Past The Curve

If you take a month off eventually you are going to feel it coming back. Today I felt it. I walked and ran for about an hour this morning kicking the run portion up to 24 minutes. I ran 14 minutes, took a short walking break and ran another ten minutes. I really felt knackered after the 14. The good news was that I did 24 minutes and that once again there was no calf pain (he said cautiously).

I did run partly on the DeAnza track watching while the big blond women (BBW's) ran up and down the bleacher steps and did various other exercises. These gals are really trying to get into shape but they both need to lose about 30-40 pounds. Blond hair won't do it alone. I try not to fantasize about them..wink..wink! They, like me, are past the curve where one can ever go back. You just try to be better than you were last week or last month. If you are really lucky you might actually be better than you were last year.

21 minutes and counting

In the spirit of things, I boosted my running up to 21 minutes jogging up and down the trail to the dam and then finished off on the track. It was good to see that I could handle some uphill. I was out for about an hour total with most of the running packed in the early section. It was sunny but windy heading up trail. I kept my gloves on.


I felt like I could have kept going, that's how good I felt. It was that type of feeling good where you start making plans, something I really don't want to do right now. Oh, I will go right on up to 40 mpw and see how that goes.

I keep remembering that this injury can come back in a tug so I plan to keep on building but at a slow rate of climb. I did tape my calf again. Still using masking tape. I have not ordered the real stuff yet. I am going on the cheap and will see how it goes.

Jake was in recovery mode having run hard for the prior 3 days. I ran a bit with him but he kept breaking into walks wisely choosing to recover rather than thrash himself.

18 Minutes of Running

I got out relatively early walking a mile before launching into my run. I covered 9 minutes without stopping. walked a bit and did another 9 minutes for 18 minutes total. I put masking tape across my calf. Two strips on the area that had bothered me. I don't know if it helped or not but I ran with absolutely no pain or even shadow pain. Nada. Legs felt good. The total workout with run and walk was about 40 minutes.

15 Minutes and Shadow Pain

On a ragingly quiet spring morning (Easter by the way,) I went out for an hour's walk throwing in 15 minutes of low quality running. Once again, no pain. Sometimes I think I feel shadow pain, which really isn't pain at all but this sort of sense that something is coming...But then it doesn't. It was nice to get out and walk. I did the first mile with Amber, our 12.5 year old Golden who acts like she is 2.5. I dropped back at the house and went on by myself. Good just to move but I feel a bit large and sluggish. Like an old wooden ship that needs to be careened and have the crap scrapped off my hull.

I sent off a message to Dwight, he of the 100 mile weeks, on Kinesio Taping for my calf. He hasn't answered yet. He may be traveling or in email ROM (Read Only Mode) which he often falls into when he is off his meds. One never really knows. Anyway, I found some information about this type of taping on the web (picture at top) but I am going to have to go buy some of the specially designed Kinesio tape. My guess is that masking or duct tape probably isn't the best.

Another 30 minute walk

I high tailed over to WVC this morning to walk on the track. Unfortunately (for me) there was a big high school meet going on so I had to stick to walking around the campus trying as much as possible to stay with flat surfaces. I did throw in some runs totaling up to 10 minutes. No pain. NO discomfort.

Vigorously massage my calf after the workout.

30 minute walk

A quiet 30 minute morning walk over in Los Gatos. I parked by Forbes Mill and walked to the high school track and then did about 8 minutes of running interspersed with walking breaks. Not much but it was all pain free and no tightness afterwards. Jake and I hooked up and went and had breakfast.

I hope to increase the running portions gradually over the next weeks. I am treating the walking and running as medicinal according to John Parker. Walk and run until there is the distance or time is reached or until there is pain and then stop. Keep increasing the running portions until I am back to normal.

One hour walk and then some

I walked today for about an hour throwing in 5 or 6 very slow 100-200 meter test jogs along the way. My calf held up. No pain and no tightness. I did feel the calf several times during the walk. A few mild zingers* that I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the recent problems. I know I am not over this thing but I may be on the way to recovery.

* Zinger: A slight mild tightness that quickly passes.

I am resolved not to run

More than two weeks in and I am still resolved not to run for at least 6-8 weeks.

My legs and body can use the rest and I hope this will go a long way to helping my left leg knee and calf problems. I thought I would walk and may still but I am reminded of the fact that complete rest is just that. Complete rest.

OK, now and then I will trot on and off for around for 1-2 minutes as a test but otherwise I am restricting calories laying off the fast ball.

All Quiet

Not much to report since I have not been running. Tomorrow will be two weeks. I don't have even a hint of any calf pain and my knee feels OK too. I will begin to downsize the heel lifts and walk to burn some calories (or so I hope). I admit that work has been busy so not running has actually been good. It gives me plenty of time to overstress myself for the good of my clients. Last night, my wife asked me if I was stressed. I told her I was but that it went with the territory. I tend to have three gears.

1. Engaged and involved which means stressed.

2. Neutral which means I really don't care even though I try to do good work. Not very stressed.

3. Not engaged at all as in not in that world. For me that would be stepping away from this type of work which it doesn't seem I am ready to do. But I am not that far away. No stress. At least not from that world.

What I have found is that having money doesn't really change things. It's nice because it gives you options (like walking away from a client if it isn't working out). But as long as you are in the game, it feels much the same.

Franklin said a fool and his money are soon parted. I would say that a fool who has money and doesn't use it to change their life is still a fool unless, of course, the fool enjoys what they are fooling around at.

No Cross Country For Old Men

In deference to Cormac McCarthy, after reading his book that has been made in an Academy Award winning movie, I realized that it struck a chord. In the book the veteran sheriff realizes that his time has come. Time to get out of being a sheriff.


This is year 40. Forty years of running. Maybe one hundred thousand miles on my legs. I am not sure but it's more than ninety for sure and maybe more than one hundred if I throw in all the half hour runs I did around the soccer field before practice back in college. There were hundreds of those runs. But I count it from 1968 because that is the year I first ran just for runnings sake. I wasn't getting in shape for soccer. I was just running to burn some calories and because I enjoyed the way it felt. Whatever that joy was I will never fell that way again no matter how much longer I run. One hundred thousand mile legs just don't bend the way younger legs do. Not now, not ever.

I just didn't get it until now.

It wasn't all about racing. That was 23 years of it the rest was about just getting out the door and hurling myself on to the tracks, trails and sidewalks of wherever I happened to be at the time. I guess my running today looks more like it did back in the beginning. Intermittent and unfocused.

I am injured right now. Only my second real injury in 40 years. My achilles almost snapped back in 1985. That cost me a month but in '85 I was only 40. Seemed old back then. Seems young now. I recovered fast at 40. Terrell Owens fast. Not so fast now. I expect to out of the saddle for 6-8 weeks. Maybe I am being too careful or maybe I just don't miss running that much. Could be either. I am not sure yet.

I have become what I always hated in runners. The one who did the stupid thing that put them out of action. The only problem is that I am not so sure I know exactly what I did wrong. Shoes? Maybe. I did change my shoes. Went to a bigger size. Half a size up. Maybe it screwed up my stability. Not sure. I do pronate but then everyone pronates. I went to high too fast. Icarus-like. Several months ago I was running mostly flat-land course. Oh there were some rollers in there but mostly I was at sea level. The I went up into the hills above the dam and ran high. 2500 feet high. Steep too in places.

When the pain came it came slowly as an ache in my calf. Nothing big but I thought I could outrun it the way I always did. A thousand injuries and I had outrun them all. Well, at least excluding 1985. If there was way to keep going I knew it. The magic of heel lifts and taping and icing and Advilling. I knew them all. But it turns out that I didn't know this one. This one came on and hung around and I couldn't shake it. So last Saturday I finally slid off the saddle and said enough.

Had been thinking of returning to racing next fall. Cross country has always been my strong point. Someone could beat me by a minute at 10K on the flats and I would be on their shoulder if the course went off road. A body is built for something and that is what I was built for. But this year, unless I can come back, and I am in no hurry, There will no cross country for this old man.

On Course

It s Wednesday. No running since Saturday. I can walk up and down stairs with absolutely no pain my my calf or knee. Whatever is going on it comes on very quickly once I begin running but goes away if I stop. I am not going to chance running for a long time. 6-8 weeks as I said earlier. I feel like I am on course but have stopped all stretching because after I do it the pain returns rather suddenly. Guess my body is trying to tell me something.

I don't miss running but I have also had to cut back on calories so I am hungry all the time. 3 small meals today. All out of the house. I will need to be careful not to pig out. Banana and oatmeal this morning, rice and chicken this afternoon and a salad this evening.

I did go over to Forbes Mill and walked for 30 minutes. No ill effects. Had breakfast with Jake afterwards.

This Time I Really Mean It !

I drive over to West Valley College to run an easy 25-30 minutes and test my knee. I wore the strap and had no problems from start to end of the run. However my lower calf acted up again reminding me that it is not healed. Because I keep coming back and testing it, it keeps coming back as an injury so I have decided to just give it a total rest. I talked about taking 6-8 weeks off several weeks ago and this time I mean it. There is no other way out. I will try walking once the calf is no longer sore. My goal is to not know that it is there. No pain, no tightness. Plus I might get that two month off boost that I have spoken about in the past.

In the meantime I will write about other stuff and try not running again until mid April at the very earliest. It may be overkill on rest but it's the only possible way out for me now.

20 Minutes!

SVW (Silicon Valley Warrior) ran an easy 20 minutes today over at Forbes Mill. My knee was bothering me for the past several days just walking around so I wore the Protech strap which seemed to immediately relieve the problem.


I ran part of the way with Jake but cut back to the parking lot as soon as we hit "the hill" about 8 minutes out. My calf didn't bother me but I plan to stay flat as possible until I feel that I can chance it.

Jake and I had a rousing conversation about a study done on runners who did miles but kept their efforts at about 60 percent of max verus those who did intervals. The former group improved markedly over the speed trained group. It's Joe's Long Slow Distance all over again. Since I ran my best times running this way, I tend to be prejudiced. Intervals are a good test to see what shape you are in, not the path to getting faster. Of course I am in the minority on this whole issue.

10 Minutes

Amber, our 12 year old golden, woke me up early. She wanted out. I staggered back to bed and drifted off for another 20-25 minutes before the alarm finally shook me awake. Amber was on her pillow so I must have let her back in before I sacked out again but I had no memory of it.

After a giant mug of coffee and a banana I went finally decided to go run. I put on my classic Supernova's and jogged for 10 minutes in the slate gray of the morning. No HRM. Just a hand held stopwatch. The goal was just to see if I could run 10 minutes with no discomfort. I ran around the neighborhood which has some slight rises but is mostly flat.

So was it there? Except for several steps towards the end of the run around 9 minutes, I could feel absolutely nothing.

I took my father's old billy club from his army days and ran it over the calf 20 times afterwards.

New Balance 320's

I went up to Jack Leydig's house in San Mateo and bought the last pair of New Balance 320's in existence. Well, perhaps NOT the last pair but the last pair in my existence. This is the shoe that I trained in back in the late 1970's. The joke was simple. If New Balance called them 320's then just move the decimal pint to the left and you roughly had the price. $32.00 dollars. Later on (much later on) the NB 100's cost over one hundred dollars.

As I held the shoes in my hand Jack pointed out that the foam in the tongue of each shoe had turned to little more than dust. He was being fair and offered them to me for nothing but I gave him his original price which was ten dollars. It cost me more in gasoline to make the drive but it was worth it. A small connection back to the days when I was at my fastest.

I tried them on when I got home. 8 E's which is about my street shoe size these days but well below the sizing of my current running shoe's. Still they fit even though they are a bit snug in the toe box. They will give with wearing. I won't run in them. The support, which was excellent for 1975, is not enough for my 62 year old foot.

I haven't begun to run again. It's out there and it might only a matter of going. I just haven't taken the frst step.

Go or No Go

Well, except for a handful of secret one minute "test" jogs I have not run since a week ago Friday. The calf feel OK. No pain or tightness. The question is whether it is GO or NO GO next week. I really don't miss running but I miss the sense of weight control it gives to me.

Once again, my decision to begin running aqgain is day to day or if as I originally planned, it might be 6-8 weeks of no running. That option seems to be receding in the blurred distance as the injury repairs itself. With no race goals though, there is really is no hurry.

Stay tuned.

Mike Fenner died last week I believe. Good guy and a decent runner (2:43 marathoner). We used to train together on Thursday nights at Los Gatos with Doran, Sanfilipo, Wurm, Norm, Walt and that gang. I don't know the details. He was fighting cancer some years back but had overcome it. Maybe it came back.

4 Minutes!

I jogged around my miniscule backyard for two minutes and then went out front and ran another 2 minutes.

No calf pain.

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I mean it was going to be 6-8 weeks. I think it is my inbred desire to test. What harm can 4 minutes do? Much if it delays my recovery but then the world is not waiting, with its breath held, for another OTH* 60 year old runner.





*OTH Over The Hill

2 minutes

Of course I am NOT really running but I still went over to Forbes to join Jake for breakfast. He was still out on the trail bashing the hell out of himself so I did a mini-job of two minutes around the parking lot.

No pain. No tightness but then it was only two tiny minutes.

6-8 Weeks!

I have been burned out and dinged up since the fall. Several times I actually thought about taking 6-8 weeks off with no running at all. The two times I was forced to do this in the past because of non running related injuries, I came back stronger than ever.

Now this opportunity has been laid at my feet because of the calf strain, my first serious running related injury since 1985 when I pulled my Achilles tendon.

It takes time to come back. Take 6-8 weeks off and it takes 12-16 weeks to come back and see the effects. It ain't pretty at first but once things kick in, it is beautiful.
The key will be to hold my weight in check and to thoroughly rest my legs. As of now I am a non runner.

Thoughts will creep in after several weeks to go walk-jog a bit but I will have to simply let them go and consider that not running is training. It is laying the base for the rest of 2008.

STOP

I went out in the late morning to run and had to quit after 37 minutes. I was literally hobbling. The low calf or high achilles strain was getting worse as I ran so I headed back home.

I have simply decided to take 4-8 weeks off. Maybe more if that is what it takes.
My comeback will be slow at first. If I can walk in the meantime, I will but it has to be without any discomfort.

The injury was chasing me around reminding of its existance but I seemed to be able to get away with running on flat surfaces with almost no discomfort. My big mistake???

I mildly stretched the damn thing! Why did I do that? Stretch a frayed rope and it will fray further and, in time, unravel. I ignored my own advice. I forgot to watch was happening. I wasn't in the moment. I was drifting off and not paying attention to what works for me.

The road to wellness starts today. I am fine with it.

The Damn Thing Is Still There

I went over to Old Forbes Mill and ran 70 minutes partially with Jake and partially alone. I went up and back with Jake and had no problems with my left calf. We stopped at the end of the loop and then I set out to run up again but immediately my calf tightened up so I turned around and headed over to the track and ran that and the baseball field with little or no apparent discomfort. But make no mistake; the damn thing is still there haunting me. As on Monday, I found that the flatter the surface the better the run. Of course slower is better too. It is what it is.

Breakfast was the usual blueberry panckaes and coffee. Just great.

Calf Muscles and other things

I waited until late morning to go out for my run. It was sunny but cold and windy too with the gusts blowing leaves and branches down the streets. I did a loop around the neighborhood. My lower calf was tight but not painful. I decided to do another loop and my legs felt good enough for me to try the college track. It was strange. The moment I hit the track, that ultimate running surface, both forgiving and flat, all tightness went away. I kept doing loops on the outside lane. The calf muscle held and finally I did a loop through the college and headed back home. 62 minutes in all! The moment I got in the house, I took 3 Advil, put ice on the injury and fired up some oatmeal in the microwave.

The key seems to be staying low, slow and flat. Not the right time to fly high (do the hills).

The Ice-Man Cometh

I went over to the club workout with the goal of just running some lactate effort stuff. I am so unmotivated that I figured I could use some company.

I jogged around 17-18 minutes and then joined the club workout which was in progress. They were doing .66 miles around the tennis courts. I figured that I would follow Tim and just keep it easy but halfway through the first loop my upper achilles (or lower calf) started to hurt and while I finished the workout I also knew that I was finished too. I did slow jog another 15 minutes for a total of about 40 minutes but I finally realized that I had to take this whole injury thing more seriously.

When I got home I iced for 20 minutes and will do that twice a day until the injury gets much better. I will try to run Monday and see if I can run through it. I am going to stay on the flats. If not then it's two weeks and a cloud of dust before I got out again.

Easy 60 minutes

I had a meeting with a client canceled this morning so I hung out and ran around 11 AM. I did an easy 60 minutes with the HRM basically hanging out in the 130's. My left achilles felt good as did my knee which seems to be on the mend (for now). I had planned to ice and advil when I got back home but the achilles didn't bother me at all so I decided to just move on. The extra heel lifts and taping the left foot really seemed to help. I also did my pigeon toe gait whenever I headed up any sort of rise. It's an old George Sheehan trick. It keeps tension off the tendon.

Tension off the tendon

Tension off the tendon

Skip to the lou my darlin'

There was a dark haired woman running on the track who was wearing a black running outfit. Knee length tights and dark top. I have seen her before. She kept looking my way. Either I was the alpha male on the track (right) or she just was warning me off. Probably the latter. Luckily I am not a stalker or a dirty old man so she was safe.

I ducked any shower activity. It was breezy but the sun was out and the temps in the high 40's. It really wasn't too bad.

71 minutes at Forbes Mill

I ran a comeback high of 71 minutes with Jake this morning. We ran down the Los Gatos Creek Trail, did a loop and came back. Jake then went up to the dam and back in 22 minutes and change while I ran over to the track, circle led it and came back for my 71 minutes.

I am still not right. I had to fight a bit towards the latter half of the run to keep my HR down under 70% plus my left upper achilles began to bother me. Not enough to stop my run but it definitely got my attention. I added a heel lift to my running shoes for the near future and adviled when I got home. I know I should ice but historically ice seems to do very little for me in this type of situation.

I am just weird that way.

We escaped any rain. It was clear and very cool so I wore the works. Ski cap, double gloves and tights.

To Be Fast Again

Of course I ruminate on this subject now and then.

How would someone like me who has fallen so far from that competitive edge, begin to come back and run faster. Rekindle those competitive fires. Surprise a few folks along the way including myself.

1. I would need to be lean and mean. I hover around 140 pounds. Sometimes more and rarely less. Dropping down into the low to mid 130's would be optimal.

2. I would need to understand that it is not miles that would make me faster. I can do this on 25-35 mpw. All of my fast running after age 45 has come on this sort of mileage. Every time I have increased my running, I get end up tired and run down.

So there!

3. I could more than likely run 5 days a week if I kept my daily average to 5-7 miles. I could run a longer day of 8-9 miles once a week but any more than this would make the long day just another hard day.

4. Speed would have to come to me. I can't go after it with mass intervals. So a once a week Danny workout and perhaps a time trial every 2nd or 3rd week would do the trick. Maybe a tempo run every 4th week. Throw some striders in. Don't make them sprints. You'll injure yourself.

5. Keep your slow runs slow. Stay at or under 70% of max.

6. Have a goal. Ugh! Not that again. If nothing else just to be faster at 400 meters.

7. Keep my mouth shut about it. Just go do it and see where it goes. Don't press. let things happen to you. If you reach, you get injured or tired. Not worth the journey. Oh, I am just having fun. Words to that effect. In fact you did have fun at age 50 running just this way. So it's 13 years later. Who cares.

Cold and sort of wet

Another cold wet morning but I went out anyway and ran 65 minutes. I kept my HR in the 140's and ran over to the college and did big loops clockwise. It rained a bit on and off throughout the run but it wasn't too bad. I warmed up nicely with a slow tempo that oddly timed my loops with a Hispanic girl who was circling the track in the opposite direction. It was inadvertent but strange non the less.

Given that this was the second day back to back I felt so good that I mentioned to my wife later on that I could probably go out again on Tuesday and do another hour. The key in any case is keeping my pace slow and easy. I could probably build to an hour a day, day after day, as long as I kept my efforts on the easy side. Nice to think about but doubtful right now that I would actually go out and attempt that. First I would try 60 minutes five days a week and then 60 minutes six days a week.

I am getting rummy even thinking about it.

The Good Die Young

The family flew to Seattle Thursday for Cass Preston's funeral mass. It was a big affair. Took place the next day. 500 plus people in attendance. Die at 38 and 500 people show up. Die 50 years later and there may be 5 people there. You just outlive everyone you know. In Cass' case the good truly die young.

http://www.memorialobituaries.com/memorials/memorials.cgi?action=Obit&memid=188133&clientid=flint

I chose not to run even though the weather was fine. No rain but crisp and cold. I just don't run well on short trips so I just went without it.

I ran today for 61 minutes at an easy lope keeping my HR in the 130's and 140's. Rain and some wind but it just felt good to out there.

Return to Forbes Mill

I returned to Forbes Mill this morning.

I met Jake at 8 am and ran one 2.7 mile up and back and then followed that up with 3.6 miles running back up to the dam (again) and coming all the way back down and heading over to the school track and back to Forbes again.

It was quite cool but no rain. The trail in good condition except for the usual puddles. Not muddy at all.

I ran just a hair over 59 minutes.

Legs and knees felt good. The family is headed up to freezing Seattle for Cass's funeral so this is it until Sunday. Then back to the wars.

Rain Gear & 10 Minute Miles

The rain finally made another sweep over the Bay Area. Almost no wind but just a steady shower of wetness. I threw on my rain gear and jogged around for 50 minutes. My legs felt good but then slow running does that. I eventually went over to the college and ran some loops on a deserted track. I probably could have stayed out longer but will leave that to next week after we get back from Seattle.

Note to self: No HRM again. I just timed the run but ran a varied course. No idea of distance. Twist my arm and I would guess that it was a bit over 5 miles. The era of the 10 minute mile has arrived.

Still undecided whether I will do the every other day HRM thing or the Danny approach. No longer for fast times. Just for enjoyment. I may combine both.

Almost missed it

I almost missed the club workout. I slept in to 7 am and then had coffee. I figured at worst that I would have breakfast with the guys and run afterwards but I finally cleared the toilet at 7:30 and decided to head over anyway. I ran in the back of the group (aka..DOG MEAT) and covered 2.75 miles in 23 minutes and change. I warmed down around campus for a total run of just under 38 minutes.

I am very unmotivated. Probably as close to not wanting to run as I have been forever or at least since I began in 1968. For now, I will baby myself and let it come back naturally (or not). I know the reason is because I was on a program that tore me down and one of the signs outside of having some sort of minor flu bug is loss of interest in exercising.

My best guess is that the desire to run will come back if I don't push it.

It was cold (but clear and sunny) this morning. Felt like it was down in the 30's. That probably didn't help matters.

45 minutes of drifting

Another day of not pushing the pace. I ran 45 minutes this morning finally wearing my HRM. I drifted along in the 130's and 140's. The weather was cool and sunny with almost no breeze. I dressed to the nines wearing tights, two tops and two pair of gloves. I admit that I was warmer than I would have wanted to be from the mid point on but it got me out the door. Sprint Girl was on the football field doing hard 100's and walking back. She of the athletic build. Outside of that the place was empty.

I was thinking that I have not seen Ohio in quite a while.

The family in Seattle are going to put Cass to sleep. It will be close to five long weeks since he was rear ended at a stop light and his skull was crushed. Basically he is brain dead. A sad end for a nice guy. We'll be headed up for the funeral service next Thursday.

Talk about low key

Talk about low key. I ran another 30 minutes of easy jogging yesterday morning. I know it will return (or at least I hope it will return) but right now my focus is not on running. My left knee did well. At times I feel this vague pressure down there when walking especially if I have just gotten up from sitting down. I am doing legs lifts having built up to 12 with each leg on my way to 20. In a week or two I will run with Jake again. I am conflicted on whether I should simply go back to a version of the low mileage Danny-program I did when I turned 50 of just go back to 8-10 miles every other day.

I guess I will figure it out.

Right now I am ghosting along in my part time work world. There is a great deal in flux and while I am not letting to get to me, I have to stay attentive.

I face another year of having money in the bank but still needing to work part time to cover the delta. I don't mind working at exactly what I want to do but this situation tends to lead to things I don't want to do. As I said, I need to be careful and attentive.

30 minutes very slowly

Monday morning was chiropractic and massage time up in Menlo. Felt great when I left the office (as always). Drove home and ran 30 minutes very slowly. Everything seems OK for the moment. My left knee bares watching. I can feel it at times. It haunts my runs but so far there has been little or no pain. Nothing to tell me to stop 40 years of madness. Because a bad knee will stop it. A running life of few injuries. Something has to break eventually. My wife always telling me how lucky I am. Maybe she is right. I will ride this one out but I will ride slowly for the time being. Patience seems to be the key.

I still dream of being fast but speed is only relative.

Who cares about an old used up runner? Only the runner them self.

Johnny Podres dies and folks forget who he was. He won two games in the 1955 World Series. He won the deciding game for God's sake. Brooklyn's one and only series victory. But that was too long ago. So people forget. That's the way of it with old runners. We forget and they forget. We run..Why? We are programmed to go out the door and run until age and wear and tear stop us. It stopped Ted Corbitt but he kept on going on in his won way, walking his way to death.

Death stopped him.

My goal is to be the last runner (whatever that is) so that somehow I am still running when all others have stopped.

5 minutes!

I ran 5 minutes yesterday morning. Just to shake things out. No problems.

New Heart Rates

Max 190

90-92% 176-178

70% 148-150

I believe my max is still 195 but I am not sure. I have seen 190-191 in the last few years so I will go with this for now. My first test will be 3 miles or 5K at 176-178.

It's the awful truth but it will tell me where I am and where I need to go.

Stay off big hills.

Stay away from speed work.

Every other day.

Run slow.

Danny workout is OK but don't focus on it.

100 meter striders once-twice a week

Not Running in low key

It is now 8 days and counting since I stopped running. I have a mild virus or something going on in my throat. I would guess it is a cold moving through my upper respiratory system at glacial speed. It is not painful, I don't have a fever and chills. I just don't feel like running (LISTEN TO YOUR BODY). So I continue NOT to run. Life goes on. My best guess is that this is the rest I needed anyway. Besides, it's been dreary out and alternately cold and wet. Not the best time for me to be out anyway. By springtime I will have forgotten all about this.

As my buddy Danny says, Hey, you can still do breakfast!

Not Missing It

I wish I could say that I mind not running but frankly I don't mind it a bit. I haven't stepped out on the raids for 6 days and counting. Of course the fact that one hell of a storm blasted through here late last week may have had something to do with it. I could have run Saturday and also Monday but chose to continue to be a couch potato or yam or whatever I am looking like these days. Yeah, I am polaying it day by day adn week by week but not running feel right. I don't want to gain weight but I will deal with 5 pounds if I have to versus feeling beat up running a series of sub par performances. Jake is still out but he is cross training. I am not even doing that.

But all and all, I am OK with it for now.

Another OFF day

I am taking Saturday off. My legs (especially my left knee) feel better and I am starting to sleep well again. The alarm woke me at 7:30 this morning or I would have slept even longer. I know this is the right course. I had run myself aground as the saying goes. I was into whatever reserves I had left and that wasn't much.

I will probably take Sunday off too. I will take Monday as it comes.

The Gale Commeth

Gale force winds and rain today. I have decided to not run. I need some time off anyway. I even begged off going into work today. Decided to hide out and hunker down.

Will regroup and begin again after the worst of the storms depart.

80 minutes of slow

I went out and ran an easy 80 minutes yesterday morning. My left knee was a bit stiff but then it was cold and I forgot to wear my knee band. I was good to go after about 5 minutes once things began to warm up. Once again I kept things slow. The run was unremarkable except tat I am a series of contrasts. My legs felt OK in the sense that they did not feel heavy or tried but on the other hand that "you overdid" it cough kept up on and off most of the day. I don't feel sick or even like I am coming down with anything but there is no question that the combination of 1200's and the longer runs in the same week took me down a notch.

The lesson is that I can do one hard thing a week. That is the way I am wired. Long runs are hard things. I can go do the 1200's but not the long run or vice versa.

In any case I am backing off from the red line and just train the way I said in my last post.

Big wind and rain coming in Thursday and Friday. I planned to take both days off anyway and rest up. I will go back out Saturday and or Sunday.

This being The Last Runner gets tough now and then.

I do plan to set goals as soon as I clear my present situation. Nothing earth shattering. I figure with some luck I can be that quintessential 8-8 or 9-7 (NFL paradigm) 60 plus runner.

Penance Run

Sunny but cold windy day. I got out around 10 am and drifted up the railroad tracks. I cut over to the streets and came back to the college doing loops around and on the track. I kept the pace as slow as possible with my HR in the 130's the whole way. It was 70 minutes of jogging. I guess you could call it a penance run and I am not religious.

I have this cycle I seem to go through over and over again.

Run slowly>>>>>Get faster>>>>>Do something stupid>>>>>Bonk>>>>>Penance Runs

On other fronts: Jake is injured which is a rare event. The hills that we have been running might have done it but he also had drifted back into this "I want to run every day because I love it" phase. I vant to run...

My friend Jim is mired in post the marathon recovery blues (Hi Jim!). He is finding out the longer term price one pays when one tops off their great racing season by just running that little old thing called a marathon. It was a Bridge too Far. Plus he can't stop trying to validate himself through racing. Instead of taking a good 30 days off from any hard running he raced twice, extending the damage.

Sunday Morning

I got to bed after midnight. I fell asleep over my book on the couch and woke up feeling sluggish and ready for the real thing. I patted Amber good night and slipped into the bedroom. Sue was curled up and buried deep in her blankets. I woke up several times during the night but fell right back off to sleep. Finally I got up at just before 7 AM and made coffee. My back was sore. I am beginning to believe this is caused more by my laptop than the running. Of course that is another story.

On running: I know I falling back to the normal. My life isn't really set up for anything more. 25-35 miles per week. A now and then AT run. Maybe a weekly 70% 4 or 5 miler and a sometimes a 75% run. Just ways of seeing if I am getting faster. Faster than last week or last month. My goal will be (gulp) to improve or maintain my age grading. Every other attempt to improve has caused me to bonk. I ran under 20 minutes for Valle Vista in 2002 just before I turned 57 and I was very happy about that performance. I may set that as the standard. That same goal would be equal to a 21:27 at age 63.

5 miles@70% in 43:18

I slept over 8 hours last night. I finally woke up around 8 am totally missing the club workout. I still got over to Carrows for breakfast. I just figured I would run later on. I knew that I needed the rest more than the run.

I finally got out on the road around noon and ran a 5 mile 70% run. I did 43:18 which was better than I thought I would do given my recent training. That nagging "you are getting run down" cough I have had on and off for the past week was telling me that like it or not, I was over-training. On my old quarter mile shorter course this would have been around 41:08 which is marginal. But at least it another starting point and it tells me that what I was doing (the 1200's) were beating me up more than they were making me stronger.

So the good news. My legs generally never felt tired during any of my runs over the past 4-6 weeks. It was the links that were going. The achilles and knee.

I am re-learning the old lesson. In my case, speed and strength needs to come to me. I can't go to it. When I can run the 5 miler in 40-41 minutes at 70% (if ever) then I will simply be faster overall.

Terror

Sleep was sub par last night. I made two mistakes. First I stayed up on my computer until about 11 pm and then continued to read The Terror by Dan Simmons. The book is consuming me. It won't just let me go to sleep. I finally had a couple of shot of Baily's and fell asleep around 12:30.

I didn't just bounce up out of bed and go run but hung out until around 10 AM before going out for a lazy 50 minute low HR jog. It was around 40 degrees and the sky was the color of slate. No wind though so it wasn't too bad. I went over to the college by a longish route and ran on the track for several laps before heading back home. The place was deserted.

Knee and achilles felt ok.

100 minutes

Met Jake at Forbes Mill at 8 AM. We did a double loop he designed with nice hills in the middle. I felt really good even though it was cold and windy over parts of the course. The sun just doesn't reach enough of the trails at this time of day to warm you up. I worked at keeping my HR in the 130's and 140's coming through in 47 minutes. But during the second loop my HR began to climb and I had to slow down to stay at or under 150. I guess my body was just tired even though I felt decent. However, I paid attention to the HRM Gods and played along. Strangely I came by the second loop as quickly as I had run the first loop. I sneaked back up the trail for another 6 minutes getting my 100 minutes.

Jake ran 85 minutes. He began to tire during the second loop and peeled off to head back to the parking lot by the old mill.

Breakfast afterwards. Restaurant crowded. A guy who reminded me of Buffalo Bill sat nearby. Hat, boots, goatee, the works.

75 minutes Easy

Stayed up late last night. We had a dinner party at our house and our guests didn't leave until after 10 pm (late for old folks). I slept in until 7:30 this morning (once again, late for old folks).

I finally got out for a run around noon and stayed out for 75 minutes with my HR mostly in the low to mid 130's. The sun had come out and there was a 5-10 mph wind blowing in my face at various points of the run. I ran over to De Anza and did endless loops around the campus and the track skirting some young sprinters who were there with a coach.

Both the knee and achilles felt OK. I stepped on the scale today and saw 140 so maybe the 144 I saw the other day was just an anomaly. I still plan to watch it.

I realize that easy days (my specialty) have to be just that.

Easy. It's one of the secrets of running old.

7 x 1200@WVC

It was very cold this morning. Temps dropped down into the low 30's. I went over to the track at WVC and warmed up for 20 minutes.It was cold enough that the inside of my nose was stinging. I guess the key was not to breath in out.Needless to say I was fully decked out. Tights, double gloves, ski cap...The works.

Anyway, while the club ran Valle Vista I went down to the track (it is really cold down there) and found that I owned it. Not a single other runner was there.

The planned workout was 7 x 1200 at 75% of max. I started out keeping the early reps down in the high 140's and low 150's and then gradually worked my way up to 75%. My overall average was 5:57 per 1200 with the first and last rep being the slowest. The continuing good news was the quick return of my HR during the 80 second walk in between reps. It usually dropped down under 120 pretty quickly.

I can't say that the workout was a tiring one. I felt decent throughout. The bigger problem was the cold weather which just made it hard mentally to get into the swing of things. Also I ran the complete workout alone. Sometimes just having someone else on the track, even if they are running ahead of you, helps.

Afterwards I jogged an easy 10 minutes. Went to breakfast.

Oddly Quiet

The rains swept out of the Bay Area yesterday and the cold weather returned. I got out at around 9 AM and ran 60 minutes all at an easy recovery pace. I was dressed for it. Tights, double tops, double gloves and ski cap. I ran in my brand new white Supernova's. They fit like slippers. The college was almost deserted because school was out. There was a men's soccer team working out next to the track but otherwise it was oddly quiet. I felt recovered from Wednesday's long run but haven't decided whether I will do the 1200's tomorrow or Sunday.

My training seems to be back on track (no pun intended) but I am up a few pounds more than I was last week. I will have to take a siege mentality to this losing weight. Right now I am just trying to get back to 140. It would be much easier if I just gained height. It should bother me more but I have to put it in perspective. I will lose the weight. It's a nuisance. I just hate dieting. It's balancing the whole thing. Last week I deficited too much calorie-wise. This time I have to find the middle.

Lucked Out For 95 minutes

Originally it was supposed to rain this morning so Jake and switched our Wednesday Tempo Interval to a long run in the hills and trails above Los Gatos. My achilles had been feeling good enough to give it a try.

It turned out to be sunny and cold with the rain pushed out to later in the day. We took off up the trail to the dam, ran the dam and then across the same dam (dam..dam) and the cut left up the Jones trail. My achilles held out but left lower back was bothering me. Coincidentally, Jake's back was bothering him too and strangely for both of us, on the uphills. We found that walk/running the uphills worked better for us and as a result we ran faster on the flats and downhills. My HR stayed low though so I realized happily that cutting back on training and eating a bit more (duh) was helping me run better. In fact I felt great but Jake felt tired from remodeling his house.

We ran into Christine Kennedy coming back across the dam. The picture above is the exact spot we ran into each other. She is getting ready for her next assualt on the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:47. She is thinking Boston even though she has been invited to Rock and Roll in Arizona in January. It's fast course but she doesn't feel she would be ready. Boston is a mixed bag but as long as it's not one of those rare hot days and she gets an elite start, she should run well.

By the time we arrived back at Forbes Mill it was just a tad under 93 minutes so I kept going up the trail for a minute before turning around and coming back to the gate. That made it 95 minutes even.

Afterwards we walked up to Main Street and had a big breakfast.

38 minutes

The rains came and finally I had to run in it. 38 soaking minutes at a very easy pace yesterday morning. No complaints though. It warmed up a bit and the wind wasn't too bad. No knee pain on the left side and no achilles problems on the right. I have been feeling a bit run down since the weekend but I think it's the diet and not the workouts. I have decided to back off slightly on the calories but less so than originally planned. If I lose 5 pounds over 6 months that is fine. Right now feeling decent during the workouts is more important.

Adjust, adjust, adjust.

Mission Rock 5K

I was slightly sleep deprived when I rolled out of the sack at 6:15 this morning. Cold and colder. DARK! Staggered into the kitchen and made coffee and gradually warmed up. 12 year old Golden, Amber always bouncing up at moments notice. I let her out and cradled my silverine, Starbucks mug.

About an hour later I got in the car and drove up to Shel's in Foster City. He drove the rest of the way up to the very low key Dolphin Club, Mission Rock 5K start-finish area. So where is Mission Rock. Couldn't see it. After signing up I went out and jogged (and I do mean jogged) for 20 minutes. The race itself was OK because I kept the pace slow and ran with Mort and Shel. It was an out and back course. On the return trip I looked behind me and saw very few runners.

The runners are slow and they are me.

Shel pulled ahead and Mort and I finished in a virtual tie. I hated getting up that early but have to admit that once I was out there, I had a good time. It's just that my easy, no pain pace is getting slower and slower. We were around 28 minutes start to finish. My legs felt fine but then the effort was glacial.

Double Easy

I ran a double workout today. I hit 34 minutes this morning in cool conditions and another 36 minutes in the mid afternoon. I short sleeved it for the second workout.It was in the 50's but almost balmy when I was running in the sunlight. I decided not to use the HRM and just go by feel and the stopwatch but I still kept it easy for both runs.

My legs felt recovered from Wednesday's workout. Of course seeing the chiropractor and getting a massage yesterday helped too.

Ran into Masood at work today. He looked at me like he had seen a ghost. He was very friendly but was surprised to see that I was still around. Can't say I blame him.

"Are you still here?" he asked. Weren't you gone he probably thought. I thought, damn, I am best when not noticed. I couldn't hide this time. I was right out there and for a moment it was just the two of us. Achilles and hector meeting outside the Scaean Gate. The walls of Troy looming to each side.

"Think utility infielder," I answered. Every now and then I get called up. He smiled and then allowed himself to get sucked back into his meeting.

As I walked out I was remembering that I could have saved the place but that was no longer on the table much to my own miscalculations as any ones.

6 x 1200

Today was one of my several weekly BIG days. The weather was cold (30's) and alternately overcast and sunny. I met Jake at WVC and we warmed up for about 2.5 miles before heading down to the track for our workout. The goal was to run 6 x 1200 meters and not exceed 75% of max. 100 meter job/walk in between each rep. Jake led me out and I stayed with him as long as I could before I finally began to max out and had to hold the pace rather than pick it up. Jake, who was fresh last week was making that breathing sound he does when he is tired (he ran and did elliptical on Tuesday and delayed his recovery). He later told me he could have quit at 4 but hung in there. I didn't focus on timing and just played the effort and run by feeling game. Under an 8 minute pace is my best guess. Maybe even 7:50 on some of them. At this point it really didn't make a difference because I am still loading* the workout. Jake and I jogged around campus afterwards for another 1.5 miles. I figure the whole workout was close to 9 miles.

My right achilles held up. No problems. I took out the extra inserts. They were causing back problems. I wore my knee strap and that kept things under control on the left side. I am starting to look like Ron Nelson. He had so many braces and straps on his legs that he once told me that if he didn't wear them, he would come apart.



* Loading: Adding distance or pace to an existing workout

Running "Old"

I wake up a few minutes before the alarm goes off. I swing out of bed to start turn on the heat and get the coffee going. My wife snores softly still burrowed down deep in sleep-ville. As I stand up I can feel my back. It's tightened up over the night. My right achilles has been bothering me so I inserted extra lifts in each shoe during my 90 minute run yesterday. Now I pay the price. Not for the 90 minutes but for the two inserts. It throws my stride off just a nano-nth but enough to cause back problems. My achilles feels better and is only slightly tight. My left knee is mildly sore. That has been ongoing for the past month.

As I stagger into the kitchen I bump against the table and I feel a sharp pain shoot up from my hips.

I keep moving. The pain passes. I am already thinking Advil.

There is one thing I know. I ran yesterday and I will run tomorrow. This is what it is to run old. I know that. I am 62 and it's not going to get better unless I stop.

Somewhere during the thousands of miles I have run since 1968, my 30 year, 60,000 mile warranty expired.

You're on your own now.

That was about 25 to 30,000 miles ago.

It's like another old runner said to me. It's not what it used to be but I am not ready to give it up.

I get that.

I am running out of secrets though. Those little adjustments that I have made that have kept me running way beyond most of my peers from the old days when we were all fast and capable of running day after day, 8, 10, 12, 15 miles a day. I ran 60-70 miles per week. Sometimes more. Others ran up to that magic barrier.

One hundred miles a week.

These days I run the same. 60 to 70 miles but it's over two weeks and if I am really beat, it may take me 3 weeks.

A friend of mine said mentioned recently that he could no longer break 26 minutes for 5K. I asked him how much he ran in a week. This to a guy who often run 70-80 miles per week. Turns out he ran 40-45 minutes 3 times a week and one day he ran for a half hour. Maybe 15-18 miles a week. He used to do that for a long run on Sundays back in the day.

You won't break 26 minutes on 15 miles a week, I said. You need to run more. Maybe 25-30 a week and even then you might not do it. I could see that look on his face. He was comfortable doing what he did. He came up with a dozen reason why he could no longer run that many miles.

25-30 miles per week. Nada. Nothing in the old days.

"Then just accept that you're going to be slower," I said to him dispassionately. "Let it go."

We were driving to a race up in the city. A 5K. The car got quiet. We were lost in the past. We were going to run a version of the course where once, in May of 1979, we had both PR'd. But back then we had been young and strong. Now we were just lucky to still be running.

Old legs.

Hard to explain. You either have young legs or old legs. Depends less on age and more on how many pure miles you had on your legs. My friend and I had plenty. We weren't used up but we are towards the end of the line. Oh we can still run but getting faster was probably no longer an option. Not just running as fast as we had been in 1979 but running faster than we had last year.

Tough.

If I had retired at my peak, I would have given it up in 1986. That was my last year of running at a level close to where I had been running at for the previous 10 years. Bill Rodgers was right. You get about 8-10 years at your peak and then it gone.

Toughing it out in Silicon Valley

OK, it's finally winter in Silicon Valley. That doesn't necessarily mean rain and snow but it can mean temps in the 30's in the early morning and cool, cutting winds during the day. I admit to dragging my heels most of morning and not getting out until around 11 am. I almost wore my tights but finally settled on a long sleeve and gloves and just toughed it out. I had already decided to run 80-90 minutes so I drifted up the RR tracks all the way to Sunnyvale-Saratoga with some side loops to extend the time. By the time I headed back along Prospect and finally Stelling I had warmed up but a steady breeze kept things cool. My HR mostly was in the 60-65% range but bounced up close to 70% now and then.

I finally rolled onto to Lomita Avenue and finished at 90 minutes on the dot. I walked it off feeling a bit tired but OK otherwise. The gardeners were there having lunch in their van. My neighbor was out and we chatted a bit. But even standing still for a few moments was uncomfortable. I was wet with perspiration and knew I needed to get inside and shower.

90 minutes easy running

Lynn Jennings and the Last Runner

In 1999 I stumbled On Lynn Jennings email address. At the time she was one of the top women runners in the USA. I asked her what she planned to do to handle the normal slowdown that happens to most of not all competitive runners in the early 40's. My actual message just asked how she would adjust her training. Of course she didn't know me from crap and being a highly independent person she simply could not grok what I was saying. Or maybe it was simply that she didn't need to hear that message from an aging master who had stopped competing about 4 years back.

She struck back at me like a whip with metallic, tongs on the end, pretending (or maybe actually believing) that she didn't really expect to slow down at all.

My message was not meant to be nasty but she was. I had hurt her unintentionally but was probably more like a branch that had scratched her cheek as she ran by. She simply flailed out with her sharp claws and pushed it aside.


Lynn Jennings Makes Retirement Official



By FRANK LITSKY
Published: March 23, 2006
In the 1980's and 1990's, Lynn Jennings was America's star female distance runner, winning three world cross-country championships and an Olympic bronze medal in the 10,000 meters. She has not run since 1999, but never retired. Yesterday, at age 45 and speaking in a teleconference from her home in Portland, Ore., she finally did.

Jennings will be in New York for Sunday's More Marathon, a race in Central Park that is the first marathon in the world for women 40 and older. Although she runs 65 miles a week, Jennings will not compete here or, she said, anywhere else.

"I have accomplished everything I wanted to in this sport," she said. "At 40, I realized there is a lot to do in life and it doesn't include running 100 miles a week."

Somewhere out there Lynn still runs, like I do. I am not as fast. She is 15 years younger. She runs for the pure joy of it, like I do.

Sorry Lynn, I saw the future. My bad as they say. Sounds like you saw it too.

A New Name

I ran 45 minutes easy on Friday and came back on Saturday and ran another 50 minutes easy. My right achilles tendon acted up a bit after the run on Friday but seems fine today. I inserted extra lifts in both shoes and taped my foot. I finally figured a name for the fact that my left knee and right achilles have been acting up lately.

Kneechilles

Both seem manageable. I plan to stay off the hills and just be extra cautious and see if I can run through it.

It has turned cold again now that the rain has cleared out. Down in the 30's this morning so I wore tights, ski cap and double gloves.

8 x 800

Jake was back in town so we met over at WVC on a cool, damp morning. The fog was in thick and hung over the track. The jogging class was there just like most of last spring, just new runners and walkers. The instructor was the same.

We did a 25 minute warm up and then ran 8 x 800 with a 100 meter recovery. Once again, I kept my HR at or under 75% max and despite feeling sort of tired the last few days actually ran well today. Afterwards we ran wround campus for a warm down.The workout totaled 81 minutes.

This must be the shock effect that Brian Clarke talks about in his books when applying harder running to a program. He was spot on about keeping the early tempo intervals at a reasonable effort. Jake, who was ahead of me on each rep, still ran within himself and mentioned that he enjoyed this workout. Of course there is no exhaustion or pain associated with this type of run. At least no at this point. Somwhere down the line, I will begin to adapt.

SHOCK!

Well, really not that bad. Just didn't feel too spiffy today. I didn't get out until around 11 am. I kept putting it off. First I was a going to go out at 9 AM. Then it was 10 AM. That won't work too well when I return to work next week. However, I did get in 79 minutes of slow running. My legs didn't feel excessively tired but my HR rode up in the mid to high 140's most of the run and didn't come back down too quickly when I stopped. I ran up the RR tracks taking it very easy. I had the wind in my face all the way out to the 3 mile point. Coming back I started to perk up and went down Prospect and Stelling just fine. I felt decent enough to stop off at De Anza and do 4 laps on the track before finally heading back home. There was one of those fitness classes taking up the inside lanes but I stayed to the outside in lane's 8 and 9. Saw Little Spike down in the slot. Hadn't seen her for months. Also saw some really overweight junior college women trying to work it off.

My achilles held up well. So did my knee (no Protech today).

Cold Front

A big cold front came in and froze things last night. I actually defaulted to tights, wool ski cap and double gloves for my 35 minute morning run. I didn't get out in time for the workout which was Farwell (3.54 miles). I got up late, had coffee and rolled over the WVC at around 8:15. This is getting to be a bad habit.

The afternoon workout was somewhat better. Felt like it was in the 50's but there was still this wind blowing in my face on the way back home. 4 miles I think. My HRM stayed down in the 120's and 130's during both runs. Maybe 8 miles total.

One other little thing. When I got out of bed this morning I felt a slight pop in my right achilles tendon. Nothing painful and I felt little or nothing while running but it was a bit tender after the morning jaunt so I stuck an extra heel lift in each shoe, took some Advil and will ice shortly. Felt nothing during the afternoon workout. Keeping an extra lift in my walk around shoes too until this goes away.

45 minutes

I was tied up in morning meetings today as work continues to heat up. So much for retirement. I finally got out the door at about 3 pm and ran for an easy 45 minutes (no HRM). My legs felt good so no complaints. I took my usual route to the college and ran some big loops clockwise and then came back home. School was getting out and there were a line of cars backed up and down McClellan. The college track was occupied by several student and two women who were walking the outside lanes. I was like the proverbial ghost. Came, ran and disappeared back in my hole. Walked around outside with Amber. She got to sprint our front yard and roll on the grass. She may be 12 years old but she rolls like a puppy. As I write this she is tired, pooped and sleeping on her side and snoring.

The weather is cooling rapidly. Warnings of a freeze tonight and perhaps tomorrow night too. I rummaged through the closet and found my tights. Haven't worn them since last winter. Can the wool caps be very far behind.

Ed Zander got fired by Motorola today. He left Sun in 2004 to become a CEO. Scott wouldn't support him as his successor. Chose Jonathan instead. Ed flew high briefly but Motorola is one of those old cultures and as the business began to flounder Ed didn't have the relationships to sustain his kingship. 3 years give or take and he is fired. Of course the board said they really appreciated his...oh well read it for yourself.

Samuel Scott, lead director on Motorola's board of directors, said, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Ed for his vision, expertise and tireless commitment to Motorola.

The usual bullshit. What it really says is thanks but no thanks. The truth is that Ed was always a sand bagger but a capable sand bagger. This time his sand bagging caught up with him. He couldn't cover the numbers. In the past he was always was able to do better than the sand bagged numbers he gave the street. Eventually it catches up with you. Today it caught up with Ed. At Sun I stayed clear of him (mostly). He always had this entourage wherever he went. I am always suspicious of a man who can't walk down the hallway alone. McNealy (SCOTT) always slithered down the hallway. But he could slither alone.

Headwinds and 7 x 800

I ran 76 minutes this morning. The wind was kicking up down the backstretch of the track and in my face on the way home. It wasn't all that bad but it was a nuisance.

I ran a 20 minute easy warm up heading over to the college and around the track and then did 7 x 800 at no more than 75% of max with a 100 meter jog recovery in between. Untimed as before. Just focusing on the effort for now. My legs continue to feel good. I certainly wasn't staggering on my way back home. In fact I felt OK.

The two women (the two blonds) were there walking the track when I showed up and were still there when I departed. A few others came and went. Briefly I was the fastest runner on the track.

82 minutes and Big Loops

Cool sunny, hazy morning. I got out around 8:30 AM and ran for 82 minutes doing my usual trek over to the college which I extended to 20 minutes. Then I did big loops for 50 minutes keeping my HR in the 130's and 140's. My legs felt fine. No soreness or tiredness. I scampered up the short hills with no problem.

The track was fairly uninhabited but eventually two women showed up who I often see walking together. Then the elder couple showed, he alternately running and walking raggedly and her staying to the very outside lane and slowly walking. A women showed up in tights. She had a rather compact build and light blond hair. She ran a couple of quick laps as a warm up and then did wind sprints up and down one of sidelines of the football field.

I headed back home by a shorter route. It was a decent run. No big hurry. Plenty of time to loaf before lunch.

2 x 30 minutes

I slept in and sat around drinking coffee until I finally drove over to WVC arriving around 8:15. Wally was still trying to figure out the handicaps for the relay. It was cool and crisp and not windy like yesterday. I looked down at the track and for once it was full of club runners. No big Pac-Assoc race this weekend so the guys and gals were out for their weekly dose of speed.

My job (if I chose to accept it) was to run for 30 minutes and that is exactly what I did. My prime directive was to be able to run 2 x 30 minutes today and recover from yesterday's workout.

Later in the day, at around 3 pm, I jogged another 30 minutes and felt damn decent about both runs.

So far so good.

6 x 800 at 70-75%

It may not have rained much yet but the weather is getting colder.

I drove over to WVC. It was sunny but there was a nice breeze blowing in from the east. Just enough to make the run uncomfortable (uh...err challenging) in places.
I ran around the campus for 70 minutes throwing in 6 x 800 on the track at 70-75% of max with a 100 meter jog in between. Brian Clarke was right. Running dead alone on a cold,windy track at 75% of max is enough to emulate the feel of faster running in the early part of a race. I didn't really settle in until about the 4th rep. By that time my HRM was reading 75% and I held it there for the last two 800's. I didn't time them but will later on.

For now it is enough just to go do something faster than easy.

No problem with the workout. The goal is simply to begin to slide into doing something that helps me physically and mentally run faster later on.

I jogged around campus afterwards.

65 minutes And Change

I got out later this morning. It is getaway day for Thanksgiving and the track was less crowded. My guess is that everyone is either hiding out, still at work, driving someplace out of town or crushed against thousands of their closest friends in some airport. Anyway, I ran 65 minutes and change and could easily have gone further but held back because I think I am going to be running with the club on Thursday and back to backs are always dicey.

I continued to feel really (really) good as I rang up the usual series of clockwise big loops over at De Anza. I guess nothing was stopping me from traveling over to Los Gatos or Rancho to run off road but frankly I was lazy and I sort of tumbled out the door and just let my feet take me someplace. No knee problems today.

Just A Buck Short of 80 Minutes

I ran just a buck short of 80 minutes this morning. Over to De Anza for all sorts of big loops and then back again. The weather was cool and sunny. My legs are feeling really good even though my left knee is a bit stiff in the early part of the run (but then it goes away). I may have to wear that Protech brace and see if that helps. It's a ding more than a real injury but I still want to be careful.

I have been reading Brian Clarke's books again and thinking if there is some way to add in harder work without chancing a breakdown. I am feeling so good now that I hate to screw with it.

Two Uneventful Days

So this post covers two days of uneventful running.

On Friday morning I scampered through 5 miles at 145-150 HR effort.

On Saturday morning I ran for 67 minutes at varying HR mostly alone except for the last campus loop with Dimitri. I admit to feeling really good. Probably the absence of tempo runs and speed work. If I ever wanted to race again, it would be a tough road. I would have to sneak up on the whole thing because my mind doesn't grok the idea of running hard. Let's face it, I have trained myself to run slow.

I am almost invisible now as far as the faster runners of any age group are concerned. I did chat briefly with Bob Schmidt who has taken a big dive in the last 6 months literally dropping off the edge of the table. Grasping desparately at straws he has decided to run ultras. I mentioned to Bob that he has succeeded (relatively) in slowing over one year at a similar rate of drop off that took me 20 years to accomplish.

Today was Asian Day at the track. This same group shows up for one day a year, descends onto the track and literally take up all the lanes without the slightest awareness of other runners. Whether they run or walk makes no difference. I took one look and decided to stay out on the roads until they left (they never left).

China Girl And Me On A Lonely Track

I ran early today. I was actually out on the road at 8 am, running for the track. It was empty except for China Girl finishing her workout. She was skipping rope and doing situps. I had the track to myself as I ran some big loops. My legs felt ok so no complaints. China Girl never makes eye contact. She is wholly self sufficient even though we have been circling each other for years now.

60 minutes total.

Obviously she can see that I am an imperialist pig who wants to savage her and move on. Oh well, at least I made a breakthrough with Lina last Sunday. We actually talked.

Mostly I tried to keep my mind off the fact that I had cracked a wisdom tooth and was headed off to the dentist in two hours. I wondered if he would end up yanking the damn thing but fortunately he recommended that we cap it so I got off without having to nurse a sore jaw for a few days and traded that for a temporary cap until the real one shows up in several weeks.

In the early evening I went back out to the WVC track for the first time in a month or more and ran a social 4 miles with the club. It was almost summer-like. Very balmy. Had a good long catch-up talk with Stacy and Chris. My legs still felt good even though I wasn't very fast. 62 has been a definite slow down year. I am doing what I have always been doing (at least for the past 10 years) but the truth is that I am simply slower. It is inevitable. Age is relentless.

Back To Back Monday

I got out early (for me) and ran 70 minutes of the usual easy stuff. It was a back to back Monday having run yesterday.

It was Veterans Day (observed) and the streets were quiet. I ran over to the college and did BIG loops. The track was empty for much of the time until the De Anza Track team started to drift in for a Monday workout. School was closed so the coach probably told his runners that he would be around if any of them wanted to show up.

With all the great running trails in my area it is strange how soothing I find this course. I can reason it out and don't feel the need to. It is repetitive but not boring. I like because I don't have to think.

After my run, the kid across the street came by. He ran in the 16:20's at Crystal Springs in CCS. His PR from last year was 20 seconds slower and he ran 40 seconds faster than his best time this season. So this was his all time PR no matter which was he cut it. He came by last week and asked me what he should do and I told him to back off and take it easy. So my mini-coaching had some effect.

25 minutes And A Cloud Of Dust

Shel and I drove up to the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park to run a 5K DSE race. The weather was almost perfect. Cool but sunny after an evening of rain. We ran into Ernie Rivas who was one of the really big stud runners back in the 1970's and 80's. A good full level ahead of me. We reminisced quite a bit before and after the race. The race itself was uneventful. I warmed up for 15 minutes and ran the 5K loop in 25 minutes (on the dot I believe). Running this course clockwise is tougher than counter which is the direction I ran it in 1979 when I set my all time road PR of 15:46. The way we ran it today meant a long mile plus uphill. I typically decided to stay at or below 75% of max and I really had to slow over the section of the uphill to stay under my target HR. Still, I ran close to an 8 pace (about 8:04 actually) which isn't too bad. As near as I can figure this course adds 20-25 seconds to a flat run so I really have no complaints.

I was passed in the last 50 years by this dark hair gal who I often see at DSE races (she is a fixture). She is exotically pretty. I have always thought she was from the Middle East but we have rarely talked. I kidded her afterward about passing me and she said I had made her day.

Now my run is complete, she joked.

Afterward Shel and I went down to the Beach Boy for breakfast and she dropped by our table and chatted. Her name is Lina and she is from Damascus. We actually talked for some time. My food got cold but I didn't mind. With her hair down she is a knockout. It's funny. That spot near the finish where I first met Sue back in 1980 must be magic for talking to good looking women.

Shel and I had a great time as we always do.

65 Minutes With Dark Clouds On The Horizon

I had one of those busy morning and so I didn't get out until around 1:30 PM. There were dark clouds on the horizon to the far west (a forerunner of rain to come) but otherwise it was sunny. I ran the railroad tracks up to Sunnyvale-Saratoga, added a mile loop through some side streets and came back down the same way I had gone out. 65 minutes in all. Legs felt good. I kept my HR in the 140 range most of the way except at the end when I allowed it to drift up into the mid to high 140's.

Even though the run was easier than Wednesday I felt much better. I strive for consistency but as a runner ages it becomes harder to attain.Racing or just plain hard training requires a high level of consistency and sameness. It has been years since I could say that my training makes sense except (and this is a big except) when I run slow and easy. If I throw in hard work the rest of my running begins to deteriorate. That's what happened to me in the late winter and early spring of last year. My intervals were great but my few races were horrible. As soon as I backed off and reestablished consistency (as in easy running) my 90% AT runs got faster. Faster than my race efforts.

So go figure.

An Imperfect Machine

Jake, who hasn't left for Texas yet, sent me an email yesterday asking if I wanted to join him over at Forbes Mill for an early Wednesday run. I was down there by 7:30 and ran 3 progressive loops over our usual course. I actually felt OK on the first several loops but on the last loop, I found myself having to really slow down to keep under my planned HR. While I wasn't exactly sure of the problem given the almost perfect conditions, I figured it had to be the fact that I cheated on meals yesterday eating a very light breakfast and sucking down a frappuchino for lunch. I was heading up to client's for an afternoon of meetings and basically and unintentionally, I skipped lunch. I can remember being in the car while driving up 101 and thinking, "Why do have slight soreness in my throat." Not the I am going to get a cold soreness but rather that "you are wearing yourself" down soreness. It never lies.

I did catch up, having pasta last night for dinner but obviously I didn't get in enough carbs to fuel my very imperfect machine.

So it's catch up time on the eat enough ranch.

The highlight of the run was scaring the beejesus out of some redhead walking with a friend on the trail. I simply "honked my horn" letting her know that we were coming by at which point she let out a scream. I apologized on my way back but she let me off the hook.

"I am a screamer," she said.

I will remember that if I am ever single again.

82 minutes of feeling good

I actually got out early this morning, running 82 minutes. I ran up the RR tracks to McClellan. As I was turning left I was thinking, My legs feel really good. Don't screw this up. I ran down to Jollyman Park and back to the college and a series of big loops until I finally decided to head home. 82 minutes in all. HR in the 140-150 range with no trouble keeping it there. The beginning of the run was shrouded in fog and in the low 50's but that gave way to filtered sunlight.

Another Saturday Workout

Another Saturday workout. For once I actually ran with the club instead of off by myself. I did a 2.5 plus mile warmup and then ran the 2.75 club race but hung back with Jim Myers keeping my HRM at 70% or under. We were close to last barely breaking 24 minutes. Then I warmed down around campus with Jim Howe. I felt OK. It was a tad chilly but I can't complain.

Jake showed up at breakfast. He is falling back into his old habits and beginning to kill himself off again. It's too bad. He hit his goal of breaking 20 minutes on our Dam loop and then went back to his old habits. This means more days running and hard workouts over and over.

He's heading off to Texas for 2-3 weeks so we'll catch up later in the month or early December.

As for me, I may build my running time slightly but I intend to stay the course with the HRM.

36:01!

I slept in to 7:30 this morning, lazed around the house drinking coffee and finally went out just after 9:30. My legs felt great and I clipped along with my HR in the 140-150 range running a total of 36 minutes and one second. The front door to door time ended up being about 90 minutes because I stopped the college to chat with Ohio and then ran (no pun intended) into John my "across the street neighbor" as I was headed in and jawed with him for God knows how long.

I can feel myself getting stronger. The longer I go without hard running the stronger I get. The long hills on Wednesdays and a now and then tempo run are enough.

Another Hilly Run

I met a very beat up Jake at Forbes Mill. He had fallen back on evil times and had run 5 days in a row. We did a warm up loop together and then I took off alone ran the Dammit course with some extra distance thrown in to make the total time of the run around 72 minutes. The dam was excruciating as was the backside of Jones Trail. But after hitting the summit it was mostly down hill all the way back into Los Gatos. Sections of the course was littered with stay at home moms with and without baby's. It seems to be a cult in down town Los Gatos.

Mid run, as crossed the dam I looked over at Lexington Reservoir. The water was way, WAY down and two sculling crews appeared to have had to clamber down a gradual bank of dried mud to launch their boats. The lake was about a low as I have seen it in years.

Jake ended up running two loops. He felt better once he got running but felt that out 24:44 pace for the first loop was too fast. I felt he was just tired from running too many days in a row. We had run in the 23's on several occasions in the past month and he had no problems at all.

As for me, I stayed at or under 70% even with the steep hills thrown in and my HR came down nicely once the course flattened out or went down hill. So I seem to be recovering.

4th day in a row

I ran again this morning. It was my 4th day is a row which was of course very unusual. I ran an easy 67 minutes including 8 big laps around the college track. The cross country coach was there working with one of his best runners. The guy was knocking off 400's in the mid 70's with a short rest. I stopped to chat briefly and went on running. My legs were mildly tired. I am looking forward to taking the day off on Tuesday and getting back to my schedule.

Hollister

I got up early and drove down to Hollister for the mile (except I was not running the race). My job was to pace Jake to a sub-6:40 (woe, have the mighty fallen). It is a strange race. Mostly, very young school age kids and master level adults. I jogged down to the start. Just before the gun went off I ran down around the corner and waited for the leaders to come by. I was unofficial and didn't really want to be anywhere around the start or finish lines.

As the runners began to come by, I picked up Jake about 200 meters out and ran off his shoulder. Jake was breathing very hard and it felt to me like we were jogging.

This isn't a 6:40 pace, I thought.

But it turned out to be almost exactly that. We were weaving our way past young kids who were beginning to die off and Jake, who was almost gagging, kept pressing and passing people. I dropped off with about 100 meters to go and jogged to the side of the road. With my lasik improved vision I peered at the clock and saw that Jake was just crossing the line. The readout clicked to 6:33. That give or take was his time. I jogged back with Jake to his truck afterwards. All together I may have gotten in 3 miles.

We went to the San Juan Oaks afterwards for breakfast.

60 minute ordeal

Ken Napier (to the left) these days.....


I had a lovely 60 minute Saturday morning run over at WVC hanging out with Tom and Jake while the club ran a searing set of 800's. Of course we avoided the workout and just vegged at an easy pace. My HRM was rarely above 130 throughout the ordeal.

Ken Napier was down for tomorrows mile race in Hollister. He hopes to hit an 8:30 pace give or take a few seconds. This from the 1972 NorCal master's runner of the year. This from the guy who I chased for almost 5 years during the 1970's before I finally caught and beat him in a race.

My job tomorrow is to pace Jake and have a nice breakfast afterwards. Tough job.

Coffee Haze 4 miler

Friday was basically waiting around the new HDTV delivery man in the morning and running an easy untimed 4 miler in the mid afternoon. No HRM either. I just drifted up to the half way point on the RR trail and returned. I had consumed a frappucinno about an hour before the run so I was in a coffee haze.

Seventy-Six & Hills

I drove over to Forbes Mill to meet Jake. He showed up with a bad cold and decided to walk. I ran up the trail but cut left and followed the switchbacks on a rocky dirt trail that often was single track. Two girls were coming down towards me one laughing loudly as she slipped and slid. The one in the back saw that I was coming through and stepped aside with a friendly smile. I thanked her briefly ignoring the other one who was lost in her laughter. The trail kept going up and grew steeper eventually coming out into an open space where the trees dropped away. To the left was the quick way back down but I ignored it and allowed myself to be drawn up to the trail on the right. I could feel the angle of the ground and could hear my breathing border on ragged except that a glance at my monitor told me that I was still under 70%. There was a wooden gate up ahead, or maybe a portal and I passed through without a second thought following a path leading up to the Novitiate trail and then Jones trail. By the time I summited, I could look down on the Lexington Dam far below. Another runner came by going the other way. A woman. She was followed by several more. Women too. Were there no men out here? Oh, of course. They were all working so that the women could play.

It was a very clear, cool and sunny morning. I could see the cars backed up on highway 17 headed towards Los Gatos.

I followed Jones trail down to the road and then crossed the dam and headed back to Forbes on the usual route. A half dozen women runners going in the opposite direction. It never seemed to stop. I passed through the parking lot, didn't see Jake and kept going to the high school, ran once around the track and then headed back up for a normal loop. 76 minute all together.

Legs felt strong. My HR stayed down around 140 most of the early part of the run and then after coming down the dam I kept it constantly in the 140-150 range.

Slight soreness above the right knee. Have to watch that.

65 minutes and why the hell....

Racked up an easy 65 minute run this morning. I ran over the college and ran a series big loops around the track going clockwise to balance things out. Nice cool morning but the word is out that the weather is going to heat up some over the next few days. I thought I would go back out in the afternoon again for another 3-4 miles but in the end "why the hell would you do that" won out over "you need to do that".

My legs felt decent throughout the run. I kept my HR in the 130's and 140's. I should be nice and fresh for Wednesday at Forbes Mill.

The probable plan is to run the 2.75 miler on November 3rd at AT (85-90%) and see where I am. Then go from there. The longer term plan is simple. 3 times a week I am going to run an easy 60-80 minutes and one day I will go 30-50 minutes. Every 3-4 weeks I will do an AT run. Every week I will try to do at least one 70-75% run to see if I can chart some progress. If the 75% run comes down and the 90% run drops than I am progressing. Everything else will be at 70% or less.

I admit that the two weapons I am adding are less work stress (as in less work) and hopefully better sleep.

Over time, if I feel stronger I will go up towards 80 minutes on my runs. otherwise, I will stay down lower and focus on being rested and recovered.

60 plus minutes, steady

Got up late(for me), had coffee, relaxed and then headed over to the Saturday workout. I would guess NOT doing the Wednesday hard made a huge difference because I felt rested and proceeded to reel off 60 plus minutes of steady running. I ran a good deal of it on the track watching Jake and Dimitri do their respective interval workouts. Jake was still tired from Wednesday (no big surprise there).

I didn't miss having to do a specific workout.

It was nice just to show up.

I am in my letting the speed come to me phase.

Easy Run

I ran an easy 5 miles this morning. Over to the college, around the track 4 times doing the big loop (including the par course) and then back home. I kept my HR in the 130's and low 140's.

Sterling Run

Back to Forbes Mill this morning with Jake. We ran an easy warm up loop and then I took off and ran the second loop at 70-75% of max hitting the top in 11 flat and coming across the finish in 21 flat. Jake was 15 seconds behind me. I then jogged the last loop as a warm down starting early. Jake caught me on the way up and blew by me on the way down. He said that he had reached the top in 10:36. By the time I got back to the parking lot Jake was in recovery mode. He had finally broken 20 with a sterling 19:56 so he was very happy.

The weather condition were decent. Cool, some wind and a threat of rain.

We celebrated by having breakfast.

80 slow minutes to heck

I ran 80 slow minutes this morning. The rain is coming later today but the sun was still out when I was doing my workout. I ran over to the track and just did big loops including the par course hill. I was following that little spike of a girl who I have seen now and then. Her loop consists of running the stadium steps so it takes her longer to get around.

I am trying to get back my slow mojo. I have been feeling beat up lately. I am sure it is a combination of those Wednesday runs with Jake and some work related stress. I eliminated the extra stress by dropping out of the start up I was involved (unhappily) in. It was one of those million dollar job. Pay me a million dollars (grossed up) and I will do it for a year.

65 minutes While The Club Did Something Else

It took me two days totally off to recover from Wednesday's progression run. I ran for 65 minutes Saturday morning while the club did yet another track workout. I felt OK but not great. Luckily it was cool and clear so the conditions were alright. I just don't recover very well from that harder runs plus this is not getting me any closer to breaking 13 minutes for 3200 meters. I told Dimitri that once he has run the Hollister Mile at the end of the month, we'll get back at it. I will back off on the Wednesday runs and keep them at the 70% level for the most part with a now and then 75% test effort.

I have to keep reminding myself that I need to get faster at the slower stuff to be faster at the quicker runs.

Progressive Run

I met Jake at Forbes Mill. It had rained during the night but the trail was firm even though there were some low lying puddles here and there. We ended up doing a progressive 8 miler with the first loop in 23:38, the second in 22:22 and the last in 20:57. Very Kenyan of us. No question that the second half of the last loop was an AT level run.

Afterwards we went for breakfast and then went up the running store to congratulate Christine Kennedy on her gutsy 3:02:04 marathon at Chicago. It was 85-90 degrees with heavy humidity during the race. She won her division and was second masters overall. She was happy to see us but was disappointed that she didn't run 2:47 which is the "B" standard for making the women's trials. She will probably go to Tuscon or Boston and try again.

1 + 1 = 90

I moped around Sunday, not feeling very good. Mostly I was tired and slightly wrung out. I played it low key all day and began to feel better in the late afternoon.

I woke up feeling pretty decent on Monday morning. I decided to divide my workouts up instead of doing one monster run. I went out around 9 AM and ran 48 minutes slow and easy. I then went back out again in the mid afternoon and ran another 42 minutes also very easy. My total was 90 minutes of slow stuff.

Jake sent me an email. He did do the monster workout today on the dam trail. He ran it 5 times (about 13.5 miles total) with each up and back loop faster than the prior one. He said he felt sick and exhausted afterwards. I sent him an email in response saying that I was really glad that I did not run this workout with him.

He should be really fun to run with on Wednesday.

75 minutes

I slept in an extra 15 minutes, had a cup of coffee (buffered by Tums) and still made it over to the club workout to run around the campus and track for 75 minutes while the rest of the runners were doing the "step up, step down" track workout. I finally felt decent again. It was a cool, clear morning and my HR stayed low while I motored along at a comfortable pace. When I pushed it, my HR went up around 140 but when I let off, it dropped down into the low 130's.

The Cubs lost to the Rockies tonight and were swept out the playoffs, keeping my 62 year hex alive. They have not been to the series since losing to Detroit the year I was born which was 1945. They haven't won a world series in 99 years (1908).

4 miles and the wind in my face

I ran 4 miles this morning and felt ok. There was a good wind in my face on the way back but outside of that not any real residual soreness. Still tired. Napped for the third straight afternoon. I plan to take it easy until the energy level comes back.

Marion Jones has fallen from grace. The web and the news is full of it. She admits to lying about using performance enhancing drugs so she will more than likely go to jail. She is broke (or so they say). I would say that she is still young and can do the time and rebuild if she is smart. The world loves redemption. She just has to figure the path back to self repect and stop being a victim.

I chose this reproduction of a painting done of her naked with her head turned away because it best represents her current state. Stripped naked, by her own confession, for the world to see and her head turned away in shame or maybe she is looking back at what could have been.

Maintenance

I went up to Bill Tarr's to get an adjustment this morning. After that I walked down the hall to his wife's "office" and she gave me the penultimate massage. It was a bit like car maintenance. I just felt better when I walked out the door. My legs could move and the soreness was pretty much gone. This and yesterday's ice bath are making me feel like I can run again. I realize, going forward, that I am going to have get a massage whenever I get that creaky feeling. Bill is keeping me aligned so that is working out very well. I plan to add in the ice baths as often as I need them. I have been doing them after my hard runs but I realize that soreness is cumulative so I may have to do them more often.

One has to pay a big price to be the "Last Runner Standing".

Hoka Hey!

Last night on my way home from a client, I took a sharp right turn, banged my tire against the curve and heard a loud POP sound. I pulled over and took a look at my right front tire which was a dead flat (or flat dead). It took me about 15 minutes to change it. Luckily I was on a side street and out of major traffic but it was still tough to get the flat off and get the spare on. It's not the doing it but the tugging, lifting and pulling that beat me up. Sue and I were supposed to go out to dinner but she took pity on me and went out and picked up a pizza. So I came home, bloody (I scraped arms up), dirty and sweaty but ready to go out but we ended up staying in and watching TV having dinner on the bed.

When I woke up this morning I felt like I had played a tough, hard hitting game of soccer. My legs and arms were just plain sore. Jake and I were scheduled fora trial run so we warmed up 2.7 and then came back to our starting point. I stood there for 30 seconds while Jake got a head start. Then I went. I could tell within a quarter mile that things were not right. I felt like I was dragging my body along instead of running for a fast time. It took a long time to catch Jake. I went by him and hit the turnaround at 10:17 which was around 17 seconds behind goal. I did a short run in place as Jake came up and I paced him back in. I ran 20:10 and Jake was in the 20:40's.

Neither of us hit our goals. Jake did not break 20 minutes and I failed to break 19. We both admitted afterwards that it had not been a good day to die. Hoka Hey! We staggered through the warm down and went for breakfast.

I went home and soaked for 10 minutes in an ice bath. I get a massage and chiro on Thursday. It won't be too soon.

79 minutes

I was felt dragged out Saturday and Sunday. Not sure why. I certainly didn't burn up the roads last week while training.

I got out just before 9 AM this morning. It was cool and overcast and I ran easily, feeling much better overall. I did have to come back by the house to visit the "john" but then was out again running the railroad tracks down to Sunnyvale-Saratoga and then back by way of Prospect and Stelling to De Anza College and then home. 79 minutes total running time.

Al Oerter died today at age 71. He won the gold medal in the discus at the 56-60-64 and 68 Olympics and set a record each time he won. In 1980 he came back and just missed qualifying for the team again at age 44. He set his personal best that year. Anyway, 71. Life is getting shorter.