December 11th and 12th, Tuesday and Wednesday 

At times like this I must remember;

Tuesday– I had to abort  my run today because of a surprise, sharp  pain in my right foot.  I was on the cinder track and felt very good until the pain came.  My goal was only to run 3 miles at a comfortable pace.  It was very cold.  The first two laps were jog, walk, jog,  The pain came on the 4th lap. I originally thought it was a cramp, but that changed. The troubling issue was that the pain did not dissipate when I stopped. It hurt all night.  But I did go to the club in the evening to swim and run in the pool for 30 minutes.  I came to fear that it was a stress fracture or a stress reaction in one of the small foot bones because I did find a tender spot on the top of my instep.  I took a couple of ibuprofen before bed.  Not happy….

Wednesday – My foot felt much better today. I had no pain in walking.  Did not try to run today, but went to the club for about an hour of work on weights and in the pool.  Still taking ibuprofen today. I am hoping that this event falls into that a new category of running injury known as a stress reaction.  If that is the case, a few days off and cross training should solve the problem. I don’t think I’m going to be out of commission as a runner for weeks as a result of this.  My spirits are llifted !

Stats are good!

December 9th, Sunday

Today’s workout was a variation of one I read in a Runner’s World post onTwitter. The authors are from the school that believes running slow will help you to run faster. They suggest 3-minute  intervals at a moderate pace with two minutes of recovery.  There seems to be considerable research that supports this idea . Plus I have been gradually coming to the conclusion that running faster than  eight minute per mile pace is detrimental to my body . Here is what I did on the cinder track on a totally calm, 32° December afternoon.

3.75 miles in 45minutes 

Warm-up = 15 minutes ending with 4 x 50 to 80 stride moderate pickups  

Intervals = 5  x  3 minute accelerations  going off at every 5 minutes  Average pace throughout was about 8:30 per mile during accelerations.

Cool down = 800m in 7 minutes 

This workout felt right on all aspects. It was very arobic and very comfortable, and I enjoyed running intervals of time rather than distance for a change.  This effort seemed quite effective without being too draining on the body.

Stats – 

Weight = #154

Indexes – plantar fasciitis = 3 and achilles tendon = 0

Diet = 10

Morning heart rate = 54 beats per minute

• December 7th, Friday 

Yesterday’s 90 minute workout at the club really knocked me for a loop. I didn’t do any part of the workout with great intensity, but I guess 90 minutes in motion was more than I had done in quite a while. I was in bed by 10 o’clock and slept for more than 11 hours.  The day started slowly and deliberately.  At 2 o clock Arlene and I bundled up and headed to the cinder track only to realize that it was much too cold for us to enjoy a workout.  I only managed to walk and jog 1 mile. So later in the evening, after making some chili,  I forced myself to head back to the clubhouse and  run for 40 minutes the treadmill.  I feel like I toughed it out today.

Stat blackout!

December 6th, Thursday

Tuesday and Wednesday were rest days after my demanding workout on Monday. The fact that the weather was bitter cold did play a role in my decision to take off.  So,  today I spent 90 minutes in motion at the weight room and the pool. It was a pretty depleting workout. I did a little work on the bike and on the elliptical machine, 20 minutes on the treadmill,  a good set of leg drills, a solid set of upper body weights, 10 minutes swimming and 10 minutes running in the pool. The goal was to keep the heart rate elevated throughout, a goal which I believe was accomplished. I am pretty beat tonight.

Stats – Steady 

December 3rd, Monday

Charlie Heidecker, ” If you want to get stronger, add weight.”

After hearing a dire weather forecast for the next week, I decided to try a ambitious workout this afternoon on the cinders. The temperature was 57 degrees with a brisk wind on the back straightaway. My goal was to run three interval miles under 10 minutes with about 3 minutes recovery. The outcome was much better than I expected.   I ran the miles at what seemed like a comfortable but demanding 5K pace. The first was a perfectly even 9:12 pace.  The last two I ran in a negative fashion. ( #2  was 4:39 and 4: 33 = 9:12)   (#3 was 4:33 and 4:10 = 8:43)   With a mile up and a mile down it was a 5-mile day. This is the most substantial work I’ve done in many months, both distance and intensity. The finishing pace  on my third mile  was 6:38. That might be a little too quick for this stage of my training. My legs are quite beat up tonight, and I will see what happens tomorrow and Wednesday.

Stats –

Weight = #154

Diet  = 10

Morning heart rate equals 54 beats per minute.

Sleep = 9 hours

Indexes are good. Let’s hope they stay good after today.

December 1st, Saturday

Some pretty good work…. mostly injury free.

December 1st, Saturday

Just 40 minutes at the club;

10 weights, 15 swim, 15 water run   + 10 in hot tub.

Stats-

Sleep = 9 hours

Weight = #153

Morning heart rate = 54 beats per minute

Diet = 10

I-Mad = 0

I-Mpfd = 3/4

November 30th, Friday

Recovery dinner with Arl at Klein’s, Belmar, NJ

The weather was 45° and calm as I arrived at the cinder track about 2 p.m. this afternoon.  I had heated my legs before leaving home.  I warmed up with a mile jog and some leg drills for about 18 minutes. I decided to start some 400m intervals running at 10:00 pace. That went very well, and I gradually got the pace down to under 8 minutes. Instead of taking a full 400m recovery this time I only did a jog back and return to start in less than 2:00.  I had the feeling of running relaxed and efficient. Six x 400m was the goal and it was accomplished with a final 800m interval added at 9:10 pace.  The day covered a total of 4.71 miles including warm-up  and cool down.  No leg or foot issues .Good stuff 🙂

Stats –  Steady and sound

November 28th, Wednesday

It’s only cold if you’re standing still.  🙂

Another very windy late November day had me waiting for the weather to get better before I headed out for my run. My plan was to run at the cinder track, but by the time I got out it was getting dark already.   So I chose to stay in my neighborhood and run on the sidewalks.  Getting started was a chore because it was pretty cold and I was bundled in multiple layers. I struggled through the first mile in about 14 minutes. Things got better, and as I passed home I threw some of my layers off and continued. I fonshed up running for 4 miles in a total of 48:30.  Last two miles were both about 11 minutes a piece. Along the way I did about 8 very conservative surges to keep my heart rate elevated. All in alI think it was a positive workout on a sketchy day. I was pretty proud of my determination and what I will call toughness on this afternoon run. Never really expected to get  miles in when I started.

Stats-

Weight = 153 lb

Sleep = seven and a half hours

Morning heart rate = 54 beats per minute

Diet = 8

Indexes are consistent and getting a little better each day. No Achilles issues at all. Plantar fasciitis issues under control. Nothing hurts while I’m running at this point.

November 27th, Tuesday

After a day off I went to the club for a 60 minute workout.  It seemed too cold and windy to go outside.

20 minutes of upper body and arm weights

20 minutes of solid swimming

20 minutes running in pool

Solid stats…..