Yesterday was an unexpected, but I think needed, day off. Today on the cinders I was in motion for 1 hour and 6 minutes covering 5.38 miles. The warm-up mile took 17 minutes including walking, jogging, stretching and gradual pick-ups. I continued for 4+ miles of MMF (My Modified Fartlek) with 21 SS. The pattern was mostly 1 minute run and 1 minute quick power walk. The mile pace was between 9:40 and 11:00 with most SS under 8:00. My heart rate remained at an elevated level throughout. It felt like a very demanding and productive session.
I have begun some high altitude simulation exercises I found on the internet to be a little more prepared for the 5000 foot elevation in Albuquerque.
Following a day of rest, today felt like a good day to get in some faster work. It was fun to catch up with some of the boys from the Jackson Liberty 4 x 800m Sectional Championship team as I entered the track this afternoon. Warm-up was a mile of jog, walk and gradually intensifying 100m pick-ups. Spiked up and began running 6 x 200m efforts at target race pace (6:30) with 200m recovery. (walk 100m, jog 100m)
” I’ve learned that it is what you do with your miles, rather than how many you’ve run.” ~~~Rod DeHaven , USA Olympic Marathoner
4.76 miles in 64 minutes…… with 5 x 880 @ sub-4:50
I wanted to run these lazy 880 yard efforts in under 5 minutes. Rich Refi and I developed the concept of “Lazy 8’s” as a recovery day workout about 12 years ago for the Hillsborough cross country teams. We later decided to change the name, but I forgot the new name. The idea is that it is a little more focused than simply a long, easy run on a recovery day. It is also easier to monitor and to maintain a credible pace. I picked a 10 minute per mile pace as my goal. It turned out that I easily exceeded that pace, running between 8 and 9 minute pace throughout the day. I approached number 4 and number 5 with trepidation because I was feeling pretty exhausted. But it turned out I ran each one faster than the last. This turned out to be far more draining than I had anticipated. So, I decided to take today (Monday) off for a true recovery. 🙂
So, here is the story of my long fall. Looking for an aerobic day today I went to Turkey Swamp Park to run on the dirt roads. I had the brilliant idea when I arrived to try one of the wooded Trails instead of the dirt road. As I should have expected the trail was covered with the roots of the forest. About a half-mile into the trail my back foot clipped the root and sent me into the Staggering long fall. I struggled for balance for about seven strides before I hit the ground. That 7 strives is like a slow-motion eternity. Just enough time for flashes of a similar fall two years ago that left me with two broken ribs. Fortunately my hands took most of the brunt of the fall, but my left hip also hit pretty hard. I got up shakily and walked out of the woods back to the road. My hip is bruised and battered a little, but I think I avoided the worst possible outcomes.
Back on the road, which is flat and very safe, I began my patented SS / walk workout. I covered about three and a half miles running an SS for 1 minute followed by walking for 1 minute. Maybe it was because I was feeling angry or feeling lucky or both, but I really was pounding the speed segments along the way. I wound up doing 17 x 1 minute SS in the process of three and a half miles. My Garmin says that the pace for many of the SS was under 7:00 which is he kind of speed I am shooting for in this workout. The total distance moving for the day was 5 miles ( including the fall 🙂 ), in motion for 71 minutes. I feel like I managed to salvage what could’ve been a disaster of a day.
Yesterday was a day off. So, today I ran some hard stuff on the cinders after the shade covered about half of the 880 yard oval. I warmed up with 1-mile of jogging, walking, stretching and about six gradual accelerations. I began with a quick mile in 7:58, very even splits along the way. I then did three x 400 meters with equal recovery. The times got better with each effort; 1:51, 1:45 and 1:41. Half mile cool down.
Stats-
Weight = 148.8 lbs I think that’s the lowest I’ve weighed since I’ve been an adult.
a.m. HR = 50 bpm Trending lower than usual for the last few days.
Sleep = 8 hours
Diet = 9
Morning feet are good, no leg issues
Better stretching and lots of heating before running today.
Monday- A complex set of circumstances too inconsequential to mention caused me to call off today’s workout after about 10 minutes. Just calling this one a recovery day.
Tuesday- A very relaxed 58 minutes on the dirt trails at Turkey Swamp Park just down the road. This place may well become my new recovery day workout venue.
Wednesday – Today I covered three and a quarter miles in 40 minutes on the cinders. That consisted of a 1-mile warm up, 10 X 200m between :50 and :55 and a 1000m cool down. Between the 200m SS I walked about 1 minute recovery. It was an unexpectedly positive work session in the early evening shade as hundreds of two foot high kids in soccer uniforms scurried around the infield manifesting no discernible pattern while hundreds of young moms sat and watched and cheered.
Summer was pushing its way into the late May afternoon as I set out for a lazy recovery run on the roads. I hoped that yesterday’s hamstring ache would not be a factor as I moved along cautiously. I used my MMF strategy and managed to insert 10 serious 2 to 3 minute SS in between some walking segments. The pace averaged 12:15 for a total of 48:55. The first mile was over 14 minutes with warm-up walking. The final three miles were closer to 11 minutes. My Garmin recorded the SS at between 7:30 and 8:30 pace. No hamstring issues! Finished pretty tired and very wet. This turned out to be a better-than-expected run. It’s amazing how a few cars are on the road in Jackson on a Sunday afternoon.
Friday- On a pleasant afternoon we drove to Belmar for the opening of the Seafood Festival. I intended to do a workout when I got home. But we ate so much seafood that I conked out at 6 p.m.! Rest day!
Saturday – the conditions seem optimal today for a time trial in an 800m to see the effect of the hard work I’ve been doing recently. It was after a day off, and the late afternoon weather conditions were perfect for a quick run. So, I did a good warm up, laced up my spikes and headed to the starting line. I wanted to see if I could run a comfortably quick 3:30 without exerting maximum effort. The one caveat to this event was a bit of a nagging hamstring that seemed to a occur while I was doing some work around the house this morning. I could feel it throughout the run and as a result backed off somewhat. The run itself was quite comfortable. I ended running 3:26 which surpassed my expectations. I was never in any aerobic distress. I think this bodes well for my conditioning level right now. The lower hamstring issue was pretty obvious when I finished and I decided not to do any more for the day. I think the next few days will need to be some aerobic long runs to allow my muscle to return to normal. No more housework until after Albuquerque.
“Even when I’m running I smile because I know I don’t have to.”
~~~John Bingham, “Who Needs a Reason” RUNNERS WORLD
On Thursday Arlene and I went to an elementary track meet at Marlboro High School to watch our nephew Ryan participate. Ryan ran well in the 800m and the 400m. I also noted while watching that the track was in very good shape and quite a forgiving surface. I happened to have my spikes in the car in anticipation finding a surface to begin a few workouts in spikes before my race in June. So, I took the opportunity to lace up and run a few 100m and one 200m SS in spikes. It was a good introduction. Previous to putting on the spikes I did some warm up running and about 12 100m+ SS. Positive recovery day.
On Friday I ran 4 miles in 58 minutes on the cinders. I put into practice my new favorite theory about aerobic days. So, after some 15 minutes of walking and jogging I began running alternating 200m SS followed by 200m of walking or slow jogging. I believe this accomplishes the triple benefit of:
1-keeping my legs moving quickly (usually below 8:00 per mile pace)
2-keeping my heart rate elevated for an extended period of time
3- limiting the total number of running foot strikes that my legs have to absorbe!!!
I was happy to be able to include 12 x 200m Speed Segments along the way.
“Running fast is more fun than running slow.” ~~~Frank Shorter
My goal today was to run 4 x 1200m at 10:00 pace. That would be a comfortable 7:30 per effort. This is a workout I have wanted to do for a while, but I have been reluctant because of nagging leg and foot aches. I started out filled with trepidation . It turned out I was unable to run that slow on the cinders today. This quickly became a progressive workout. I began after about 15 minutes of movement; walking, jogging and 6 x 30 to 60 stride pickups. I surprised myself on the first one running 6:45. The second one, still feeling very comfortable, was 6:34. By now I was getting a little excited and feeling more confident by the minute. Number three was a 6:24 still feeling no physical or aerobic distress. I told myself I would try for 6:00 on the final effort if all conditions remained stable. When I hit the 1000m mark in 5:02, I picked it up and finished the 1200m in 5:58. I judge this to one of my best workouts to date and a good indication of my fitness level.
Note: Running 3/4 mile repeats on the track in mid May was one of my favorite workouts for my middle distance runners back when I was coaching at North Hunterdon High School. It always seemed to get kids excited. They dreaded the thought of the work out, but always crushed it when they got on the track and left tired and happy . I kind of had that experience today. It felt pretty good.
