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.

June 18 to 22, Thursday  to Monday

“You only ever grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone. ”  — Percy Cerutty

Thursday- Rested

Friday- 3 miles in 45 minures.   This was a very uncomfortable 45 minutes. In retrospect I should have just taken the day off.

Saturday- Rested

Sunday- 5 steady miles without a watch. Legs felt pretty good but I was extremely tired the rest of the evening after that run. Luckily I got between 10 and 11 hours sleep Sunday night.

Monday-  (Today)  finally a workout worth writing about. But first a word about how beautiful it is on the cinder track around 7:30 in the evening. The entire track is in the shade by this time. That is 800m in the shade!  It is simply delightful running. Tonight was no exception. Even though the temperature was about 84 degrees it was comfortable. And it doesn’t get dark until 9 o clock during the weeks before and after this summer solstice.

But I digress. Back to the workout which was worth talking about.   I thought it was time to do some Tempo work. Estimated my tempo goal to be about 10:00 per mile. I thought 20 minutes would be a good amount of time. So I figured on running 2 x 10:00 miles with a light rest in between.   I was somewhat concerned that my legs would be a little used up after a 5 Mile run yesterday.  During a 1-mile warm-up jog my legs felt quite good. I set out on my first Tempo mile and finished in 9:33. I was happy with that. I set out on number two and once again feeling quite good finished in 9:20. Feeling challenged but no aerobic or muscular distress , I decided to try a third 1 mile effort.  I told myself that I was getting comfortable being outside my comfort zone . I became more enthusiastic as the third mile went on and pushed the pace to finish in a surprising 8:50.   I concluded with an 800m cool-down jog to total 4.5 miles. This workout turned out to be much more positive than I had anticipated. I finished confident and invigorated.  Thank you, Percy Cerruty.

My statistics in all categories have been very positive and very steady.

“The ability to recover goes away as you age. What I found is that my recovery is slower, and I can’t do the pounding.”-  Frank Shorter

June 13  – 17;  Saturday  –  Wednesday

A lot of thoughts on my mind tonight. The first is that somehow five days I’ve gotten away since my last post. I don’t think I missed many single days during the last five years. I rationalize that not having a goal makes me less enthusiastic to write. Arlene and I have been out Arlene and I have been out to some gardening centers to pick up flowers  to set around the house and the patio.  So some of my time these last few days has been spent planting  flowers. I also repaired and replaced some window screens that had been busted up by our recent visitor ,  the rather large puppy, Gracie. But tonight I do feel that I have a number of running things to write about. And I can always turn to my distance running hero, Frank Shorter ,  to put things in perspective for me. These five days have been interesting and meaningful to me. And so I begin.

Saturday- As I described in my last post, Friday’s workout was five Progressive miles on the cinders. So,on Saturday I thought I would run a shorter workout with a little speed. I carefully measured a 100m segment on the cinder track.. I was pretty satisfied when I ran 15  x 100m, all in 25 seconds or less with 1 minute rest between each. The total mileage for the day with warm-up and cool-down was 2.75 miles. This was definitely the most intense speed work I have done in a while.

Sunday- Rested predictably sore legs.

Monday- I ran 4 miles on the Cinder track with still heavy legs. It took quite a while to get warmed up and loose. Finally, feeling a little more fluid, I increased effort on my 4th mile and finished that in 9 40.  Still recovering ie:  Frank Shorter

Tuesday – Still in a measuring mood, I mapped out a 1000m loop around my block. Then I ran 3 x 1k in 7:20,  6:12 and 5:30.  I was not happy with the feeling of pounding on the macadam ie: Frank Shorter.  That was at about noon. I toyed with the idea of going out in the evening to the cinder track for another workout, but the feeling in my legs made me give up on that idea.

And then there was Wednesday.

I stopped at the cinder track today on my way home from picking up a yummy prepackaged basket of fruits and vegetables from the takeout lane at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck. The day was very humid with an almost constant mist in the air and about 74 degrees with a steady 8 mile per hour breeze. It felt to me like ideal running conditions. The mist and the breeze were quite refreshing. I forgot my Garmin: I decided that I would run five x  1k efforts  at just comfortable pace.  After a 1200m warm-up with frequent 20 stride pickups I began.  My guess is that I ran the first one in 7:00, the next two in about 6:00 with my sweat pants on.  Things were going swimmingly. As I approached #4, the mist turned into a gentle rain and the wind picked up.  I made a challenge to myself that, if I could break 5:00 on #4, I could skip  #5.  By this time I remembered that I had an old stopwatch in the car. The gentle rain and the breeze still seemed to be invigorating as I started out at a quick pace with sweatpants removed.  As I approached the 800-meter mark I started telling myself that, if I was under 4:00 at that point, I might consider completing a full 1600meffort.  I passed at 3:45.    Approaching the 1K mark I began to waver.  But I passed at 4:45 and decided to “Do What Frightens You.”  I excitedly pushed on to 1600m in 7:46.9!  I was a happy me.:-):-)    The rain and the wind subsided at this point. So,I bravely decided to tackle the fifth 1000m effort anyhow.  I completed it in a relaxed 7:00.   A 200m walk to my car completed a 7,800 meter day.

STATS ARE GOOD!

JUNE 12, FRIDAY

Felt like another brick in the wall.

Tonight was another beautiful time to run. It was 77 degrees with no wind. The track was quite empty so is he chances of encountering individuals was very slim. I started out with modest expectations but quickly decided that a comfortable five miles would be the optimal workout tonight.  Along the way I added frequent 30 second speed segments at a very moderate pace just to elevate the heart rate. I didn’t feel the need to walk at any point along the way which was good. Each mile was progressively quicker with the final mile at a surprising 9:30. I am quite happy with this aerobic 59 minute workout.

Stats-

Diet =  9

Weight = 144 pounds

Sleep = 9 hours

Leg muscles are sore but respond well after about 20 minutes of warm-up.

Foot indexes are all in the low one or two range. I am currently running almost exclusively on the cinders because I feel it greatly benefits my legs and feet.  The impact of the pavement seems to Rattle through my legs these days. And since my recent fall I have become someone reluctant to take a long bike ride. So the cinder track currently fits the bill.  Soft and safe…and 7 minutes away.

As the setting sun cast  wonderful colors across the sky, Kristen and I enjoyed a run on the Cinder track. My legs felt light after a day of rest. So, I kept in motion for 1 hour doing a variety of running jogging and walking segments.  Mostly ran at a solid pace 30 second and 60 second and 2 minute speed  segments with periods of walking and jogging to recover. I stopped only because of darkness as my legs continued to feel fine after the whole hour.  All of the segments were timed that under 8 minute pace and many as low as 7;10.

Stats on solid and stable.

June 4, Thursday

Wednesday-

Deliberate restart today…..  1 mile apprehensive  bike ride followed by 3 miles in 40 minutes with 8 x SS of moderate pace each followed by a short walk, all on the Jackson roads.

Today

Early evening 4 mile, warm, humid run on the Jackson roads……no SS, no walks, 46:28

Leg muscles and feet feeling recovered while cuts, scrapes and bruises slowly heal.  No breathing problems or chest pain.  Lucky!

STATS-

SLEEP – 9/10 hours average

WEIGHT  – staying below 145lb

DIET – 8. Not as much gourmet since Rob Is back in Hoboken

Foot and muscle indexes – All good after 4 days rest

June 2, Tuesday

“Courage is a mean with regard to fear and confidence.”  Aristotle

I called upon Aristotle today to help me get back on my bike after a nasty spill a few days ago.  I have been resting since late on Saturday afternoon when I scraped and bruised myself, nothing serious. My seat came loose and twisted my body and I went down. Wasn’t going very fast but hit pretty hard. Most troubling is a bruise on the left rib cage which I hope is not a fracture. I’ve had fractured ribs twice and this discomfort seems to be diminishing more rapidly which is hopeful.  Elevated fear, diminished confidence, seek the mean. So.I tightened my seat and rode around the block once. OK!  Maybe run tomorrow………..

I think my legs will probably thank me for a few days of needed rest.