April 27th,   Wednesday,   10 p.m.

Above  (Tap address.) is my new favorite picture taken by Arlene today and submitted to her Camera Club photo contest.

This blog is getting a little crazy.  My son, Rob, posted stuff all over Facebook and Twitter today about my blog.  The number of people who checked in rose from a high of 22 – at this moment standing at 270 hits.  I am shocked!  I hope these folks come back and keep reading.  Exciting. ……

I  read a report this week which cited studies that have proven that running invigorates the brain, especially and more importantly the frontal lobe. That is an area that controls rational thinking and problem solving.  So, as I was running my 5 miles this evening I let my brain wander and came up with some interesting thoughts.  I guess I can say that some of those crazy things I’ve been writing are the product of  an invigorated brain.  YES, I ran another five miles  this evening , once again to my surprise.  I guess I am getting back to where I was  in St.Augustine ugustine last month. Remarkably the Achilles tendon discomfort for the entire run was at 0. I will have a word to say about that in a moment. The time for a total run which was quite similar to yesterday was 56:28.   But the last four miles there in 42:15 with a final mile of 9:28.  This was one of those really exhilarating runs in beautiful 60 degree weather and overcast sky . I had that floating feeling throughout with no leg soreness at all.

Now I will share my thoughts on why my Achilles tendons were not aching this morning or during the run today.  Yesterday I had run 5 miles on the hard roads.  I was certain I was going to have sore and tight tendons  this morning and have to take the day to recover.  However, I woke this morning and had almost no discomfort in the Achilles area on either leg for the first time in weeks. I allowed my frontal lobe to contemplate this remarkable turn of events as I ran today. And I came to the conclusion that the answer had to be ice. Or should I say the absence of ice.  For the first time in weeks I did not ice my Achilles tendons after my run.  What made me change my procedure?   I have reread Dr. Mirkin’s post about ice a number of times.  In his article he cites 10 years of research that have proven that ice has no impact on healing or recovery.  Ice will reduce pain while it is applied.  But ice has the opposite effect according to Dr. Mirkin’s studies. It actually prevents or impairs the healing process. You would have to read the article to fully understand the physiological and scientific, biological reasons for this.  But the data and research suggest that it is true. So, yesterday I did not ice my Achilles tendon and today I had the most comfortable run with no discomfort in my lower legs.  Can one day prove that ice is a deterrent to recovery and healing?  No.  However, I have run 10 miles in the last 2 days and my tendons right now are feeling fine, and no icing.  There is one variable that I have not controlled for and that is speed. The miles I have run in the past two days have been in the 10 to 12 minute  range except for the last mile today.   I will continue to monitor, and I will report on the results after I have run some 8 minute mils and some pickups at a faster pace.

I am thinking about a non impact day for the morrow.

I thought that passed through my wandering brain along my 55 minutes of running tonight was about the concept of “The Slapper.”  I was reminded of this phrase while speaking with Coach Jim O’Connor at the Somerset County championship meet last Saturday.  When Jimmy my assistant we always had a lot of fun with the boys because they had come up with the concept of “The Slapper.”   I cannot remember which runner came up with the term,  but he described an opponent who was racing behind him and he could hear him slapping the ground with each stride.  So this phrase became a common source of derision on our team.  Of course anyone who slapped the track when they were running, either a team member or an opponent,  immediately became known as a Slapper.  But over time the word grew and the concept expanded to encompass anyone who we felt was an inferior athlete. It would be not uncommon to hear someone say when we arrived at a meet, “There’s no way these guys are going to beat us, they are a bunch of Slappers.”  And of course to call a teammate a slapper was a huge insult.  What actually made me think of it today was I had been complimenting myself on the feeling of floating and taking veritably silent foot strikes during the run.  Now of course,  I never encouraged guys to  deride opponents or teammates, but I think perhaps the  idea of the negative meaning of slapping had a positive impact on my runners.  It may have in fact helped to improve the efficiency of their running when they made specific attempts to run softly and not pound the track or the trail.  So the the concept of The Slapper survived a couple of decades, and Jim O’Connor and I laughed on Saturday remembering how much fun we had hearing kids talking about Slappers back in the North Hunterdon days.  Then one of the triple jumpers we were watching came slapping loudly down the runway and both of us looked at each other and said, “Slapper .”

Finally, I want to thank everyone who read my posts today and liked and shared my plus70runner.com blog on Facebook and on Twitter. The number of hits is astounding to me and I hope that it continues. It would be my dream come true to have this site become a place of discussion among all runners. senior, middle-aged, young adults and teenagers.  I will continue to tell my story. And I would love to hear anyone else’s stories.

Tell me your stories.

Stats

I-Mad  –   1 today!

a.m. HR – missed

Weight  – 152#

Sleep – 7 hrs

Workout – 5 miles  in  56:22

   1 –  16:15  walk & jog

2 – 10:55.   3 –  11:13,

4- 10:52,  5 – 9:28!

HR after run  126 BPM