Finishing strong…

 December 31, Friday –     1  hour to 2022

Well,  on December 23, I had my second cataract surgery.  This was not a serious problem, basically elective surgery to improve my eyesight. As a result I had to take a few days to recover. But, fortunately, the final week of the year worked out pretty well for training. I have expanded my  workouts in both time and intensity.   Recent workouts have been between 45 and 50 minutes with frequent speed segments added along the way. Tonight’s final run of 2021 was 4 miles with more than a dozen speed segments of 50-100 strides each.  And my Garmen Connect  app gave me a “STRONG FINISH”  badge.  Perfect !     🎆 Happy New Year 🎆

Good stats….

PYP today

December 21, Tuesday

Push Your Pace

A tribute to Justina and Rich

On Sunday I ran my second consecutive four mile run in 45 minutes on the cinder track.

Today while doing my bundled up warm-up I got an inclination to run a time trial to see how my 40 minute aerobic workouts have helped my fitness. I decided to attempt a 2 mile with a goal of 20 minutes. I told myself I would attempt to run each half mile lap in five minutes or better. if I failed to hit that pace at any point I would stop. The outcome was better than I anticipated. I was better than five minute pace on each lap and ended up running 18:38. I finished strong feeling no aerobic or anaerobic stress. And it was a negative effort with the first mile in 9:28 and the 2nd mile and 9:10. I left the cinder track feeling very satisfied with the current level of fitness.

STATS-

Weight- 146*. A little bump, Everybody tells me I’ve gotten to thin.

Sleep- 8/9 daily

Diet- 7/8 Beer and chocolates!

Heart rate- still in mid 50pm. resting

Foot and leg muscle indexes are strong

Dusky 4 miles

December 17, Friday

 

The full moon was shining over the cinder track as I arrived trying to get a workout in ahead of the setting sun. It was still light out at about 4:20 when I started my run, but the moon had already established itself self clearly in the eastern sky.  As I ran the sun disappeared and the area was bathed in soft moonlight. I was listening to Frank Sinatra throughout my run. Yes, he actually crooned a lovely version of “Moonlight Serenade”along the way.  Truth!

Inspired by the ambiance surrounding me, I extended my normal 40-minute run  to 4 miles in 45:17 and relished every minute.   I am continually thankful that I can still enjoy these wonderful experiences running as a 78-year-old.

Steady, solid, positive stats.

 

 

 

 

 

Cinder-feller

December 11- 15,  Saturday  – Wednesday

I am spending more time at the cinder track these days because it is archery deer haunting  seasin in Turkey Swamp Park and I look too much like a Buck when running.       Doe?        Fawn???
 Saturday and Sunday recovering,

Q

Monday at the cinders- 3.5 in 40 minutes,  Good day!
Tuesday back at the cinders for a rare consecutive workout,  2 miles in 27:00 with  6 x SS under 9:00 pace, fastest pace  in over  a month.  Progress
Wednesday recovering
Steady stats, legs and feet good

40 more

December 10, Friday

Today on the trails of Turkey Swamp Park I covered 3.2 miles.  (12:50 pace).  After Monday’s 10:50 pace I needed extra rest.  Sticking with the 40 minute plan for the time being.

Found a 60+ running site recently. It is full of inspiring stories and discussions about starting and continuing to run after 60 years old.  Worth a look for anyone considering starting to get going again.

Steady stats this week.

 

 

Positive period with 40 minute plan..!

December 7,  Wednesday

Peggy  circa 1948 with little bro and me+l

It has been far too long since my last post.

A word about that to myself and also to my small cadre of loyal readers:

I began my +70 Runner blog  almost seven years ago with the idea of keeping a detailed log of my training accompanied by a few comments about the terrain and the weather.  I had not been writing anything for a while. The new task became very exciting, and I was motivated to write more detail about the local color and to include my personal, emotional experiences along the way.  As I began to enter competitions, reporting results became even more fun. At the time I was posting every day; details about my training, descriptions of the beauty of the environment and the joys of the run,  whines about my injuries and soreness,  mostly glowing reports about my competitions and the occasional anecdote from the coaching days of yore.

As my family and friends spread the news about my blog,  it became apparent that I was gathering a few loyal followers mostly from coaching ranks and former athletes.  Reconnecting with boys and girls that I once coached has been a delightful surprise. All of these wonderful motivators made writing a daily +70 RUNNER post an enjoyable part of my evening routine for almost five years.

In time, especially after the exciting period of racing in the Senior Nationals, I began to feel that my blog was becoming repetitive and boring.  I began to skip days and write weekly updates of mostly workout logs with little elaboration.  I suppose two years of civid lockdown has made my daily ramblings seem even more irrelevant.  The thrill of the write was gone

I am trying to rekindle my excitement for the game and the blogging.  The announcement that the Penn Relays are back on tap for this spring is very exciting. My new 40 minute run plan has been working very well for the last 3 weeks.  I am healthy and injury free. We are leaving for Florida for six weeks in January.  My cousin, Peggy aka Sister  Mary Kathleen, will turn 100 years old next Thursday!  I am writing a long post.   Come on, man !!…….Good stuff…….

40 minute plan

Purpose: to develops aerobic strength while avoiding injury

Since November 17th, 8 times at various venues mostly dirt and cinders

Interspersed with adequate rest and light cross training.

Extraordinarily beautiful running weather for early December.

11/17 – 3.21 miles – 12:27 pace

11/20  – 3.5 miles – 11:25 pace

11/24 – 3.31 miles  –  12:02 pace

11/28 – 3.29 miles –  12:10 pace

12/2 – 3.31 miles  – 12:19 pace

12/4 – 3.67 miles – 10:50 pace

12/6 – 3.82 miles  – 10:28 pace

Muscles and aerobics reeling strong!!

STATS-

Weight steady at  #144

Diet is excellent

Heart rate  steady at 54 bpm

Sleep 8-10 hours nightly

Legs and feet without issues

 

 

Better

November 20, Saturday

“Like so many runners, if I don’t run, I don’t feel right. I don’t feel relaxed,  I don’t enjoy eating.”  – Fred Lebow

I have settled on the idea of running comfortable 40 minute efforts for the foreseeable future. Thursday at Turkey Swamp Park I covered 3.22 miles in 40 minutes.  Today at the Cinders was it was 3.5 miles. In between was a recovery day and 1 hour of work at the clubhouse.  I think the 40 minute limit allows for enough recovery in two days to run quality efforts with healthy legs.  Thinking positive!

Stats are holding steady in positive territory.

Legs and feet are without issues.🌝🌤

Slow going

November 16, Tuesday

Mostly slow miles and swimming with days off for recovery..  This feels like a very funky training period. Not running with confidence and recovering slowly.  No routine, no plan and too many days off. Got to refocus.

Not for publication!

Getting rolling…..

Monday, November 9

“Every day is a good day when you run.”      Kevin Nelson

I ran three moderate miles on Saturday on the dirt trail at Turkey Swamp Park with no adverse results.  Today at the Jackson Liberty high school track I covered 3.1 intermittent miles with my calves feeling well and stopped, feeling refreshed, only out of an abundance of caution.  These are good signs that my calf muscles have healed. The comfortable fall weather over the next few days should give me some more chances for aerobic work.

My current plan is to train through the holidays with the goal of running a credible mile at one of the Monmouth University winter meets in January.  I will have to resist tte many Thanksgiving and Christmas 5k races along the way unless I want to jump in one or two as a tempo run.

I have been fortunate that my stats have remained positive and consistent during the period of minimal actual training.

Weight-  144

Sleep- 9 HR +

Heart rare 54 bpm

VO2MAX (NEW). as reported by my Garmen  = 41  They say that is good!

‘Hello Yes and leg indexes are all very good Hello

 

 

 

 

 

Fall xc series finale

October 30, Saturday

 

Despite dire weather forecasts for this morning, the running conditions were excellent at Holmdel Park for today’s final 5k of the Fall Cross Country Series.  My race performance was not as good as I expected.  I ran 30:34.  I am disappointed because during the race I felt like I was running very well.   I broke well and covered the first hills in a relaxed manner.  I approached the first mile mark with confidence and ran the bowl under control. I skirted the large hill without burning legs for the first time and recovered quickly for a  surge to the teannis courts.  The final  1200m seemed quick with a solid finishing kick.  Reading  the clock at the end was  an unpleasant surprise.  So, I finished 2nd in my age group for the series.   😏

My summary of the series.  I ran very well in race one and beat the guy who ultimately won the age group.  Ran the  next four race with basically no training  and sore calf muscles. Even skipped one because of night time calf cramps.  My hunch is that the lack of  training for a whole month caught up with me today.  My legs felt fine at last, but I had no aerobic strength to sustain pace.   The good news is that my legs are sound and I am ready to move forward and get back into shape.  That begins with a month of aerobic work. I see a turkey race somewhere in the near future!  🦃

Stats are all back on track!