Even though the temperature was in the low 90s yesterday, found a very shaded area along the Wooded Trail at Turkey Swamp Park. After a 1-milIe warm up I ran 20 * 150 yards at  pretty sustained pace.  (One of the better workouts I’ve done in the past week)

A slight ache in my left knee at the beginning of each workout has put a damper on my desire to run anything that is demanding. So, I do more walking than anything else because walking doesn’t cause pain. I’m not happy with the inconsistency, but even more concerned about losing time through severe injury. So. I muddle alone trying not to lose too much Fitness.

Stats are consistent.

May 29, Saturday

On a cold, windy and wet Saturday it seemed necessary to get out and do some running.  The theme of last week was recovery.  Tired body, heavy legs and minor joint pains made thoughts of running uninspired and somewhat foreboding.  The result was only two very deliberate 30 minute runs in a week.   I decided to layer up against the weather and see what would happen when I got out there. All systems held up well and improved as I went along. So, I extended the run to 5 miles which took exactly sixty minutes.  Positive and reassuring outcome………

Now I need a new plan to prepare for The Big Bang Mile race on June 26th.  Or maybe just have some fun running for the next month and enjoy the race.  🙂  🙂

May 25, Tuesday

The 800m training plan is now on hold for three reasons. (in chronological order)

– After 10 days of steady work the body told me that I was doing too much,  My legs were not recovering well, and I was becoming breathless on any attempt to achieve a pace faster than a 12:00 jog. So I took a few recovery jog days.

-During those mild recovery days my left knee was feeling a slight soreness causing a quick stop out of an abundance of caution.

-And finally,  learned yesterday that the 4 x 800m relay is not going to happen for at least two months.  So, the urgency has evaporated.

I think the 10 days of work while on the plan did improve my fitness. But I will have to moderate the plan when I begin again as the race becomes nearer. After these days of recovery I may try an all out 800m on a local track to see where I stand.

” Training is different from just plain running. It’s the difference between tossing the football around every other day and trying out for the team.”                                             My friend, the legendary Mark Bloom, The Runner’s Bible

May 11 – 16

I decided to create a more structured training plan to prepare for running a fast 800m on June 12th, if in fact the race does occur.  Running 3:22 last week with a very controlled effort has increased my confidence and motivation to run even faster.  Most of my training over these past years has been quite random based almost wholly on my daily assessment of how I felt. The plan consists of a little less straight distance running and a little more 800m focused stuff.   It consists of a 6 day cycle that includes some of my favorite workouts. That allows for five cycles to end on June 9th, three days before the scheduled race.  This post logs the results of the first cycle.

May 11, Tuesday –  This was the long day of the cycle. I completed 4.5 miles in two 30 minute runs, one on the road and one on the TSP trails.

May 12, Wednesday – This was tempo day.  The goal was to run as many 400m @ 8:40  pace as possible. (2:10)   After running a 1:59 and a 2:04 with minimal effort I concluded that this pace was not very effective. The next two were 600m both in 3:16.  I concluded with a 400m in 2:05 and a final 800m in 4:05.  (3200m in all)   It felt like a very positive workout on the cinders.

May 13, Thursday –  Today was a scheduled recovery day. So I did a lot of walking and a lot of stretching. It felt pretty good to take a non-running day because it was scheduled and not because I was being a weenie.

May 14,  Friday – Today called for a My Modifed Fartlek.  (JOG 30, RUN 30, WALK 30)  Got in 20 x 30 second SS in 3 miles on the cinders

May 15,  Saturday –  At Turkey Swamp Park I did a workout called Crank and Cruise that I found on the internet.  I have tried it once before.  It is a pretty good day’s work on a day when you want to limit foot strikes.  It’s a structured 12 minute run plus four times 100-meter strides.  The structure of the 12-minute run is as follows; 30 seconds @ mile goal pace (below 7:00) followed by three and a half minutes @ 5K pace (below 9:00)- repeat 3 times without stopping.  It is intense, and it raises the heart rate. That covered 1.29 miles in 12 minutes which averages out to  9:19 pace.   Slightly slower than goal, but not bad.  The Crank was on target, but the Cruise did not hold pace. Will have to get it next cycle.

May 16, Sunday-  A speed day. This final day of first cycle I wanted to run some fast 100m straightaways. I ran a comfortable 2.5 mile warm up, put on my spikes and busted 8 straits on the grass @ between 20 and 22 seconds per 100m. Cycle #1 complete in satisfactory fashion.    Tomorrow begins cycle 2 with a recovery day.

Stats are solid.

Sleep = 8 to 10 hours daily

Weight between 143 and 145lb

Resting heart rate staying in low 50s

Diet is excellent sin bounties of vegies and fruit.  Limiting red meats.

No issues with feet or legs.  🙂

April 29 to May 8

It has been a while. This post will be more like a journal than a running log as I try to put the last 10 days into perspective for myself.  But it has some training and racing bits as well.

Thursday, April 29th through Sunday, May 1st, I nursed the sore hamstring muscle with heat and ibuprofen while gradually increasing distance and pace on modest runs.  The hope was to be ready for the planned record setting 4 x 800m ‘OldGuy’ relay on Saturday the 8th.  On Sunday I was informed that the May 8th event was changed to a Shore AC, social relay exercise. Injuries prevented putting the ’75 -’79 team together.  That try was rescheduled to June 12 at a NJ STATE meet at Randall’s Island  Park.  The last time I was in Randall’s Island Park was in 1963 running  a 4 x 1 mile relay for Seton Hall University. Will this reprise happen? We will see if four septuragenarian gentlemen wish to travel for two hours to an island in the Harlem River to run 800m.  I think I hope so….?

Monday, May 3rd, marked the beginning of an event packed week.  After a year in quarantine, I was looking forward to a week that was, remarkably, filled with social events on every single day.

Monday evening I had a meal inside a restaurant at the invitation of Linda Walton. She had invited the coaches from Hillsboro who had helped her with her annual Memorial race for Jason.  It was wonderful to be out in the company good friends.  Then at 3am I was awoken with a severe allergic reaction to something that swelled up my face and hands dramatically and caused an uncontrollable itch in my hands that kept me awake till dawn.  Kristen woke me at 7am telling me I looked like a monster and  ordered me to get to the doctor immediately.  He ordered medications that the began  gradually to undo the effects of the reaction. I never figured out the cause. That was Monday.

Tuesday, after the doctor visit, I managed to get through a dental appointment and take Arlene to her physical therapy appointment while recovering.

Wednesday, still recovering, I traveled to Clinton for a social gathering at Maggie Murphy’s house with teaching colleagues from North Hunterdon.  It was a lovely afternoon catching up with old friends.

On Thursday I got back to running with a 3-mile effort and put on my spikes to run a couple of fast 100s.  Then a first card game with the Thursday night gang in a year.

Friday was the day of a long-awaited and anticipated lunch with my dear godmother, Mary Fitzgerald, who is currently living in Philadelphia. Mary turned 96 years old today, Saturday. Kristin and I had a wonderful lunch in an outdoor setting in a lovely restaurant with Mary for her birthday celebration. She is as sharp as a tack and funny as hell at 96.  It was very special!

Then came Saturday and time for the Shore AC, social 4 by 800m relay that was held this time at Mater Dei Prep in New Monmouth, a place I had never been to before.  They have a beautiful 8 lane track.  The threatening weather held up and I was able to run a 3:22 for my 800m, the fastest among the old guy contingent.  My goal was to treat this like a workout morning. So, I did an extended warm up and concluded with a relaxed but quick 800m that left me feeling very confident on the day.

So, 400+ miles of driving, 5 cool social events with a variety of valued friends, a new tooth, a frightening overnight attack and recovery, healthy legs and a promising 800m race marked this  ‘long, strange and wonderful 10 day trip.’

Stats-  I have no idea…:-)

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!