 16 to 20,

Kenny Moore referring to coach Bill Bowerman:         ” He tailored our training to the peculiarities of our talents.  When he made me take extra days of rest between workouts, I improved so much it was an epiphany.”

16th- Monday,  two recovery miles at Turkey Swamp Park

17th- Tuesday, Lots of walking on heavy legs.  Still recovering from Sunday’s 10K

18th-  Wednesday,  Off.  The day just got away.  TOO COLD!!

19th- Thursday,    A solid five miles on the cinders with 20 speed segments along the way.           7 x 100 m +   13 x 200m.      SS at 7 to 8 minute per mile pace.  56:40

20th- Friday,   10 x 100m SS on grass with  Gracie.. QUICK STUFF!  40 minutes in motion

STATS- Diet, sleep and weight are steady and sound. No leg or foot issues at this                      time.    🙂  🙂

November 16, Monday

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”

T.S. Elliot

13th, Friday- Just walking

14th, Saturday – lots of running and walking around Thompson Park this morning at the Sectionals cross country Championship meet.  Refi’s Hillsborough girls got 4th in   Group IV, about as expected.  Gracie had a good time in the dog park.

15th, Sunday –  This was a pretty significant 10k run from my house to Turkey Swamp Park, around a 2-mile loop and back. I started out with low expectations, but quickly made the decision to try for a 6 mile run. I have not  been doing a lot of over distance, Ernst Van Aaken, work lately so I figured I needed it.  The run emphasized for me the value of the dirt trails at Turkey Swamp Park. I could clearly feel the difference of the impact on my feet between the roads and dirt trails.  I have concluded that in the future I will drive the two miles to the park, run, 6 miles on the trails, and drive back home. My feet and legs will thank me.

I reminded myself throughout the run that time was not an important factor today, but still couldn’t resist checking the splits afterwards.

Total time – 70 minutes

Final five miles – 54:49 progressively quicker

Fortunately stats are holding steady and sound.