Test Effort

Here we go again.

Bowerman!

I ran 3 miles this morning keeping it easy. I wanted to have plenty of oomph for this afternoon’s test effort 1600 meter.

I warmed up for 2 miles. Dimitri showed up as he often does when I need a pacer. He asked me what I wanted to run and I said 6:40-7:00 pace just to draw a line in the dirt so to speak. I went out under control and passed the 400 in about 97-98 seconds. Dimtiri was about 10 yards in front and I felt good enough to just play “catch up with him and stay there” which I did. We went through 800 in about 3:14-15 and I began to think about 6:30. At 1200 we were 4:48-49 and I began to think faster. Still I held back until the final 200 and then picked it up.

We crossed in 6:20, which was much better than I expected.

I ran 6 x 100 cruising them in the 18’s and 17’s and picking up the last one and running 16 and change. Then I warmed down around 2 miles.

It was a good start.

Next week I start doing 8 x 400 in about 95-96 seconds. Date pace.

Bowerman

Today starts the Bowerman approach to the mile. Bill died in 1999 so he's going to have provide inspiration from the grave.

I ran for about 70 minutes this morning at 140-150 HR. The run felt good. In his book, Bill said that milers need to run one long day a week. Right now 7-10 miles is long.

Wednesday, I will run a 1600 meter three-quarter effort to establish date pace. Bill liked his runners to run one of these every 3-4 weeks to adjust my date pace workouts. After the 1600, I will do some cut down 100's.

Goal pace is 6 minutes so anything under 7 minutes for date pace will serve a purpose. I just need a starting place.

Friday and Saturday

Two uneventful days. Friday was 4 miles easy. My legs felt ok even though I didn't sleep that well. Sue's in Seattle and I am falling into this habit of going to bed late but waking early.

Saturday I ran an easy 4 mile and then went to the track and ran 6 x 100 cutdowns. 20-19- 18-17-16-16.
300 meter jog recovery. This was followed by two laps easy jog and then Dimitri and I ran around campus for an easy jog. Maybe 12K total for the day.

Mini heat wave

Another 8 miler. I started very slow but gradually upped my HR to 145-148 by mid run.

Mini heat wave in for a few days and it was already getting warm as I ran another of those "Gee, I wish it were cooler" runs.

Dwight (he of the hundred mile weeks) sent a strange email saying that things were not going well for him and running. I recommended he cut back his miles for a time and lay low on the speed work. It went over his head. I then told him that I had to get back to the planet earth :-)

Like the old days

Jack Foster once intimated that his runs in his 60's and 70's felt like the runs he had done at his peak, as long as he didn't look at a watch. By the way Jack died in a bike accident in 2004. He was one of the greats of running when he was competitive. He loved running and loved cycling.

Lousy end though. A car ran into him. He was just finishing a ride.

Today's run was a throwback run for me.

8 miles this morning (give or take). It was cool and overcast and the HRM wasn't constantly bumping up at 70%. There was this magic moment coming back where I felt I was really moving along smoothly. It didn't feel slow and it didn't feel like a jog. I searched my memory banks and realized that is what it running used to feel like.

Back to Running

Meanwhile, back to running.

Today I ran about 7 miles slow as usual. Part of it was spent watching the club mile races on the WVC track.

Jake ran 6:41 and was happy about it. 6:41: An easy day training pace for 7-8 miles twenty years ago.

Tom missed breaking 5 minutes. He ran 12 x 400 in 75 on Wednesday. The bet was that he would not recover. He didn't. Still a good race and a PR but he left a sub 5 on the track by doing those 75's.

Joe (65) and Bob (64) ran their usual "twins" race with Bob leading the whole way and with Joe catching him with a a few yards to go. Joe came inside and caught Bob unaware. Joe won by a step. Bob wanted to see the photo's of the finish. It was a joke. No one photographed it.

Dimitri reminded me that I could have beaten Bob and Joe. I reminded him that I doubted it. I am not in the mindset for racing.

The Track & The Neutral Zone

I went out just before 8 am and ran 5 miles. I kept my HR in the 145-148 range. I ran normal course over to De Anza Track and back.

There was a guy walking on the track in the innermost lane. There was a girl trying to run intervals but she had to go around him. I came by and said (to her) "They never move." She laughed. The walker started talking about a sign by the gate to the track which said joggers should stay off the inside lane. I told him not to take it personally but thought to myself, does he really think the inside lane is for walkers?

I headed home.

The track can be a weird place sometimes.

I vegged the rest of the day. Breakfast with Ron (Oatmeal) and lunch with Sue (Sea Food Rissoto).

I am beginning to think about not working next year or at least not the way I work now. I am headed into the neutral zone. DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

William Bridges, a life coach, explains the neutral zone this way.

Phase 2 – The Neutral Zone

It would be much easier if a transition, like a change, could occur within an hour or two. To
replace one leader with another, reorganize divisions and departments or realign reporting
relationships are all changes that can happen overnight. But the inner shift—the transition – does
not happen as quickly as the outer shift – the change. We call that transitional phase, the neutral
zone. It is a term that the traditional language of change doesn't recognize.

In the neutral zone, the old reality is gone but the new reality isn't functional yet. Even so, this
may be a time full of activity.

A workout that fell short

I ran 5 miles Wednesday morning. I felt a lack of energy all during the run. In the afternoon I went out and ran another 4 miles at the track. My goal was to update my max heart rate by running some hard 400's. It didn't work out well. No matter how hard I ran the 400's I couldn't get my HR above 180 and mostly it stayed in the mid 170's. I did only 4 of the 400's before calling it quits and just jogging an easy mile warmdown very slowly. Afterwards I thought to myself, "Why did I even do this workout?"

It could be that going out and blasting max workouts is a thing of the past anyway. I don't seem to be able to or want to race hard so what should I expect.

On the analytical side, usually when this happens it is a sign of lack of fuel (carbo's) or just being tired or a combination of both. I also know that my max is higher than this having run the last mile of the Xmas relays at 189-191 back in December and even then I wasn't all out. I may make an executive decision and just say that my max is 190 for now and adjust my training heart rates downward.

It would mean 70% (easy effort) would be 148 and 90-92% (AT) would be 176-78. 95% (VO2 max) would be 183. It might make sense for now. It's not that my max may not still be 195 but since I am not training for max efforts, it may no longer be pertinent.

So even though it will be hard to "listen to the messenger" I will go out and run an AT 3 miler soon. I will proabably use the club handicapped run on August 19th. It is 3.06 miles so it is close. I just won't go over 176-178 during the run.

90 minutes

Monday morning.

My legs were still tired from my 70-75% effort of Saturday but I went out very slow and very easy and ran as much dirt and trail as I could find. I admit that as I ran along my legs began to loosen up and at the end, I felt good.

The run was 90 minutes. Maybe 9-10 miles. I am not sure. I really wandered around criss crossing and combining several courses. I didn't want to think about how far I had run, just how long I had run.

Mission accomplished.

My left knee was bothering me (again) so I wore the ProTech brace and I had no discomfort during the run or after. I think sitting seems to exacerbate it the most and I did a great deal of sitting around this weekend.

Running with Jake

The club run this monring was Farwell-Horseshoe. After a 2 plus mile warmup I ran with Jake as he slugged his way to a 36.27 hilly 4.68 miler.

Most of the way my HR was in the 150's bounding back and forth between 70-75%. Going up the last hill the HRM read in the 160's but I felt easy and smooth the whole way. Jake bonked with about 500 meters to go when he thought the finish was bu the baseball field. I yelled at him that he still had 500 meters to go so even though he had stopped, he started going again and ran in.

As he told me afterwards, "I guess this wasn't an AT effort. I didn't go all out but it wasn't easy either."

Dimitri, Dino and I ran around campus for a very easy warmdown.

As for me, this was an OK run. It wasn't a true recovery effort but it wasn't hard.

Standard 5 mile course

I ran my standard 5 mile course this morning. The conditions were the best in weeks.

8 am, cool (low 60's), overcast, no wind.

I ran along at 140-150 HR and completed the course in 40:21. The weather was the reason I felt so good. Weeks of heat had beaten me down. After Wednesday's 12 miles plus the 100's, I thought I had about had it for the week. Friday usually ends up being a slug run but not today.

Danny ran one lap Wednesday night and didn't run at all Thursday. He has had a rough year health-wise and I can see him slipping away. He is 15 pounds overweight and just not very interested in running. Dimtiri thinks he'll be back when he is ready.

I hope so.

I ran into Bert Johnson at the all comers meet. He is not running. After 30 years his knees went on him. He had has several operations including cartilidge inplants. One knee was bone on bone. The other has a miniscus tear. But he hopes to run again.

15's at last

Another hot afternoon. Cooler than it has been of late but still in the low 90's.

I ran 7 in the morning and then went back out and ran another 5 this evening including 8 x 100. Tough again given the heat. But my first 100 was in the 16's and that pretty much set the tone throughout. I was beginning to think that I can run 16's on tired legs in hot weather on auto pilot.

16-16-16-15 (yes my first 15 sec 100!)

Then another 16. On the 6th one I let up slightly feeling that I could cruise to a 16 and instead ran a low 17. Ok, it's not that easy. I still have to work a bit to get a 16. So I really focused (no let up) and ran 16 again. On the last I really "lifted" my way to a 15.9. So two 15's.

12 mile day. You should love that.

I was really tired plus I drank two bottles of water, a coke, two glasses of lemonade and another glass of water plus ate a bowl of chili for dinner. The added in a health bar. Then more water.

Help! I am floating. :-)

Cooling......NOT!

I was out running a little after 7 AM this morning. Trying to beat the heat. I went slow for 70 minutes. No doubling back in the afternoon. It is a 100 degrees again and like a furnace. The weather people keep saying it is cooling but like always, I have to ask "when?"

Heat is the enemy of heart rate running. I tried to stick to the shade but by 8 AM it was plain getting hot.
The good news is that the HRM kept me honest and I was not beat up by the effort. 140 HR give or take is the same no matter what.

I was covering for the VP of HR at work today and I drove in around 10 AM. The temp guage on my car read 85 degrees. It is strange. As I sat in the comp committe meeting it was as if I had never left. I didn't say much. My job was to take notes for Doug. We did take a break and as I was coming back into the room one of the board members was asking what the hell my role was. Can't say I blame him.

Who the heck is that guy anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be gone.

I have a mantra. "It's not about me" so don't take it personally.

I hope to do 100's on Wednesday evening but if still burning, I may put them off until Saturday morning.

Relentless

Incredible day. The heat wave continues. It is the desert in Silicon Valley. 100 plus degrees and night has fallen.

I got up early trying to beat the high temps. I made some coffee which I ended up drinking in the back yard. I tried drinking it in the house but I was already beginning to perspire. At least outside it was moderate. maybe mid 70's.

After that I left early for West Valley.

I ran 8 plus miles total doing about 2.5 before the club warmup and then another 3.25 warmup with the club. I was already soaked with sweat. I ran the club workout of 2.75 at 140-150 HR finishing towards the back of the pack. I did not push at all. It wouldn't have been worth it.

The best part was the drive down to the restaurant for breakfast with the car's air conditioning blowing on me.

At Carrows the air conditioning was working very well and I was actually able to have some coffee without breaking out into a sweat.

It is just after 10 PM. It is totally dark outside and the air conditioning is still running.

Heat

I went out this morning and ran about 7 miles easy. It was already warm and humid. The run was a drencher. By this I mean that when I was finished I was a wet as if I had been running in the rain.

Late this afternoon I joined the club at WVC track to do my 8 x 100. By the time I showed it was hovering in the mid 90's and was probably closer to 100 down on the track. I didn't do much of a warmup (it just wasn't necessary with the temperature being what it was). I think we did a mile.

I then ran my 100's with a 300 meter jog. I would say that the workout was brutal. The heat was unrelenting and I kept thinking to myself that I really didn't need to do this workout in those conditions. I guess I am pig-headed because I ended up running them in the 16's again. The 100's weren't so tough. It was the recovery jog.

All in all and eleven mile day.

The heat is supposed to hang around for a while. I believe most of the country is locked in a heat wave. Adapt or die. I hate the heat but I won't let it beat me.

The Philosophy of Older Runners

Wow! Dwight and Kari dropped by from Colorado to run part of the club workout while I jogged around and did some quick strides with Mark. Mark helped me with my form.

5 miles total.

I talked long and hard with Jake and Dimitri about training, as we always seem to do during and after breakfast on Saturdays. Jake's legs are dead. He ran a two mile time trial in over 15 minutes and had to stop. A year ago this was 14 minutes. I continue to believe that as aging runners it is all about balance and recovery. Balance in the sense of being able to run and not have your legs feel tired "at any time". This may mean you'll have to run very slow on some days and not worry about miles and relative time. I originally thought, well I am running less days so load up those days. I don't believe this anymore.

If we are lucky we can run what we used to run daily but run it every other day. In my case that is 7-10 miles on a running day preferably in two runs with a now and then single run.

Do what you have to do to keep your legs feeling fresh.

Use the damn HRM. It is a terrible mistress but it tells you to run slow enough to recover.

When your slow runs get faster at the same HR then you are recovering and improving.

Do some sort of AT test every now and then to see if your training is working. My favorite is a 3 mile or 5K time trial at 85-90% of max. If this gets faster, then you are getting faster. This workout does not lie.

Limit speedwork. If you want speed then go race. Speedwork breaks you down. 100's are ok but 8-10 of those are enough.

Forget long runs. This is just another secret hard workout that breaks you down. if you have been running as long guys like Jake and I have been, we have all the miles we need. We need to trust this.

Take every other day off. No cross training. Sorry Galloway, but what I often see is runners killing themselves on some bike ride, the exercycle or in the pool. Recovery is king. Now that being said, pool running in deep water on an off day may work but make that run an easy day, not a "let's see how fast I can churn because i am bored" day.

This last one may be the toughest of all. I believe that older runners like me, need to take 6-8 weeks off (yes, O-F-F) every year to get complete recovery. The only thing a runner should do during that period is watch their food intake. No walking, cycling or other secret workouts. It will take 6-8 weeks to build back up and another 6-8 weeks to get back in racing shape. In fact you can race yourself back into shape. So the whole process is 18-24 weeks. The rest of the year is yours. 6 months . Maybe 10-12 quality races. maybe more.

You could skip this last part but then you will have to be very good at all the rest and even then you will not reach your potential. My last 3 best racing seasons were all preceded by 2-3 months off. The time off was not planned. Twice my back bothered me so much I could not run and the 3rd time I had non running related foot surgery.
Each time I had to cool my heels until I could run again. Each time I came back stronger than before.

You know, maybe it is a month for a runner who has done all the other stuff right. I am not sure but I do know that total rest is a key component.

Running with my pregnant niece

Got up and ran a short two mile by myself. My niece who was visiting want to join me afterwards so I ran another short 4 miler with her. She is pregnant and just beginning to show. We have run before. I figured that if I kept the HRM around 120 she could stay up which she did easily. On the way back she asked me how fast I normally ran and I told her I would show her. I gradually raised my HR into the 130's which was still very easy but she quickly told me to slow down. It was just too fast for her.

It puts my running into some sort of perspective. I am faster than someone who does not run much and is pregnant. :-)

The surprise was the weather. It was supposed to be barn burner today but the morning was cool and overcast and the temperatures stayed in the 70's. As I write this at 9:35 PM, the temp outside is about 62.

I spent the day thinking about reinventing myself into a 400 meter runner. Dwight had casually thrown out a 60 second goal the other day. I age graded it and it works out to a 47 or 48 second 400 as an open runner. That brought me up short. I think that Dwight always thinks this way. Hey, Rich. Why don't you just go run a 60 second 400. It's only been about 20 years since you could last do that. So slowing it down, I have decided just to see if I can get under 70 seconds for a starter. I can do that on Wednesday evenings after my system gets used to running fast again. I did run in the 64-65 range back in 1998 but that's 8 long years ago.

Brick by brick.

Another (Yawn) ten mile day

Another ten mile day. 5 miles in the morning super slow and another 5 in the late afternoon with the club.

The club was doing 800's and I ran them sprinting the last 100 meters on eight of the 12 laps. 18-17-16-16-16-16-16-16. The rest I jogged easy and slow. The delta between slow and fast seems to be widening as i age.

Best yet in years. It amazes me that 20-25 years ago I could do this same workout in the 14's and 15's and after all these years I am only about a second or two off. If I don't pull something I believe I can get back down in the 15's. The BIG difference is that I am only doing these once a week right now rather than twice.
I may do 50's on Saturday. We'll see.

The Team That Was Not

Our 60 plus team threatened to be awesome this year. It won the championship last year but with the addition of several committed runners, this could have been the 1927 Yankee's of Pacific Association Super Senior Teams.

Right now it looks not to be.

I turned out to be a non starter. Work stress and my own supposed interest in being a competitve racer turned out to me fooling myself. My plan was to get down into sub 20 minute 5K shape but all I have run so far was a very unispired 21:54 at Zippy's. A year ago at the same race I ran 21:07 and just before Zippy's this year I ran a club race that worked out to a 20:40 not all out 5K. Several weeks after Zippys 9this year) I ran a 5K in 21:08 as a 90% AT run. Go figure. In any case, I have been all over the map with none of it close to the vaunter sub 20 minute barrier.

At best I am deep bullpen to be used only when the team can only field 2 runners. In fact that came up this past Sunday and I couldn't make it so I wasn't even very good at that.

Jim turned 60 and reeled off some great races, peaking at Zippy's with a 3rd place 60 plus finish, but over trained himself into injury city. He is fighting his way back into shape but seems to be doing the same training program that got him injured in the first place.

Neil, who lives in Reno doesn't seem to have the ability to buy a Pacific Association card, or even remember you need one to score so he has turned out to be a no op. The club is going to buy him a card.

The steady guys have been Dick, Joe and Bob. But Dick has an achilles problem and missed the last mile race in Davis and 7:30 miler walt had to step up so we would have a 60 plus team. In another race Bob went off to support a friend of his who was running some ultra and he missed. The team was designed to be deep enough so we could handle that. What has happened is that none of us is stupid as all of us.

Our best runner, he of the 17 minute 5K's and 100 mpw lives and runs in Colorado. He gets out here now and then but never on Pacific Assdociation race weekends.

Teams like Tamalpa and Pacific Striders are closing fast or finishing ahead because of the failure of our so called depth.

Next year Bill comes up to the 60 plus ranks. He is steady when not injured. Right now he is flirting with the high 18's for 5K.

If Jim can stay healthy and Bill is uninjured, then the two of them, along with Dick, Joe and Bob can keep us competitve.

I don't know if I have the will to go compete again. I may stay deep bullpen for local races only.

Running for lunch

A friend is coming out to visit Saturday. He of the 100 mpw. His wife is up to 100 miles too. Both of them live and breathe running. They are like running pit bull-terriers. The incredible thing is that my friend is turning 60. His wife is about 20 years younger than he is.

When I was running my best I had no desire to run 100 mpw. I did spend years in the 60-70 mpw range but as insane as that might seem, that was about an hour a day and maybe 90 minutes on Sunday. Mostly it was lunch. At work, while others went out to lunch, I ran for lunch and had something to eat back at my desk. It really was easy. I would leave the office around 11:25 and be at my friend's office about 8-10 minutes later. A quick change in the bathroom and we were out the door. Usually there were 3-4 of us and we ran at about a 6:30-45 minute pace. In an hour we could easily cover 9 miles.

Back in the office, wet towel down (sorry, no shower) and back to work.

When I wasn't running with these guys I taught myself to run from my car. I didn't wear underwear. I wore running shorts so stripping down and getting into my running clothes was easy even in a parking lot. I won't describe the reverse process but yes, i could get back into my work clothes and not miss a beat. Often there was a bathroom handy but if not then I made do. I learned not to tell people how I did this. Women particularly couldn't GROK it.

"What no shower! I couldn't do that." Of course this was followed by, "I have to lose weight." There is a "Duh" factor in there someplace.

The goal was to run and not to let things like location and shower availability stop me. Even if my legs give out tomorrow, I made it work for 38 years. When I needed to run miles, I didn't let things get in the way.

Now the rules are the same but it's every other day. But I am known at times to still run from my car.

90 minutes

I took off just after 8 am this morning and ran 90 minutes with some hills. The pace was sub-slow if there is such a thing. It started to warm up in the latter part of the run. Not too bad though. I did not wear my knee strap but started the run at little more than a walk. I had almost no trouble in the area. The knee seems to be getting better.

Talked to Jim via email this weekend. He is starting to go back to exactly what injured him but on the other hand the guy is fast for a 60 year old. He doesn't really compromise. He wants to run 6-7 days a week with 2-3 hard days. The hard days may not be all out. More in the AT/LT area but he still is very injury prone. I am glad if I can do one of those workouts in a week.

Oh, let's face it. I rarely do one a week much less one very two-three weeks. I keep waiting for the speed and strength to come to me.

Just staying in the game of running, even in the minor leagues, is tough these days.

Triangle

I ran a 3 mile warmup with the club and then paced Jake to a 38:32 for the 4.76 mile Triangle. The weather was moderate but it was heating up and most of the run, with it's long uphills and downhills was done in the low to mid 70's. For Jake it was a tempo run (plus) while for me it was a faster than normal training run.

I am thinking more and more of going to a three day running week. It was tough in 1990 to go to very other day and it took me a year to get my mind around it. Sheehan and Foster and Turnbull did it with great success. I would be happy with modest success. I would do something on a fourth day. Maybe a 4-5 mile walk.

So it would be two big days. 10-12 miles. Maybe more. I would double as much as possible. One day I would run a club run, race or do a threshold workout or just go out for a longer continuous run. If my AT runs became faster over time then I would know it was working. Like 1990, it is a gamble.

Coaches and 3 days a week

I ran an easy 45 minutes this morning. Both my knees were slightly sore afterwards.

38 years, no real knee problems until now.

I was thinking the other day that I have gone through as many coaches in the several years as George Steinbrenner used to go through managers of his Yankees. I am not proud of this but on the other hand I also find it humorous. I have always been somewhat uncoachable. Gasp!!!!

Even back in my best days my friends tried to coach me with little or no success. These days I have approached coaches, not the other way around. The one who has tried to help me most is Dwight (he of the 100 mpw). But another friend , Jim (he of the many injuries) has tried too. Not so much coach as much as share his approach with me.

The truth is all have helped me but I have also found that their "way" is not mine. Somehow in the last few years I lost myself as far as running is concerned. Thyere s no question that my fast approaching geriatric body no longer responds the way it used to (but who's does?).

I may have already entered the 3 day a week running phase even though I may not like it yet. I have been basically running 4 days a week since late 1990. 1990-1995 was a bit of a renaissance because of two factors. The introduction of the HRM and the adoption of every other day running. Sheehan shiften to 3 days a week in his 60's with great success. Derek Turnbull and Jack Foster were running 3 days a week by the time they hit their 50's and 60's. Now these were 3 big days. Turnbull crossed trained by working on his sheep farm and Foster rode his bike at least once a week. I am thinking of pool running 1-2 days a week. Even Jack Keston who just crossed 80 years of age has shifted to two big days (12-14 miles) with 4 days of walking.

Three big days might make sense. Two days of 10-12 miles often doubling and one longer day or a race like effort. Keeping legs fresh is the key. Now I could still run 4 days but keep one as a strictly minimalist day running those 9 x 100 with a short warmup and warmdown and walking in between sprints. Right now I do these at the end of a very long day so my legs are tired.

I am at that same point I was in 1990 when I was still running 6-7 days a week. I kept dinking around with the idea but just couldn't make the switch. And even after I finally did it took 4-6 months before I saw the benefits. When they came (and boy did they come) I wondered why I waited.

Magic 5

In the morning I ran 6 miles at the usual slow pace keeping my HR at 140 and under.

In the afternoon I came back and ran with the club. Another 5 miles with 9 x 100 starting in the 18's and gradually taking it down to the 16's on the last two.

Dave Garcia was in town and came by to say hello. Back in my salad days it was John, Jake, Dave, Roger and myself for close to 10 years. We were all in 32-33 minute 10K range and 4 of us broke 26 for 5 miles. John, Jake and I were ranked in the top 35 runners in NorCal back in the late 1970's during the boom years when that was tough. Roger might have made it too as a Master's.

Together we were magic (magic 5) but when we stopped running together in the mid 1980's we all began to lose it. Dave went last. He held on a bit longer than the rest of us. Us not training together broke the spell. But at least we had it for a time.

Short Daves

Russ, Danny and I ran short Daves. This is a throw-back run. This was the first time the three of us have run in 4-5 years.

Now Daves is a short 10 miler and short Daves is a short 7 miler. Danny and I are short too even though Russ is tall.

The pace was slow. Well over a 9 minute pace. My legs felt stiff and tired but at least my left knee didn't bother me. I couldn't figure out why they would be tired. I took yesterday off. These days exactly how my legs feel is a crap shoot. Years ago if my legs felt tired I knew the reason. These days it is a mystery. Mostly it is caused my aging and mileage. Years and years of miles. But at least I can still run.

Danny is overweight by at least 10 pounds. Russ, getting over knee problems, is overweight too but he is gradually getting back into shape. Overweight here is relative. I am referring to "over their best running weight". I am right around my best weight but it means that my weight is a neutral factor. It neither helps nor hinders.

Can't complain though. The weather was cool and overcast. Maybe 60 degrees.

Slow

I ran 5 slow miles on Friday morning and another 6 miles this morning also very slow.

Believe me, I have slow down pat.

Jake is back from Texas. He, I and Dimitri talked training at breakfast. Blah, blah, blah. It is fun though. I begin to think of that elusive 6 minute mile. Do I want to go work for that again? Do I want to go work for any race time again?

30 mpw isn't much but at least I am steady and I know right now that I can maintain it until my knee goes or something else happens. If i look back the one consistency since 1990 is that any decent running has come on less and more of less.

I have less down pat too.

Another big day: 11-12 miles

I ran 6 easy miles this morning and another 5-6 in the afternoon. Frankly, I am not sure how far I ran this afternoon. It was over 5 miles but not 6. In the afternoon session I added in 8 x 100 meters in 18 seconds average. It felt good to pick it up.

If I age grade it, the 18's are worth 14's at age 30.

It was hovering around 80 degrees in the afternoon but the heat didn't bother me very much. It was less humid. The morning run the exact opposite. Lower temps but higher humidity.

Ran into our club president Walt who ranted about how one of our 60 plus runners raced last weekend but didn't have a Pacific Association card so he didn't count in the scoring. He had to move one of our 70 plus runners down into the 60 plus category to cover. It didn't hurt our 70 team because we only had one runner. We have a relatively strong 60 plus team but most of us didn't race. Jim is getting over injuries. I am a no-op. I just had no desire to drive all the way up to Sacramento and race 8K. It's hot and steamy up there and I am sure it would have been a death march. One of our other decent 60 plus runners helped crew for a friend running Western States (100 miles through the Sierras). So good team but basically a bunch of no shows.

3 men score but we couldn't make it happen.

Frankly, I was more amused than anything else. My racing days are over. I did it for 25 years (or was it 23?). What keeps me running is the pure enjoyment of it or at least what joy is left. I am basically a loafer who runs. Not very good racing material.

8 mile day

I ran an easy 5 this morning and ran into John Busch on the track. We did 6 laps together and caught up on Sun. I would say that the conditions were moderate temperature wise but humid. My knee felt OK. No pain what-so-ever.

In the afternoon I ran another 3 plus miles including some striders on the track.
I had several jolts of knee pain going out but it disappeared as suddenly as it had come on. I think I was wearing my knee support strap too high but I adjusted it. It was warm and humid (again).

Not exactly the gradual ramp I planned (what else is new).

Mostly the humidity got to me. I am not overly in love with hot weather running in general. The smart thing to do whenever possible is to do most of my running in the morning and make the afternoon run short and sweet.

My motivation is low right now. This is about burning calories. At least i am sleeping well. Still keep thinking about taking time off. Maybe 30-60 days. I keep running but that thought keeps hanging around.

3 miles................ Maybe

Today, it was 15 minutes easy and then I caught up with Dimitri after he had run the club 3 miler and I ran around campus with him. Maybe the whole thing was 3 miles. My knee didn't bother me. I do get tomorrow off and then I will try something on Monday.

I hardly feel like a runner.

But at least I am running again.

10 minutes...WOW!

After 5 days off I went out this morning and ran 10 minutes slow.

My knee felt OK and I really kept the pace slow. It's going to be another heater. 90 for sure. Oh well.

TGFAC (Thank God For Air Conditioning)!

If I had a beach house I would be there.

Still not running

No running today. I am feeling better but still not a big appetite. My body is telling me something.

So no running until things feel normal. Actually I run by feel. If I feel like it, which is most of the time, I run. Right now, I just plain don't feel like it. So something is still amiss.

Big heat wave coming in for the remainder of the week. Looks like I am going to miss most of it.

Pride goes before something....

I began to feel nauseous yesterday in the late afternoon. It got worse as the evening progressed. Slight headache, stomach ache, chills....No appetite. Didn't eat dinner. Felt like I could have puked but didn't. So my record is still intact since 1967 (the last time I puked).

I am laying low today. Won't run on Monday. Don't even know if I will go into work for an 11 AM meeting. As I type this, I can honestly say I feel better than last night.

Since I rarely get stuff like this I wonder if it is the flu or a reaction to some of the new supplements I am taking. In any case I stopped thos for now. Of course it could have been back to back big days but usually the reaction I get from that sort of thing is not to feel sick. Just tired and then sometimes followed by a cold.

Anyway..Rest!

Back to back

I ran early today. The club was doing some sort of speed workout. I ran the 3 mile warmup and could feel my left knee tighten slightly up on the uphill portion of the first mile but by the time I hit the flats, any problems were non apparent. I caught Amanda who I never run with or even talk to and we got into it chatting about running, racing and injuries.

After the warmup I went out and ran another 5 plus miles easy and ended the session with 6 x 50 meters.

It was getting warm as I finished so I was glad not to repeat yesterday's high noon run.

Back to back running days. 10 plus yesterday and 8 plus today.

Brutal Slow Running

Palo Alto Baylands Trail

I ran 6 miles early. It already felt warm. Then I went back out at lunch and met Rick at the Baylands (San Antonio Road..Picture above) and ran another 4.6 miles. It was about 82-83 degress at the start but the temperature climbed quickly and it became a minor death march for Rick coming back. He finally broke into a walk with about a half mile to go while I kept running keeping the pace slow enough to stay under 70% on the HRM. The pace was close to a slog. Rick would walk for a 30 seconds and then run up to my shoulder, stay there for a minute and then walk again. In the end, he just walked.

By the time we both had finished I thought tomyself that this was the hottest low 80's I had felt in some time. We got into some dry clothes and drove to a local cafe for lunch. My car's outside temp gauge registered 93 degrees. No wonder it was a hot low 80's. It was in the 90's. The flames of noon time heat and our age were consuming us. Rick is also out of running shape and he paid that price too.

At lunch I nearly drowned myself in 2 BIG glasses of water and 2 BIG glasses of Coke. Rick drank a beer. "I need a beer," he said. "I need a beer."

12 mile day

I spent Monday and Tuesday at Seascape. Two all day meetings. Beautiful place to run but with no real time to run.

Today (Wednesday) I got back on the horse and rode it 12 miles by running 6 miles in the morning and another 6 in the late afternoon. Both runs were low key but my legs felt great. I could have piled on a few more miles if I had wanted to.

One issue: My left knee is slightly stiff at the very beginning of my runs. This has been going on for the last week or so. Once I get about 8-10 minutes into the run the stiffness goes completely away as if it had never been a problem. It does not hurt when I walk around but sometimes I feel it going upstairs. I am icing, adviling (cautiously) and also bought one of those knee straps that fits just below the patella. I plan to wear that Friday when I go out and see if it helps.

I have a rule. If it gets better as I run, I keep going. If it gets worse I stop. Right now I keep running.

Life at the Back of the Pack

I went up to the DSE run in GG Park with Shel today and ran very easy.

I didn't get to bed until late trying to wrestle with a Windows XP spyware problem. So I finally staggered to bed around 12:30. I felt stupid staying up that late but I was a bit obsessed.

I staggered out of bed at about 6:15, poured down a tankard of coffee and got going. It was foggy and cool in the park and I ran a short 3 miles before the 5K and another mile (plus) afterward. During the run I kept my HRM at under 150 but even with the cool weather I was slow. I spent most of the run next to a short, plump girl who wore black shorts over Lycra and a tall brunette who had died (oops dyed) her hair blond but hadn't done a very good job of it. There was also an older guy who would run hard, then walk and then run hard again. He lurched along like this during the whole run. For a time I thought he was using Galloway walking break method but now I am not so sure.

Anyway this was life at the back of the pack.

I got home in the late morning and worked on my computer (we had shifted to light sabers in our relentless duel ) before I finally figured a way to get rid of the spyware (at least I hope it is gone).

I am on the verge of leaving Windows for a Mac. I am just plain tired of viruses and spyware. As a Mac users said to me recently, if you can be free, why not not now?

65 minutes very easy

Friday: I ran about 65 minutes very slowly keeping the HRM in the 130-140 range. Very easy day all around. Lunch out with a colleague, nice dinner at home with Sue. Little or no work.

I could get bored doing it this way and frankly right now I need to loaf.

Saturday will be a no run day. Sunday I go with Shel to GG Park for a DSE race.

Monday morning will begin the two day offsite with a client. Seascape. Nice place to run if I had time which I doubt I will. The schedule of meetings is pretty tight so I will probably have to be satisfied with walking whenever I get a break.

Double Day

I took Tuesday off as promised and so my lesg felt much better on Wednesday for both runs.

Morning was an uneventful 5 miler. Afternoon was another 5 over at the Srartoga High School Track with the club. I did a warmup along Herriman (ugly..traffic) and then ran the club workout which was 12 x 400. We had a good crowd. The track is up and exposed, not down in a bowl like West Valley so even though it was in the high 70's, it was cooler with soem cross winds.

I ran every third interval hard just as a test. My legs responded nicely.

90-88-85-80. When I reached down it was there.

The rest of the 400's I ran easy and at the back of the pack. The point being that every other day running is critical for me. I didn't feel beat up at all.

I also went into work at my clients for 3 hours. We are gearing up for an offsite next week on Monday and Tuesday. I admit that I hate offsites. I just don't see the need to trapse off to a resort to do this sort of thing. And it's two days. We'll be sucking sand by the end of the second day. Not the way I do things but that's the breaks. Anyway that is a whole other post. I doubt I will run either day unless I am willing to get up very early on the second day or run after the offsite is over. Or I can just wait it out and jump on my regular schedule of Wed-Fri-Sat or Sun and then pick it up from there.

I have not been very Lawrence-like over the past several weeks. My goal has been to detach from my HR role and really become a consultant again. I think my successor is well established and the few times I do come in events seem to be flowing around me. When I do come back in I want what I do to be very different. Pure influencing of the "tribal structure"of the organziation will be my main strategic role.

4th day in a row

Despite tired legs and 4 days in a row, I rebounded a bit today running 4 in the morning and 5 in the early afternoon. But this is the end. In looking back i realized the following.

I looked back over the last 10-15 years and realized several things.

When I ran well these were the constants:

I was not running high miles. Generally 25-35 mpw

I did little or no speedwork. What little I did was speed oriented versus VO2 max oriented.

I generally ran every other day

I did not do long runs as a rule. 8-9 miles was enough.

I did AT runs every 3-4 weeks and if they got faster than everything got faster

I really enjoyed my running

and this last one is the most important........................

At the very moment of success I would feel so good about myself that I would either add in VO2 max workouts, raise my miles or start running more days a week and then after about 2-3 months I would crash hard.

Reminds me of early 1982. I was running well. Really enjoying my training, my daily runs. I had run several great races and had just run a 10k PR. I stayed away from speedwork for the most part and used races to get racing fit. I ran each day at a steady pace. I had a perceived effort and as the weeks progressed I got faster at the same effort. Everything was working well.

Several days after the 10k PR I did 200 meters hill charges with my running buddies. Now I never did hill charges to get there in the first place but I was feeling so damn smug that I figured that I could break my rule and run some hard work two stinking days after my race.

By the end of the week I was coming down with a cold that led to a flu that I struggled with all spring and summer. Finally I got past it but it was well into 1983 before I ran well again.

So me not learning BIG lessons is not a new thing. It is an old thing.

Let's see:

Don't run in cowboy boots. That was lesson number one. 1968.

Don't run in deck shoes. That was lesson number two. 1969.

After that it became much more complex than just about shoes.

Oh yeah.

Don't do one day that which you can't repeat the next day (or these days the day after that).

Keep hard runs at under 7-8% of total monthly miles.

Run Walk

I decided not to call it quits. I went out and ran and walked for about 45 minutes this morning. It was already getting warm. I ran and walked over towards the college where some sort of kids olympics was going on disrupting the usual sunday quiet of the track and campus.

All in all another 40 mile week.

At this point I have to run just to run. Sort of like going out for Sushi now and then.

There is no more "more" in my legs. I am lucky to be running and how silly it is of me to worry about this anymore. I am surrounded by guys who can still run and race (when they are not injured). I was once that very person except I was younger (MUCH YOUNGER).

If I look at my crowd I can see how it all works out.

Me: Still running. I am 3rd tier for my age group. 21's for 5K. Now and then show promise of running under 21. Known for shooting self in foot (mataphor). In NFL football terms I am the quintessential 7-9 or 8-8 team. I make the playoffs now and then but not much anymore.

Jake: Still running but slower than me at any distance. This from the first good runner that I went after and cared about beating. In beating him, we became friends.


John: Can't run anymore. On eof his knees is shot. He rides a mean cycle though.

Dave: Still runs but not very much or very quickly. Has a major health problem so that fact he runs at all is amazing (unless you know Dave).

Bill: Knees gone. Runs some but mostly rides a bike these days.

Tim: Still runs but very slowly.

There are more. I run into them from time to time. Most are injured, run very little or have given it up altogether.

Secretly I think I run to burn calories.

Short Six

The last runner standing is quickly becoming just that. I ran the short six club course (5.74 miles) today. Even though it relatively early it was still warm. I kept the HRM at 80-85% and ran 45 minutes and change. Along with the 3 plus mile warmup I probably ended up with about 9 miles total.

I can see that I am struggling. I may decide to take some time off. I think I may need 3-4 weeks total rest. Maybe more.

Then I can build back up gradually. I am not injured but I can tell that physically I am not there. It happens from time to time. It has never hurt me to take time off.

I just hate dieting to keep my weight down.

6 plus miles today

I ran for about 56 minutes this morning. Went out before 8 am because it felt like it was going to be warm. I ran into one of the managers I worked with at Sun and we chatted and ran around De Anza track.

I am having conversations with Dwight about coaching me in recovery techniques. I have decided that from now on I will decide on the workouts and freqency but I need help in the holistic's of recovery and getting stronger.

X Train: Sushi Day

I took the day off from running and crossed trained by going out for lunch (sushi-bento) and I am also going out for dinner (Bricks) . It's a bit of pig out day if I don't control things.

The weather got warmer today and muggy.

Slow Intervals

Back to low key running. 2 x 5 miles!

I ran 5 this morning at 70% but slowed down when I realized that I was still recovering from my so called mammoth session on Monday. In the evening I went out and joined the club. The track was closed so we ran 4 x .66. I did a short 3 mile warmup and then ran each of the reps not exceeding 70% on tyhe HRM. It was warm so I really trailed the rest of the pack who all were running hard. We started every 8 minutes so I had a bit of recovery. I guess I could call them slow intervals. My legs felt OK.

This is it going forward. I will test myself with some AT runs now and then but that's it until I see something that says I can run faster. I seem to undo myself all the time. I will try not to follow that path.

Day Off

I am taking today off without guilt. My legs will thank me for it on Wednesday (or so I hope).
I figure if I can run 90-100 minutes every other day I can begin to get "there". My Monday longer run could end up going longer but I may only do that every other week rather than weekly. I am not sure it is good for me to do anything hard week after week because it tends to beat me up.

I am going to refocus on my morning 5 miler (a true 5 miles now that I was able to measure the course more accurately). So the times will be much slower than before but at least I will know what I am running.

The other key workout will be an every 3-4 week 2 mile trial run. This will be tough because unless my friend Dimitri is there, I will be doing this alone. It has to be run at 95% effort which means that whatever I do in this run should indicate what I can do in a flat 5K.

97 minutes

I took off in the morning and ran 97 minutes, my longest run time-wise in years. I felt better as the run progressed. It was Sunny and breezy. Low to mid 60's. I ate an obscenely large bowl of oatmeal with a box of raisens thrown in as a post race meal. 139 pounds post run. Lowest in a while. 134 on my old 5 pounds lighter scale.

Now if I don't pay attention to anyone elses advice or try to fool myself into think "You can do it!" I will take Tuesday off.

And no, I am not going to do the 3 miles of AT plan that I sketched out several days ago. If I took time to think about it, would I have done well running that sort of program when I was at my best? 2-3 mile runs at 5:30-5:40 pace every other day with maybe 15-20 mpw total. The answer lies in the fact that it was mileage that made me whatever runner I was and not all the tempo and speedwork that I could imagine. It may not be big miles anymore but that's the gal that I "brung" to the dance.

Easy 5 miler

I ran 5 miles his morning. Had no problem staying with the lead pack on the 3 warmup (a small victory). I then another several miles at an easy jog.

Legs felt OK.

Sunday is a rest day. Monday I will do mileage again.

Jake showed up at breakfast hammered from a 7:45 pace 3 miler trial run. I recommended we get a hammer out and tap his legs "all over" for a few minutes to finish the job.

Danny still looks fat. I would say he is carrying around at least 10 pounds of extra lard. I didn't say anything. I didn't want Madelyn all over me with her talons out. That gets tiring. Talkinmg about fat.

Dimitri and I talked vegetarian diets and also Bob Rea's 2-3 mile a day training that still lets him run in the 36-37 minute 10K range in his mid 50's. It seems that he warms up on his exercycle for 15 minutes and then goes out and runs 2-3 miles at 10K tempo pace. He does this about 6 days a week. 15-20 miles a week max.

Long run? Sure, when he races 10K. Otherwise that is it.

I wonder what I would do on that sort of training. Of course I would run tempo every other day maybe 3 days a week.

Monday: 1 mile easy, 2-3 miles tempo
Tuesday: 2-3 miles easy
Wednesday: Same as Monday
Thursday: off
Friday 2-3 miles easy
Saturday: 1 mile easy, 2-3 mile tempo.
Sunday: 2-3 miles easy or switch this with Saturday if racing on Sunday.

Tempo would be about a 7:10-7:20 pace.

Hmmmmm. Something to think about.

Double 5's

God this is boring. I sound like an endless tape of myself.

After taking Thursday off I ran 5 in the morning and 5 again at lunch time. My legs and body just felt better. The afternoon was session was high wind to Jamaica with some real gusts but I altered my course and slithered down behind some 3 story condo's and whatever else I had to do, to not get blown around too much.

Work as I know it is almost over. Two quick hours today passing the torch to Doug. It's basically done and I am back to auxillary consultant attached to King's Scouts or something like that. Somesone at the office said I looked too happy.

Day Off

A real day off. Well hardly. I was ready not to run. That always scares me. When I am beginning to get fried (as in being burned out) the first sign is a significant desire not to run and that was what was beginning to happening to me. I just need to pay attention. As a friend recently wrote to me.

Not recovering? Well that doesn't work.

I can write up all the neat little schedule I want on scraps of paper or on my computer and it doesn't make a difference. When I begin to go down, I GO DOWN.

Ok, well I will begin to trudge up the mountain again and feel good about my running.

Tough Day

Very tough day. The 5 miles in the morning wasn't too bad but the late afternoon aerobic fartlek work was a drag. I felt beat up even though I kept things to a reasonable pace. It might have been the fact that I haven't been sleeping too well or it might be a combo of that and running 3 days (9-6-11) in a row. I last feltgood monday. Took last Friday off, ran Saturday, took Sunday off, ran Monday. Then Tuesday was a drag and Wednesday too.

The rules don't change. Usually if I feel badly in my workouts, I pretty well know that I am slipping back. It's the question I asked last week (was it?).

Would I just be better off sticking with bigger days running and more days off?
The sleep problems are not work related. I am not tossing and turning about that anymore. I think it may be over-training. Even that 5th day of running seems too much. I could make the 5th day very short but then I have to ask why do it.

So quietly I will slip back to 3 big days, one lessor day and give myself more days off. At least for now. I can do 35-40 and deal with higher miles later on.

6 miles

Ran the usual recovery run this morning. 6 miles in "slow as I could". Watch said 54 minutes and change.

My legs felt OK but there was no magic there. Just a slog. Weather was breezy with sun and clouds.

The track was being used by an exercise class. When I ran by them it seemed as if I were running a 6 minute pace but it was a funny illusion. If I had their age with my will, I would be on fire. I don't know if that is what I could describe my training as these days. Maybe determined is a better word.

Tomorrow is aerobic fartlek.

82 Minutes

Easy paced 82 minute morning run today. Perfect conditions. Cool and slightly breezy.

I kept my HRM in the 130-140 range.

Felt a bit sluggish at first maybe from the trip to Seattle this weekend. I seemed to feel stronger as the run progressed.

Saturday in Seattle

60 minute run along the Burke-Gillman Trail on Saturday morning. I felt good throughout.

55 degrees & overcast.

Plenty of ghosts of a faster Rich running there in the 1980's. Cyclist speeding by. No warning. They zip by and if you don't hear them and step to the inside, it's over. No "I am on your left".... or "cyclist coming up".

Aerobic Fartkek & the next day

Wednesday I ran 4 slow miles in the morning and came back in the afternoon and ran another 5 plus miles doing aerobic fartlek. 2 miles easy, 3 x 4 minutes at 85%: 2 minutes at 75%, 1.5 miles warmdown. The afternoon session was cooler than last week by 15 degrees.

9 miles day (give or take).

Today (Thursday) I ran an easy 5 miler in the AM.

Of course, as usual, I felt tired. I still think I would do better if I ran 4 days a week. I guess it's the idea of running more days that is attractive not the actual doing it. I may shift back to 4 BIG days and run still 40 mpw and hang in there. I just feel better.

I don't have to decide now. I will think on it like I always do.

5 Miles

My legs felt better MUCH today. I jogged a very easy 5 miles in the morning. That was it. Dump week. Could have done more but forced myself not to.

A Day Off

Nice heat wave yesterday. The evening was particularly nasty. High clouds came in and just seem to sit over the bay area sealing in the heat. We barbequed flank steak last night and let the air conditioner run while we ate dinner. After the sun set (I think it set....I couldn't actually see it) We turned off the air and opened up all the windows. But the air outside was still warm. Balmy is too kind a word. Didn't sleep well even with the fan blowing right on me.

Sue and I both had stomach troubles this weekend. Maybe a touch of something going around.

God my life is exciting.

I thought of running today but have decided to pass. Will wait until Tuesday and go out before or after work.

This is the proverbial dump week so I am not too worried about how much I run this week. Then back up for 3 weeks at 40 and then another dump week. That will take me into mid June and if I feel decent I will go up to 45 and stay there for 3-4 weeks.

5 Miles: Tired Legs

5 miles in the morning. Legs tired. No more to be said.

9 miles

I woke up this morning with stomach problems and wondered if I should run. I decided to go anyway figuring that there were bathrooms on campus and I could always tour the "johns" if need be. Pit stops are often part of running like it or not.

I ran 9 miles as planned and found that I got stronger as the run went on. This is a good sign. 5 miles on Sunday and I am at 40 again. Then a dump week.

5 miler

Easy 5 miler this morning while it was till cool.

This is a real variation from what I have been doing over the past ten years. Yesterday was hard day. 11 miles with aerobic fartlek. Sunday was an AT run. Under the old regime I would have taken the next day off. yet on monday I ran 2 x 5 miles and then 5 miles again today.

In each case my legs seemed fine.

I am not saying this is the way I will be doing to going forward, just that I am testing myself to see if I can handle it now and then and improve.

Aerobic Fartlek

I ran an easy 5 miles in the morning. It was already comfortable out so I had a pretty good idea of what the afternoon would be like.

In the afternoon it was hovering around 90 degrees when I started my aerobic fartlek workout. Just a new twist to speedwork. I did a 2 mile warmup and ran for about 20 minutes alternating 3 minutes of 85% of max on the HRM and 2 minutes at roughly 75%. I repeated this 4 times.

I followed this with another 2 miles of easy jogging. Then I drank all the water I could get my hands on.

No idea of pace. Just effort and the heat.

Once I am no longer interim VP of HR and don't always have to be someplace in the mornings, I will shift this type of workout to the mornings on hot days. I am ready to let this job go. More than ready to shift to a new role.

Anway: 11 mile day.

Running The Day After

The usual 10 miles day. 6 miles in the morning and 4 more at lunch.
I ran each session slow. Maybe a 9 pace with a 130-140 HR. The morning was cool but the afternoon run was in the low to mid 70's.

My legs felt OK (a few sores spots but nothing that bothered me too much) after Sunday's AT effort. Usually I take the day off but I felt compelled to stay with my program and see if I could handle it. Still, I will be careful. I will take Tuesday off and run again Wednesday.

I am trying for another 40 mile week.

61 and I am still running.

AT Run

On Saturday I was headed out to the club workout to run and I banged my left hip againt the drivers side view mirror.

BAM!

A painful electric jolt went down my spine.

I seemed to have knocked my back out. I tried to jog but it was way too painful and so i went back in the house, took some advil and lay down on the couch with an ice pack stuck to my lower back. After about 20 minutes I decided to go on to the club workout. My intention wasn't to run the workout but just get in a 3 mile jog. Once I got there I stood around chatting. After about 30 minutes I took a test jog and my back no longer hurt.

I strapped on my HRM and jogged several miles around the campus.My back held.

I iced several more times during the day and also took some more advil.

On Sunday morning I swung out of bed with no pain at all. I decided to drive up to the DSE club 40th anniversary 5K and run it at as a 90% AT test run. The out and back course ran along the Marina Green out out into the Presidio but along the bay. I found myself feeling very good. No back problems at all. I didn't try to drive my HR up but just let it come upon its own. At the first mile it was around 170-72 and by two miles it was at 175-76. Coming back it heated up a bit with the wind at my back and the HRM finally got up 179-180. I just kept it smooth and ran in at 21:08. I was pretty much alone the last mile so no vapor trails to follow.

Given that the course is accurate, this was my best AT run in about 4 years. I was pretty much separated from several runners who normally run in the 22's for 5K so I knew I had run better to the pack then usual.

With the warm up and warm down I was close to 40 miles for the week. Most of it was run at a painfully slow pace.

Sub optimal to slow seems to bring the best results so that will be my course for now.

Double 4's

Forced myself to run 2 x 4 miles. I felt better than that but I am careening towards 40 mpw and would like not to overdo it (or am I already overdoing it?).
I ran both runs as slow as I could stand it. I kept my HR down at 130 throughout the morning and noontime run. It was cool weather and that helped.

If all goes well this will be another 5 day running week. Work is beginning to lighten up and I am finally feeling relaxed. I am in the strategic withdrawal phase of being the interim VP of HR. Now I am the departing, interim VP of HR.

The plan is to run Sunday's 5K Dolphin Race (40th anniversary) at AT pace.

39:11

I ran 5 miles this morning at 65-70% and covered the same course I ran last week in 39:56 but this time I ran it in 39:11. Definite improvement!

In the afternoon (it was 8-10 degrees cooler than last week) I ran 7 more miles and felt fairly strong throughout. Last week I was stiff and sore but this time i felt strong.

All in all, a 12 mile day. Whoa! 24 miles this week so far. I am allowing myself to feel better. I hope that makes sense. I am taking Metabol as a recovery drink. It seems to work. I am back to using the HRM almost daily. It tells me to slow down.

The key is to get faster given various terrain and weather conditions but at the same target heart rates.

Epiphany (in a low key)

The warmup is here. It was in the 70's today but felt hotter.

I ran my usual double covering 7 miles this morning before work and another 5 miles at lunch. This all must have a purpose (lol) because once again with my HRM in tow, I was the slowest man in theBaylands with all sorts of runners zipping by me at breakneck speeds. I was obstinate about keeping my HR down in the 130's in both runs and you know what that is like if it warm.

So what did I accomplish? More miles and more calories burned. Of course also that weekly ephiphany that I usually don't pay attention to. I don't get faster by the same path other runners normally take. In one year (Zippy's to Zippy's) filled at various times with more miles, threshold runs and intervals I have added 47 seconds to my 5K time. That speak volumes. if I was an investment I would be doing well.

Anyway, food for thought.

Threshold Run

Today I went up to the club workout and warmed up with the leaders for 3 plus miles. I then strapped on my HRM and ran the 4.68 miler Farwell-Horseshoe in the 34:50's. I kept my HR at 80-85% throughout so in reality it wasn't even an AT run (90%). It was worth a low 37 minute 5 miler on the flats so all in all it wasn't too bad. It does tell me that my lactate threshold is not that good right now. The good news was that I felt good and right now, that is what I am looking for.

But for whatever reason I have declined from where I was 4 short weeks ago when I ran in the low 33's for the Triangle course. Based on that run I should have been able to run in the low 32's for the 4.68 course. I doubt very much that I could have done that today.

OK, work will get better in that there will be less of it and hopefully with less stress, I can begin to see some improvement. So patience is the BIG word for now.

Two Easy Days

Thursday I ran an easy 4 miles and came back today and ran another 5 (also easy).

My legs felt decent. Seemed to take two days to recover from Wednesday's morning 5 miler. That seems to be the way it right now.

39:56

My legs felt decent so I went out and ran a morning 5 miler in 39:56 keeping the HRM at 70% most of the way. So that is a good starting point. Yes, it is test. So what? When this comes down, then i know that i will be recovering and getting fit.

In the afternoon I ran another 5 miles but felt leg weary (or was it body weary?).
I just got through it.

Ate two dinners afterwards. Very hobbit-like.

The Day after the Titanic Sank.

I ran 4 miles easy in the morning (HRM at 130). Another 5 at lunch (HRM 130-140). No ill effects from Sunday. Not even a bruised ego. The day was mostly overcast and in the low 60's so the weather was ideal. I just enjoyed running and thought about what it will be like to be not working again.

We are close to making an offer to the VP of HR so that my "100 days" can end.
This is the last time I will go back in 5 days a week and do this sort of job. 2-3 days a week is fine but I no longer have a a desire to go into long relief. The bureaucracy of being in a public company makes it all not worth it.

I weighed myself. 141-142 pounds so despite my fears that Iput on a bunch of weight, I was actually in shouting distance of 140 pounds. I will try to get back int the 135-140 pound range gradually over the next 1-2 months. I will more than likely run more days a week in the Ed Whitlock style. Slow and easy.

9 miles total

The End of the Beginning

I went up to SF and ran Zippy's 5K. It was a mini-distaster (again) with a 21:50 something final time. I went through the mile in 6:42 and I had abosulelty nothing in my legs. I could not force myself up above 176-177 on my HRM. No big pain or deep breathing. Just no energy or will power.

After a year of training from the last Zippy's in May of 2005, I have to admit that I realize some hard truths.

The more intervals I do, the slower I have gotten. 12 weeks of speedwork really put me down for the count. When I run hard I feel like nothing is there.

I have no real will to run race-like efforts. I believe that those days are over. I just don't care about racing that much anymore. I don't mind running them at AT effort but that is about it. Today's effort was AT but unintentionally. I just think that I got out in the race today, had no energy to even push myself and then bonked. No I don't want to take 10 supplements. My body is what it is.

I always said to myself that I would get out of the racing business when it was no longer any fun. I "retired" 10 years ago from racing knowing this but then decided to see if there was still another season or two left. Well, there isn't. Physically and mentally I am no longer a racer. I am OK with it. I can still run "which I love" and let the rest of the gang go race.

I can quietly go back to just being a threshold runner and forget the rest of the crap that I have been putting myself though for the past 12 months. So I can run more days and more miles if I want to and forget the whole getting faster thing. It was my mistress for 23 years (1972-1995) but not any longer.

61*

I turned 61 yesterday. Sue bought gave a new HRM for my birthday. Now I have an HRM with a stop watch built in. The numbers are smaller but I can read them.

I took it out for a test ride and ran ran my "long 5" in 42:30 at 130-140 HRM.

I didn't feel any older. I have been feeling old for years now.

It's been 11 months give or take since my 21:07 Zippy's 5K and tomorrow I got back again and run the same race. In one year of "training" I hammered my way down to a 20:40 equiavlent three weeks ago on a club course. I did interval workouts that said I was in 20 flat shape. But the reality is that my training has not worked out. I wanted 20 flat. I am nowhere near there yet.

• I will need more miles on a weekly basis and be able to recover from it. This means using many of Dwight's recovery tecniques. I plan to gradually go up to 40 mpw and the see what comes next.
• I will need a string of faster races.
• I will continue to do intervals and add in AT runs but at Roy Benson pace not Daniels.
• It's 1975 all over but with a 30 year older body.

Double 5

I ran 5 miles twice yesterday. Once in the morning before work and again in the late afternoon after work. The sun was out and the afternoon temp was in the 70's. Just found out that it is Jim (Howe) myself and Bob Schmidt for the 60 plus team at Zippy's. Joe is off running London (Marathon) and Dick can't make it. So a 19 minute guy, a 20 minute guy and a guy (me) who has absolutley no idea which runner will show up. Based on last Saturday I will be in the 21's. Based on two weeks before that I would be in the 20's. Not a very daunting team. Dick and Joe would have added depth. Maybe Neal will show up from Reno. He is usually under 20. No indication yet. He is always a surprise.

It will be good to get back to Wednesday intervals after this race. I am feeling very disconnected (again) from running hard and Wednesday's get me back there.

Moving On Day

The sun at last! Beautiful day.

I ran twice yesterday (Monday). 6 miles in the morning and 4 at lunch. I kept my HR down under 140 on both runs. The goal is just to recover and move on. My legs felt OK but I was running about as slow I could imagine. I could have easily broken into a walk at any moment. I looked around. Not many runners my age out there. What happens to us? To top that, no one who looked 70. I guess I have that to look forward to. We become walkers. I hope not. I at least hope to follow Keston, Foster and Turnbull and run 2-3 big days a week.

Of course like always, I had trouble getting out of work to run at lunch.

Oh Rich, do you have a moment?

Oh Rich, are you leaving?

People asking me to curtail my run. Well, not all. But it's the same old story. There are those who workout at lunch and those who pig out at lunch.

By the time I did get out I no longer had time for a 5-6 miler as planned. I hate rushing but I had to back for a 2 pm. So 4 miles it was. I got even by leaving at 5 pm today.

Yuk!

Terrible race today.

After a 2 mile warmup I ran the 2.75 in 18:50 "something" getting beat by Schmidt, Joe and others. My 4.76 of two weeks ago predicted an 18:16 on this course and that day I wasn't running all out. Today things were never right. I was behind early and just like last year did not run well at all going up the final long uphill mile.

My plan was to take a dump week before Zippys and I will follow that plan. There is nothing else to do anyway. The truth is that I have not felt right for the last several weeks and it showed today. Between work stress, my head cold of last month and other things, I was simply not in the race.

Legs Felt Good

I ran an easy 4 miles this morning. It was calm and relatively cool. One of the best weather running days in several weeks. My legs felt the way I would want them to feel the day before a hard tempo effort which will be Saturday morning.

Of course it is supposed rain tomorrow but what else is new.


Today: Cloudy with occasional showers. High 66F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Tomorrow: Cloudy with occasional showers. High 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

41 days of rain

We have had 41 days of rain in the last 43 days. I think I spied an ark floating out in the bay the other afternoon.

Yesterday I ran 2 x 4 miles. One 4 miler in the morning before work and another after work. Bascially jog..jog..jog....It rained during both runs. Not a cold rain but rain nevertheless. It is dampening my interest in running.

In two days I race the 2.75 club run. I wonder silently about my ability to go fast. I have been training hard since January but since the 6 x 800's in 3:05, I have let up on speed work having run just one race-like effort. None of the time trials I promised myself.

Last year in June I bonked running an 18:29 which was the equivalent of a 20:55, 5K. I ran with Joe and Schmidt most of the way and then at the end they just pulled away from me over the last mile gaping me by 20 seconds. My 33:02 traingle (4.76) of a few weeks ago is worth a 20:40, 5K and I held back so I should be faster.

It doesn't have to be a race but I would like to be close. Under 18:20 would be nice. Maybe under 18:15. Eleven years ago I ran 16:24 as a fifty year old on this same course. The age graded equivalent is 18:08 at age 61. What a difference 11 years makes.

Another Rain Day

It has rained almost continuously since Sunday. The sky has been the color of lead.

Monday was mostly steady, light rain but I decided not to let it stop me and I went out and ran 70 minutes easy along the San Thomas Aquino, Saratoga Creek Trail. The good news was that the wind was mild as was the temperature so at least I didn't get blown around.

About 10 minutes from the finish, the rain let up and by the time I had cooled down I actually wasn't that wet. You have to love those moisture wicking fibers.

Motivation 1.0

Next week is the 2.75 miler. Since there are no other competitve club races or Pacific Association Races on Sunday, it means that the club run should be competitve. I sat next to Dimitri (my most excellent but now injured pacer) at breakfast yesterday. He is excited about the prospect of my laying back of Schmidt and Hurtado (the 4th and 5th ranked runners in the Pacific Association Short Race Super Senior category in 2005) and then kicking by them at the very end as we come into the college.

He seems to have it all worked out in his mind.

It is too bad because he may be disappointed. That is not the way I have it worked out in my mind. Yes, I would like to be there at the end. Close at least. I am OK with that. If he were not injured I would plant myself behind his shoulder and he would carry me mindlessly to this goal. He would place me right there so I could just sprint past them. The funny thing is that they will be looking for each other and basing their strategy on beating one another, not me.
One can see and feel the pull between the two of them in workouts or races. Schmidt with his surging, looking over the shoulder, style and Hurtado with his relentless pacing.

Being there is ok for me. I did not come back to dominate anyone but to simply enjoy the feeling of running fast again. After this race and Zippy's the following week I will climb the ladder again on Wednesday evenings and Saturday's to get to a faster place.

Shoes

Since the demise of the Brooks Chariot, I have been running in the Adidas Supernova Classic. No feet or leg problems but not as much room as in the Chariot's toe box.

Then I bought a pair of Supernova's with EE width. They felt great when I slipped them on until I began to run in them. After one week I had sharp knee pain and hip soreness. I had been holding back one last pair of Chariots just in case and today I put them on and ran. One hour give or take and immediately (as in right from the first step) the pain was gone.

I have ordered two more pairs of the Supernova Classic's. D width. The Chariots will carry me alomg until I get the new shoes.

My best guess is that that the EE width allowed my foot too much motion movement and stressed my knee and hip. One thing I learbed many years ago: You can't force a shoe to work for you. It either does or doesn't. The EE's will make fine walking shoes.

The Perfect Mile

Email to my friend Derek:

I stayed up late last night re-reading The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. If you haven't read it, you should.

It recounts the struggles of Santee, Landy and Bannister to be the first to run the sub 4 minute mile and how Bannister does it but after Landy crushes his record, he realizes that he will have to beat him head to head.

It was after a 11 pm and there I was reading the excellent account of the Mile of the Century. The race between Bannister and Landy at the Empire Games in the summer of 1954. There have been a hundreds of great mile races over the years but this had to the best because it was the first. The only two men to date to run inder 4 minutes dueling in front of millions of TV watchers and thousands of people in the stands (I have stood on the track at BC Stadium outside Vancouver in the very spot they stood).

It was that last race between Affirmed and Alydar in the triple crown where Affirmed won by a nose (if that). It was Liquori and Ryan in 1971 at Franklin Field running shoulder to shoulder and Liqiouri winning by no more than a blink. It was my 1995 victory over Dick Chementi where I came from behind and beat him on the very last lap, gaining a slight lead, shocking him with my kick (he had more speed).

I should not read this stuff in the late evening. Oh you Elizabethans!

Motivation

I ran 7 miles Monday morning just beating the rain. I was hoping to out again at noon but it was pouring and I felt myself drawn to staying inside in a very dry place. In this case my office. Of course I felt like a coward for not going out byt part of me, deep inside knew that it would make no difference whether I stayed or went. So I stayed (dry).

Wednesday (today) I ran an easy 4 miles in the morning in the drizzle and another 6 plus miles in the late afternoon with my club. I was dragging from a poor night's sleep.

Overall, I seem to have lost some headway in my comeback plan. The weather and work is getting to me. Zippy's is two and half weeks away. A month ago I would have said I was ready but I seem to be losing momentum. Climbing the ladder each week on Wednesday's helped to focus me but I broke the string with my cold and now I am just trying to land the plane and have a decent race. Down deep I know the fault lies within myself. Down deep I will have to pull myself out of this funk.

"We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

Churchill, 1941

I Am A Long Way

I am a long way from where I want to be. It is hard to dust off ten years of really not working hard or racing. Ten years of LT and AT and never stringing together a racing season. I know this was by choice. I figure it will take me at least a year to get back to where I am competitive in my age group. Competitive for me is the 19's for 5K.

I also recognize that I am no longer at the age where I get faster. Not like my 20's and 30's.

What do I need to do:

Run more miles. Not more days. I figure at least 35-40 miles per week. This will be a sizeable improvement on my present 25-30 miles per week. I can do this in 4 days if I run doubles.

Something like this:

Monday: 10-12 miles in two runs
Wednesday: Same as Monday but with some sort of interval or rep workout
Friday: 5-6 miles
Saturday: 3-4 mile AT one week, 10-12 miles the next week.


Run an every other week longer run. 8-9 miles isn't enough. I need to go to 12 miles. It will help me carry my speed through to longer events.

Alternate true AT runs (85-90% of max) with the long runs on weeks when I am not racing.

Do two types of faster work. When I am in the pre-racing season phase (generally mid-winter, early spring) run VO2 max workouts but once I am racing, run less reps, faster on weeks I am not racing.

Race more during the Spring and Summer and very early fall. Then rebuild.

Not be working full time. Right now I am interim VP of HR at a company. I need to find the person who backfills my role so I have more flexibility to train. Nice money but it is going on wasy too long. If it goes into May, I will go to 4 days a week.

I hate this last one but I wonder if I would race better in the low 130's versus the high 130/l;ow 140's I presently weigh. I will have to decide if I want to gradually lose weight.

Triangle

Saturday. Cool but little or no wind and finally no rain.

I made an on the spot decision to run the club Triangle Run which is 4.76 miles with a long, long uphill between 2 miles and roughly 3.5 miles. It seems to go up forever. Even the mile before the big hill is gradual uphill.

I ran with Joe starting behind him and gradually catching up at about a mile and half. Then I just hung with him staying in a relatively comfortable tempo run-like zone the whole way. With about a half mile to go Joe, who was breathing hard throughout, began to make it a race and I declined letting him pull away to an 8 second gap at the finish.

He ran 32:54 and I ran 33:02. It was a faster per mile pace than my Xmas Relay 4.46 mile leg back in December run on a much easier and shorter course. I was much closer to Joe in this workout than I was on my Xmas Relay leg (he ran his leg about 40 seconds faster than I did).

So I guess I am getting close to being there with the faster 60 plus runners on the club. I wouldn't say I am there yet but I am close. I might have caught Joe if I had sprinted the last 400 meters but I just decided this wasn't the day to reach down. I wanted something else. A hard steady run to test my endurance, something that told me I can eventually hang with the club big boys and a decent age group time.

I got all three.

It is step.

This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill

3 plus miles warmup: 4.76 mile club workout. About 8 miles total.

Windy again

I ran 4 miles easy this morning. It was very windy. Frankly, I could have used a sail.

The last few weeks have been tough. It's either been cold, windy or raining or a combination of all three. It's like Seattle's weather has moved south and engulfed the Bay Area.

This is what it lookes like over the next four days. Nice weather if you live in Green Bay.

Partly Cloudy
High: 63°Low: 46°

Showers
High: 61°Low: 48°

Rain
High: 59°Low: 43°

Showers
High: 58°Low: 43

The day after and two days after that.

I ran double 5 milers on Monday. Same on Wednesday. My legs were tired from going back to back on Sunday-Monday and I still felt a bit slow on Wednesday morning. I decided not to run hard intervals on Wednesday with the club at the track. This was smart. My legs felt recovered and I ran OK (even though different shades of slow).

I want to do a 95% (not all out) two mile trial soon somwhere between 13:12 and 13:25. This indicates that I am in 20:02-20:22 shape. Not where I want to be but better than last year when I couldn't break 21 minutes.

Dolphin Club 8K

Shel and I drove up to the city to run the Dolphin Club 8K in Golden Gate Park.
This race used to start right at the sout side of the Polo Fields where Sue and I met on February 10th 1980. Back then the race was 4.7miles. I got oukicked for 1st place by a college runner. The difference between us was less than a blink.

But that was back then. 25 years later I am no longer a local stud and the course starts in a new location closer to the beach. After about 3 miles of warmup the race began. I went out slowly not only because it was uphill but because I did not intend to run very hard. After about a mile I settled in behind a woman runner and her "escort". For some reason whenver I run Dolphin Runs at about this effort I end running with this gal. She rarely if ever talks to me and I just usually end up cruising along side or just behind her. It's not really by design. It's just the way it works. Let's not make this hard, I think. Just a steady run.

She tends to start easy and then grind down the female competition. I was running rather easily and just ghosting along as we began to pick off runners.
This went on for about 3 miles and she had was running in 3rd place for women. On the way back and heading downhill, I began to pull away and catch up to the woman in front of her. I may have picked it up slightly (my legs felt ok) and I caught her quickly, passed her and then crusied on into the finish.

I didn't get my time so right now I have no idea of what I ran. Nothing outstanding unless I am a small race, locally ranked female runner, which I am not.

Anyway, 8 miles altogether.

51 Times

51 times I have written to this bog. I doubt anyone reads it. How would they know? Why would they care. When I first 38 years ago no one cared. I saw no one out on the roads. I ran alone. In a way I am running alone again.

But I know. I know what I am trying to do.

I am trying to come back.

Today I ran 7 miles with the HRM strapped to my chest. My hamstrings are sore from Wednesday night's workout. I exceeded my capabilities but went and ran none-the-less. It's a matter of time now. I don't have forever. My job will end soon and I will go free again and I will train like never before.

It always about reaching.

I Am Back

I ran 3 easy miles this morning before heading in to work.

In the late afternoon I ran an easy 2 mile warmup and then went to the track and clicked off 3:07-3:07-3:06-3:04-3:03-3:03. Fastest yet in this comeback effort. The weather was near perfect. Very little wind and tempo in the low 60's.
The effort was guarded especially during the first two. I was thinking 3:10-12 but my body simply shifted into the right gear and moved along. No one really near me. Several runners ahead of me in the 2:40's and 50's and then me. Another group well in back of me. So mostly I was alone.

A bit sore afterwards but then I have a whole week to recover.

So taking 8 days off for last week's cold seems to have been the right move.

Day's total was 8 miles.

First Run In A Week.

My first run in a week. Well actually 8 days. 2 miles (I think).

Legs felt fine but then with 8 days off, shouldn't they?

Book It!

Book it! Dump week is ending. Zero miles.

I think my week of being sick with a cold is ending. Bad sleep the last two nights but that's to be expected. My sinuses feel like they have been excavated. That Afrin is strong stuff!

Whoa.

There goes my whole science project on how to avoid a cold and the flu. Well 50% at least. I haven't gotten the flu and no flu shots this year.

The question now is whether I can rally myself to run a decent Zippys 5K in 4 weeks.

The Beat Goes Drumming On......

My slow moving cold, like the weather, lingers. We're well into the runny nose stage. If I were 30 instead of 60 I would run. But the week is gone as far as running is concerned. I am throwing in the towel and just letting the cold virus beat its way through my system.

Too much stress. Why am I working 5 days a week??????

Might have over trained. Sheehan (if he were alive) would say so. he certainly says so in his writings. My body seemed to hold on while I was working and let go as soon as I went on vacation. LOL.

Some vacation!

A slow recovery week next week if all goes well.

It's Seattle Oustide

It is evening. 10:45 PM to be exact. It is Seattle outside. The rain is falling steadily. I haven't run this week. My throat is still scratchy (wine helps). I am going to try not to take Nyquil tonight. It is the laudnum of the 21st century. I wake up feeling fuzzy (well, fuzzier than usual).

I am sleeping upstairs in the den so I don't keep my wife up with my slightly runny nose and sometime cough. It is traditional that when one of is sick, one of us moves. Generally me. I am the portable one.

Running seems a long way off. 12 x 400 or 6 x 800 seems months ago. That body broke (cracked really) because I didn't pay attention to the signs. I was struggling ever so slightly. Running too hard for times I was seeing. The intervals looked good. That fooled me for a time. I had stopped wearing the HRM. Diving into the big, silky pool of self satisfaction.

I am not going to do a big reset. Just more use of the HRM on my recovery days and I am going to slow my intervals down to a realistic 5K date/goal pace. so maybe 6 x 800. 4 in 3:15 (date) and 2 in 3:10 (goal).

Next week, as soon as I get past this thing, I will be back at it. I keep saying that to reassure myself. Bear with me.

The Ultimate Dump Week

This is the ultimate dump week. Unplanned of course but here I am not running until this cold passes through on its way to wherever cold germs go.

I can probably start running Saturday with a short run. It will take me a week to build back up.

Rule #1 with colds: Don't run with one until the symptoms have passed.

Rule #2: You are going to have to take a week to build back up. Maybe two.

Rule #3: No matter how much you try to avoid them (and I tried very hard) there is another cold waiting out there for you.

Actually I was in my flu avoidance mode. So far it worked but a cold virus seems to have penetrated my defensive network anyway.

Damn! All that hand washing for nothing?

LOL

A Slow Moving Cold

I have a cold. It is slow moving and mild but it coming through never-the-less. Mostly so far it has been a sore throat.

Good timing. I am on vacation. A week off from work.

No running until the worst of it has passed.

Wussing

I ran an easy 5 miles on Friday morning.

It was hovering around 38 degrees on Saturday morning (snow on the hills) so I decided to ditch the idea of running 800's on the track and I just ran the club workout at a medium pace pacing Tom Warfel who also decided not to push it.

I have become a real wuss in my old age.

Blah, Cool and Windy

I ran 4 miles this morning before work and another easy 5 miles after work.
Pretty blah day. This evening it was cold and windy. Not optimal conditions for running very hard.

My plan is to run something hard on Saturday.

Not Bloody At All

Turned out the storm passed through late Sunday night. I woke up once and could hear it coming down hard outside.

Monday morning it was fairly clear so I went out and ran a very slow 75 minutes. Maybe 8 or 8.5 miles. Who knows? I seem to be recovering because my legs felt OK throughout. God knows how slow i was running through. I don't dwell on it but I would bet soem ofmy early miles were a 10 minute pace. 9's later on.

I didn't double. It wasn't raining at lunch but the idea of going out for another 3 or 4 miles just to get them in didn't appeal to me so I skipped. Maybe later on when the weather get decent.

12 x 400: Chapter Two

I didn't end up running the 1.46 milers afterall. It was cold this morning. Maybe 36-37 degree. I warmed up with Todd, Tom and Bill and tied with Bill for first place in the warmup. Tom and Todd peeled off with 300 meters to go to use the restroom.

It was taking Walt a long time to handicap the teams and I finally just decided to go down to the track and run 400's. So I ended up running 12 x 400 in a 90 second average with a 200 meter jog. It was tough running them alone, on a cold day and on a slick track but I did the workout anyway. I finished strong and didn't feel too beat up. My body just kept responding. Once I thought to myself, I will just do 8 of them. Then when I got through that barrier I thought to myself, I will just do 10 of them. But then I felt stronger and went on doing 12 of them with the last two 400's feeling something like during the last mile of a 5K race.

It was a sizeable improvement over my January 18th 12 x 400 workout. Maybe too fast but it felt ok. Seeing that my secret goal is to run 3 x 1600 meters in 6:08-12 I will have to be very comfortable at a 90 second pace at least up through 800.

Anway another storm is coming into the Bay Area. Monday could be bloody.

Back from the Offsite

I was back from the two day (no running) offsite. I ran about 4 miles easy this morning. It was mostly cold. Very little rain at all. Then I dashed up to Menlo Park to Big Bill Tarr for an adjustment (he's my chiro) and then back down to Sunnyvale to work but I adsmit that did stop along the way and grabbed a cup of coffee with an old colleague from Sun Microsystems.

Mouth sores cresting. Can't do anything about that now. Even with the low miles I am walking a tightrope due to added work stress.

Still haven't decided whether I do the test effort 2 x 1.46 miles on Saturday.
It's a two man relay but I may chose to pace someone instead of running on a team. I can always choose someone near my ability. It is more race-like. That's the type of experience I need right now.

Finished the first rounds of interviews for my successor at work. I am passing the best to the CEO and hopefully he'll find someone in that group that fits. Then I can go back to project and part time work (or nothing at all if no one calls). Relief pitching is a bitch. lol....

More energy for running and flying. I don't think my instructor believes I am going to come back. But I will be back. I just have to whittle my life down to 3 big things again.

• Family
• Running
• Flying

A Day Off

It's Wednesday. I am sitting in an all day meeting. No running today. It's probably a good thing. Mouth sores and a slightly aching hip. A whole slew of exec's doing email and swapping stories while we wait for a new projector (the one we were using stopped working).

More of the same Thursday.

My main goal is to not overeat.

I was thinking (as I sit here) 25 years ago I was able to break 16 minutes for 5K. 15 years ago I was running in the 17's. Now I am trying to get under 20 minutes.
I am slower but in relationship to my age group competition I am faster.