Big Brook Park 5k today was wet, but the rain held off till after the race was over. It was overcast and 58° just about perfect for running. My time was a disappointing 30:14. I am not terribly surprised because the race worked out as I imagined it probably would. My first smile was in 8:25. At that time my legs and breathing were fine. I thought a quick time might be in order when I read that on my watch. Hills in the 2nd mile slowed the pace considerably. Yet I still felt OK entering mile number three with the hope of running a quicker final segment. To my dismay the final mile consisted of an unending series of rolling, hills up and down, some short and some much longer, which dampened my enthusiasm dramatically. I became so frustrated that I actually walked a few strides on one of the hills, something I never do. The final 400m was swift and controlled. I recovered quickly and ran a 1 mile cool down before the pouring rain started.

There are two takeaways from this event. One- I am not prepared to run hills. Two- I still am not yet aerobically conditioned for a 5K. I will try to resolve both those issues over the next five weeks.

I emerged from the event unscathed. But I will most likely have unhappy calves after running my first 5K in spikes.

September 23 -29

Friday, 23rd

50 mins in exercise room and pool    Easy work

Saturday, 24th

4 miles in 48:00 at Turkey Swamp Park plus 6 x 300m after

Sunday, 25th

Rest

Monday,  26th

3 miles on cinders in 36:00

Tuesday,  27th

Rest, very tired.  Crashed At 4pm!

Wednesday, 28th

3 miles on cinders 44:00  Tired legs

Thursday, 29th

Whirlpool and stretching

I hope my legs recover in time to run a decent 5K race on Saturday.

Stats are good.

But legs are tired. And body, too.  Lots of sleeping.

September 22,  Thursday

After a day of rest I decided to try for a few interval 1600m.   A long day of rain led me to conclude that the safest place to run would be the Jackson High School track.  The sun was breaking through the clouds as I did my warm-up. The somewhat ambitious goal was to try for three, maybe starting at  9:00 and getting down to the low 8:00 range.   I spiked up and headed to the starting line wondering how my legs would feel today.  I was looking for 400m at 2:15 on pace for my 9:00 goal.  The first 200m came up at :50 and the 400m was 1:45 while feeling quite comfortable.   That got me a little excited, so I pushed on at same effort level.  The 8:00 read 3:34 still feeling no distress.  Then I decided to go for it and rev it up on the next 400m.  At 1200m my watch read 5:31 and I knew it was going to be fast.  The final 400m was a serious push, and I finished 1600m in 7:33!  (3:34 and 3:59). I was quite shocked and completely satisfied that that was enough for today. I did follow it up with a 400m in 2:00  before I took off my spikes.  The workout ended with an 800m jog.    The relative ease with which I completed this 1600m effort has raised  my confidence in my current fitness level.  We will learn if this translates to a quality 5K race nine days from today.

STATS are good.

September 15 -18, Thursday thru Sunday

“My training was very simple and very primitive.”.    Emil Zatopek

Thursday, 45 minutes runninig and swimming in the pool.

Friday, Took a day off; feeling pretty tired.

Saturday,  I arrived at the Cinder track in early evening. The sun is starting to set much earlier these days.  I decided to to do a quick warm up and try for some 4:00 minute 800 repeats.. I did my high school coach, Bob Short’s warm-up.  We did it like clockwork everyday for 4 years. The team was ready to begin the workout when Coach Short arrived at the Lincoln park track from his day job. It’s a simple warm up. Jog a half mile and run 6 x 100yd straits with increasing intensity. Take plenty of time and fully recover after each effort. It was a very enjoyable social time for a group of high school boys after a day of school. Bob Short taught me about running and about how to  help young men enjoy working hard for a common goal.  I’m sure that is why I still love cross country and track relays. But I digress.

Next I stripped down (Another Coach Short rule; always warm-up with sweats on.) and ran 2 x  800m in 4:00 with 2 minutes rest. I was a little surprised at how comfortable I was hitting those times.  Darkness brought the workout to a close.  It’s pretty scary on the far side of the cinder track when night arrives. Positive work……

Sunday, It was hot and my legs were tired as I headed out on the road  in the early afternoon for what I hoped to be as much as a 3 mile run.  The road was shady and, as the run went on, my leg lightened up. So, the total became 4 miles in 47 minutes.  Working…….

Steady stats and no leg or foot issues.

September 12 & 14

A few more Bricks in the Wall

After successfully qualifying in the 800m and 1600m on Saturday, I completed two pretty strong runs at the cinders on Monday and Wednesday,

On Monday I covered 5 miles in one hour and three minutes with 15 speed segments throughout. My Garmin rated that workout as a five, overreaching, and I was pretty worn out and slept well that night.

On Wednesday at the cinders I ran a steady 3 miles. in 34:30. That was also quite draining, but only scored a three on the Garmin aerobic difficulty scale. Another good nights sleep……zzzzzzzzzz

Stats remain steady and positive with no foot or leg issues.

September 10th

After running 7:17 at the Monmouth Mile, I had four decent workouts interspersed with four days of rest.  At Woodbridge high school track I won the 800m division in 3:19. I was pleased with that time while running very relaxed and comfortable.  In the 1500m I was never stressed or pressed and easily won in an unimpressive time.  It was an enjoyable day reconnecting with running  buddies, former runners and family fans. I emerged  jury free and ready to resume training for cross country, indoors and spring NATIONALS in Pittsburgh

Aug. 23rd thru Sept. 2nd

Road and track

8/23-  30 minutes in pool

8/24- 20 minutes in pool

8/25- 3.6 miles at Turkey Swamp Park

8/26 and 8/27 – Rest for Jason’s 5k

8/28- Ran a comfortable 29:43 for 5k.  Added 2 extra miles in the evening at 9:55         and 9:35.

8/29- 2.4 miles with 7 x 30 second Speed Segments

8/30 and 8/31-  Rest for Monmouth Mile

9/1- Ran 7:17 for mile on an extremely warm evening- 88*

9/2- 6 x 200m on grass plus 2miles on road

Next competition will be New Jersey Senior games on September 10th, up at Woodbridge running both 800m and 1500m to qualify for National Senior Games in Pittsburgh in the spring.

Stats-

Weight – Steady at 145 pounds

Diet-  8/9.         Sleep- Steady at 9/10 hours

Heart rate is consistent at mid 50s resting

Survived both runs with no issues regarding legs or feet.

August 19 and 21

On Friday the 19th I ran on the cinder track late in the evening as the weather cooled down.  I decided to go for a more challenging workout since I had two days of rest. I made it a goal to run 10 400s in Progressive fashion with no pressure. I thought a 10 minute pace would be very beneficial if I could handle it. So I tried to run 2:30 per 400m until I could no longer sustain that effort with a 2 minute recovery.  I found running under 2:30 to be quite comfortable and waiting for 2 minutes of recovery seemed too long. So, I reduced recovery to 90 seconds and proceeded to run 10 of the 400m efforts with the time gradually decreasing steadily down to 2:07.  I finished strong and feeling comfortably drained. This workout seems like a big step forward in my current training phase.

On Sunday the 21st after a day of recovery I was surprised at how light my legs felt as I set out on a long run on the Jackson roads. My intention was to make this a purely aerobic effort with no intention to pick up the pace at any time along the way. I completed four miles in 46 minutes after a half mile warm up with the dog. Once again I finished strong but fatigued.

Fortunately all my stats have been positive and steady over the last few weeks.

Tuesday- 8/16

It was a warm night on the sunny part of the cinder track. I had just come off two days of recovery. So, I decided to do some quick work on the shady section. After a one mile warm-up and some gentle stretching I began running 45 second Speed segments. I walked and jogged back going off every three minutes. I felt strong and relaxed and quick. My watch tells me I ran each of the 8 segments between seven minute and eight minute mile pace. Including a five minute cool down the entire workout took 30 minutes. Legs feel strong!

Stats are steady and sound.

August 10, 12 and 13

I started to write this post last night in bed. I first thought that it would be a good idea to find an appropriate quote for this blog from my Great Book of Running Quotations. But after an hour I fell asleep. I still haven’t found what I believe to be an appropriate quotation, and I am about to fall asleep again. So, I better start writing this blog.

Now that the heat wave is over, it is possible to run some legitimate workouts.

On Wednesday evening on the cinders I ran five Progressive 400m intervals. from 2:20 down to 1;57 with 2:00 recovery.   Add 1-mile warm-up and a half mile cool down it was a good effort.

On Friday afternoon I packed my spikes for a workout at Turkey Swamp Park for the first time in a while. The legs were a little tight from Wednesday’s 400 m workout as I ran the first 2-mile Loop. I then spiked up and ran seven times 50 stride speed segments on the grass. It felt comfortable and quick. Then ran a second two mile loop feeling loose and strong.

On Saturday I covered four progressive miles on the Jackson roads. In the final mile I accelerated up four substantial hills each at least 150m  long.  Finished strong!

Somehow Sunday and Monday got away from me. I slept till 11:00 a.m. each day and had obligations to complete that brought on 7:00 p.m. before I knew it.

Tomorrow will be another good day.

Stats are steady and sound!