March 8th, Thursday

Fish Camp

Today I rode a final, five, comfortable miles in the late afternoon shade of my favorite spot, The S’hood, on my Panama Jack beach bike.  Then I put it in the car to bring over to our friends Adam and Janine and their two-year old little boy,  Elon, to hold for the next 10 months at their Fish Camp. My face and neck have cooled down considerably  from the effects of  over exposure the sun yesterday. But the shade was very welcome.  It is a serious reminder of the power of the Florida Sun to note that, even after 7 weeks in this state, just one day of failure to  apply sunscreen resulted in an almost dangerous burn.

ASIDE:   What is a Fish Camp you may ask? Well, I had the same question when I learned that our dancing instructors  for the last five years, Adam and Janine, had given up instructing dancing and purchased a Fish Camp on the Matanzas River. Not knowing what to expect, we got directions to the Fish Camp and drove over to see our friends. It turns out that a Fish Camp is a pretty cool place where you rent paddle boats and boards, and canoes and kayaks and docks for party boats, and sell a little beer and bait and tackle and other stuff.  It is located on a picturesque site along the Matanzas River as it floats into St Augustine. It is historic and pristine and idyllic for a young boy growing up. Arlene and I spent a couple of lovely afternoons at the Fish Camp playing with Elon, who is a charming, bright, little fellow.

That $35 bike served me well for the last 2 months on the beach and on the roads around St Augustine. Never had to add air to the tires once! I am happy that our friends and their little Elon will have the use of the bike for the rest of the year.

Stats are holding steady as we get ready to return to New Jersey in two days.

March 7th, Wednesday

Around noon today I spent 40 minutes in the pool running and swimming;  20 minutes run, 20 minutes swim. Then Arlene and I took a long walk around The Old City .  It was a breezy day in the high 60s, but the Florida sun was very strong. We had a very nice lunch at the A1A Ale House, both feeling pretty spent.  As I sit here writing this post  tonight, I am feeling quite heated. I think I may have spent too much time in the sun today.

I say this with no intention of making my friends and family in New Jersey feel bad as they experience a horrible snow bomb. I hope you will forgive me and please stay safe.

Stats = Stable and normal

March 6th, Tuesday

Today I got back to the beach in the late afternoon for a 3 mile jaunt on the beach in 40 minutes.  I inserted about 6 x 50 to 150 stride pick-up.  Finished wanting more but stopped out of caution.

Stats – Stable

March 5th, Monday

 5 steady miles on bike in 36 minutes — easy day

Stats are stable.

March 4th, Sunday

20 minutes of gentle running and swimming today to sooth tired muscles ……..

My legs and feet have responded well to yesterday’s 5k effort,  only normal morning aches and some stiffness.

My personal analysis of my race indicates that lack of aerobic fitness hampered my performance in the second half of the race.  My legs were able to respond when called upon, but I could not sustain surges.  I am also not psychologically race fit.  I feel like I backed off when things got tough instead of pushing through the distress.  During the course of the race I remember retreating to the default position when things got tough that it was ok to relax and post a fair time rather than push for a better time.  I guess I need more miles, more races and more guts if I really want to run a fast 5k.   But first a healthy triathlon!

Stats are good!

March 3rd,  Saturday

1st place , Men 70+
 That guy to my left looks a lot younger than 70 years old!

Approaching this race with modest expectations, I did a thorough warm up and felt quite relaxed at the start. I ran the first Mile in 8:06 faster than I have run in many months. I ran the Second Mile cautiously in 9 minutes. I think my lack mileage showed up in the final mile though I tried to sustain by doing an ocassional 50 stride pickup and some serious belly breathing.  I finished strong and kept good form in the final one tenth of a mile. A final time of 27:59 exceeded my expectations and, surprisingly, earned me the first place medal in the men’s + 70 division.  I am satisfied with this performance considering the kind of training I have been doing. Fortunately I experienced no leg issues or foot issues during or after the race. Hopefully that will continue tomorrow when I wake up. I think we will be swimming and biking for a day or two to let my legs recover.

I did not take note of any Stats today.

March 1st, Thursday

Resting for the second day with no workout at all except for lazy romp in the pool for 15 minutes. This may be the most spectacular day yet in St Augustine. It’s about 82 degrees and there is a cool breeze blowing through the deck. We just had lunch outside watching the palm trees swaying in the breeze.

Stats are stable.

February 27th, Tuesday

Got out today for one hour of work on the bike and running.  It was a bit blustery as I set out on the bike to the Shood. After a two and a half mile warm-up ride, I set out to run 3 miles in preparation for Saturday’s 5K. I figured this would be my last running workout for the next couple of days. Each mile after the transition got a little faster with the final mile ending in 10:01.  I feel like it’s taking an extra long time to get warmed up these last few weeks. I have to decide how to approach the race on Saturday in terms of warming up. I think I will repeat the Hillsboro girls warm-up that I did last week before my time trial. My plan is to do that a good 30 minutes ahead of the race and just relax on the final 15 minutes as my capillaries dilate and my muscles get totally warm. The next few days will be light work only.

Stats –

I-Mid =3  I-Mad = 2

Weight =#151.6. After workout

Sleep = 8 hours

a.m.HR = 54bpm

Workout=1 hour -6.5miles. 3.5 bike, 3 run

February 26th, Monday

Well, today marks a 75th year on the planet. It was a very enjoyable day. The weather was comfortable: I swam and ran for 40 minutes in the pool (pretty solid workout).  Enjoyed a sumptuous seafood dinner with Arlene: then we spent an hour learning how to dance the Rumba. 

  Who could ask for anything more?

https://youtu.be/n85lS6l7adg

Stats-

Weight -#154

I-Mad = 1.    I-MID = 2/3.  Sore quads

SLEEP  = 9 hours

a.m.HR = 54bpm

Workout = In pool;  run 10,  swim 10, run 10, swim 10 (40 min. nonstop)

February 24th, Saturday

Today marks the first time I actually did a realistic triathlon sequence. My goal was to spend 10 minutes swimming, 10 minutes biking and 10 minutes running for a respectable 30 minutes in motion. As it turned out I did 14 minutes swimming in the pool, 19 minutes riding a bike and 14 minutes running for a total of 47 minutes. It was pretty interesting and didn’t seem too horrible.  My quadriceps are pretty painful this morning. So I think I’ll take a day of Beach walking.

It did, however, make me more aware of the logistics of the event.  The transition from swimming to biking involves drying feet, and socks, and shoes and tying stuff. I will definitely have to be better prepared and more dextrous in this stage to be happy with my performance.

Stable stats.