February 4th, Monday

The next time you are out there training, think about your mitochondria sucking up that oxygen and powering your body.  They are your friends…diligently providing the matrix a portion of the enzymes responsible for the chemical reactions which power your muscles.  It would also be a good idea to think about how to efficiently get more of them when trying to build your aerobic engine as big as it can be.  Generally, you have to go hard to make them grow! The bigger the engine, the faster one can go!  Train hard, rest hard, train hard again, and have fun along the way.

“Mitochondria: The Aerobic Engines”

 Kirk Willett (Source:biketechreview.com)

After reading more about the process of building muscle power by creating more and more powerful mitochondria,  I chose to do a quicker workout today.  With my legs feeling a little more lively after a bike day, I ran 10 strides at from 6:40 to 8:20  after a steady 15 minute warm-up. finished with a 15 minute jog and walk to cool down.  My legs felt good and quick.  The totals were 3 miles in 39 minutes.  It was fun!  

Steady stats….

February 2nd and 3rd

*My basic philosophy can be summed up by an expression we use in Norwegian: hurry slowly, Get there, but be patient.”        Grete Waitz

As the cool, cloudy, windy, St. Augustine winter continues,  I have been able to escalate the quality and consistency of my training.   55* and overcast is not beach bathing weather, but a pretty  sound running environment.

Saturday;  45 minutes on windy beach without Garmin- about 3.3 miles with frequent pickups of 50 to 100 strides. Legs are good.

Sunday;  1 hour of biking on beach (6.9 miles) with a few running strides at the 4 mile mark    No leg issues.

Steady stats.

February 1st, Friday

A few positive training developments today…

First,  I got my hands on a beach bike that seems to be working pretty well. I rode it for about 5 miles today. It turned out to be a good warm-up for my run.

Second, the weather improved, mainly the wind lessened and the temperature went up to low 60s.  So I went out and ran 3 miles in 39 minutes. The calf muscle feels completely healed. But I still get a little pain in my right quadricep. It doesn’t prevent me from running or from accelerating, but it is annoying.  Lots of heating and stretching seems to have helped both issues.

A good Training Day.

Stats-

Weight = 152 and 1/2 lb

Sleep = 9 hours

Morning heart rate stable at 54 beats per minute

Diet has been very good.

Morning plantar fasciitis pain is still at level five but disappears within minutes and does not bother me while running.

Morning Achilles tendon pain is non-existent, thankfully.

January 31, Thursday

Nasty, cold, unrelenting  north wind again today.  So I was the lonely beach runner.   It was a designated recovery day: so I only ran for 20 minutes. The 10 minutes heading north was pretty brutal, but the 10 minutes heading sound was kind of fun.  Being the only guy out there did make me feel a little bit hard-ass, I must admit.

“It’s just personal satisfaction.”  Kenny Moore, USA Olympic marathoner 1968 and 1972  and running writer

Steady stats

January 30th, Wednesday

Another 4 miles on a windy, cold (but not Chicago cold -51*) beach.  First 2 miles needed to bring the body to fully warmed up state.  Last 2 miles were dotted with 12 pick-ups of 30 to 100 strides at 8 to 9 minute pace.   That plan produces a heart rate in a very positive range for aerobic improvement.  Calf and quad muscles feeling on the margin, but ok for short pick-ups after a long warm up.

Stats-

Sleep = 8 hours

Weight = #154

Diet = 9

I-Mad = 1

I-Mpfd = 5. Pain at 0 after gentle stretch for about 2 minutes.

January 29th, Monday

My Sunset beach shadow

So, today I began my run on the beach as the sun was setting.  I didn’t use the heating pads today. Instead I did my leg swing drills before I began to run including some lunges. The first mile was very careful and deliberate at about 13 minutes per mile. The good news is that both my calf and quad muscles felt fine.  After I passd the mile mark, I decided it was time to follow my new motto, “Do what frightens you.”  So, I began a series of pickups starting with gentle bursts of 20/30 strides. As I gained confidence, I increased the length and speed of each pick-up. I turned around at the 1 1/2 mile mark and continued the      pick-ups.  In all, I ran over 15 bursts reaching about 1 minute for the final few at a pretty quick pace.  It was quite exhilarating to run at a solid pace for the first time in a month. The sun had set by the time I finished this 3 mile workout.  After the run I stood in the quite cold pool for 10 minutes.  The debate over the efficacy of cold pool baths after a run is a subject for another post.  But it felt good.

Stats-

Weight  = #153

Sleep  =  8 hours

Diet = 9

Morning heart rate = 54 beats per minute. Very consistent!

I-Mad = 0

I-Mpfd = 5

January 23rd,  Wednesday

Day of rest

January 24th,  Thursday

35 minutes with no calf issues,  constant, dull pain in  right quad muscle?

January 25th,  Friday

50th Wedding Anniversary. I Love You, Arlene.

3.3 miles in 43 minutes….  Calf muscle decidedly better!  Right quad curiously aching throughout run.  I have been consciously walking and running the 15 steps to the upper floor of our current rented condo whenever I have the chance.  Could that be a factor regarding quad muscle?

January 26th,  Saturday

Unrelenting, strong,  bitter mcold wind from the north pushed me south along the beach this afternoon for 2 miles.   Then I exited the beach and returned through the seaside neighborhoods where the wind was still unrelenting,  but not so strong.  Good news on the calf front, but still getting noise from my right quad muscle.  But 4 miles in 50:15 on a tough day with a strong last mile is OK for now.

Poor stat data lately. Scale needs battery.  Must do better.

January 22nd, Tuesday

Deep blue skies, bright sunshine, forgiving sands, endless flat beach, 55*, soft onshore breeze ……I don’t know how it gets any better for a runner. And it is -18* in New Jersey!  Wow!

Despite these optimal and inspiring environs, the Rhymes continue to be less than optimal or inspiring them. Although I once again managed to cover 4 miles, troubles with my calf muscle continue. I hated fake legs for about 20 minutes prior to heading out to the beach. Still the soreness and ominous feelings in the calf continue for about 40 minutes of my run. So, the first three miles consister of jogging, stopping to stretch, running a little, stopping to stretch walking and jogging again. That resulted in miles timed at about 13 /14 minutes. By mile four I could run at about 11 minutes non-stop without any calf issues.  None of this  demanding aerobically.  So I continued to to stress about losing fitnes both aerobically and in muscle tissue. So my current plan is to continue  moving for 4 miles probably every other day. On the other day I will bike and swim to maintain fitness.  I have to remind myself of how luckey I am to be where I am and for the opportunity to work daily on my fitness.  Deep breath!

Stats are stable.

This is Sunday, the 20th of January, our first wake-up in St. Augustine!

“The  hardest part of training is always those first few steps out the door.”

Bill Rodgers

This was the first year that we took three days to make the trip from New Jersey to Florida. Sleeping at the hotels for two nights meant that we only drove for about six hours each day.    We slept later and ate a relaxed breakfast each morning, and had no time pressure to finish the day’s drive before dark.  But the trip did seem to be a lot longer.  I think that, if we are going directly home in April, the one day grind is preferable. Not a big fan of the overnight hotel scene.

Today was a much colder day than yesterday which was a balmy 70* at arrival.  After stressing all day about the cool temp and the constant blustery wind, I forced myself to get dressed and get out for a run.I managed to stay in motion for 4 miles and 54 minutes.  It has been taking over 30 minutes in motion to get to the point where my calf is not moaning and threatening to cramp.  That occurs even with 20 minutes of heat and a mile of jog,walk,stretch.  But, even slowly, 4 miles is 4 miles.  Glad I got out today.

Stat drought!

January 15th, Tuesday

” Running was the time he felt most alive. He knew that as surely as he’d ever known anything.”

~~~~~ Richard Christian Matheson,  “Third Wind”

Today was a magnificently clear, sunny and calm day in the middle of January. The temperature was in the middle thirties, but I was layered up and cozy.  I had a goal to complete four miles no matter how long it took.  My calf muscle is obviously not completely healed. So, throughout eight laps I had twinges of pain. I was constantly mulling the decision to continue for the benefits of a good aerobic workout or  to stop to prevent the possibility of re-injuring my calf muscle and being sidelined for another week or more.  I kept pushing on while stopping to mollify the discomfort in my muscle each lap. The effort took 1:07 with ten minutes of that time spent stopped for calf stretching. The temptation to bag it each lamp  was  constant. I was surprised at how exhilarated I was with completing this very slow workout. Getting out on the track after ten days was surely a motivator. But, mainly,  I was too spellbound by the crisp air and blue sky and bright sunshine and soft cinders to terminate the moment.

Good stats for a good day…