April 24 to 28

Read on.

I got hooked into running a 4 by 400m on Saturday the 24th. I thought I was going to the track at CBA to run a 4 by 800m relay. When I got there I found out that everybody was running 4 by 400m relay races.  So, I ran a  400m in a decent time which I believe was below 90 seconds.  Then somebody came up with the brilliant idea to run a 4 by 200m.  So, I joined in and my hamstring cramped half way through. It has been sore since then. I have been icing and heating and jogging very moderately for the last 4 days. Today I ran 3 miles and it seemed pretty okay, but I have yet to try to run with any pace.

These guys from the Shore AC (spearheaded by the legendary Masters runner, Harold Nolan) have decided to put together an old guy 4 by 800m relay to establish an American record with USA Track and Field Association. USATF recently changed their classifications for recording records. Previously records were established in decade categories like from 70 to 79 years of age. Under the new standard records are being recorded in five-year segments like 75 to 79 etc. Currently no one has run a 75 to 79 year old official 4 by 800m relay; so no record exists. That means if we run 4 guys between 75 and 79 on a  sanctioned 4 x 800m relay with a few Yellow Hats to varify, we will own the record for that category.  How do you pass up a chance to set an American record?  That’s what I thought we were doing last Saturday. As it turns out this effort will occur on May 8th or May 15th. Could this be any more fu’ked up?

Stay tuned.

April 16, 18 and 20

Friday the 16th- 4.2 miles with 12 x SS 

Sunday the18th- Looking to log some extended aerobic time in motion today. I selected a demanding workout with a goal of 10 x 800m with 3 minutes average recovery walk. First 2 served as warm-up @ 6:30 pace.  The aim is to spend as much time as possible with a heart rate above 135bpm.  The remaining 8 were progressively quicker with #9 getting down to at 4:52. Final 4 under 5:15…..Total time 62 minutes…… Draining but rewarding

Tuesday the20th-  Today’s goal  was to try to run some 400m at goal mile race pace 6:00.  The legs were a little heavy and sore from the Sunday 5 miles of 800s. So, I spent 40 minutes on a multi-faceted warm-up; jog, walk, stretch, drills and strides. After I ran 1:40 first 400m it became clear to me that 6:00 pace was out of my reach. I completed 2 more at the same pace accepting that 6:40 more reasonably reflects my current fitness level goal.

STATS-

Weight, Sleep, Diet and Heart Rate maintaining at positive levels.

0 leg issues, 0 foot issues

Low ankle soreness on outside right is improving.   Ciomplains only during warm-up.

April 13, Tuesday

60* and cloudless sky!  Covered 5 miles in 1:01  with 8 x 600m intervals along the way. Today’s goal was to get as many  plus/3/minute intervals with elevated heart rate as possible before threatening breakdown.   I manage to do eight progressively, beginning at 4:45 and progressing to 3:50  on #7 before relaxing to 3:07 in #8.  Recovery was walking approximately half of interval time.    Mission accomplished.  It felt like really good work.

STATS-

Weight = #142.5 after run

Sleep = 10 hours

Diet = 9   Beer and ice cream = -1

Legs and feet = 9  Achey rt. ankle

Friday- 80 minutes slow at Turkey Swamp Park

Saturday – 3 miles on Cinders with eight x 100m fast. :21-:23

Sunday  – 3 miles on Freehold Township High School track in 38 minutes under cold & rainy conditions.

Monday – REST

April 6th, Tuesday

An interesting feature out my new Garmin 235 is one that applies a rating to each workout based on intensity. The watch monitors heartbeat throughout and applies a number between one and five to indicate level of intensity. Based on that number the program also prescribes the number of hours needed to recover from a specific workout. I have not been closely following those recommendations because they usually exceed the number of hours I would actually take to recover from a workout.  But, given that information and a recent article published by Dr. Merkin concerning the number of intense workouts necessary to maintain Fitness,  I am becoming less guilty about the days I have taken off lately.

Too Much Intense Exercise May Harm You

So, I am thinking this concept is even more applicable to the plus 70 crowd.  I have managed to keep running without injury for almost  3 years now.  I remember being impacted by an article I read about the amazing senior runner, Gary Patton.  I have been beaten handily by Gary Patton a number of times in national competition. Asked about his training, he said that his main goal was to avoid injury. You can’t train if you’re injured and you can not race if you can’t train. It’s a pretty simple concept that is so true of senior athletes. I have read that over 80% of senior athletes lose training time from injury on a yearly basis.

So, yesterday’s workout was rated at 4.2 which is a very intense rating and recommends a 45 hour time of recovery. That was five miles on the dirt trails of Turkey Swamp Park with some gradually increasing speed segments as I went along. I had rested for two days after a 6-mile road run on Saturday. That 6 miles must have drained my body pretty seriously. I spent a lot of time sleeping and napping for the following two days. Getting started on day 3 was still an effort, and I did not feel any strength in my legs until about 30 minutes into the run.  All of this confirms my belief that running on the road, as I did on Saturday, is a bad idea for a 78 year old guy.  Rubber tracks and cinder tracks and dirt trails are my future training venues.  That, and adequate recovery time should help me to stay fit and injury-free.

STATS are steady and sound.

April 1 & 3, Thursday & Saturday

Two spring-like days provided the opportunity for two good workouts this week. Thursday’s workout covered 5 miles on the cinders with 11 speed segments along the way and a solid 9:15 mile to finsh. I was thinking about a staple work-out from my coaching years which we labeled R-B-R-J for Run-Burst-Run-Jog.  I was reminded of this workout in a wonderful letter I received last week from a boy I coached 40 years ago, John Vierow. He related  fond memories of his days as a non-scoring team member back in the early 80s. Along the way he mentioned that while currently coaching his son in Middle School he has been using the  R-B-R-J  work-out.  I marveled once again of the potential impact that all coaches have on every athlete on their team.  That letter made 2021 a good year already. (Thanks, Johnny) He also said he reads my blog down in Virginia, which brought another smile. 🙂 🙂

But, I digress.

So, on the spot, I created a senior version of that workout which is now labeled J-R-J-W for   Jog-Run-Jog-Walk. The 11 speed segments were done in that rhythm.  It was both demanding and fun.  By the time I got to mile five my form was smooth and fluid.

Friday was a few long walks with and dog.

Saturday’s run was 6 miles at a very modest pace on Freehold roads and the trails of Turkey Swamp Park, totally aerobic and quite tiring on the body.

Easter Sunday is a walk and eat day.

STATS-

Heart rate- 52 BPM

Weight – 143.5 lb.

Diet- 8.5

Sleep- 9 hrs average

Feet and legs exhibiting no soreness!