November 28, Tuesday

Writing late this Tuesday night, I can report that I have had two pretty good days of work. Yesterday, while I was in Atlantic City, I ran 4 miles on the boardwalk with increasing speed as each mile passed. It was a perfect night for running. There was no wind at all, a total rarity on the Atlantic City boardwalk. It was about 54 degrees as the sun went down. I started southward into the setting sun and finished running north in the darkness. I was a little drained but feeling good about the effort and about my body in general. This morning my legs were pretty sore and my feet we’re  achy, especially my left plantar fascia. Four miles is the longest that I have run so far.  So I’m not surprised that my legs reacted.  After returning to Jackson, I was determined to get some motion done even though my body was feeling a little beat.  I spent 40 minutes in the pool at the clubhouse. I swam for 20 minutes and then ran in the deep water for 20 minutes. I finished feeling better. Fifteen minutes in the hot tub was a bonus for my muscles.   Need to do some serious golf ball rolling tonight to maintain my foot health.

Stats are stable.

November 24th, Friday after Thanksgiving

I am writing this on Saturday morning.

After a Thanksgiving Day of serious eating and drinking it was good to get back to work at the Clubhouse last night . I started out on the bike for 10 minutes and proceeded to the treadmill where I kept raising my expectations as I continued running. My first intent was to run a good mile after a bit of a warm up. Then I decided I would go to 2 miles or 20 minutes whichever came first. Along the way I started doing pickups in the form of dropping the pace from 12 minutes to 10 minutes for 30 seconds every minute and a half. I continued doing that until I got to 30 minutes. I was pleased with my aerobic strength throughout and the fact that I had no leg or foot issues along the way. I did 20 minutes of upper body and core work before heading to the hot whirlpool.  It was a demanding and successful workout.

Stats-

I-Mad = 0 😊

I-Mid = 1/2

Weight = #157 after workout,  NEED WORK HERE,

a.m.HR= 54BPM

Sleep –  I actually slept for 10 hours after watching a late night movie Friday night.

Saturday-   Today I did my rehab workout at home for about 40 minutes and went on a very nice walk with Arlene for about 25 minutes afterwards. Legs were pretty tired today which was expected after a quicker than recent run on the treadmill last night

November 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is after midnight on November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day.  I was very surprised to get a notice from Facebook today that I had not posted in 5 days. I am amazed that so much time has passed and I have not posted. I have been pretty busy. So I checked back on my  desk calendar, where I write a quick note each day as to what my workout has been, or in some cases has not been. This is what I discovered.

On Saturday, November 18th I spent most of the day at Holmdel Park watching the Meet of Champions. It was beautiful day for running and the North girls won the first state championship since 1986. It was very exciting and I was thrilled for that Walsh boys and the North Hunterdon girls. As far as work is concerned I did about 4 hours of walking with intermittent jogging.  I was pretty exhausted when I got home and had another nice afternoon nap on the couch.

On Sunday, November 19th I spent most of the afternoon watching the Giants game, which they amazingly one. During the game I did continuous rehabilitation workout with stabilisation,  core, upper body and leg drills. It was a lot of work and I had a good feeling at the end of the workout.

On Monday, November 20th I went to our clubhouse for a 1-hour continuous work session. In the weight room I rode the bike for 14 minutes, ran on the treadmill for 15 minutes, and did a series of upper body. arm  leg work on the machines. Then I ran for 20 minutes in the deep end of the pool with five surge series of 70 -50- 25  leg pumps.  Another draining but satisfying workout. 

On Wednesday, November 21st ,which was earlier this evening, I went to the cinder track as the light was fading on this cloudy afternoon and ran three pretty steady miles including seven pickups of from 50 to 75 strides. That is 2 each lap after warm up. It was a chilly evening but good for running. I was happy with the outcome of this work out which took about 37 minutes.

Tuesday evening also included a very nice Awards dinner for the cross country team this season. All the members of this year’s team attended and a very good number of parents attended also. The future of cross country at Jackson Liberty is looking brighter. We have about  16 runners returning from this year’s team losing only four seniors.

Stats –

I-Mad and I-Mid have been very good over this period. I am determined proceed slowly and avoid injury.

Sleep = sporadic sleep sequence, some nights as much as 10 hours other nights only six, not very consistent

a.m.HR = 54 very consistent

Weight =  #154/156. Steady, but too high. I don’t believe I will get back to the lower 150s until I make a dramatic increase in mileage. That I expect to take some time and not hurry. So I expect to be in that middle to upper 150s for a while.

Good meeting! 

November 15, 16 & 17

Wednesday – very tired and heavy legs, took off to rest

Thursday – legs still tired ,  did rehab workout

Friday – Today I ran 5 laps (2.5 miles ))on the Cinders in 30 minutes including 7 pickups along the way of between 50 and 75 strides each.  I finished with plenty to spare and stopped only out of caution. I thought I ran faster today than in my previous visits to the cinder  track, but as I look back at my log it seems I’ve been running 5 laps in about 30 minutes for 2 weeks now. I guess I’ll have to be content with believing that I felt better running it today and,  therefore, I am making progress. Once again I did my warm up drills at home before leaving for the track. I’ve come to like that a lot better. Warming up inside in a leisurely fashion in a controlled climate is more relaxing and thorough.

STATS have been basically steady for 3 days.

November 14th,  Tuesday

Very easy run today on Jackson roads, no Garmin.

My body felt tired and achy during most of the run, and I felt quite exhausted after the run.  I actually fell on the couch and slept for over an hour when I returned home from the store 45 minutes after the run.  I have not slept on the couch since I don’t know when.

Stats-

I-Mad and I-Mid =2

a.m.HR =54BPM

Weight = 154.6 #  after run

Sleep = 8 hours

Workout =40 minutes easy

November 13th,  Monday

Easy breezy ride.

Liking the Garmin transfers!

November 12th,  Sunday

Happy to say I had a three mile run late this afternoon in a brisk 46*.  So I decided to try to hook my Garmin data to this blog to tell the story.  This is a stretch for the technologically challenged.

Well, it wouldn’t upload to this blog so you are stuck with  my words.  With 6 lb of clothing on (I weighed it.) I ran 3 miles increasing speed as I went along.  Basically I ran 13:26, 12:36, 11:36—-37:46 total.  It felt good and there were no foot of lower leg issues. I have been running with my regular shoes with no orthotic inserts. Basically abandoned all confidence in Orthotics.  The only outcome I had from using these products, whether they were the hard ones from Rothman Clinic or the softer ones  from the foot clinic in Howell, was pain!   I am continuing the rehab workout that I believe has strengthened and made by lower legs and feet more flexible.

Stats –

I-Mad and I-Mid = 2

a.m.HR =54BPM

Weight =#154

Sleep = 9 hours

Workout = 3 miles and rehab

November 8th,  Wednesday

On a bitter, damp, 45-degree afternoon in early November I was able to run two and a half miles in 30 minutes on the cinder track in Freehold. Now 12 minute mile pace does not indicate a high level of fitness for me. But this is the longest and farthest I have run in many weeks. Plus it represents a full week of running with no negative outcomes. I managed to complete two and a half miles with no negative effects on my lower legs or feet That is very encouraging. I actually felt like I could have gone further and was tempted, but I am determined to make my return deliberate and avoid recurring injuries. I proceeded the run with 30 minutes of the exercise program that I did during rehab. I like the attention that this program gives to lower leg and foot strength, core strength and improved balance.

It was interesting as I was driving home I I had the sensation that I wished it was tomorrow already so that I could do another workout. That is a unique phenomenon.  I can feel the enthusiasm returning manifested by the math I do in my head while running. I am already compiling times and distances for workouts and counting days and weeks to targeted races.  When I do mental math while running the time passes much more quickly and I think I also push the pace a little in those instances. I guess that makes it a benefit for the brain as well as the body.

Stats- Stable

November 6th, Monday

For the last 6 days I have been running pretty steadily. Each day I have increased the time and distance covered slightly. Today I ran 23 minutes and 1 and 3/4 miles including 2 x  100 stride pickups. My feet are responding well. My short-term goal is to get to 30 minutes running and stay there until I can run 3 miles in 30 minutes.  At that point I will reevaluate and set new goals. Hopefully I can continue to add time and distance without having any negative effects on my feet. So far everything feels pretty good. I will continue to supplement my running with swimming and biking . Plus I am also continuing to use my rehab workout to strengthen my lower legs and core.

The cross-country season ended on a bit of a download at the Sectionals as the boys failed to qualify. A number of unfortunate situations led to disappointing end to a very promising season. Jackson Liberty cross-country does have a strong team returning next year.

Stats-

I-Mad and I-Mid =1

a.m.HR =56BPM

Sleep =9 hours

Weight = #154

WORKOUT = 1.75 miles in 23 minutes with 2 x 100 stride pickups on grass