August 15,  Sunday

It felt a little like autumn this afternoon running in the fine mist, brushed by a brisk breeze at about 68* giving rise to thoughts of cross country days past.

Saturday’s muscle issues did not become a factor as I ran the first 2 miles covered in sweatpants for the first time in maybe 3 months. On Saturday evening I spent a considerable amount of time rolling all of my leg muscles enthusiastically. I think that was very beneficial. I was happy to get some work in for the third day in a row. It was a very steady 3.2 miles with a full set of leg drills in the middle.

It is a pleasant Monday morning as I write this on my shaded patio.

Stats are steady

August 14 & 15,  Friday & Saturday

I noticed yesterday that first 15 days of August on my calendar show only four serious work days. I need to get back to a more consistent approach. Friday and Saturday got me started in the right direction.

On Friday I found a very shady area over by the cinder track to run some good MMF on a sunny afternoon. The weather was more cool than it had been for many weeks. I ran a total of 13 speed segments in a 3.11 mile total effort. I added lots of drills and stretching along the way for what I consider a complete workout.

On Saturday I went to Manasquan Reservoir and covered and entire 5 Mile Loop in 1:05.  I used the term covered because I had to stop a few times to stretch and walk  on the uphill segments because of some cramping muscles.  But I was happy to get back to the five mile range. I have been shying away from the pure distance runs lately in favor of repeat workouts on the cinder track.

Today is a rainy Sunday morning that feels a little bit like autumn. Hamstring muscles, quadricep muscles and calf muscles are feeling uncharacteristically sore and tight. I will have to see what kind of work I can get accomplished this afternoon when the rain subsides

Stats –

Weight is 144 lb.

Diet is very solid. 9 or 10

Feet indexes are also very good.  1

Leg muscles have been a little touchy since I ran a time trial two weeks ago.  3 or 4

Getting at least 9 hours of sleep most nights.

AUGUST 1st to 9th

August 1st to August 8th I only had two days of serious work because of calf muscle soreness and quadricep soreness. One was a 30-minute swim on Monday the 3rd. The other was a very slow 5 miles in 70 minutes while my calf muscle was still aching a little on Friday the 7th. The other days I did a lot of walking with Arlene and the dog and some drills but not much else. I have come to the conclusion that running a 3:22 800m time trial had more detrimental impact on my legs than I ever anticipated. But I will press on.

August 9th, Sunday- 4.92 miles  in 50:15. with 17 SS of 120m+   This was a really hot day. I decided to go out in the hottest part for some reason. When I got to the cinder track I realized it was a little too much sun for this old guy. I scoped out a long section of shade on the far side of the soccer fields and headed in that direction for a warm-up run. The grass on this area was extremely soft and cushiony on my legs, so I decided to run some 120m pickups with 30 seconds rest. Over the course of the next 45 minutes Iran 17 pickups many of which were quite fast. I was very happy that none of the latest leg issues that I have been experiencing for the past 10 days were apparent. I had heated the sore muscle in my upper thigh for almost half an hour before I left home. I think that had a major influence on the lack of pain in that area. As Rich Refi always tells me, “Follow your own advice. Do what you tell your kids to do.”  I think I will be spending a lot more time heat and running on that soft grass during future workouts.

July 20  to  July 31

https://youtu.be/Fh_dHFmAggY

Another inexplicable posting drought.  Let’s just call it the Summertime Blues.

The last 12 days I’ve  completed five pretty solid workouts, all on the cinders, along with seven days off. The 27th to the 30th saw four days off in a row. It’s been a long time since I took four days off in a row. But I was feeling a little sore and feeling that a few injuries might have been coming on.. Plus the real feel on all these days exceeded 100*and I managed to talk myself out of a workout each day.  There was a lot of beer involved I must admit.

Workouts-

1st on the 21st –  6 a.m.  (Yes 6 a.m.)  30 minute warm up  with SS.                     + 33 minutes of MMF  (:30 run – :30 walk – :30 jog)   4.6 miles.  Good day!

2nd on the 23rd – 6 a.m.    (Gotta beat the heat.) 2 mile warm up with SS        + 6 x 600m progressive with 200m walk. The goal was to try to run at 3 minutes per 600m effort. Began at 3:15 and progressed to 2:56.  800m cool down for a 5-mile plus day.  Positive day!

3rdb on the 25th – Arrived at the track with only about 40 minutes till dark. So, I opted for a very quick speed workout. After a good warm up I ran a series of very fast 200s and 100s and got in the car before the Nocturnals emerged.  Good work.

4th on the 26th –  7 p.m.   Standard two mile warm up with speed segments – Plus 8  x  400m under 2:00.  Set out with goal to run six, but felt good and extended it to eight. Very happy with this workout!

5th on the 31st – Mid-day ,very humid.  So, after four days off I figured it would be a good day for a time trial.  I wanted to test if I could run 800m under 3:30.  I did an extended 2.5 mile warm up with 12 xSS  up to 100 strides and stretching.  Feeling strong and confident with rested legs, I ran a solid 3:22.   After a full rest I ran a 400 in 1:48.  I was very satisfied with both of those efforts.  1200M Cool down for 4.5 mile day

So, those are my five workouts in 12 days in July.

An hour later I tweaked my calf muscle chasing the dog. Humbug!

Stats are acceptable, but nothing to write home about.

July 15th through 19th – Wednesday through Sunday

I write this as I sit on a shaded patio in 100° today.

Wednesday and Thursday I did walking only because I needed to recover from a pretty difficult mile repeat workout on Tuesday.

Friday I arrived at the track quite late as the sun was setting. I took the opportunity of a warm evening to do some speed work. The total workout took less than 45 minutes but was pretty intense. The warm-up  was the typical two mile  I have been doing recently with frequent accelerations.  I began with the goal of running 5 * 400  meters at sub 8 minute pace with 2 minutes recovery.  I managed to stay under 2 minutes for each repeat even as I competed with the nocturnals on the back straightaway as night fell.   Still feeling pretty feisty at that time, I decided to try some 200m at the same pace.   I remained on the lighted side of the track minus the nocturnals. I completed 5 x 200m at a solid pace under one minute.  This goes on the record as a successful workout.

Saturday I restored.

Sunday-

Hearing the ominous weather forecast for the following days, I decided Saturday night that I would set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. to beat the sun.  I arrived at the track at 6 a.m. with the goal of running 5 x 1000m repeats at 8 minute pace with two to three minute recovery.   I wondered if I could get this in before it got too hot. I completed my two mile warm up with frequent accelerations to prepare. I did manage to run 5 repeats in a progressive manner although none ever hit the 5-minute goal. The times were; 6:04, 5:44, 5:33, 5:13 and 5:09.  It was another positive day.

Stats –

Morning heart rate  @ 52bpm

Weight @ 144 average

Diet is very good.

Foot and muscle indexes are good.

Sleep a little spotty lately because of dog and morning runs.

July 9, 10 & 11. Thursday, Friday & Saturday

3 days of distance on Jackson roads totaling 12 miles  Sunday off….

July 13th, Monday

It was 88 degrees at 2 o clock on the cinders. It seemed like a good time to run a little speed work. So, I did and extended 2 mile warm up with some speed segments followed by some leg drills in the shade. Then I ran 5 x 200m at 1:00 or better (below 8:00 mile pace) with 200 meter walk and Jog between. It felt very good but left me pretty exhausted for the rest of the day.

June 14, Tuesday  (today)

On a 72*, shady, still night at the cinder track I ran some repeat miles.  It’s it’s been quite a while since I tried this workout. So,I was unsure of how successful it would be. I set as a goal  to try and run under 10 minutes for 3 or 4 if I could.  The result turned out much better than I had anticipated. Number one was a somewhat labored 9:20. Number two was a more comfortable 9:22.  During number three I negotiated with myself in a few different directions.  First I said , “If you break 9 minutes on this one, you can call it quits for the night. ”   Then I decided to be a little more hard ass and said, “If you break 9 minutes on this one, you can run a fourth.”   I liked that better.    Number 3 was very smooth 8:33.  So, I ran a fourth in 9:48 with a negative final 800m.   This workout left me very pleased with myself.

All stats remain positive.

July 8th, Wednesday

An exchange between Gustav V of Sweden and Jim Thorpe at the 1912 Olympics

Gustav-  ” You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.”

Thorpe- “Thanks, King.”

🙂   🙂   🙂

Another perfect, late night at the cinder track was the prime opportunity for a speed workout.  (79* and calm)  I began with my newest version of a 2-mile warm up with numerous pickups and walking along the way. After that I ran 2 miles in 22 minutes. I usedt)he format of running for 30 seconds which involved about 75 to 80 quick strides followed by walking for 30 seconds.  The two miles went by very quickly with this format, and I felt like I increased the speed of the segments as the workout progressed.  I finished with no aerobic or muscular distress. It was a very positive of workout.  4 miles

Stats are solid and steady.

June 6, Monday

For some reason which I cannot figure out I’m always catching up lately. But here we are on June 6th and I haven’t posted since June 2nd. So we’ll go through the days one at a time. Fortunately I do have everything written down on my desk calendar. Starting with;

Friday -June 3rd, at 8 p.m. in the evening I ran 4 miles in 52:23. I had ridden three miles on my bike earlier this day because I wanted to basically “get back on the horse.” It’s been just about a month since my bike accident and everything is healed, but I am somewhat reluctant to jump on the bike these days. I don’t know if it was coincidental or as a result of the earlier bike rides, but both my knees we’re experiencing soreness when I ran later in the evening.

Saturday – June 4th,     Day off to recover

Sunday – June 5th,   On Jackson roads today I ran 4.12 mi in 52:30. Pretty consistant

Monday – June 6th,  On a beautiful 70° evening practically alone on the cinders I ran a 4.5 mile workout.  A solid 2 mile warm up with frequent speed segments. Then I did 5 x 800m  with the goal of running at 10 minute pace. After a 4:50 first effort I ran under 4:30 for the next four. Starting off each one at 6:00 mark. During this workout I didn’t experience any leg or foot discomfort. This is very good.

Stats-  I get the impression that I am slacking on best diet and sleep leading to a slight increase in weight over the last week or two.  I have been very happy with my weight staying in the mid-to-lower one forties for the last month and a half.  Definitely want to keep it there. When Gracie the puppy, is here I don’t get to sleep as late in the morning because she is ready to go by 8:00. I like to sleep until almost 10 a.m. everyday.  But Life Goes On.

” Thrust against pain. Pain is the purifier.”    Percy Cerutty

June 29th, Monday – 3 miles on the Cinders with 8 to 10 gentle speed segments. Most importantly no pain in legs or feet.

June 30th,  Tuesday – a very nice end-of-month run on the cinders. A solid 2 Mile warm up which speed segments and walking. Added two times 1K at 6:05 and 5:50. Once again no soreness in feet or legs.

July 1st, Wednesday – 3.8 miles on the cinders with similar warm up with speed segments and walking. Very fond of this new warm up that works very well.  Can’t be rushed.  I then ran 8 x 300m at 8 to 9 minute pace with 100m walk in between. Feet and legs feeling fine. Finished with plenty to spare.

STATS are steady and solid .

June 29, Monday

So another week has gone by without posting, but I’m not going to talk about that right now. I am going to talk about what I believe was really totality of running and training in June. Early in the month I was hosting to myself about how my legs were holding up and recovering quickly from some pretty strong workouts. But in later days of the month my legs began to feel heavy and some small nicks started to appear like a bit of soreness in my right Achilles tendon and some upper leg muscle tweaks.  I felt compelled to take off 5 full days of rest from June 16th to June 26th. From checking back through the month today I learned that I had run 11 pretty hard workouts in the first 22 days. I did not realize I was doing that much quick work. I was just happy that my legs were moving quickly and without soreness. I have to be much more aware of he hard days that I am injecting into my training. So my new goal is to spend a few weeks running more distance at 10: 00 per mile pace probably with some pickups along the way or speed segments as I call them. The last six days have been rest and recovery only. I have not gotten out yet today. Somewhere around 7:30 I will go to the cinders track and see how my legs feel.

STATS- Except for some mild Achilles soreness in my right foot, all stat indicators are stable and sound.