THEN I RAN

Training

January 22nd,   Still Sunday,  3:30 p.m

Posting now while enjoying a Goose Island IPA.

Just returned from a 45-minute run covering 3.5 miles in an invigorating, gentle rain, wearing my new Pussy Hat and listening to Jimmy Buffett. Somehow Jimmy puts it all in perspective.

 

This one captured my mood earlier today……………..

This song, the motto of my blog for the past year, reminds me of why I’m actually doing this and how lucky I am.

And then Jimmy brings it all back into Focus……………….

Just thoughts

Life - Other than running ?

January 22,    Sunday –   Noon?

I’m thinking about a lot of different things today. So this is likely to be a rambling narrative and I’m not quite sure where it’s going to go. First I’m trying to decide as I sit here whether to run today or not. I have been having a nagging ache in my upper right leg. I ran some pretty serious workouts last week which I was very happy with. On Friday I went to the clubhouse with intention of beginning to do some core and weight training for the first time since my eye operation in December. I was also looking forward to swimming for the first time, putting my head in the chlorine pool after five weeks. Well I cut the weight room/ core activity short because I felt some soreness in my abdomen at the sight of my three-year-old hernia operation. I went into the pool to begin a light swimming event, but the soreness reappeared as I started to swim. I ended up sitting in the whirlpool feeling sorry for myself for about 20 minutes. So this mild but obvious pain in my abdomen along with this other leg pain has continued for the last three days. I do not know for sure that the two are connected, but it does seem ominous. Now, in the last three years I have on occasion previously had a similar situation where I had pain in the area of my hernia scar which has lasted a few days and the pain disappeared. I’m hoping that is what is happening right now. After the operation Dr. Davidow  told me that occasionally you can get a pulled muscle in that area because it has obviously been compromised by being cut open. Even though it heals, it is still subject to weakness. None of this uncomfortable soreness or pain has ever expressed itself while I was actually running. I could clearly feel it doing core work and swimming on Friday. So I’m still trying to reconstruct what’s going on, hoping that the intensity of last week’s work caused the discomfort in this area and it will soon resolve itself.  Of course my greatest fear is that the hernia has recurred.  So as I construct this post I continue to wonder if I should get a short run in today before the Nor’easter attacks for the next two days, or should I simply let things settle down and take off two days. Added into the mix is the fact that I will probably lose two days of training as we drive to Florida on Friday and Saturday. All arrangements are in place here in Jackson and in Saint Augustine, and I am very excited about training in some good weather. All indications are my mind will settle on attempting a 30-minute moderate run as soon as I’m finished with this post.

On another note I was struck yesterday as I sat in the Tom’s River Bubble watching two or three thousand people gathered to compete for the New Jersey Group IV state relay championship.  SO many people focused on engaging in healthy, intense, spirited, yet good-natured  competition.  All happening while millions of people were marching In protest in just about every city in America while a newly elected president was arguing about who had the biggest crowd.  I can’t resolve in my brain which of these two phenomena are more significant.  One seems to represent everything about being a person that is right and normal, the other is just unnerving.  As it turns out the Hillsborough boys 4 x 800 meter relay  won a very exciting race. That was the race I had come to watch. The race produced a wonderful sport’s story that will probably not get too much attention. The Hillsborough anchorman, Mitch Baron, anchored the same race last year.  His team gave him a sizable lead going into the anchor leg last year. Unfortunately Mitch was caught and the team finished third.  Mitch was devastated and believed he had let the team down. Today Mitch received the baton in third place and ran down the two runners ahead of him to bring his team home first and win the State Championship. What a great story of redemption!  All this while millions of people marched around the world to display that they are unnerved. And I have a pain, and we are heading to Florida, and the Giants are out of the playoffs, and I need to go for run, and I need a beer.??  Slainte!

 

4 on the road

Training

January 19th,   Thursday,   7:00 p.m

It felt good to be back on the road today with fresh legs. I covered the 4-mile loop at Metedeconk Lakes in 47:30  with a 9:23 second mile. The body felt genuinely good for the entire run.  I focused on running relaxed, belly breathing, keeping my stride short and accelerating uphill.  All that with 8 lbs of layers on the body.    A positive effort!

Stats Steady

Good day on and off

Training

January 16th,  Monday ???

Today was another chance to get out to the cinder track for a workout. Once again I spent an hour in motion. That included 800m warm-up with stretching and drills, and 800m cooldown.  In between the heart of the workout was 3 miles with 12 x 30 second pick-ups, one every 400 meters.  Each pick-up consists of between 75 and 100 strides.  The three miles took 35 minutes and was pretty demanding on my body.

We then drove to Philadelphia to transfer our house plants for loving care while we visit Florida. We had a lovely dinner with Kristen and slept over at her very comfortable city house.

January 17th,  Tuesday ?☁?

In the morning we drove to Atlantic City.  The day was bitter cold and raw.  So we spent the day inside.  My body was pretty tired from the workout yesterday.  It may have been the most strenuous workout I have done in a few months.  So Tuesday consisted of two separate afternoon naps plus a visit to The Knife and Fork restaurant for Happy Hour appetizers. Then home to bed early; a truly restful day.

Stats-

I-Mad = 0

Weight = #153

Sleep = 12 hours !  ?

 

January 18th,  Wednesday

Kind of let this day get away.  Had a long, post-operation eye exam after we drove home from Atlantic City. Then pretty much punked out because of the rotten, raw weather.

TOMORROW! !!!

#CinderRunner

Training

January 13,  Friday

 

It was pretty shocking how the temperature was dropping every minute this afternoon as I begin my run. I misjudged the weather conditions. So, underdressed, this was my first actual cold winter workout. But the cinder track was  perfect today .  It was soft  and absorbent like a  modern day rubberized track . It took almost 30 minutes with jogging, one leg drills and stretching to feel warm. The final half-hour was really solid work, and I left the track feeling that I had gained something.

4.38 miles on the cinders with various pickups, 1 hour total with stops for one foot drills and stretching.

Miles.  1- 14:00. 2- 11:48  3- 10:42.  4-11:38. +4:27

I ran a 200m pick-up at 8:00 pace each lap in miles 2-3 & 4.

Icing and rolling after.

Stats –

I-Mad = 0

a.m.HR = 55BPM

Weight = #155

Sleep 7 hours

Workout = above

 

 

 

Some speed on the cinders

Training

January 11, Wednesday

” GONE IN 60 SECONDS”

On this unseasonably warm afternoon I decided to test he cinder track.  The melted show posed a threat of mushy cinders, but I figured it might be better than slushy roads.  The track had some soft spots and wet spots.  So I devised a brilliant plan to mark off a 200m segment of dry track to run some 8:00 pace repeats.   That would be 60 seconds per 200m.   It was a shot, and I wasn’t sure if it was even possible.  I found two permanent fixtures that were 200m apart and began fully dressed.  Layers were discarded as the workout progressed.  To my surprise I was able to complete 8 x 200m all under 60 seconds rather comfortably. The temptation to extend to 10x was present, but I stopped at 8x out of caution.  The whole event (location, weather conditions and workout) was quite exhilarating !  I can’t imagine a more positive January workout  at this stage of my training.  For logging purposes the interval times are listed, noting 60 second recovery between each 200m. ( 53, 59, 54, 58, 53, 53, 46, 56 )  Total time with warm-up and drills and cool down was 56 minutes and 3 miles. Ending HR was 144 BPM.  No leg or foot aches.

Stats are stable.

Water run

Training

January 9th,  Monday

Free Floating ………

I procrastinated for most of today for two reasons. First, it was very cold and I was pretty much chicken to go out. Second, I really was not looking forward to running on the treadmill in the gym again today. However, as I w,as preparing to leave a flash struck me. Even though I’m not allowed  to swim because of my cataract operation, I can run in the water because I don’t have to put my head in water to run. This amazing insight reinvigorated me, and I headed to the clubhouse with enthusiasm. I had not done any water running for more than a month I suppose. So I managed to run for 25 minutes with   6 x the 30-20-10 surge sequence spaced throughout.  I think it was a very good aerobic workout and a very good anaerobic effort. All that accomplished with no foot strikes. Amazing!          Better weather for the next few days.

Stats-

I-Mad = 1

a.m. HR = 56BPM

Sleep =9 hours

Weight = #155

Workout = 25 minute water run with six 30-20-10 surge⚓

Indoor day

Training

January 8th,  Sunday

Took the day off on Saturday to recover from Friday’s cinder pickups and watch the snow.

Today I spent 30 minutes in the gym.  10 on bike, 20 on tredmill. Last mile @ 10:00. Then 10 minutes in the whirlpool before watching the Giants get their ass kicked by Aaron Rodgers. I think he will win the Superbowl this year.