Tuesday – 5.77 miles biking on the windy roads in 46.00
Wednesday – Today I met with my friend Don who is visiting in Florida for a golf tournament. Don a an accomplished tri-athelete who has completed a number of Ironman competitions. He was kind enough to run at my Pace on the beach for 4 miles with me. We had an enjoyable conversation and the time went by quickly. It was a treat to have a friend along because all of my runs have been alone. We ran 4 miles with 5 x 30 second SS along the way in 46 minutes. We plan to meet up again on Sunday morning.
“I was born to run. I love to run. It seems that the faster I go, the easier it becomes.” Mary Decker Slaney
Today was possibly the warmest day so far in St. Augustine. Fortunately, some heavy clouds moved in to filter the sun by 4p.m.. I covered 3 miles on the beach consisting of 20 SS with walking in between. I ran for 30 seconds covering about 80 strides, each followed by 60 seconds of quick walking. My heart rate stayed in the 130 to 140 range throughout. It took 38 minutes and felt very good. The SS pace was between 6:45 and 7:15. I am becoming enamored of the idea of doing workouts that consist of walking quickly and running fast with no jogging . I am sure that I will continue to run some workouts at a longer, steady pace: but I’m finding it hard to imagine doing that without adding at least some SS.
Old, junky, rusty, burnt orange, but functional Huffy. Found it in an abandoned warehouse. Haven’t added air in 7 weeks. LOL
On the beach this morning as the Sun rose under the new Eastern Daylight Time. That meant an extra hour of sleep in the morning to get on the beach just as the sun rose. I rude my trusty Huffy for 40 minutes, ran for 20 minutes with a few SS and rode home for 10 minutes. (70 in motion)
“Walking and running makes us part of the living cosmic unity, and that is not something restricted to the young.” Roger Robinson Legendary masters runner
Today I walked on the beach for 1 hour with Arlene in the beautiful midday sunshine cooled by a brisk southern breeze.
Later, in the cool of the evening, I ran 45 minutes injecting some quick SS along the way.
– 40 minutes in motion as the sun rose this morning, jogging .walking and running
– 30 minutes running a steady pace with few pick-ups as the sun set
I like the idea of running slower twice a day. My legs feel heavy and tired but not sore or hurt. Hopefully, this more extensive mileage will build my aerobic fitness.
For the second day in a row I ran twice. It happened more by chance than by design, but I liked it. I’m the morning I drove the car to the beach and ran 40 minutes, more than I anticipated. Getting out at 6 a.m. has become quite easy quicker than I expected. Later Arlene and I visited the beach planning to enjoy the view from the car only on a chilly, breezy afternoon. I ended up running a surprisingly quick and comfortable 30 minutes. That was the 4th run in two days!
“Morning runs equal power in the third mile.” Coach O’Rourke
This morning was a classic case of 76-year-old SDOMS. That is Seriously Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. My legs actually were more sore today than yesterday. This is a phenomenon that I have noticed as I have aged: muscle soreness peaks at about 48 hours after intense physical activity. So, today I did two gentle workouts. At 6a.m. I rode and ran very slowly for 45 minutes. At 4p.m. I jogged barefooted and walked for 2 miles on the beach in 30 minutes. My legs feel quite revitalized tonight. Tomorrow begins a three-day stretch of much cooler weather. It should be a good opportunity to log some longer runs to begin the effort to improve aerobic strength. Rich Refi reminds me, as he always does, of my own saying at the right time. “Morning runs equal power in the third mile.” That is exactly what I need after analyzing my race on Saturday. I hope it is not too cold at 6a.m..
“No matter how old I get, the race remains one of life’s most rewarding experiences.” George Sheehan
Yesterday I ran 28:50 at the Saint Augustine Lighthouse 5K. It was somewhat disappointing. Last year I ran 28:00. The positive is that I completed the run under 30 minutes with no leg or foot issues at all. The negative is that I ran slower than last year and that my third mile was an indication that I am not very aerobically fit at this time. Mile one was in 8:30, mile 2 was in 9:10 and mile 3 was in 10:16. The first mile was comfortable and relaxed, Second Mile was as expected somewhat demanding, but 3rd mile I had nothing left at all and sought only to finish in a respectable manner. I think as a result of my recent training I am in better middle-distance shape than in 5K shape. So, March will be a month of serious aerobic training.
I believe that the four days of almost zero running prior to this 5K race was helpful in clearing up nagging muscle aches in my calf and my quadricep. Hopefully I can get back to some serious longer runs in the four, five and six mile category.
I have been very neglectful of stats during the last week and have nothing to report. Today was pure recovery day. It was a wonderful 75 to 80 degree day on the beach including a pleasant 30 min. walk as the sun set.
Today was the first day of my new plan to start each day on the beach 30 minutes before the sun rises. This accomplishes two very nice things. First, I get to see the beautiful sunrise each morning over the ocean. Second, I can do a workout without the heat of the day and the threat sun burn on my face skin. There was a brutal cold wind from the north. So, I was unable to run. I tossed it out and walked for 20 minutes. I think the most important thing is that I started the routine of changing my sleeping habits. My legs have been heavy from the quick running I’ve been doing in the last week or two. So, today was intended to be an easy day. This is also an easy week as I approach my 5K race on Saturday.
Tuesday- My 76th birthday – Still trying to absorb that.
Double day….
This was the second day of my new schedule of waking up before the sunrise. The weather was better. So, I ran for half an hour very slowly. My quad muscles have been very tight lately which has made me reluctant to try any fast running. I was considering whether to go out again later in the day because it was a very good day for a run. Once again about 65* and overcast on the beach. But I decided to try anyhow about 5:00 in the evening. I was committed to a long, slow warm up. I did a series of leg exercises and stretching followed by 8 x 40 yard SS with increasing intensity. My goal was to run 2 miles somewhere near 10 minutes if I could. The wind was directly from the east off the ocean. So, it didn’t matter which direction I ran. The run proceeded well and in the first mile I ran about 9:40 moving time. That included two stops for about 30 seconds to stretch my right quadricep which was lightly hurting. The next mile was a little more inspired, and I ran 8:36 with no quad pain. I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of that effort. The rest of the week will be very light work preceding Saturday’s 5K race.
