November 19th, Monday

Today I got out of the house by 2:30.  It was a perfect 54* day, cloudy and calm.  A great day for an actual workout. I heated my calves for 20 minutes and put on the compression socks.

I was pretty excited this morning after reading an article about the workout regimen of Fred Wilt who was a multiple American National Champion and Olympic distance competitor. He continued to break records well into his fifties.  You can look him up.  He is a very interesting guy.  His default workout was repeat, flat-out 200’s with a jog till recovered.  The article said he did 5 to 7 miles  of it a week at age fifty and ran 9:40 for 2 miles. I am not exactly sure what that meant, but the idea of running fast 200’s appealed to me greatly.

So, when I got to the track I began to jog immediately without any drills. I ran a 12:30 warm up mile with no irritation in my calf muscles. I then ran six x 200m in under 60 seconds with a 200m recovery under 2 minutes.  My legs felt better with each repeat.  I felt like I could have done six more but stopped only out of caution. Now, 200s in the mid 50’s are not flat-out, but it’s a start and I really enjoyed the workout.  I finished with a brisk 1200m cool down for a total of 3.5+ miles on the day.  An invigorating session on the cinders!

Stats-

Sleep= 8 hours

Weight= #155

a.m.HR= 54BPM

DIET= 9

Foot Indexes are improving with TLC.

November 18th, Sunday

🙂

Saturday was a full day of college football watching on the couch at home with Rob.      Today, after watching the Giants win their second game in a row, I left at 4 o’clock for the Cinders . The sky was heavily overcast and the darkness was falling rapidly. Jackson Mills road was closed for repairs so I had to enter the track through Thigh Park, and that is the back way through about 300 of wooden trail. I ran a mile and a half on the Cinders and out of fear of getting lost or injured on the wooded trail in the dark, returned to the parking lot in the back . After a few pickups in the parking lot in the dark, I jumped in the car and headed home having logged only 2.2 mi in about 24 minutes. Not very impressive. I have to start getting out earlier in the day if I hope to get serious work done.  I heated my calf for 20 minutes and wore a compression sock today. My calf muscle was not as troublesome as the last few days.

Stats are stable.

November 16th, Friday

This was a similar workout to last Sunday on the cinders. I did manage to get in 4 miles, which is 8 laps on the half-mile track. It still takes a while to get started with certain leg issues. Today was a continuation of right calf pain. The calf muscle feels like it’s going to cramp with each stride for about the first mile. I stopped about each 400 to do a 30 second to one minute stretch, I guess that helps. By the second mile the calf muscle is still a little achy but doesn’t threaten to cramp any longer, so I continue.  There were no pickups this time, but each mile got a little faster.  I continue to improve my belly breathing  technique.  It is quite relaxing and helps me to maintain an efficient running form.  That and trying to remember to keep my stride short are keys to avoiding injuries.

Workout= 4 miles in 48:29 .  Very consistent!

Steady stats.

November 13th and 14th,  Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday  –  Spent the day assisting Rob with his hernia operation.  Hours of driving to Manhattan and waiting.

Wednesday – Had eye procedure in Red Bank today.

Must get back to a training schedule tomorrow.

November 12th, Monday

25 minutes in the pool swimming and running + 15 minute whirlpool …..Lots of walking…..

Positive recovery day from yesterday’s 4 miles with surges….

November 11th, Sunday

On a cold afternoon at the half mile,cinder track,  bundled in multiple layers, I set out to try for a three mile comfortable run hoping my tender feet and nagging calf would hold up.  My calf was aching in the early laps but everything else seemed okay. After lap two I decided to try pickups on the straightaways of 60 t0 75 strides each hoping for a total of eight.  With occasional stretching breaks the calf issues began to disappear. The pace and the pickups quickened, and I shed layers each lap, and I wound up running the 3rd mile in about 9:40.  I opted for an additional half mile cool down, but ended up running a full mile with 4 more pickups to make a total of 12.  PAfter 4 miles in 49 minutes I felt very loose and comfortable and thought for a moment about continuing, but I stopped out of caution. It was a better workout than I had anticipated.

Total workout = 4 miles in 49:32 with 12 serious pickups of 60 to 75 strides

Stats –

Sleep = 8 hours

a.m.HR = 54 BPM

Diet = Thanksgiving dinner. Delicious but very heavy.

Weight = #156

Indexes are all stable. Not great but manageable.

November 8th , 9th and 10th

Thursday the 8th: Tired with sore feet, so rest.

Friday the 9th:  Early Thanksgiving dinner with Rob and Chris. No workout.

Saturday the 10th: 20 minute jog and 45 minutes of work at clubhouse.

Stat break……..

November 6th, Tuesday

Today I did 45 minutes of activity in the exercise room at the clubhouse culminating with about 12 minutes of running in the pool.

November 7th, Wednesday

Today as the sun set I did some miles on the safety of the FSML sidewalks.  I did not approach this run with enthusiasm at all. I was having some stomach issues, and my quadriceps were sore (maybe from running in the pool yesterday)and my right calf was moaning, and both of my feet were unhappy.  So I began with 10 minutes of walking and leg drills. Didn’t help much.  As I began to slowly run it was not enjoyable.  I decided I would endure a sluggish 40-minute run no matter how I felt because I am convinced I need to do more distance to work. ( Ten I’s in the first five sentences: need to work on that.)The workout settled in to a steady 12 minute pace. Running became a little more comfortable though not any faster and my mind wanted endlessly about many things including yesterday’s elections.  Before I realized it, I was way beyond 40 minutes and past 4 miles and still more than a half mile from home. Having surpassed all of my goals for the day and feeling all of my aches beginning to return, I decided to walk the rest of the way home. It is encouraging that my heart rate never exceeded 120 beats per minute at any time during this run. My 4 mile time was 49:32.  (12:23)

Stats-

a.m. HR = 54bpm

Weight = #156   Too high!

Sleep = 8 hours

Diet = ?   6. Crappy stomach!

I-Matd = 2

I-Mpfd = 5/6. Heel OK running.  Instep hurting  in morning and beginning to hurt a little while running too. Heel actually hurt a little today while running on sidewalks

November 5th, Monday

Today in the rain, wind and cold I ran a 5K on the track. The run averaged 10:59 pace for a total of 33:44.  Body felt fine amid the negative elements.

Stats are stable.

November 3rd, Friday

After a few light days I did a pretty aggressive workout on the track this afternoon.  I wanted to do a longer workout but stay on the friendly track service. I decided upon 8 x 400m at a comfortable 9:00 pace with a 2:00 recovery to keep my heart rate up throughout.  I did all my leg and core drills beforehand and ran a couple of pickups in the course of about a mile warmup.  The 400s were quite a bit faster than I planned even though I was comfortable running the entire workout. Each repetition seemed easier, even as I tried to keep a modest pace.

Paces-  8:11,  8:18,  7:52,  7:48,  7:38,  7:44,  7:49,  7:02 !!!

Stats-

a.m.HR = 54 bpm

Weight = #154

Sleep = 9 hours

Diet  =  8

Foot indexes  =

Left foot – plantar fasciitis in the AM is about seven or eight who are the first 10 steps. Not painful while running or throughout the day.

Right foot – Achilles tendon is starting to grumble. Also does not hurt while running,  but I have to be careful to do a good warm-up and not push it. That is exactly why I was trying to run 9:00 today and no faster. The fact that I did run faster than 9:00 ……. will have to find out the result in the morning