A simple. comfortable run on the beach, 3.1 miles in 38 minutes at sunset. The beach was in excess of 120m wide at low tide tonight. It will likely run 100m onto the flat sand by high tide.
Weight = 150lb
Heart Rate = 54bpm
Foot indexes = 1. AT & PF are in good shape.
Diet = 10
Sleep = 9/10 hours nightly
Stretching is better.
Need more body weight efforts. I miss the weight room .
On a day when all the running Gods was smiling, I was lucky enough to get to the beach as the sun was setting. The gentle northeast breeze blowing off the ocean tempered the 65 degree evening. The sand 10 feet from the rolling surf was firm and perfectly flat and the beach seemed endless. Two days of recovery had left my legs light and springy. I began with a half mile warm up jog. That was followed by 4 miles of 30 SS consisting of 1 minute segments at sub 9 minute pace with 30 seconds of rapid walking to recover. That was done in a total of 44:25. A half mile cool down completed a 5 mile workout. I felt strong and smooth and relaxed throughout. It was a special time to be a runner.
Yesterday I ran three very slow miles in 42 minutes on the soft sand on the beach. Today, I stretched and did some exercises and walked on the beach. I have been feeling as though my legs have not had rest for quite a while and needed a bit of a sabbatical. I am trying to put together a credible plan for the next 3 weeks. I’m running a 5k on the 29th. I have run this race five or six times now. . I have finished first in my age group a number of times. . It always seems to make me nervous and motivated at the same time. This may be the longest injury-free time that I have experienced approaching this race. . I worry if I have sacrificed conditioning by taking better care with my legs. But it is very gratifying to have no soreness in my feet or my achilles tendons.
By 3 this afternoon it was 84 degrees in St Augustine. The wind was blowing pretty briskly down along the beach. It was a strong wind but very warm. So, I decided to head out to my favorite running neighborhood and try to do some Progressive miles. IYesterday as an easy day only doing a 5-mile bike ride. I completed 5 miles with walking 2 minutes to 4 minutes between each. The time dropped from mid 14:00 for a warm up first mile, down to 11:00 for #2, followed by 10:20 & 10:08 for #s 3 and 4. and 11:24 for# 5. I debated the wisdom of running number five after I had completed the first four. I was pretty beat. But I had just read an article sent to me by Rich Refi about Glenn Cunningham. So, inspired, I decided to go for #5. I began with some trepidation but maintained a fairly strong pace to finish below 11:30. I was glad I had done it, but my body felt extremely hot as I approached my car. I feared for a few moments that I had underestimated the effect of the heat. I haven’t run in anything near 84° for months. The ride home with the cool breezes blowing helped to cool down and I feel okay tonight. Tomorrow is scheduled to be another typical St Augustine winter day with temperatures reaching only high 50s or low 60s. If the wind is not bad it seems like a good day for a comfortable 5 mile beach run
I do remember running some sub 9 minute miles on this circuit a few years back. I will have to check my log for the exact circumstances. I haven’t felt like I can run sub 9 on this course right now. Maybe I need a few days rest to have that kind of confidence in my legs before a workout.
I had little motivation to train today even though I took off yesterday to rest. I felt overall tired and my footstrikes for the first 15 minutes rattled my legs. I was tempted to turn around a few times and call it a day. But I settled on a series of 30 second SS at a very modest pace with a 30 second walk between. A few months ago I was calling that MMF for My Modified Fartlek. The body began to respond as the run progressed. The result was 2.75 miles with 22 SS in 38:40. The SS were progressively dropping from 10:30 pace to under 9:00 for the quicker efforts. I worked on quick, short strides with relaxed Belly Breathing until I got my stride count up to above 80 for the 30 seconds. It was a productive aerobic day, not too anaerobicly demanding, better than expected.
The sun came out in St Augustine today. The temperature was in the high sixties. I biked for 20 minutes to loosen up. Then Arlene and I walked for 45 minutes on the beach. Then I ran a pretty solid 4 miles in 41:53. 🙂 🙂 I walked the first minute of mile 2 and mile 3 but continued non-stop from there on. It felt like about an 85% effort.
Today it felt like I did a substantial bit of work on the beach. I ran a half mile to the beach and began running a ladder. The ladder consisted of bursts of speed with 1 to 2 minute recovery in between each. The steps in the ladder were 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5-minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes and a final 3 minutes. I think that adds up to 27 minutes. With a half-mile jog home the day was a total of 5 miles.
Because the day was dreary with a heavy overcast and a barely perceptible mist, my Garmin watch recorded some crazy numbers. The visibility was only about 100 meters. My perceived effort indicated to me that I was running most of the speed segment’s between 8:30 and 9:30 mile pace. The steady wind made the final segments quite challenging. When I got home my clothes was sopping wet clear through, sweaty from the inside and Misty from the outside. LOL
As a recovery day, today I rode 5 miles in 35 minutes on the bike.
Once again I avoided the windy beach in favor of my protected neighborhood. My legs are still recovering from the return to biking this week. So, I needed a two mile warm up with frequent, increasingly more intense pick-ups.. That was followed by 10 x 200m repeats at 8:00 pace with one minute rest. This was the quickest work that I have done so far in St. Augustine. 3.6 miles.
Just a Simi-demanding bile ride. 1 hour
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/3fwFpUhIE3
It was very good to get back on the road today after a little bit of a scare with a sore knee for two days. I think the sore knee was a product of riding my new bicycle for six miles the first time out. Anyhow, I only walked for the last two days and used some heat and some ibuprofen to overcome the soreness. Today I was able to run five miles non-stop in my favorite neighborhood. It was 60° when Arlene and I went to the beach. But the wind was a vicious 18 to 20 miles and non-stop from the north. The loop I ran was a little in excess of one mile. So four laps with a little addition came out to be 5 miles on the nose in one hour. OK…
Weight = 149lb
Sleep = sporadic last night. Happy nap this early evening.
Diet = Getting on track in new setting. Too many out of home meals. 6/7
Resting HR = 52/54
No foot issues. Right knee pain has subsided.
Poor body weight and stretch consistency. Humbug!
HR after 5 miles was 134