May 30th, Memorial Day

“Come Monday It’ll be all right”

Memorial Day musings;

The TV today is flush with movies about war heroes. I watch them in horror!  I cannot believe that the human race accepts as normal the ravages of war.  I have only seen and heard these events in movies and on news reports.  I never had to personally experience war.  I’ve no idea how I would have responded to battle.  But watching “Band of Brothers” today broke my heart and filled me with appreciation for all of those guys who put themselves on the front lines. The ones who came home and the ones who never came back. Thank you, guys!  Please be at peace, both living and lost.

Continue reading Come Monday →

May 29th, Sunday, 6:45 p.m.   Waiting for the Mets….

Working at the sectionals

Well, for the last 3 days I have not been posting because I have been very busy.  Unfortunately this busyness does not include running workouts that I can report.  However, it has been interesting and my foot I believe is getting better all of which is good.  I spent two days at Hillsborough, New Jersey working at the Central Jersey Sectional Championship meet.  Both Friday afternoon and Saturday all day were very, very hot.  I’m amazed at the performance of the athletes,  the efficiency of the entire working crew and the dedication of the coaches.   My job was to try and make things a little easier for coach Rich Refi who was the meet director.  I checked in all the officials, helped the ticket takers justify the finances and fill out the meet report for the NJSIAA.  This gives me a good deal of time to observe the circus like the atmosphere of the track event. The timing crew and the officiating crew and the Hillsboro maintenance crew did a fantastic job of keeping this event moving and looking good. Thousands of athletes, male and female, competed in 18 different events over the two days. Rich tells me that there were no complaints or negative comments submitted after the meet was completed. That is totally amazing!

I am always gratified by this opportunity to reconnect with so many of the great friends I have made in the world of coaching.  I am always thankful that Rich gives me a job that takes me back into the mix where all the exciting track things are happening in New Jersey.

On the track side, which I am most interested in, the highlight of the weekend had to be the boys group IV 1600 meter run. It was touted as a matchup between the two best milers in New Jersey right now.  It is very unusual for the two best milers to meet in the first round of the state tournament,  but that was how it worked out  this year. It was a matchup between Brandon Tubby of Hillsborough and Tim  Bason  of West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Tim had a slightly faster time recorded this season than Brandon. The event lived up to its pre-race billing as Tubby and Bason  entersd the last 300 meters stride for stride.  Brandon passedTim, then Tim passed Brandon on the turn. Than, with 70 metres to go, Brandon unleashed a kick that buried Bason and won by 10 meters in an amazing time of 4:10.64 !

It was very exciting  to watch, especially if you are a Hillsborough fan.  But I think any track fan would have been impressed.

The late Saturday afternoon 2 Mile runs in the 98 degree Heat were quite excruciating for the athletes and for the fans watching.  A number of athletes were overcome by the Heat and had to be treated by the trainers. This set in motion the long-standing debate about how to handle the two-mile events in the late May weather at the sectional needs throughout the state. There will be much discussion once again and maybe the order of events will be changed so that these events can be held !under less grueling conditions.

Back to work out..

Today I had a very nice workout in the pool at the clubhouse. I spent over an hour in the pool with 1/2 hour of non-stop swimming and one half hour of non-stop running in the deep end.  I decided to add a little diversity to my pool running this afternoon.  I did the 30 -20- 10 workout I have earlier described.  I’ve never done it in the pool before but it worked out pretty well.  It is a workout that involves running for 30 seconds at 5K Pace, 20 seconds at Mile pace and 10 seconds Max Speed.  This is followed by two minutes interval of recovery running period. Today I did that x 5 in the pool.  Since I did not have a watch in the water I had to count strides as I remember from doing the work out previously.  I remembered that in 30 seconds at 5K Pace I ran about 55 strides,  in 20 seconds at 1 mile Pace I ran about 35 strides and in 10 seconds at Max Speed I ran between 20and 2 strides. So that’s how I did it today. I felt quite extended by the workout.  It was probably the best water workout I’ve done so far.

Stats

a.m.HR – 54BPM

  I-Mad – 2

Weight – 153#

SLEEP-   10 hours

Workout – 1 hour  in pool – 30 swim, 30 run ₩ 5 ×  30- 20 -10

May 29th,  Sunday,  7 p.m.

Stick that Landing!

It has been a few days since I posted. So today there will be two posts, one of my workout and one of the miracle that occurred in my kitchen .  This may not be what you expect from a plus70runner, blog but it cannot go unreported.

If you look carefully at the two pictures posted below you will see a Bud Light sitting on the bar that separates my kitchen from my dining room. You will also see the cord to my phone charger sitting next to me bottle of Bud Light. In the second picture you will see the Bud Light resting up-right in place on the rug. You will also see the charger cord hanging off of the bar.  Now here is the miracle that happened.  I stupedly pulled on the charger cord which undercut the Bud Light and drove it off the bar. The bottle flipped in the air and stuck the landing on the rug.  Yes, it stuck the landing on the rug and nothing spilled!!!!  I am in total awe of this event. I don’t see how it could possibly happen, but it did.  Someone smarter than me, a physicist or something, will have to do the math that determines if this is actually possible.  I don’t know.  I only know what happened.  Pictures don’t lie.

The pictures are post-event, but they represent the actual occurrence .         No Lie.         No one would make this up.  It’s too rediculus!

May 24th Tuesday 2 p.m.

A very positive Tuesday morning…..

I spent an hour in the pool, 30 minutes of solid swimming and 30 minutes of running in the deep end, no impact.  I have an appointment with the doctor at the Rothman Institute next Thursday. Until then I have decided to do only non weight-bearing activities but with as much intensity as I can manage.  So today I did just swimming and water running with no impact. I omitted cycling and the elliptical machine because they require placing some pressure on my foot. I feel strong enough to do some hard work in the aquatic areas, and an hour of work today felt really good!

So goes the new 10 day plan.

STATS –

I-MAD –   2

AmHR – 52BPM

Weight – 151#   after workout

Workout – 60 minutes in pool   30 swim, 30 run

May 23rd,  Monday, 10pm

Watching the Mets beat the Nationals.

Nothing to report today about running.  Foot still sore.  No workout.  My foot was aggravated I guess by  my workout at the club yesterday. There was no impacts involved in the workout, but the results seem to be increased tenderness in the foot. So today I took off.

I am only blogging today for my own personal record so that I don’t  get out of the habit that I have developed over the last two months.

I did make an appointment today with the Rothman Institute to have them look at my sore foot because there has been no noticeable progress.  Next Thursday.

16 days without running!  Exasperating!

Stats – All my stats are stable with nothing special to report.

May 22nd,   Sunday at 8 p.m.

Today we planted our Spring Salad Garden. As members of our Community  Garden Club we have a 10′ by 10′ plot.   Whoops!   I forgot, I’m not allowed to say “plot” in an adult community.  Here we plant in a “bed”.

It’s only a start but it has all the ingredients for a perfect salad;  lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers and cucumbers

There is also some summer squash and zucchini and a rose bush in the corner. There will be additional posts and pictures as our salad comes to life.

Also adding spring touches around the house.

On the training front things are a little less promising.  My left foot continues to be sore and tender to the touch.  I am making an appointment tomorrow to see another doc at the Rothman Institute. I have worked with this group before very successfully.  It’s not that I doubt the diagnosis of Dr. Greg, but I’m very impatient.  It’s been two weeks and I don’t feel as though  there has been any progress in healing.  I am pretty certain that they will suggested an MRI to check for any bone damage.

• Stats –

• I-Mad – 1.5
• AmHR – 54BPM
• Weight – 151 #
• Sleep – 9 hours
• Workout – Planting…..

May 21st, Saturday,  7 p.m.

As I sit rolling……..

Spent this rainy day painting before I went to the clubhouse for a workout.  It was only a closet but has just as many corners as a full room.   LOL  But I did get in 40 minutes of pretty good work; ten on the elliptical, 10 on the bike, 10 swimming in the pool and 10 running in the pool.

Stats –

I-Mad – 2

AmHR – 54BPM

Weight – 152#

Sleep – 7.5

Workout – 40 minutes     10 minutes each; elliptical, bike ,swim, pool run,  + roll, roll, roll

On this beautiful May afternoon I had my first bike ride of the spring outdoors.  I pedaled for 30 minutes on the local roads in Jackson. Didn’t want to overdo it on the first time out.

My (Rob’s!) one speeder.

I have been rolling my calves quite frequently during this time off with my foam roller.  I am pretty amazed at how many hot spots I have found.  The literature on rolling procedures says to concentrate on those hot spots by keeping pressure on for from 30 to 90 seconds until the pain dissipates.  I’ve been trying that, and it seems to be working pretty well.  It’s possible there ware a lot more knots in my calf muscles than I ever realized.  What I’ve been reading suggests that these knots may be a contributing factor to problems with Achilles and further on down into the foot.  Maybe I can alleviate some of my nagging problems with more consistent rolling.  I will update.

Stats –

I-Mad – 2

AmHR – 54BPM

Sleep – 7 hours

Workout – 30 minutes  on the bike

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“Start Me Up ”    Rolling Stones   1981

As per my last post, I am considering this the start of my new training season.  After 10 days off it was time to get my body in motion again.  My sore foot is not ready to put pressure on yet, so I spent an hour-and-a-half in the clubhouse doing a full body workout.  First I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.  Then I did 20 minutes of free weights.  Next I went in the pool for a 15 minute swim and 10 minutes running in the deep water. My body feels well rested.  Let’s hope that there is no negative impact on the left foot tomorrow.

Stats-

I-Mad – 2

AmHR – 51BPM        Well rested.

Weight-  153#

Workout – 80 mins full body

May 17th, Tuesday, 7 o’clock

” We were on a break!”  ROSS GELLER

Doing a lot of reading about running these days.  Found an interesting article from Runner’s World in my inbox this morning.  It was about what to do between training seasons.  It was directed at people who run longer races, half marathons and marathons, but I think it has a bearing on my situation right now also.  I believe I can treat my hiatus for injury as a between training season event.  I just came off a very difficult race.  My body does need rest.  It will be a slow and gradual return to full training for my next goal.  I will most likely run the 5K at Jason’s Memorial this summer or early fall.  I also plan to qualify in the 1500m and 800m again at the New Jersey Senior Games in September.  Somewhere along the way I may travel to another state to run a 5K in a state Senior Games because New Jersey does not have a 5K event.

So that article gave me some perspective and some goals for the next month and a half.