July 20  to  July 31

https://youtu.be/Fh_dHFmAggY

Another inexplicable posting drought.  Let’s just call it the Summertime Blues.

The last 12 days I’ve  completed five pretty solid workouts, all on the cinders, along with seven days off. The 27th to the 30th saw four days off in a row. It’s been a long time since I took four days off in a row. But I was feeling a little sore and feeling that a few injuries might have been coming on.. Plus the real feel on all these days exceeded 100*and I managed to talk myself out of a workout each day.  There was a lot of beer involved I must admit.

Workouts-

1st on the 21st –  6 a.m.  (Yes 6 a.m.)  30 minute warm up  with SS.                     + 33 minutes of MMF  (:30 run – :30 walk – :30 jog)   4.6 miles.  Good day!

2nd on the 23rd – 6 a.m.    (Gotta beat the heat.) 2 mile warm up with SS        + 6 x 600m progressive with 200m walk. The goal was to try to run at 3 minutes per 600m effort. Began at 3:15 and progressed to 2:56.  800m cool down for a 5-mile plus day.  Positive day!

3rdb on the 25th – Arrived at the track with only about 40 minutes till dark. So, I opted for a very quick speed workout. After a good warm up I ran a series of very fast 200s and 100s and got in the car before the Nocturnals emerged.  Good work.

4th on the 26th –  7 p.m.   Standard two mile warm up with speed segments – Plus 8  x  400m under 2:00.  Set out with goal to run six, but felt good and extended it to eight. Very happy with this workout!

5th on the 31st – Mid-day ,very humid.  So, after four days off I figured it would be a good day for a time trial.  I wanted to test if I could run 800m under 3:30.  I did an extended 2.5 mile warm up with 12 xSS  up to 100 strides and stretching.  Feeling strong and confident with rested legs, I ran a solid 3:22.   After a full rest I ran a 400 in 1:48.  I was very satisfied with both of those efforts.  1200M Cool down for 4.5 mile day

So, those are my five workouts in 12 days in July.

An hour later I tweaked my calf muscle chasing the dog. Humbug!

Stats are acceptable, but nothing to write home about.

July 15th through 19th – Wednesday through Sunday

I write this as I sit on a shaded patio in 100° today.

Wednesday and Thursday I did walking only because I needed to recover from a pretty difficult mile repeat workout on Tuesday.

Friday I arrived at the track quite late as the sun was setting. I took the opportunity of a warm evening to do some speed work. The total workout took less than 45 minutes but was pretty intense. The warm-up  was the typical two mile  I have been doing recently with frequent accelerations.  I began with the goal of running 5 * 400  meters at sub 8 minute pace with 2 minutes recovery.  I managed to stay under 2 minutes for each repeat even as I competed with the nocturnals on the back straightaway as night fell.   Still feeling pretty feisty at that time, I decided to try some 200m at the same pace.   I remained on the lighted side of the track minus the nocturnals. I completed 5 x 200m at a solid pace under one minute.  This goes on the record as a successful workout.

Saturday I restored.

Sunday-

Hearing the ominous weather forecast for the following days, I decided Saturday night that I would set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. to beat the sun.  I arrived at the track at 6 a.m. with the goal of running 5 x 1000m repeats at 8 minute pace with two to three minute recovery.   I wondered if I could get this in before it got too hot. I completed my two mile warm up with frequent accelerations to prepare. I did manage to run 5 repeats in a progressive manner although none ever hit the 5-minute goal. The times were; 6:04, 5:44, 5:33, 5:13 and 5:09.  It was another positive day.

Stats –

Morning heart rate  @ 52bpm

Weight @ 144 average

Diet is very good.

Foot and muscle indexes are good.

Sleep a little spotty lately because of dog and morning runs.

July 9, 10 & 11. Thursday, Friday & Saturday

3 days of distance on Jackson roads totaling 12 miles  Sunday off….

July 13th, Monday

It was 88 degrees at 2 o clock on the cinders. It seemed like a good time to run a little speed work. So, I did and extended 2 mile warm up with some speed segments followed by some leg drills in the shade. Then I ran 5 x 200m at 1:00 or better (below 8:00 mile pace) with 200 meter walk and Jog between. It felt very good but left me pretty exhausted for the rest of the day.

June 14, Tuesday  (today)

On a 72*, shady, still night at the cinder track I ran some repeat miles.  It’s it’s been quite a while since I tried this workout. So,I was unsure of how successful it would be. I set as a goal  to try and run under 10 minutes for 3 or 4 if I could.  The result turned out much better than I had anticipated. Number one was a somewhat labored 9:20. Number two was a more comfortable 9:22.  During number three I negotiated with myself in a few different directions.  First I said , “If you break 9 minutes on this one, you can call it quits for the night. ”   Then I decided to be a little more hard ass and said, “If you break 9 minutes on this one, you can run a fourth.”   I liked that better.    Number 3 was very smooth 8:33.  So, I ran a fourth in 9:48 with a negative final 800m.   This workout left me very pleased with myself.

All stats remain positive.

July 8th, Wednesday

An exchange between Gustav V of Sweden and Jim Thorpe at the 1912 Olympics

Gustav-  ” You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.”

Thorpe- “Thanks, King.”

🙂   🙂   🙂

Another perfect, late night at the cinder track was the prime opportunity for a speed workout.  (79* and calm)  I began with my newest version of a 2-mile warm up with numerous pickups and walking along the way. After that I ran 2 miles in 22 minutes. I usedt)he format of running for 30 seconds which involved about 75 to 80 quick strides followed by walking for 30 seconds.  The two miles went by very quickly with this format, and I felt like I increased the speed of the segments as the workout progressed.  I finished with no aerobic or muscular distress. It was a very positive of workout.  4 miles

Stats are solid and steady.

June 6, Monday

For some reason which I cannot figure out I’m always catching up lately. But here we are on June 6th and I haven’t posted since June 2nd. So we’ll go through the days one at a time. Fortunately I do have everything written down on my desk calendar. Starting with;

Friday -June 3rd, at 8 p.m. in the evening I ran 4 miles in 52:23. I had ridden three miles on my bike earlier this day because I wanted to basically “get back on the horse.” It’s been just about a month since my bike accident and everything is healed, but I am somewhat reluctant to jump on the bike these days. I don’t know if it was coincidental or as a result of the earlier bike rides, but both my knees we’re experiencing soreness when I ran later in the evening.

Saturday – June 4th,     Day off to recover

Sunday – June 5th,   On Jackson roads today I ran 4.12 mi in 52:30. Pretty consistant

Monday – June 6th,  On a beautiful 70° evening practically alone on the cinders I ran a 4.5 mile workout.  A solid 2 mile warm up with frequent speed segments. Then I did 5 x 800m  with the goal of running at 10 minute pace. After a 4:50 first effort I ran under 4:30 for the next four. Starting off each one at 6:00 mark. During this workout I didn’t experience any leg or foot discomfort. This is very good.

Stats-  I get the impression that I am slacking on best diet and sleep leading to a slight increase in weight over the last week or two.  I have been very happy with my weight staying in the mid-to-lower one forties for the last month and a half.  Definitely want to keep it there. When Gracie the puppy, is here I don’t get to sleep as late in the morning because she is ready to go by 8:00. I like to sleep until almost 10 a.m. everyday.  But Life Goes On.

” Thrust against pain. Pain is the purifier.”    Percy Cerutty

June 29th, Monday – 3 miles on the Cinders with 8 to 10 gentle speed segments. Most importantly no pain in legs or feet.

June 30th,  Tuesday – a very nice end-of-month run on the cinders. A solid 2 Mile warm up which speed segments and walking. Added two times 1K at 6:05 and 5:50. Once again no soreness in feet or legs.

July 1st, Wednesday – 3.8 miles on the cinders with similar warm up with speed segments and walking. Very fond of this new warm up that works very well.  Can’t be rushed.  I then ran 8 x 300m at 8 to 9 minute pace with 100m walk in between. Feet and legs feeling fine. Finished with plenty to spare.

STATS are steady and solid .

June 29, Monday

So another week has gone by without posting, but I’m not going to talk about that right now. I am going to talk about what I believe was really totality of running and training in June. Early in the month I was hosting to myself about how my legs were holding up and recovering quickly from some pretty strong workouts. But in later days of the month my legs began to feel heavy and some small nicks started to appear like a bit of soreness in my right Achilles tendon and some upper leg muscle tweaks.  I felt compelled to take off 5 full days of rest from June 16th to June 26th. From checking back through the month today I learned that I had run 11 pretty hard workouts in the first 22 days. I did not realize I was doing that much quick work. I was just happy that my legs were moving quickly and without soreness. I have to be much more aware of he hard days that I am injecting into my training. So my new goal is to spend a few weeks running more distance at 10: 00 per mile pace probably with some pickups along the way or speed segments as I call them. The last six days have been rest and recovery only. I have not gotten out yet today. Somewhere around 7:30 I will go to the cinders track and see how my legs feel.

STATS- Except for some mild Achilles soreness in my right foot, all stat indicators are stable and sound.

June 18 to 22, Thursday  to Monday

“You only ever grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone. ”  — Percy Cerutty

Thursday- Rested

Friday- 3 miles in 45 minures.   This was a very uncomfortable 45 minutes. In retrospect I should have just taken the day off.

Saturday- Rested

Sunday- 5 steady miles without a watch. Legs felt pretty good but I was extremely tired the rest of the evening after that run. Luckily I got between 10 and 11 hours sleep Sunday night.

Monday-  (Today)  finally a workout worth writing about. But first a word about how beautiful it is on the cinder track around 7:30 in the evening. The entire track is in the shade by this time. That is 800m in the shade!  It is simply delightful running. Tonight was no exception. Even though the temperature was about 84 degrees it was comfortable. And it doesn’t get dark until 9 o clock during the weeks before and after this summer solstice.

But I digress. Back to the workout which was worth talking about.   I thought it was time to do some Tempo work. Estimated my tempo goal to be about 10:00 per mile. I thought 20 minutes would be a good amount of time. So I figured on running 2 x 10:00 miles with a light rest in between.   I was somewhat concerned that my legs would be a little used up after a 5 Mile run yesterday.  During a 1-mile warm-up jog my legs felt quite good. I set out on my first Tempo mile and finished in 9:33. I was happy with that. I set out on number two and once again feeling quite good finished in 9:20. Feeling challenged but no aerobic or muscular distress , I decided to try a third 1 mile effort.  I told myself that I was getting comfortable being outside my comfort zone . I became more enthusiastic as the third mile went on and pushed the pace to finish in a surprising 8:50.   I concluded with an 800m cool-down jog to total 4.5 miles. This workout turned out to be much more positive than I had anticipated. I finished confident and invigorated.  Thank you, Percy Cerruty.

My statistics in all categories have been very positive and very steady.

“The ability to recover goes away as you age. What I found is that my recovery is slower, and I can’t do the pounding.”-  Frank Shorter

June 13  – 17;  Saturday  –  Wednesday

A lot of thoughts on my mind tonight. The first is that somehow five days I’ve gotten away since my last post. I don’t think I missed many single days during the last five years. I rationalize that not having a goal makes me less enthusiastic to write. Arlene and I have been out Arlene and I have been out to some gardening centers to pick up flowers  to set around the house and the patio.  So some of my time these last few days has been spent planting  flowers. I also repaired and replaced some window screens that had been busted up by our recent visitor ,  the rather large puppy, Gracie. But tonight I do feel that I have a number of running things to write about. And I can always turn to my distance running hero, Frank Shorter ,  to put things in perspective for me. These five days have been interesting and meaningful to me. And so I begin.

Saturday- As I described in my last post, Friday’s workout was five Progressive miles on the cinders. So,on Saturday I thought I would run a shorter workout with a little speed. I carefully measured a 100m segment on the cinder track.. I was pretty satisfied when I ran 15  x 100m, all in 25 seconds or less with 1 minute rest between each. The total mileage for the day with warm-up and cool-down was 2.75 miles. This was definitely the most intense speed work I have done in a while.

Sunday- Rested predictably sore legs.

Monday- I ran 4 miles on the Cinder track with still heavy legs. It took quite a while to get warmed up and loose. Finally, feeling a little more fluid, I increased effort on my 4th mile and finished that in 9 40.  Still recovering ie:  Frank Shorter

Tuesday – Still in a measuring mood, I mapped out a 1000m loop around my block. Then I ran 3 x 1k in 7:20,  6:12 and 5:30.  I was not happy with the feeling of pounding on the macadam ie: Frank Shorter.  That was at about noon. I toyed with the idea of going out in the evening to the cinder track for another workout, but the feeling in my legs made me give up on that idea.

And then there was Wednesday.

I stopped at the cinder track today on my way home from picking up a yummy prepackaged basket of fruits and vegetables from the takeout lane at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck. The day was very humid with an almost constant mist in the air and about 74 degrees with a steady 8 mile per hour breeze. It felt to me like ideal running conditions. The mist and the breeze were quite refreshing. I forgot my Garmin: I decided that I would run five x  1k efforts  at just comfortable pace.  After a 1200m warm-up with frequent 20 stride pickups I began.  My guess is that I ran the first one in 7:00, the next two in about 6:00 with my sweat pants on.  Things were going swimmingly. As I approached #4, the mist turned into a gentle rain and the wind picked up.  I made a challenge to myself that, if I could break 5:00 on #4, I could skip  #5.  By this time I remembered that I had an old stopwatch in the car. The gentle rain and the breeze still seemed to be invigorating as I started out at a quick pace with sweatpants removed.  As I approached the 800-meter mark I started telling myself that, if I was under 4:00 at that point, I might consider completing a full 1600meffort.  I passed at 3:45.    Approaching the 1K mark I began to waver.  But I passed at 4:45 and decided to “Do What Frightens You.”  I excitedly pushed on to 1600m in 7:46.9!  I was a happy me.:-):-)    The rain and the wind subsided at this point. So,I bravely decided to tackle the fifth 1000m effort anyhow.  I completed it in a relaxed 7:00.   A 200m walk to my car completed a 7,800 meter day.

STATS ARE GOOD!

JUNE 12, FRIDAY

Felt like another brick in the wall.

Tonight was another beautiful time to run. It was 77 degrees with no wind. The track was quite empty so is he chances of encountering individuals was very slim. I started out with modest expectations but quickly decided that a comfortable five miles would be the optimal workout tonight.  Along the way I added frequent 30 second speed segments at a very moderate pace just to elevate the heart rate. I didn’t feel the need to walk at any point along the way which was good. Each mile was progressively quicker with the final mile at a surprising 9:30. I am quite happy with this aerobic 59 minute workout.

Stats-

Diet =  9

Weight = 144 pounds

Sleep = 9 hours

Leg muscles are sore but respond well after about 20 minutes of warm-up.

Foot indexes are all in the low one or two range. I am currently running almost exclusively on the cinders because I feel it greatly benefits my legs and feet.  The impact of the pavement seems to Rattle through my legs these days. And since my recent fall I have become someone reluctant to take a long bike ride. So the cinder track currently fits the bill.  Soft and safe…and 7 minutes away.