November 30th, Friday

Recovery dinner with Arl at Klein’s, Belmar, NJ

The weather was 45° and calm as I arrived at the cinder track about 2 p.m. this afternoon.  I had heated my legs before leaving home.  I warmed up with a mile jog and some leg drills for about 18 minutes. I decided to start some 400m intervals running at 10:00 pace. That went very well, and I gradually got the pace down to under 8 minutes. Instead of taking a full 400m recovery this time I only did a jog back and return to start in less than 2:00.  I had the feeling of running relaxed and efficient. Six x 400m was the goal and it was accomplished with a final 800m interval added at 9:10 pace.  The day covered a total of 4.71 miles including warm-up  and cool down.  No leg or foot issues .Good stuff 🙂

Stats –  Steady and sound

November 28th, Wednesday

It’s only cold if you’re standing still.  🙂

Another very windy late November day had me waiting for the weather to get better before I headed out for my run. My plan was to run at the cinder track, but by the time I got out it was getting dark already.   So I chose to stay in my neighborhood and run on the sidewalks.  Getting started was a chore because it was pretty cold and I was bundled in multiple layers. I struggled through the first mile in about 14 minutes. Things got better, and as I passed home I threw some of my layers off and continued. I fonshed up running for 4 miles in a total of 48:30.  Last two miles were both about 11 minutes a piece. Along the way I did about 8 very conservative surges to keep my heart rate elevated. All in alI think it was a positive workout on a sketchy day. I was pretty proud of my determination and what I will call toughness on this afternoon run. Never really expected to get  miles in when I started.

Stats-

Weight = 153 lb

Sleep = seven and a half hours

Morning heart rate = 54 beats per minute

Diet = 8

Indexes are consistent and getting a little better each day. No Achilles issues at all. Plantar fasciitis issues under control. Nothing hurts while I’m running at this point.

November 27th, Tuesday

After a day off I went to the club for a 60 minute workout.  It seemed too cold and windy to go outside.

20 minutes of upper body and arm weights

20 minutes of solid swimming

20 minutes running in pool

Solid stats…..

November 25th, Sunday

Today was a strikingly beautiful November afternoon to do a workout on the cinders. I did a 20-minute warm-up including walking, stretching, jogging and drills with Arlene. Then I did seven more laps covering three and a half miles that included 4 intervals. I did three 400m in under 2:00 pace and ended with an 800m in 4:18.  I ran  400 meters between each of the repeats.  The workout portion of the day covered 44 minutes. I felt strong throughout  and had no foot or leg issues. Good day.!

Stats are good.

November 23rd, Friday

On a cold Friday afternoon I bundled up and headed out to the cinders with hopes of running a solid 3 miles.  Once again I started modestly with a 13:03 mile. During the next two miles I ran 8 pick-ups of increasing length  from 50 strides to100 strides.   I made the decision to run a fourth mile and completed it in about 10 minutes with no pick-ups.  Another positive day….   Ending HR was low 120 BPM.

4 Miles-  45:58

1-13:02.   2- 11:45.   3- 10:43.    4- 10:17

Stats-

Weight = #155

Sleep = 7 hours

Diet = 9

a.m.HR = 54BPM

Foot indexes are getting better.

November 21st, Wednesday

1

After a day of recovering from my hot 200m workout on Monday, I ran 30 minutes at quick pace on the treadmill and swam for 15 minutes.   It felt good.  A 15 minute hot whirlpool led to total relaxation.  To top off the night, Rob prepared an epiqurian delight of local sea bass for dinner.  Arlene and I had watched as the seafood guy cut the fillets out of a fresh fish at Klein’s Seafood Market this afternoon in  Belmar.  A hard to beat pre-Thanksgiving evening!!

Good stats.

November 19th, Monday

Today I got out of the house by 2:30.  It was a perfect 54* day, cloudy and calm.  A great day for an actual workout. I heated my calves for 20 minutes and put on the compression socks.

I was pretty excited this morning after reading an article about the workout regimen of Fred Wilt who was a multiple American National Champion and Olympic distance competitor. He continued to break records well into his fifties.  You can look him up.  He is a very interesting guy.  His default workout was repeat, flat-out 200’s with a jog till recovered.  The article said he did 5 to 7 miles  of it a week at age fifty and ran 9:40 for 2 miles. I am not exactly sure what that meant, but the idea of running fast 200’s appealed to me greatly.

So, when I got to the track I began to jog immediately without any drills. I ran a 12:30 warm up mile with no irritation in my calf muscles. I then ran six x 200m in under 60 seconds with a 200m recovery under 2 minutes.  My legs felt better with each repeat.  I felt like I could have done six more but stopped only out of caution. Now, 200s in the mid 50’s are not flat-out, but it’s a start and I really enjoyed the workout.  I finished with a brisk 1200m cool down for a total of 3.5+ miles on the day.  An invigorating session on the cinders!

Stats-

Sleep= 8 hours

Weight= #155

a.m.HR= 54BPM

DIET= 9

Foot Indexes are improving with TLC.

November 18th, Sunday

🙂

Saturday was a full day of college football watching on the couch at home with Rob.      Today, after watching the Giants win their second game in a row, I left at 4 o’clock for the Cinders . The sky was heavily overcast and the darkness was falling rapidly. Jackson Mills road was closed for repairs so I had to enter the track through Thigh Park, and that is the back way through about 300 of wooden trail. I ran a mile and a half on the Cinders and out of fear of getting lost or injured on the wooded trail in the dark, returned to the parking lot in the back . After a few pickups in the parking lot in the dark, I jumped in the car and headed home having logged only 2.2 mi in about 24 minutes. Not very impressive. I have to start getting out earlier in the day if I hope to get serious work done.  I heated my calf for 20 minutes and wore a compression sock today. My calf muscle was not as troublesome as the last few days.

Stats are stable.

November 16th, Friday

This was a similar workout to last Sunday on the cinders. I did manage to get in 4 miles, which is 8 laps on the half-mile track. It still takes a while to get started with certain leg issues. Today was a continuation of right calf pain. The calf muscle feels like it’s going to cramp with each stride for about the first mile. I stopped about each 400 to do a 30 second to one minute stretch, I guess that helps. By the second mile the calf muscle is still a little achy but doesn’t threaten to cramp any longer, so I continue.  There were no pickups this time, but each mile got a little faster.  I continue to improve my belly breathing  technique.  It is quite relaxing and helps me to maintain an efficient running form.  That and trying to remember to keep my stride short are keys to avoiding injuries.

Workout= 4 miles in 48:29 .  Very consistent!

Steady stats.

November 13th and 14th,  Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday  –  Spent the day assisting Rob with his hernia operation.  Hours of driving to Manhattan and waiting.

Wednesday – Had eye procedure in Red Bank today.

Must get back to a training schedule tomorrow.