Two weeks ago, when Robert and Kristen were here for Easter, I mentioned that I was planning to run a race this July in the Pan/American Masters games in Cleveland, Ohio. I explained that the race was exactly 100 days away and that I was creating a 100 day training plan to prepare for the race. They became quite excited and animated. They insisted that I create, in fact they created for me, an Instagram account to publish my daily workouts for the hundred day countdown. So, I learned how to do Instagram stuff and have been posting and telling my story for two weeks. We are now down to day 85. Therefore, I have not been posting here as +70 Runner but have been Instagraming daily as +80 Runner. 😊

Cycle one of the plan involves 20 days of base building. I have concluded that, if I want to achieve my goal to run an 800m close to 3:00, I will have to have a stronger base so I can do more strenuous workouts in the final stage of the hundred day plan. So far that has gone quite well. My legs are definitely tired from the increased workload. I have not taken off a single day. I even ran a comfortable 5K race in 30:19 last Sunday with no pre-race taper.

Anyone who chooses can keep up with my countdown training on Instagram under my new tag name. +80 Runner

Stats –

-leg muscles and feet are somewhat shaky and sore every morning, but there are no injuries🙏

-weight is a steady 144 pounds‼️

– resting heart rate remains constant in the low 50s❤️

- diet is healthy except for beer and ice cream, but I run to maintain some vices 🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️

Made a decision yesterday to plan to run the pan-am Masters games in July in Cleveland. It’s 100 days away so it seems like a cool idea to put together a 100 day plan to see if I can run a fast 800 m in July. I was able to run 3:15 at Ocean breeze two weeks ago. That time would have won the USATF national championships 80 year old category by 38 seconds. So, I think I am one of the better 800 runners in the country right now. I believe that I have accomplished that with rather moderate training for mid distances. The plan is to up the level of my middle distance training in the next 100 days with the goal of running a fast 800m, maybe close to three minutes, at the outdoor masters Pan-American meet in July. It seems like a fun thing to try.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I spent 45 minutes in the exercise room at our clubhouse. (ER) Today, Thursday, I ran a steady 45 minutes on the Cinder track at the senior center. (SS) Tuesday was a total washout.

During the previous 10 days, over Easter, I did a surprising Amount of work comprising over 10 miles and included some middle distance intervals and speed segments. I ran an 8:45 mile during one workout and have done a good number of 200s on the track.

The next few months should be interesting if I survive.

My stats have been holding up well. At one point during that 10 day stretch I did have an elevated basic heart rate. That led me to take two days off to make sure I was not overtraining. Everything else is holding up.