Good morning– It’s Thursday, March 24th at 9 a.m. 70 degrees, clear and calm. Beach pretty.

There are plenty of strollers, dog walkers, Runners and cyclists along the surf today. I arrived with unhappy muscles at 9 a.m. I was greeted by a cute little autistic boy digging in the sand with his parents nearby. He was responsive, communicative and interactive but all at somewhat low levels. I found out his name was Kobe. We talked about sand and Sun for a while with his parents interpreting when I looked confused. I asked Kobe if he would watch my sweats while I ran and he agreed.

My workout was a totally different matter. It began with a 10-minute walk. I started to jog but after about a minute stopped because of uncooperative muscles. I continued walking with waning confidence that this was going to be a productive day. I stripped down and reluctantly began my daily run while Koby watched my sweats. I decided to go shirtless today to bank some sunshine for the upcoming trip to the north. What followed was 4 miles of very uncomfortable running. My muscles never fully cooperated and my stride never felt smooth or open. Each step was a struggle. This is somewhat confusing to me because I completely took the day off yesterday, and that usually results in springy legs. No Spring today. My only other explanation is that possibly my body is still adapting to my new training level. I am confident that the last 7 days have been the most strenuous of my running career. I thought that one day off would be sufficient recovery, but my body tells me something different. I probably will repeat many times, because it is one of the key purposes of this blog, that listening to one’s body, especially among +70runners, is an absolute necessity for survival. So, I trudged through 4 more miles in 49 minutes surviving only by writing this blog in my head along the way. When I got back to Kobe and his parents my sweats were still secure. I played with Kobe for a few minutes. Then I told his parents what a lovely young boy they had and how lucky he was to have smart and loving parents. They seemed pleased. I said goodbye to Toby, and I hope I will see him again before we leave. So, even though the workout was kind of gruesome, it was a nice morning at the beach.

Wednesday, March 23rd. Another nice spring day in Florida

Slept this morning till 10:30. Just listening to my body! I guess yesterday was not as much of a recovery as I thought it was. Set alarm for 7 a.m. again. When it went off I awoke and felt like my body hurt in every possible place. Made a quick decision to turn over and continue to heal. Is now 12:30 and I’m planning a day with as much walking as possible, no running.

Weighed 151 pounds after I ran yesterday, lowest ever. I am not trying to lose weight. I think running more and eating well is producing that result. I was 177 pounds when I started running again. After a few good meals and a day of rest, I will most likely be back up to 154 pounds which has been my standard weight for the last year and a half.

Sad to say the time has come to start planning for our trip back to New Jersey. Hopefully we bring some of the nice weather with us as many have suggested. Departure date is March 31st. So we do have some time left to enjoy St.Augustine. No more shopping for groceries. Eat everything in the house and dine out for the next week.

Whatever happened
Tuesday is so slow

Van Morrison, covered by Jimmy Buffett     “Brown Eyed Girl”

I feel like I should give Jimmy a shout out before he sends me a bill. I am using a lot of his material,

5 p.m. 58* wind NE 10 to 15 mph. Beach conditions very nice, flat and firm

Today was designed to be a recovery day. Happily, I got in 4 miles in 46 minutes, not too bad. I decided to try this one Kenyan Style, that is wearing sweats for the entire run. About 3 miles into the run I began to feel smooth and relaxed. Each mile was a little quicker and the final mile was under 10 minutes. I guess those Kenyans know what they are doing. I had to keep something in the tank for West Coast swing dancing tonight. Quadriceps were sore after the run but, remarkably, got better as we continued dancing. We just got home. Its 10:30 heading for bed.

Just a note. have noticed that constructing blogs while I am running makes my workouts and Miles go much quicker. Today I started writing in my head about how I began running and the effects that my brothers had on me in those early days in the 50s. If things go as expected I plan to post that blog tomorrow. Goodnight

7 p.m. 70 degrees and very light wind. Ideal conditions 4 for an early evening run along the ocean. The Panorama of the sky was striking. A hazy, gray full moon hung over the eastern ocean horizon gazing westwood at a golden fireball sinking into the Matanzas River. Strollers on the beach must have been quite confused watching an old guy running on the beach with a wide smile on his face.

The happy runner had a number of reasons for sporting a smile.
1-the mesmerizing sky of course
2- running along in the evening without pain
3- performing a workout that far exceeded his expectations for that evening

Tonight I covered five miles on my journey along the ocean. At the start of the workout it seemed that things were going to be tedious. My quads were sore and heavy and my calves were whining. All this no doubt is a result of yesterday’s rather difficult and demanding workout. As I have mentioned earlier, it seems my workouts are getting longer, more in the five to six mile range rather then in the three to four mile range that had been my previous norm. Warm up was about a mile and a half of walking and jogging which took 20 minutes. Feeling a little better, I decided to try to do a few mile intervals wondering if I could run better than 9:30 pace. I was surprised to find that I ran a quite comfortable 8:24 for the first mile. After a four minute jog I ran an 8:13 mile! I had some idea that I might go for 3, but my Achllie’s tendon started to ache slightly during the second mile. So I opted to err on the side of caution. The workout concluded with a one-mile cool-down jog. I am pretty sure I could have run three. I think that if I can run a number of 8 minute miles during workouts over the next fiew weeks, I have a chance to reach my goal 5K time of 25 minutes.

We just finished a delicious dinner cooked by Arlene of a fish we have discovered in Florida. It’s name is trigger. The folks at the local fish store claim it is one of the most popular in the area and it is tasty and versatile. We both liked it end probably will have it again before we leave. I don’t know if it is available in New Jersey.

Noon now and resting after 6 miles on the beach. Uploaded workout data from my Garmin to my ancient Apple, drank my chocolate milk and icing and enjoying a cocktail of green tea and pure tart cherry juice. It has become a delightful spring like day.
Wow, what a difference two days can make! Doing the right thing is pretty f****** important. I should have that figured out by now. Rested and prepared properly today and had a wonderful run. With apologies for repeating I have to say the beach was flat and firm, and the cloud covered sky and cool breeze made it just perfect. Today I felt pain free, powerful and most importantly pretty. My athletes often laughed when I told them to run pretty. But I am perfectly serious about the importance of running beautiful. I guess coaches call it running efficiently or with good form but to me it is just pretty. One of the things that made me proudest while I was coaching was that a number of people I respected told me that most of my runners looked similar in their running form,that they were smooth and under control. I call that pretty. I reminded kids frequently of how often they would hear someone say after a race that the winning athlete looked like he was hardly even trying. A very nice gentleman from Scranton Pennsylvania approached me one year at the New Jersey Meet of Champions practically with tears in his eyes to tell me how disappointed he was that Brendan Heffernan was not competing that day. He said he only came to the meet from Scranton to see Brendan run because of how much he enjoyed watching his beautiful running Style. I don’t think I have ever told Brandon that story, and I hope he is reading this because it would be a very nice thing for him to hear.
But I digress as I frequently will because that is how my brain works these days.
Preparing properly allowed me to have a comfortable and productive run for which I am very be grateful. I was able to concentrate on a shorter stride and soft, firm foot strikes. I was also able to put in 10 surges of from 50 to stride. I am more comfortable counting strides of these days been trying to keep track of the duration of the surge because it helps me to synchronize my strides and my breathing. Speaking of breathing, I have become a strong proponent of belly breathing while running distance these days. The concept of belly breathing is relatively new to me but not totally new.. It was introduced to me recently by coach Mike Paul who is a friend,a former assistant coach of my mine and arguably one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the state of New Jersey. Mike suggested that I consider trying to belly breathe during my runs after watching me in a race at Hillsborough about 2 years ago. I have tried it during training and racing and I found it to be quite helpful to me. I will probably speak a lot more about this in the future but there is also an interesting story to go along with that. Way back in the eighties, when I was coaching with the legendary Bob McGivney, I would hear him constantly telling his girls during training and racing to belly breathe. Now Bob was one of the most successful girls cross country coaches in New Jersey history. North Hunterdon girls basically owned the sport throughout the 1980s. Bob and I spoke frequently about coaching training and distance running. I don’t remember ever asking him about the belly breathing thing and I don’t know why. But I can only say that his girls employed the concept and were ridiculously successful. So I guess Mac knew what he was doing. So when Mike Paul brought the concept up I began practicing it and have been belly breathing now for the better part of two maybe three years. It has helped me to improve my training and racing. Thank you Michael Paul.

Enough for now.

Happy Spring! 68* cloudy and calm

Blogging before running this morning because I am doing much more deliberate pre-workout preparation. Answered the alarm at 7 a.m.,took my time, had coffee, heating my calves and achilles and doing some gentle stretching. One more item to add to the list of old retired guy benefits. We have time.
I spent the whole afternoon yesterday wearing my compression sleeves on lower leg around town. That really felt good. (Had to show off my newly acquired technological skills yesterday by taking a picture of my leg with my tablet and finding a way to actually import it to this blog.) Also got some nice comments from total strangers! I have read articles about studies on compression and there is a mixed opinion about the effects and benefits. The true physiological effects have not been proven, but the results show that those who expect performance to be improved have improved performance. There is also a difference of opinion as to whether benefits are more substantial wearing during workout or wearing between workouts as an aid to recovery. I guess the truth remains, as with all preported running enhancements, if you believe it works it probably works for you. I am not convinced either way. I don’t know what that means in terms of the effect on me. I am wearing them today for my workout. Time to start running and stop talking.

Just returned from 30 minute walk on beach. Lower left leg feels much better. Solid breeze is back. Already getting antsy to run tomorrow.

68 degrees,91% humidity and calm in St Augustine this morning. Having zero mph wind is very, very unusual in St.augustine. We arrived February 1st and the wind did not stop for 3 weeks.
I was out of bed at 7 a.m. today but have not run yet. It is now 9:30. Still dealing with sore achilles on left leg. Lots of heat!
Having made a decision to write each day about my training has made me think a lot more about what I’m actually doing. I have a tendency to forget the advise of people close to me at times. Two things happened in the last 24 hours to adjust my perspective on the sore leg I have been whining about. I recalled the advice of my friend, Rich Refi. He always reminds me to, “Do what you tell your athletes to do.” He is a pretty smart guy. So, if I’m such a good coach why don’t I listen to myself. I have told my athletes for years who are having soreness in lower legs calves and achilles tendons to heat the legs before each run. I was in the habit of doing that myself back in New Jersey and had stopped since I came to Florida in February. Maybe I thought the warm weather made that unnecessary. But I definitely got out of the habit. So I will be heating my legs before each run from now on. Secondly, Arlene reminded me this morning of the reason why I had decided to begin rising at 7 a.m. this week. It was because the weather had become 88 – 92 degrees. Running in the afternoon, which is my normal habit, became intolerable. There was no need to force myself out onto the beach at 7 a.m. I also reminded myself that I have no competition schedules for the foreseeable future. So I write today much less stressed and much smarter than yesterday. Thank you Rich, Arlene and Old Coach O.

My plan for sore achilles tendon problems is the following. This is what I did yesterday and my leg feels much better. Rest and take one ibuprofen every 4 hours. Heat your lower legs before each run and ice after each one. I have done it simply by dangling my feet on the edge of the cold pool. But 15 to 20 minutes with an ice pack will do the job. It is not necessary to freeze the muscle or the tendon. I also plan to start again to use my lower leg compression sleeves. That is another thing that I stopped doing since I came to Florida. Not sure why, maybe just because they are a little hard to put on and I got lazy.

So, sitting on this lovely deck, temperature about 75 degrees now, watching the ocean and the beach on a Saturday morning as still as church during Consecration (That is the best simile I could think of.) I am totally stress-free and relaxed.

I will continue the treatment for one more day and try a gentle walk this afternoon.
We are heading into Old Town in a while to a Fair of some sort with good food and beer I am told. Sounds like a nice afternoon.

THANK YOU to all my friends and relatives who commented and liked my post on Facebook. I hope some of you are reading this and you enjoy it. I am definitely having fun. Please leave any comments with your thoughts or suggestions.

?Friday, March 18 64* and cloudy light wind 4mph

Good morning
As I sit watching Morning Joe with coffee and a heating pad on my Achilles, I try to digest the fact that I was unable to complete any kind of workout this morning. I did rise and get on to the beach by 7:30 a.m. with the realization that this may have just been a day to walk for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I was ready to accept that. However I never got started because the nagging pain in my left Achilles area constantly made me aware of my foot strikes. I could never get comfortable. Finally decided to abandon the effort altogether and return home for some heat and and a plan for the next few days. One consideration is to swim in the community pool here at Sea place. I guess I haven’t yet mentioned that we are living in St. Augustine Florida in a condominium for February and March. It is a lovely place just a few feet off the beach that I have frequently mentioned. The pool has been too cold to swim in up until now. I think it has warmed up enough but I will have to check today. Back home in Jackson New Jersey I frequently take a rest day from running and use the clubhouse pool. For a time in the first few years that I was training I would bike one or two days a week. But about a year-and-a-half ago I had a bike accident that tore up my knee seriously. I have been back on the bike since but not with the same confidence. So running workouts have become the norm. I think it would be very beneficial for my body if I could get back in the habit of biking more frequently. I have to admit my race times have dropped dramatically in the last year-and-a-half. I don’t know if that solely is a product of doing more road run workouts. I guess I have to become more clear to myself about my goals. There is a real chance I know that setting goals too high might lead me to injuring myself training for those goals. The running that I have been doing, the training that I have been doing the past 4 years, have made me much healthier and more confident about my health. That alone should be enough without any need for competition. But competitions are really fun. Then again I have told many people that the only reason I run is so I can drink beer. Another very good reason to be conservative and simply enjoy the opportunity to move. Maybe as I continue to express these ideas it will all become clear to me. So, even if I am the only one who reads this,it still might be a positive enterprise.

Foot is feeling better after heat. I will probably try one more time today to walk either on the beach or around the neighborhood. I will keep you posted.