June 26 and 28, Monday and Wednesday

“All I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal.” Rod Dixon

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES…….!!!

Monday- Being neither a Mad Dog or an Englishman, I chose not to go out in the midday sun.  Instead I chose the Shady Trails of Turkey Swamp Park to do a few miles of my favorite Modified Fartlek (MMF).  The workout consisted of 3.3 miles of work with 12 series of walk/ jog /run, 30 seconds each segment.  The total time in motion was 41:00.  Run segments averaged around 8:00 pace.  Seemed like a good day.

Weight, Sleep and Diet are good.  No leg or foot issues. 🙂 🙂

Wednesday – On the cinders as dusk loomed I did a workout of 6 x 400m with a 1 mile warm-up and a 1 mile cool-down, total of 3.5 miles in 37:30.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to maintain the goal that I set at the beginning of the workout to initiate each 400m interval at 3:00. I hoped to run 2:15 with a :45  recovery and back in motion at 3:00.  That would be 9:00 pace.  I had not done such a tightly structured workout as this for many months. So the sequence was 17:00 as follows;

2:15 – :45.   2:10 – :50.    2:15 – :45.   2:02 – :58.     2:05 – :55.          2:00.   =    17:00

I feared throughout that I would be unable to hold the pace with such a short recovery, but I was able to do so quite handily. I really love this kind of track work. I hope my body can handle it, and I can do a few more of these before July 13th.  Chocolate milk to follow, and the Mets and a Bud Light and bed………zzzzzzz

Steady stats.  🙂

On a hot and muggy Saturday afternoon at the Peddie School I competed in a 1500m race. I was using it as a time trial in preparation for the Nation Senior Games. My finishing time was a respectable 6:57, but that was slower than I had hoped to run.

I approached the race with some trepidation because I had been feeling some nagging injuries in my leg muscles during training. I even considered withdrawing from the race for fear of aggravating injury. My impression from my performance is that it was a below par effort, especially in the second half of the race. I realized early that my splits were too slow for me to achieve my pre-race goal. I think that led me to have no enthusiasm for the final 800m. For now that will have to suffice as my rationale.

The outcome of the race on my physical well-being is much more positive. I felt nothing of the leg muscle issues that I noted during the warm-up, the race or post race cooldown. Plus, on this rainy Sunday morning I am experiencing none of the muscle soreness that I felt after last week’s 800m time trial. It could be because of a less demanding effort. Or it could be because my legs are becoming more fit. I would like to think the latter, but it’s probably a little bit of each. In any event, I look forward to two more weeks of solid training and a fun trip to Pittsburgh with Arlene for the nationals.

The 800m time trial proved to be more successful than I. even hoped.. For a number of reasons I felt in the dark regarding my level of fitness for an 800m track race. One year ago in the same meet I ran 3:24 on a similar relay running essentially by myself on the anchor leg 200m behind the field. That was disappointing. Since that time, and passing the 80 year old mark, I have become much more concerned about the development of injury my approach to training. I take more days off for recovery and limit my longest distance efforts to 4 miles, only rarely exceeding that mark. Plus I run exclusively on dirt and cinders and rubber tracks now, no roads. The result has been a decrease in total miles, albeit hopefully an increase in quality of workouts. So, the outcome of that change was to be determined with yesterday’s time trial.

The race evolved in an interesting way. There were three of us on the starting line. The other two were younger and sure to break three minutes. So, I would be chasing from the start. During the first 200m I was surprised at how springy my legs felt.

The other two guys were gone, but it seemed like the first lap was going well. As I passed the 400m mark the clock read 1:35, and I realized that I might be able to actually run a decent time. Drawing on decades of coaching advice, I determined to run the third 200m with a little balls. I reached the 600m mark exhilarated that I was still standing and pushed excitedly for the finish. Approaching the finish, I saw that it was possible to break 3:15. I tried to relax and close. It was a thrill to see 3:14 on the clock as I passed the baton.

Next week I will run a 1500m trial with, I hope, a similar outcome. Then off to Nationals!!

Stats are stable and positive.

I am trying to balance upgrading my training and staying healthy. I am working on a training program that I developed for some of my athletes in high school who complained about sore legs frequently. The program involves two days of training with one day of recovery following . I told these athletes that they couldn’t complain about your legs because they either just came off a day of rest or we’re going to have a day of rest tomorrow. It worked pretty well for some young men. So, I did one series on last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Than began another on Sunday. But by Monday my legs were dangerously sore. So I swam and ran in the pool for about40 minutes instead of running at the track.. Today is a scheduled recovery and the rest of the walk will be moderate in preparation for Saturday’s 800m trial.

On Saturday I am running a leg on a 4 x 800 m relay at the New Jersey international track meet at Monmouth University. I’m also considering running a competitive individual mile later in the day. Both of these will serve as a time trial to see what is the status of my conditioning in preparation for the senior nationals on July 13 and 14th.

Ladder – 3200m

200 – :55

600 – 2:59

800 – 4:06

400- 1:58

600 – 3:04

400 – 1:58

200 – :48