2010
My first sketchy log reports from May through August of 2010. It consists of two or three entries per week indicating that I was walking, swimming, biking and occasionally weightlifting in the Warwick condominium weight room. There is no mention of running. At that point in time I was trying to keep active in any way possible but had not thought about running yet.
2011
Logs from early 2011 indicate that I had actually started to jog. I was still bike riding hand walking frequently. But I did run some 3 4-mile efforts. I checked in at 177 lbs at that time. The logs are detailed about distance and time. I would run 4 miles once a week at 56 minutes or so. At this time I was using a heart monitor and my heart rate at the end of runs would frequently exceed 170 beat per minute. By August I decided to run in the annual Jason Memorial 5K at Hillsborough High School. This race was held to remember a state champion 800-meter Runner named Jason Walton who had died tragically. Jason and I were very close and I attended this event annually. For the first few years I was an honorary starter or some other official. This year I decided to run. It was a pitiful 35:39 for 5k. I barely finshed.
Undaunted, I continued to increase my frequency and distance of what were essentially my jogs. A workout that I noticed frequently in my log was a walk- run- walk type effort. I would walk for 20 minutes jog for 20 minutes and walk for the final 20 minutes. This was an hour of work that did not wipe me out too much. By September I was capable of actually running 4 miles under 50 minutes. Always finishing with a very high heart rate in the 170’s. That seemed quite an improvement and my weight was dropping into the mid-160s. I had lost almost 10 pounds in a year. I was doing four mile runs usually once a week. The rest of the time was walking swimming biking or weight lifting. Being able to do all of this on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City made it a lot more pleasant. In September, I actually ran my first mile under 10 minutes. (9:45) I have no logs for November or December of 2011.
2012
Still using heart monitor and recording rate at 165 BPM frequently after runs. Runs have increased 2 two to three times a week and consistently around 4 miles. In January. I recorded my first Four Mile Run under 48 minutes. I hurt my back in the weight room which caused me some training days for a while. In February we drove to St. Augustine for the first time to spend some winter weeks away from New Jersey. I have logs of 3 to 4 workouts a week running Barefoot on the beach. Managed to reach 5 miles under 60 minutes and broke 9 minutes for the first time for the mile. All of this being done in the wonderful weather of Florida in February and March. It was during this time that I first see recordings of Achilles pain in my legs. I was later told by a orthopedic doctor that running on the beach causes Ahilles to stretch out too far resulting in inflammation. But I was starting to feel the rush and push the pace probably to my detriment. This began what has been a continual lower leg issue for the last 3 years. Each time I try to up the intensity of my work my lower legs cry out.
Back home in New Jersey my achilles tendons were very sore and I actually took 10 days off at one point because of the pain. But I did take a lot of Advil and ride bike and my weight in April was 162 pounds. May is the log of a lost month with just walking. June I was back to running and completing 4 miles and 44 minutes on the boardwalk. I was beginning to think I really could compete again. I remember telling Rich Refi around this time that I was setting as a goal to run a 25-minute 5k. There are a lot of entries beginning with BOB standing for Barefoot on Beach. So exhilarating but, in retrospect, not very smart.
On June 29th, I logged 159.5 pounds. First time under 160 pounds in 25 years! Very exciting. Then I actually did a few interval workouts on the Atlantic City High School track. My log for this phase introduced with the words, ” Full Boat Time.” I was set to go all out. I was actually starting to think like a runner again. The majority of my training with still biking, swimming, walking and weight lifting with running three maybe four times a week Max. I was very excited getting ready for the Jason 5K run in August. My log said, “Doing some form of work out everyday. Getting fit.”
At the Jason’s Memorial 5K Iran 31:07. That was a 4 minute and 30 second improvement over the year before and I won the + 70 division. It was a very, very hot and humid day and I struggled mightily in the last mile. As I approached the track for the finishing 300 meters I was looking pretty broken down. When I came up on a number of my athletes from Hillsborough cheering me, I regained a little composure and finished with a little dignity. After the race one of my young cross-country runners said to me, “Hey coach, I think you went into the Black Box.” Now, anyone who has been coached by me will understand the meaning of the Black Box. This is a concept developed by Coach Bob McMivney and I in the 1980s to try and help young athletes face the fear of getting tired during a cross country race. The Black Box represents that place where it is very frightening to enter during a race. You don’t know what’s in the Box, you’ve never been in it, and it could mean total destruction, maybe even death. Who knows? A runner has to convince himself that he can run through the Black Box because on the other side of the box is the glory. It is the runner who refuses to go into the Black Box, or slows down to let the Box receed that remains an average Runner and never achieves his full potential. This is the courage of the long distance Runner. You can imagine how much of a source of great pride it was for me to hear one of my own athletes is telling me that I had gone into the Black Box.
2012 finished in a whirl. In August I found out I had a hernia and needed an operation. In September we bought a new house and moved to Jackson. Also in September I qualified for the national Senior Games in Cleveland by taking second place in both the 800 and 1500 meters at the New Jersey Senior Games. I had a lot to think about and a lot of work to do to set up a new home. My logs crashed in October, November and December, and what I have indicates very shaky training. I did find that running the roads in Jackson was quite pleasant. There’s not much traffic and there are nice 4 and 5 mile loops. Things had kind of come to a standstill on the running front.
So, 2012 ended with a great Christmas party for the entire ORourke Family at the new house in Jackson. Life was good!