I have been catching up on some long way to Home projects over the last few days. It is surprising to me how much these small projects tire me out in the course of a few hours of lite work. But I did force myself to Turkey Swamp Park on Friday after my DIY job. It was tough getting started, but I did stay in motion for about 55 minutes with 6/7 quick straightaways and hills at the finish. Surprisingly when I returned home and checked my weight, I was at 142 pounds. That’s pretty close to top running weight and down about 8 pounds from my high earlier this year.

 I’ve been getting anxious to get to a 400 m track to run some form of time trial. I currently have zero idea of the level of my conditioning. I would be thrilled to run a four minute 800m at this point.  One problem is that local schools have stopped allowing the community members to use their 400m track. It’s quite annoying. I guess I’ll just have to climb a fence. 🏃🏿‍♂️😊🙏🤞👣🪜👮‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️

On Thursday the 9th I did 3 interval miles on the cinder track. The times were not very impressive. But it is the 1st work out of that length that I have been able to complete recently. I ran each mile without stopping. That sounds pretty pitiful to say 0for a training athlete, but I have not been able to do that for a while.
On Monday the 13th I did a much more impressive workout for this level of my conditioning. I ran 4 x 800 meters all under 5:30 with 3:00 recovery completed in 29:50.
Today, Tuesday the 14th, I ran and swam in the pool for 30 minutes.

During the 15 days that has relapsed since the last time I posted, I have been able to become more consistent in my training. I’ve done some form of work for 10 of those 15 days. No workouts have yet approached the intensity, especially the aerobic intensity of workouts that I did many months ago before I was injured. The workouts have included Hill efforts whenever possible. I’ve been monitoring my VO2 max, which has fallen into 35 in recent times, and I have been unable to improve that in the last two months. That is somewhat frustrating. I feel as though I don’t have the mental discipline to run extended miles any longer. I can proceed for quite a while with jogging, pick ups and walking sequence. But sustaining a respectable pace for any length of time is still very difficult. That sequence does keep my heart rate at a pretty high level for an expanded period of time. So,I am assuming it is improving my cardiovascular fitness.

You can go out now if you want. 😊 That comment, picked up by the voice recorder, was meant for the dog who was asking to be let out on the patio. 😊

Anyhow, I am happy to be getting training of any kind done at this point. My back is still pretty painful after workouts. It doesn’t hurt while I’m running or doing exercises. But, after I sit for a while, it becomes very sore. I haven’t been able to determine if this is a structural or muscle issue. I hope it is a muscle issue which will eventually strengthen and disappear. I hope it is not a structural issue which will become more difficult as time goes on if I am doing some damage to my lumbar area.

The current goal is to continue doing core work to strengthen that area, stretch well before and after workouts and hope for the best.

 I am not writing specific workouts here because my workout details are being recorded in my journal and on Garmen Connect and Strava  uploaded from my watch. It’s magic!❗️