Cross training & Long slow miles

Training

November 6th, Tuesday

Today I did 45 minutes of activity in the exercise room at the clubhouse culminating with about 12 minutes of running in the pool.

November 7th, Wednesday

Today as the sun set I did some miles on the safety of the FSML sidewalks.  I did not approach this run with enthusiasm at all. I was having some stomach issues, and my quadriceps were sore (maybe from running in the pool yesterday)and my right calf was moaning, and both of my feet were unhappy.  So I began with 10 minutes of walking and leg drills. Didn’t help much.  As I began to slowly run it was not enjoyable.  I decided I would endure a sluggish 40-minute run no matter how I felt because I am convinced I need to do more distance to work. ( Ten I’s in the first five sentences: need to work on that.)The workout settled in to a steady 12 minute pace. Running became a little more comfortable though not any faster and my mind wanted endlessly about many things including yesterday’s elections.  Before I realized it, I was way beyond 40 minutes and past 4 miles and still more than a half mile from home. Having surpassed all of my goals for the day and feeling all of my aches beginning to return, I decided to walk the rest of the way home. It is encouraging that my heart rate never exceeded 120 beats per minute at any time during this run. My 4 mile time was 49:32.  (12:23)

Stats-

a.m. HR = 54bpm

Weight = #156   Too high!

Sleep = 8 hours

Diet = ?   6. Crappy stomach!

I-Matd = 2

I-Mpfd = 5/6. Heel OK running.  Instep hurting  in morning and beginning to hurt a little while running too. Heel actually hurt a little today while running on sidewalks

 

 

 

 

 

8 x 400m

Training

November 3rd, Friday

After a few light days I did a pretty aggressive workout on the track this afternoon.  I wanted to do a longer workout but stay on the friendly track service. I decided upon 8 x 400m at a comfortable 9:00 pace with a 2:00 recovery to keep my heart rate up throughout.  I did all my leg and core drills beforehand and ran a couple of pickups in the course of about a mile warmup.  The 400s were quite a bit faster than I planned even though I was comfortable running the entire workout. Each repetition seemed easier, even as I tried to keep a modest pace.

Paces-  8:11,  8:18,  7:52,  7:48,  7:38,  7:44,  7:49,  7:02 !!!

Stats-

a.m.HR = 54 bpm

Weight = #154

Sleep = 9 hours

Diet  =  8

Foot indexes  =

Left foot – plantar fasciitis in the AM is about seven or eight who are the first 10 steps. Not painful while running or throughout the day.

Right foot – Achilles tendon is starting to grumble. Also does not hurt while running,  but I have to be careful to do a good warm-up and not push it. That is exactly why I was trying to run 9:00 today and no faster. The fact that I did run faster than 9:00 ……. will have to find out the result in the morning

 

 

Recovering

Training

 October 30th, 31st and November 1st

Tuesday –  Just resting

Wednesday – an interesting day. I ran about 8 hills at Deep Cut Park while Arlene was taking photographs.  There was an interesting cinder trail in a beautiful garden that was about 150 meters long with a gentle hill of about 70 meters.  Did a full set of leg drills and core drills before running . On the way home I ran 2+ miles at the 800m track. The first in 12:20  and the second 9:34. Good day!

Thursday  – Today I rode my bike around Cheesequake State Park for 4 miles while Arlene once again was snapping photos.

Stats have been stable.

3.5 broken miles

Training

October 29th, Monday

At cross country practice todayI ran about 3.5 broken miles.  What is a broken mile you might ask. A broken mile is just exactly what it sounds like, an interrupted period of running over an extended period of time. For example, today during a track workout for the cross country team I continually ran around the track stopping on occasion to talk with the boys or to do a recovery with one of the groups. The team completed a very successful workout. I stayed in motion for close to an hour with stops and starts and some surges along the way.  It felt like I got a decent amount of work done. I like that I have late!y been able to run on consecutive days with no foot or leg issues.

Good stats.

Beating the Nor’easter

Training

October 26th, Friday

 

With the threat of a very wet nor’easter looming for the next 24 hours, it seemed imperative that I get a decent workout in this afternoon.  Wednesday and Thursday were days of  minimal training accomplishments. My legs were sore and heavy from the deceivingly hard workout I did in the pool on Tuesday. So I set out to the cinders where I do most of my best training it seems these days.  I have convinced myself that my goal training pace for the next two months should be 8 minutes per mile. I have become convinced that running faster than that takes a toll on my feet bringing back some of my recurring injuries. I did a good 20 minute warm up and began running 400s with two minutes rest. All of the repeats were in the range of 8:00 or faster,  and I managed to complete 6 before I stopped out of caution. I was running comfortably quick (C/Q) for the entire workout with no aerobic, leg or foot discomfort.  This was a positive day!  Could have done 8 easily.

Stats-

Diet = 9

Sleep  = 9 hours

Weight = #152.8

a.m.HR = 54 BPM

FOOT INDEXES remain steady at 2/3 in a.m. but not an issue running.

90 minutes of work

Training

October 23rd, Tuesday

Worked steadily for 90 minutes this evening at the exercise room and in the pool.

10:00 – tredmill

15:00 – bike

35:00 – weights and drills

30:00  – running in pool

Ran 8 x PAS (Pool Acceleration Series =  75 strides @ 5k effort + 50 strides @ 800m effort +    25 strides @ max effort with 1 minute recovery)   Most PAS’s ever in one session.

Stats- Consistently positive

A real “Black Box” encounter

Training

October 21st, Sunday

The Black Box

 

I got a late start today waiting for the wind to die down before I headed out for a run. About 3 minutes into the run I made an irreversible decision to take a 4 mile loop.  The light faded quicker than I anticipated. So somewhere around the end of the third mile it was quite dark.  At that point I was faced with a decision of taking a Wooded Trail or staying on the road for about 300m.  I decided to”Do what frightens me!” So I took the darker, wooded trail.  It’s turned out to be almost Pitch Black in the trail. I was reminded about telling my runners to “Go into the Black Box” during a race.   I pushed on deliberately, stopping only to snap at a picture to document my adventure in my blog tonight. Fortunately, I emerged from the trail intact. I did wonder about the recklessness of my decision as I ticked off the final mile at a little quicker pace. Then I thought;

Stats-

Workout =  4 miles  in 48:20

Weight  =  #153

HR = 54 BPM

Sleep  = 9  hours

Diet = 9

Foot indexes  are stable/ ok