June 8, Saturday

“If you under-|train, you may not finish, but if you over-train, you may not start.”                    ~~~ Stan Jensen.    run100s.com

Thursday and Friday were two days of rest.  Today I covered 3.43 miles at  Turkey Swamp Park in 50 minutes.   It was twice around  a  shady  one and three quarter mile loop.  I ran the second Loop in the 30 second on, 30 second off pattern that included 16 x 30 second speed segments.  The quickest segments were at about 9 minute pace. I think it was a very good tapering workout that also helped to maintain aerobic conditioning.  I read that it resembles an Arthur Lydiad  recommended taper workout.  Sunday will be another rest day.

Static stats.

June 4, 5, 6 & 7.     Tuesday thru Friday

Hot day on the cinders

Since Monday’s track workout was a physically draining one , I used Tuesday as a recovery day and simply rode my bike for about 20 minutes.

Wednesday I thought it would be a good day to run some thousands on the cinders. It didn’t seem like it was going to be a successful day when I began because my legs were heavy during warm-up. But I decided to pursue the thousands anyhow. As it turned out the thousands were not a bad workout. Each one got a little more comfortable although the time, remarkably, remained 5:07 exactly for each one.  I finished up with a 1.5 mile jog to finish off with a 5-mile day.  In the end I was completely drained and thought for a moment I might be in danger of suffering heat stroke. Here’s the story.  When I left home the thermometer in my car read 64 degrees. I was convinced this would be a terrific day to run a good, strong workout. I did as mentioned above without taking much note of the increased heat as time went by. When I sat in my car after the workout wondering if I had overdone it, the temperature read 88 degrees! That heightened my fear, but fortunately I was able to take some liquids, turn on the air-conditioning, roll down the windows and get cooled off on the way home. I remained fatigued for quite a while, drank my chocolate milk and ultimately I took a nap for about an hour and a half.  When I awoke my legs were shaking and threatening to cramp up. I kept hydrating and went for a short walk.

I began thinking that being 10 days away from my 1500 meter race and feeling like I had kind of reached a limit of my endurance for training, maybe it was time for me to begin backing off to be  totally recovered and strong by race time. When I spoke to Rich Refi that evening, the first thing he said to me after hearing my story was, “I think it’s time for you to begin to taper.”  Great minds!!

So, on Thursday I went to the pool and did some deep water running for about 10 minutes and then sat in the whirlpool for 20 minutes. It is now Friday morning and I am planning a similar kind of day. Maybe ride the bike for a half an hour or go back to the pool.

I am somewhat at a loss on how to approach the next 7 days. I will be leaving on Friday morning for the long flight to Albuquerque and then have Saturday to prepare for my race on Sunday.   My plan is to do some research on the subject of the taper today.   During my days has a high school coach I came to believe that the taper was not a very positive approach to the big race for 17 year old high school runners. We basically continued to train through the championship season. It became a kind of cornerstone of our program for which we became somewhat renowned: that is always getting stronger through the championship season rather than fading.  I don’t know if any of this applies to a 76 year old runner. But, I guess this entire +70 running experience has been a learning exercise.  Still more to learn………

Stats-

Weight = #147.4 after run on Wednesday!  Kind of crazy.

Other stats are normal and steady.

June 3, Monday

Today I ran on the track at Jackson Liberty High School. I covet 20 laps or 5 miles. First Mile with complete jogging 12 minutes. Miles to three four and five included following ;

5 x 200m with 200m jog

10 x 300m with 100m quick walk

It was a punishing workout, but yet it felt like I could have gone on. I stopped out of caution.

June 1, Saturday

Too tired to look up a quote. LOL.

     But I do remember Frank Shorter, when asked what one thing would he change about his training throughout his career, saying , “I would do my easy days easier.”

My legs did mot feel sore this morning, which was a bit surprising because I covered  10 miles on the previous two days.   So, when I got to the cinder track this evening, I thought it might be a good day to run some quality 660’s.  I quickly realized that my legs were not going to cooperate as I warmed up.  I continued to do a few more progressive accelerations. I chose to try the 660’s eventually.  I set a modest goal of 3 minutes per effort.  I ran progressive times; 3:10,  3:00,  2.51.  Was hoping for 4, but felt quite exhausted after 3. So,I quit.  I felt like I didn’t do enough. So, I measured off and planned to run a few x 100m.  Did one in 23.5 and got scared and quit again.  Strange day!  Maybe better than nothing…..

Steady stats.

May 30, Friday

MMF in play

Ran a comfortable 4miles today on the cinders. It took 47 :-)minutes after a 14 minute warm up mile. I used the MMF approach, but at a less intense level . Keeping my heart rate elevated for 60 minutes was the goal. As I went on, I instinctively increased the distance of the faster segments.  I think it was good work for a recovery day.  For myself and for any reader who is interested, I’m going to restate the benefits of the plan that I am calling My Modified Fartlek (MMF). The plan is to modify long recovery runs by alternating equal segments of walking and running at a more accelerated pace then normal.                                    Benefits I perceive are ;

1- Markedly reduced foot strikes for overall run…..  I was reminded recently that the body has to absorb an impact of three times body weight with each foot strike in a normal running stride.  That impact is eliminated when walking.

2- More strides at a quicker stride-per-minute rate……. I am less and less convinced of the effectiveness of slow running or jogging.

3- Elevated heart rate can be sustained throughout by speed walking segments.

Stats-

Weight = steady at #148. 🙂

Sleep = 9 hours 🙂

Morning foot indexes a strong 🙂

A.m. heart rate equals 54 beats per minute. 🙂

Diet remains very positive.  🙂

Daily stretching is getting more consistent. 🙂

Working on I altitude simulation exercises.  🙂

May 30, Thursday

Yesterday was an unexpected, but I think needed, day off.  Today on the cinders I was in motion for 1 hour and 6 minutes covering 5.38 miles.  The warm-up mile took 17 minutes including walking, jogging, stretching and gradual pick-ups.  I continued for 4+ miles of MMF (My Modified Fartlek) with 21 SS.  The pattern was mostly 1 minute run and 1 minute quick power walk.  The mile pace was between 9:40 and 11:00 with most SS under 8:00. My heart rate remained at an elevated level throughout.  It felt like a very demanding and productive session.

I have begun some high altitude simulation exercises I found on the internet to be a little more prepared for the 5000 foot elevation in Albuquerque.

Stats –

Weight=  #148.8

Diet = 9/10

Indexes are steady and positive

Heart rate p.m. mid 50’s

Stretching = good.  Body weights on hold.

May 28, Tuesday

Following a day of rest,  today felt like a good day to get in some faster work.  It was fun to catch up with some of the boys from the Jackson Liberty 4 x 800m Sectional Championship team as I entered the track this afternoon. Warm-up was a mile of jog, walk and gradually intensifying 100m pick-ups.  Spiked up and began running 6 x  200m efforts  at target race pace (6:30) with 200m recovery. (walk 100m, jog 100m)

:54,  :51,  :50,  :49,  :49,  :48

800m cool down- 3 mile day

Not bad.

Good stats.

May 26, Sunday

” I’ve learned that it is what you do with your miles, rather than how many you’ve run.”               ~~~Rod DeHaven , USA Olympic Marathoner

4.76 miles in 64 minutes…… with 5 x 880 @  sub-4:50

I wanted to run these lazy 880 yard efforts in  under 5 minutes.  Rich Refi and I developed the concept of “Lazy 8’s” as a recovery day workout about 12 years ago for the Hillsborough cross country teams. We later decided to change the name, but I forgot the new name. The idea is that it is a little more focused than simply a long, easy run on a recovery day. It is also easier to monitor and to maintain a credible pace. I picked a 10 minute per mile pace as my goal.  It turned out that I easily exceeded that pace, running between 8 and 9 minute pace throughout the day. I approached number 4 and number 5 with trepidation because I was feeling pretty exhausted. But it turned out I ran each one faster than the last.  This turned out to be far more draining than I had anticipated. So, I decided to take today (Monday) off for a true recovery.   🙂

Stats are on course.

May 25, Saturday

So, here is the story of my long fall. Looking for an aerobic day today I went to Turkey Swamp Park to run on the dirt roads. I had the brilliant idea when I arrived to try one of the wooded Trails instead of the dirt road. As I should have expected the trail was covered with the roots of the forest. About a half-mile into the trail my back foot clipped the root and sent me into the Staggering long fall. I struggled for balance for about seven strides before I hit the ground. That 7 strives is like a slow-motion eternity. Just enough time for flashes of a similar fall two years ago that left me with two broken ribs. Fortunately my hands took most of the brunt of the fall, but my left hip also hit pretty hard.  I got up shakily and walked out of the woods back to the road.  My hip is bruised and battered a little, but I think I avoided the worst possible outcomes.

Back on the road, which is flat and very safe, I began my patented SS / walk workout. I covered about three and a half miles running an SS for 1 minute followed by walking for 1 minute. Maybe it was because I was feeling angry or feeling lucky or both, but I really was pounding the speed segments along the way. I wound up doing 17  x 1 minute SS in the process of three and a half miles.   My Garmin says that the pace for many of the SS was under 7:00 which is he kind of speed I am shooting for in this workout.  The total distance moving for the day was 5 miles ( including the fall  🙂 ), in motion for 71 minutes.    I feel like I managed to salvage what could’ve been a disaster of a day.

Stable Stats

May 24, Friday

Rocking the Cinders

Yesterday was a day off.   So, today I ran some hard stuff on the cinders after the shade covered about half of the 880 yard oval. I warmed up with 1-mile of jogging, walking, stretching and about six gradual accelerations.  I began with a quick mile in 7:58, very even splits along the way.  I then did three x 400 meters with equal recovery.  The times got better with each effort;  1:51,  1:45 and 1:41.  Half mile cool down.

Stats-

Weight = 148.8 lbs I think that’s the lowest I’ve weighed since I’ve been an adult.

a.m. HR = 50 bpm    Trending lower than usual for the last few days.

Sleep = 8 hours

Diet = 9

Morning feet are good, no leg issues

Better stretching and lots of heating before running today.