Hum Drum Week and Maggie Vessey

Tuesday: Another call-in meeting. I couldn't stand it so I ran ahead of time. 50 minutes of easy jogging (I am a jogger!). I was lucky. I woke up early and quaffed some coffee and bolted out the door. Walked Amber afterward.

Wednesday: Another early morning run. 55 minutes under the stark calm of a a slate tinged overcast sky. I ran the usual route. Over to the track, big loops and then back adding on a bit extra to net 5 more minutes. The tall guy was down on the tartan blowing down 7:20-7:30 miles. He kept lapping me over and over. he on the inside lane, me on the outside lane and adding in the par course hill. But still.....

Thursday: I walked Amber (skies still very gray). I then went out and ran the usual route. The funny thing is that it started to drizzle heavily enough that I had to take off my sun glasses. They had beaded up and were choked with droplets. Anyway, 55 minutes. Legs felt sluggish. Short, tiny Asian girl moved away from me as I circled the track. Makes me once again think if every other day would be smarter. But then....I keep improving. Don't screw with it. It's not about these runs. It's about Saturday.

Went to the last All Comers of the season last evening to watch the action. Maggie Vessey, tops in the 800 in the world, showed up to run, coasting to a high 53 second 400 as a tune up for the 800 that will take place shortly in Berlin. She is world class looking. Tall, blond, slender but not skinny. Stood out. Striking.

McKayla Plank was there too. What ever happened to the Fast Woman rising star of 3-4 years ago? I meant to say hello but didn't. I know her but not that well. She didn't look like that gazelle of several years ago. Could be again with the right coach. Someone told me that she is injured.

Paying the price

I paid the price of Saturday's workout on Sunday morning. I ran 60 minutes very slowly. Legs were heavy but at least they were not sore. A very unremarkable run. I am sure Galloway would have rightly had me running 3 minutes and walking 1. It probably would have been smarter. There is a method to his jogger madness.

Sunday's are often the toughest workout of the week. It should be Saturday but I am usually well rested so outside of the pace, the reps are done on fresh legs.

The day after. That's the one.

2:58-2:55

Prospect High workout.

Goal was to run 2 x 800 in 2:58-3:00. Warmed up 25 minutes and did some striders. Then we (D, Jake and I) ran a shakeout 400 in 93. We walked a 400 and then launched into our first 800. As usual it was a slight struggle to get used to the pace (I am always sluggish at first) but we came through in 90 intact and ran the last lap in 88 for a 2:58!

We walked a lap and then did the second 800. D later told me that we came through 400 in 88 which was amazing because Jake (running one lap) was right with us. His fastest of the year. I had to admit that I felt very good. I guess was I was all shaked out. We ran the last lap in 87 for a 2:55!!!!

I warmed down with D for 10 minutes.

We averaged on the high side of 2:56.

Talked to Missy after the warmdown. She has become the typical devoted soccer mom except that her kids swim. She turns 40 later this year. If she trains she could be a force in her age group.

Gigantic group at breakfast. Took over the back room in Carrows.

Conservation Run

Friday: 45 minutes very slow trying to conserve all the energy I can for Saturday's workout.

I ran up the RR Tracks to the lake and circle it once. Then I jogged down to the college running through a typically It's end of the week, semi-deserted campus.

The days continue to be overcast in the early morning making for nice conditions.

55 minutes for putting one foot in front of the other

I got out early this morning and ran 55 minutes (again). Nothing unusual about the run. Just putting one foot in front of the other. Mr. 7:30 pace was at the track (That use to be a really easy day back when...). He grooves around the circuit lapping me regularly and this is not helped by the fact that I do big loops. I hardly ever walk the short hill anymore.

The cool morning continue.

Had lunch with Susan today, a colleague from my days at Sun. She is interested in the too long still open HR Director at Guidewire. It all came back in a rush. It was just about a year ago that I got roped into spending 3 months of my life at the personnel factory.

Cool Grey

Monday was the usual off day.

On Tuesday morning I walked Amber and then ran around while waiting for the call-in business meeting to kick off. So a repeat of last week. Running again with my cell phone in one hand and ear pieces and wire connectors flopping around. Did 55 minutes of slow running under cool, grey skies. The sun started to knife through the cloud cover just as I finished my jaunt.

The good news was the soreness in my left hamstring has disappeared so maybe it was just a slight case of DOMS.

Running Week of July 20th-July 26th 2009

Monday: Rest day

Tuesday: Dropped back to 50 minutes running very slowly while holding my cell phone. I was dialed into a work related conference call. Holding the cell wasn't too much of a distraction but having the ear piece and connecting wires flopping around is a bother. I know...I know...I should wear my blue tooth wireless ear piece but frankly it does a lousy job if filtering out street sounds.

Wednesday: Rolled out of bed and left my brains on the pillow (or at least that is what it felt like). I punched the coffee "on" button on the brewer and then tumbled onto the couch. I laid there for a few minutes listening to the coffee slurp it way down into the carafe. I peaked up over the couch and there was Amber staring at me with that "what's in it for me" look. That means her vitamins and and hasty exit to the backyard to "relieve" herself. I settled down and sipped from my tankard of coffee.

The run itself was another colossal 50 minute affair. It actually felt pretty good, all in all. I ran over the college and did big loops on the track and then headed back. Cutting back minutes seems to be working. I felt decent.

Thursday: I took a wild gamble and chose not to run. Instead I walked Amber in the morning, took a long late lunch with my friend and former co-worked, Jeanie, played hooky from work and went to the All Comers meet in the evening. Hobnobbed with Bert and Jake. We were all good club level runners back thirty years ago. Ran into Art, he of the cut physique. Met Maria who is a friend of D's. She talked to me but kept glancing at Art's pectorals. I could have been a radio personality for all she knew. A disembodied voice. She listened to me but Art is whom she gazed at.

Friday: I ran an easy 45 minutes. Ran into Jack who told me that Mike had had a hip replacement. Even power walkers get injured. Of course Jack in 79 and Mike is 82 but both were fast walkers. Jack still is. This tells me that while there are no rules, age is a wearing down process and I have to use my present time intelligently. Hips, knees. Whatever. They can just go.

Meanwhile I can hear my next door neighbor in his garage on his pneumatic stair-stepper working the hell out of himself. At least I think it is him. However, it could be his wife.

Saturday: Another session over at Prospect High. Ran 25 minutes very slowly as a warm up. I did some striders and then joined Jake and Dimitri for 4 x 400. First D and I did a shakeout 400 in 90 which was pretty fast. Then we launched into the main workout. Jake plastered himself to us. He is one tough guy. His legs were feeling heavy because of biking and...well, life.

The first 400 was an 82. I had to admit, it felt pretty good. In this reiteration of my running life, this was the very fastest for the first serious 400.

We walked a lap and did the second one in the high 83's. Once again, I felt strong. Upper legs a bit tired but nothing that was getting in the way. Just the faster start to this workout.

The third one felt sluggish and was a solid 84. D told me we had reached the 200 in 42 and he had just strided in.

The last was a go for it rep. We went out under control but fast. We hit the 200 in about 40 and kicked in a 38 for a 78 overall. This last one felt the best.

Jogged down for 9 minutes for a 40 minute total workout.

Last time we did this workout it was 88-85-83-82.

Big improvement!

Sunday: 60 slow minutes jogging around Cupertino. I could not run my usual big loops on the track. There was a breast cancer event going on so I ran the furtherlands of the campus and also around the small lake near McClellan and the RR Tracks. My hamstring was a bit sore and my right achilles bears watching. No pain but tight at times during the run. The latter could be because I wore my red racing shoes yesterday the reps.

Can 64 be the new 62?

I dropped back this morning and ran only 60 minutes. All in the interest of conserving energy.

In looking back at yesterday, I realize that I have somehow climbed back into roughly the same shape I was in, back in 2007. It seems strange. Can 64 be the new 62?

Negative Splits

Ran 5 minutes at home this morning to shake things out. I then drove over to Prospect and warmed up for another 17 minutes with "D" and Jake. I did some strider and passed on the shakedown 400.

The workout was a rare 1600 meter trial at around 95%.

I felt a bit lethargic but I had decided that I was going to do it regardless. I started my watch but didn't look at it the rest of the way. I tucked in and stayed behind D.

The first lap was like rolling out of bed in the morning. I knew I was going to do it but if someone had brought me a cup of java, I would just have soon have stayed put. I found out afterward that this was 96.

The second lap was a total change. I actually started feeling very good so I knew I was "into" it. In fact, several times, I felt like I was going to run up D's back. Later on I found out we had run a 99. In other words D had fallen asleep and of course because I wasn't clock watching, I had no idea that were behind pace.

3:15 at the 800.

The third lap was faster. I could feel the speeding up but I felt fine. I had expected that the last two laps would be quicker. We arrived at 1200 in 4:49 so we had run a 94.

On the final lap everything changed. We pushed down the backstretch and then really began to "drive" with 200 to go. I could finally feel the effort. As we hit the last 100 I came up on his shoulder and I worked at relaxing as we hammered our way to the finish.

As we came across the line I hit my stopwatch and heard D say "damn!". I figured that we hadn't broken 6:18 but I glanced down (finally) and saw 6:16!

We had run the last 800 in 3:01!

D felt bad because we hadn't broken 6:15 but frankly I could have cared less. My goal was to break 6:18. That had been my time trial PR for the last 26 months. Beating a time from two years ago was a major accomplishment so I was pleased.

I slow jogged for 12 minutes and called it a day.

6:18 hanging out there

Walked Amber again for a warm up followed by 50 minutes of slow running.

I want to have fair amount of energy for Saturday's trial effort. I hope to break that 6:18 for 1600 meters that has been hanging out there since May of 2007. It's not that 6:18 is that fast but it is faster than any of training has indicated for the past two years and two months.

Hesitation Stop

The day was somewhat cooler than yesterday. I could feel it right off. I walked Amber "The Wonder Dog" to shake out my legs for the main event.

Yes, you guessed it. Another 55 minutes of slow running. In fact I almost stopped at 50 minutes not because I was tired but because it seemed enough. I came to a hesitation stop at a stop light near my house and after a half a minute (or thinking about it) I decided to continue via a slightly elongated route which adding five big minutes to the run.

I felt no different at the end of the run with the added time than I had at the hesitation halt.

I thought about adding threshold intervals to my weekly routine. It could add some 3-5K strength to my workouts. It could also be a bridge too far. Daniels would say I should do these at a 7:10 pace based on where I think I am right now.

Emotional and Physical Fartlek

The weather has turned hotter than a barbecue. The moment I stepped out the door this morning I could feel that someone had turned up the blast furnace. I was glad I got out early. The plan was to run 55 minutes and keep the tempo at a snail's pace. I am happy to say that in this I was a total success.

I waddled over to the college track by the usually long route. I even ran around the astro turfed soccer field before touring the campus. Once on the track (Asian City as usual), I did big loops including short hill. At various moments I felt really good and at others not so good. The run was varied in this manner. Sort of emotional and physical fartlek. As I headed back home I kept saying to myself "I feel good!" I sounded like some motivational tape.

The truth was I sometimes felt good.

These days, I will take it. No legs pain and no big issues.

70 minutes of Galloway

I got out early or at least so my wife says. Anyway, I ran 70 minutes with short walk breaks thrown in for seasoning. Sunday has been a tough run given the fact that I run fairly hard on Saturday. I figured if I did a Galloway version I might feel better, go further and actually recover from the workout of the day before.

I started with 1 minute of walking and 4 minutes of running until I finally got to the track. Once there, I ran big loops walking the "hill". I began to actually feel pretty darn good and picked up the pace a bit (BIG MISTAKE!). Then I slowed things back down (VERY SMART!) and ran home.

Feeling good or too good is the moment to be very careful. Easy should be easy. Good rule of the road for older runners of a certain age.

Can Rich? Yes he can!

Prospect high track again. Warmed up a bit more than normal. 25-26 minutes with strides. Then we ran a shakedown 300 in 70. Shakedown in that it shakes out the cobwebs.

The workout was 2 x 800 in under 3:02 (which is what we did the last time we ran this).

I just followed "D" and we cruised to a 3:02. I felt OK but not strong like last week. As "D" said this is an adversity workout. I want to be able to run my goal times whether I am in top shape or not. Feeling strong is not always optional.

The second one felt much better but that is because we went through the first 400 in 94 (oops!) and scorched the second lap in 86 for a 3:00 flat. "D" fell asleep at the pacer wheel, he told me afterward. He was thinking, can Rich run 86???? Well, we did and I could have run faster. 2:58 was in the offing had we really burned the last 200.

I never felt in any sort of trouble.

With the warm down, I did around 40-41 minutes.

Getting monotonous

50 more minutes of slow running this morning. This getting monotonous (in a good way).

My legs feel great. It's the really slow running. I know it. I know it. I actually believe that I could ratchet things up quite a bit. Very Van Aaken-like. He would tell me, were he alive to tell me, that I should run a great many miles each day at a very slow pace with perhaps 3 x 500 of faster stuff added in every 2nd or 3rd day. It must have really burned Prefontaine to get out kicked by Norpoth given the polar opposite way both of them trained.

55 minutes of stuff

Another quiet early morning run. I ran (as always) over to the college just as a fitness class was gathering in the bleachers next to the track. I circled, running big loops and then headed back home.

Unremarkable 55 minute run but the stuff that my stamina is built on these days.

Business Meeting Run

This morning I combined my 55 minute run with a work related conference call. It was a nice distraction. The time went by in a flash (or so it seemed). I can't tell you what the call was about because if you knew I would have to send you to Siberia or worse, Fresno. Given that these meetings may become a regular thing, I may have to get used to not remembering the experience of my Tuesday morning runs.

I do remember vaguely running over to the local college track and circling the big loops several times. I believe there were other folks out there. Maybe even an early morning, summer golf class on the astro turf of the soccer field. It all blurs into insignificance next to the droning words of THE MEETING.

My legs felt OK even though the pace was little more than a crawl. But if this is what it takes for the age group, wannabe, world class miler to recover then so be it.

Linda dies: I run 55 minutes

I checked my email this morning while having coffee. Linda died in the early morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Nothing I could do but go out and run so I drove up with Shel to the city and ran for 55 minutes along the south embarcadero near the ball park. There was a 5K DSE run going on so I tagged along for most of it but I also ran 25 minutes before and a few minutes afterward. Most of the run was very slow with the exception of a 9 pace while I hung with Shel during the race.

Legs felt OK.

Somber mood.

Enjoy life.

Detachment is good but don't get attached to even that.

Best yet

Friday: I laid around like a cat all day yesterday (it was a work holiday). My body ached from running on the grass at Los Gatos. Advil and rest and pasta.

I slept well and woke feeling pretty refreshed. Drove over to Prospect and warmed up with Jake for 20 minutes with some striders. D was over on the artificial grass getting his barefoot warm up. Then we added in something new. 2 x 800 at an 8 minute pace with a one minute rest in between. Nothing too hard but the goal was to create a "load".

After the last 800 we waited one minute and then ran a 400 in 88 seconds. After that we went to our normal run a 400, walk a 400. The second 400 was 85 and I immediately knew I felt very good. The 3rd 400 was 83 and last was 82. My best workout yet. D was killer in how he led through the 400's. Each had a slightly negative split and each was slightly faster than the last.

I decided to walk several laps with Jake instead of doing my usual 10-12 minute easy jog. Not so much because I was tired but really because I had run my 4 miles which is my Saturday allotment for right now.

45 minutes of junk

I ditched the idea of running in the cool of the morning and traded it to become warm up buddy at the local all comers meet. So, 45 minutes of junk running, banter and a nice dinner (the Greek salad) at the Diner after the meet. It was warm but not "warm". Mid to high 70's at best but a real shift from the pre-9 am running that I have been doing of late.

Anyway, it was a choice not to run Friday and get it done today so I could have a day off. A rest day before Saturday.

The all comers crowd never ages. Only I do. They are mostly forever young. 31 years ago I ran a 9:44 two mile at this same event. Dust now, swept under the carpet of 3 decades of running.

I know every line

I did not sleep well last night. Visions of people who had lost their jobs ranged through my consciousness. This RIF did not go quietly into the night. Finally fell off very late. Must have slept some because I actually woke up this morning about 15 minutes ahead of the alarm. Sleep...Wake. So must have slept.

Coffee (Big Mug)

Let Amber out

Go run 55 minutes and I am surprised at how good I feel.

Faint impression of a PE Class sitting quietly up in the stands down the back stretch waiting for an instructor to show up.

Asian girl stretching after her run. She really works the crowd (if there was one). Very limber. I know every line of her body and I am hardly paying attention.

For now, this will have to do

It seemed cooler this morning. I blended into the pavement while trotting around Cupertino for 55 minutes. Eventually I ended up on the track doing big loops. That little par course section gives me the momentary feeling of being on a trail in the woods. Of course it is an illusion. It's just some dirt and trees at one end of a junior college track in the middle of suburbia Silicon Valley. But right now it's all I got. The price of getting onto some really great trails is the need run up some decent hills and I don't trust either calf to hold up.

For now, this will have to do.




Dirt and Trees lower part of the photo

Stumbling through 68 minutes of slow

The weatherman has really turned up the heat. Even though I got out the door by 8 am it was already very warm. I ran as slow as I could (almost falling asleep several times in the first few miles) taking a long route to the track. Once I arrived, I spotted Charles and Donna and ran with Charles for a while chatting about heart rate monitors (He wears one now. I rarely do). By the time I got back home I had stumbled through 68 minutes of hell bent for leather slow running.

Actually, once I started to match strides with Charles my pace picked up ever so slightly and my legs felt better. Second wind of some sort.

>On the "thinking what the hell I have to do going forward" stream of consciousness.

>I would like to get down to 135-36 but I have not been paying very much attention to my weight.

>I NEED TO START! I believe I will run faster if I take this step. 5-7 pounds under what I am today.

>I need to eat better. These protein days will kill me for sure. More carbs.

>Don't fiddle too much with my training. I can add slow minutes bit the rest has to remain the same.

1200 meter time trial

I am becoming a machine of sorts. After spending yesterday summarily executing people at work (a.k.a. RIF's) I was not at my best this morning. My mind was else where (LIKE ON RETIREMENT!!!!). But if you are a machine you flip the "on" switch and go do what you are supposed to do.

Met at Dimitri over at Prospect which once again was thankfully deserted and we warmed up for 20 minutes as slow as we could. I did some striders and my legs felt anything BUT heavy so I knew that I was OK. The goal was to break 4:40 for 1200 meters. I last did that 2 years ago.

We went out softly, running the first lap at 95. I had promised D that I wouldn't keep checking my watch so I had no idea what the split was. I wasn't full of energy but I felt alright. I could feel the pace shift slightly during the second lap as we scooted through in the 3:08 I had requested. Once again, I didn't check the watch. I found out this later on.

On the 3rd lap I could feel the effort but nothing I couldn't maintain. With 200 to go D said "Alright Rich," so I knew we were on track.

I clicked the stop watch and at last looked. It read 4:36:94. In my book, a 4:36 and change. 10 seconds faster than the last time I did this workout on May 23rd.

We walked a lap and then ran one more 400. "Nothing hard," I said. I was thinking 92-93 but as easy as it felt, it was an 87. A GOOD SIGN boys and girls.

I then did the requisite 14 slow...slow minutes as a warm down.

The time age grades to a 3:32 at age 30.

Tolerating Slow

I woke up early. 5:45 AM. I am not a morning person by design but have made myself into one because of running.

I did the coffee thing, a few chores and then ran a very easy 50 minute slow jog. As Galloway says for folks in my age group, it is best to run 3 days a week max. In other words every other day. he's probably right but he also mentions that a runner can do more days if there is no leg soreness.

Well, having no leg soreness is my middle name. You just have to have the ability to tolerate really slow days.

55 pain free, sluggish minutes

Low energy Tuesday.

I rolled out of bed and put away a big mug of coffee. Then I went out the door for an uninspired but resolute "crawling along" 55 pain free, sluggish minutes. Some days you just have to just do it even if laying around on the couch, sipping more coffee and browsing the web sounds much more enticing.

Anything sounded more enticing.

The weather has begun to heat up so getting out early made the run palpable. I suspect I am feeling the residuals of running reps on Saturday and then running a bit too hard on Sunday.

Still, my legs were pain free but then I have become a master of that.

Finally got on the web after showering and saw that 80 year old Earl Fee had run a 2:48, 800 meter. So we're 16 years apart and 6 seconds. I ran 2:54 last Saturday and even though I was time trialing, I am sure Fee looked the part.

Mistakes were made but......

Mistakes were made but not by me.

How often have I heard that?

Yesterday's run was too fast. A 9 minute per mile pace for 5K is very doable but not smart at this point of the game. If I am going to make it back (whatever back is) I need to keep my easy runs very easy.

DSE runs are a trap right now. If I run them at all I need to stick to the back of the pack or just show up and run my own workout.

S%#T! Can't believe that I am having this discussion about a 9 minute pace. ;-)

GG Park for 55 minutes

I drove up to Shel's this morning (early) and we high tailed it up to the DSE Race in GG Park in San Francisco. In keeping with my motto (I am not ready to race) I stayed towards the back of the pack and ran very easy. I had already warmed up for 25 minutes beforehand actually doing some very gentle hills. The race was from the conservatory down to and around Stow Lake and back. Two good hills but both were short stuff and not too steep. I started off with Bob who went off on how he had never recovered his strength from a water skiing accident that took place 10 years ago. His problem, IMHO, is that he runs twice a week and maybe totals 10 miles (maybe).

My total running time was around 55 minutes. I could have jogged for another 5 but decided to let it go.

The weather you ask? Spectacular. Sunny and mild. Just incredible.

Bob, Shel and I went for breakfast afterward.

2:14!!!!!!

OK. Just joking. I went up to Prospect and ran a 2:54 800 meter. If I age grade the time, it works out to be a 2:14 at age 25.

The actual workout was a 22 minute warm up with strides. We (Dimitri and I) then ran a shakedown 400 in 93 (felt very easy). I was announced that I was ready so we went out and ran a fairly even paced 87-87 equaling the 2.54. We then ran another 400 in 92. Lap walk in between reps. I jogged a 12 minute easy easy warm down.

Next week we'll go do a 1200. Of course we were supposed to do it this week but I wanted that sub 3, 800 meter.

No fuel in the gas tank?

On Wednesday morning I went out the door and did another ultra slow 50 minute run.

I Met Jake on Thursday and ran a combination of the trail and track at Forbes. 50 minutes again. Will be a while before we do this again. He will be running daily coaching sessions for his HS kids and I will run from Forbes alone or do my workouts from the house.

How slow can I train? That seems to be critical right now.

I also made sure I ate enough carbs especially that night at dinner. I believe that at times I under fuel myself (is that a saying???). Too much protein. Steaks two night in a row this past weekend. It just doesn't work. It's fun but no fuel in the gas tank.

I also wonder about 5 days a week. I will stick with it for now but it might be better for me to run Monday morning (long run), Tuesday afternoon (sprints), Thursday morning (longer run), Saturday morning (reps). This gives me 36-48 hours between workouts.

Little or no room to screw..............up

I decided to slow things back down. I have been feeling tired and slightly on the dragged out side of things. Maybe I had allowed my slow runs to get too fast (even though they were still really slow). Maybe I was inching up my daily running time on my recovery days (Yes, I was!). So today I went out in the morning and drifted for 50 minutes and kept the effort really easy...easy...easy.

I am realizing that at age 64 there is little or no room for screwing up. I am already playing with the five days a week fire. That and my hard workout are enough for now.

Ran into Ohio at the track. My pace was so slow that we were able to have a brief but detailed conversation about the NBA finals as I went by.

60 minutes

I ran for 60 minutes this morning. The weather can't last. It can't continue to be this good. Temps in the low 60's and overcast. I ran OK at best. Still tired from yesterday but I slowed down enough to complete the run without wiping myself out.

The club continues to put on the Holy City race (as in TODAY). I last ran it in 1976. It died a long time ago and often has more volunteers than participants.

Sluggo-ish 4 x 400

I felt sluggish today but went out to the track anyway. I did a 26 minute warm up with strides and and then Dimitri and I hooked up for 4 x 400. I asked that we start easy so we did the first one in 89 followed by a 88. I seem to be warming to the workout and got an 85 on the third one and 83 on the last one. I then did a slow 8 minute jog.

Still a long way from the 80 second average I am looking for but at least I held serve.

Probably will do a 1200 meter trial next week. We'll come through in 3:10 if all goes well and push the third lap.

Another 53 minutes..and another

Wednesday's run was a replication of Tuesday (almost exactly). Same general course & the same finishing time. In fact at one point of the run I began to wonder if it was still Tuesday.

Thursday:...And again. I seem to be stuck on 53 minutes and the same course.

Endless Big Loops

Amber woke me early by shoving her wet nose in my face. I am half asleep and she is already on her daily path to being the ultimate optimist; wagging her bushy tail. I stumbled out of bed, made coffee and sat around getting myself together. It was cool and overcast again. I finally got out the door and ran over to the college, did endless big loops and came back home.

53 minutes total.

Pretty Slow

Cool and overcast. I slogged through a 60 minute slow run. I could feel yesterday's workout so I ran as slow as I needed to so there was no soreness or pain. In the end that was pretty slow.

2 x 800

Key workout day over at Prospect High School. 2 x 800.

The track was basically empty except for 3 jogger women so after a 25 minute warm up including some striders, I was as ready to go as I would be. The signs hadn't been good. I had cut my finger and bumped my knee before I could even get out of the house. If I were the suspicious type, I would have bailed but instead I threw the sacred chickens overboard and ran the workout.

I settled behind Dimitri and just let him drag me through.

The first one was 3:04 with a 95 second first lap and an 89 second second.

On the next one we went through in 92 feeling much better than the last one. We then picked up slightly and ran in at 89 or 3:01 for both laps.

Jogged down for 9 minutes. 40 minutes total.

The last time we ran this it was 3:10-3:08 so this was a vast improvement.

3:09 average versus 3:02.5.

Zoo Animals

I am reading articles about people who had to take big cuts in pay to get back into the job market. The result was selling off or losing their homes, their enlarged life styles, their cable-telephone packages and of course their pride in where they were.

I will often say this. I know what it's like.

But then any animal in the zoo who thinks everything is linear gets caught like this. My pay will go up. My title will go up. My seniority will go up. The zookeepers will feed me each day at 4 pm. I can roar now and then and rev up the visitors.

Out in the wild life just doesn't work that way.

You survive as long as you can, any way you can.

No 4 pm feeding.

You eat when you bring down an animal prey. Your jaws close around its throat and you asphyxiate the thing that soon will be dinner. And even then it may not happen. Other prey animals have a way of showing up (lions for instance)who will think nothing of chasing you off and enjoying the fruits of your labor. You can't take it personally. You off looking for the next victim.

As much as possible I have adjusted my thinking about life styles and careers. I have whittled it down to the basics. I hunt, I eat. Sometimes I am the leader of the pack and more often I hunt alone. It changes day to day, week to week. I never get that attached. Certainly not to other beast of prey. I work on my hunting skills. I will collaborate if it means a meal. I am willing to share. I am even willing to help another animal hunt and let them have the meal. Especially if I am already full.

But cars. Houses. Cable packages. I have them all at various levels. I don't need much.

My car is 10 years old. 105,000 miles on it. I would like a new car. I can afford a new car.

But (and this is important)I don't need a new car. Not right now.

Beasts of prey often go long times between meals. You have to get used to being hungry at times and also enjoying the times when you have made a "kill", can roll over in the high grass and feel the sun.

Zoo animals enjoy the sun too. But they also like that 4 pm daily feeding. So they will suffer a cage or a fence.

I have recently wandered in from the wild and am enjoying living in a habitat. I have a great deal of freedom so for now whocan complain? It won't be for long though. It suits me for now (barely) but eventually I will bolt and seek the plains again.

Jakeless in Los Gatos

Jakeless today but I went to Forbes Mill anyway. The house cleaners were coming over so I had to vacate the place.

I ran a variety of different routes most of which were on soft surfaces. I dinked around for 54 minutes total. Could of gone to 55 but what's the point?

After the workout I spent the rest of the morning running errands and generally hanging out. Oh, and I changed the left rear tire on my car. I knew I was going up to see Big Bad Bill (my chiro) for an adjustment so the timing was right. The tire has a slow leak and now I can drop it off and have it fixed without tying up the car.

Early Morning Wake Up

Another early morning wake up call. Went out and slow jogged 53 minutes. Actually ran the short hills on the par course that caps one end of the track.

I used to run until my legs hurt. Now I run at a pace so that they don't hurt. Hopefully that makes sense?

52 minutes of slow

52 minutes of slow this morning.

Another action at work for late June/early July. My initial reaction was that of a Zoo Animal. The thought of it didn't panic me. It was more in the nature of wanting to know what might happen. Prey animals don't know what is going to happen. The only certainty is uncertainty. So I have shifted back to the veld.


In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight

Near the village, the peaceful village
The lion sleeps tonight
Near the village, the peaceful village
The lion sleeps tonight

Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling
The lion sleeps tonight
Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling
The lion sleeps tonight

50 minutes of recovery running

It was the day after and despite running relatively fast yesterday my legs felt really good today. I walked Amber for a warm up and then went out and ran 50 easy minutes. I made the mistake of running over to the college and "ran" (excuse the pun) right into some sort of cycling, running event that had the whole campus tied up. I doubled back and ran back to my favorite and reliable railroad tracks and circled the lake by the 7-11 and then jogged around until I was finally at 35 minutes and about 15 minutes from home.

Yes, I could have gone longer and yes, I could have run faster but right now things are working rather well so I have decided to hold things at this level. Later on I will up some of my runs to 60 minutes. Just not now.

4 x 400 again

On May 2nd I ran 4 x 400 in 92-90-90-88.

This morning I did them in 88-87-86-84. Not only were they faster but I felt stronger. I was hissing at Dimitri over the last two to pick up the last 200. Jake ran the workout too and didn't do too badly hitting all of them in the mid to high 90's with the last in 93. His fastest in a long time.

I ran 23 minutes beforehand with Jake, did some striders and ran another 10 minutes afterward.

I doubt I hit 40 minutes total. As Jake said, "Count the walking." ;-)

The Puma

Wednesday: Ran an easy 50 minutes in the morning.

I had a strange dream Wednesday night. For some reason I was on foot near El Camino Real in San Carlos. I was trying to get home to San Mateo where Sue and I first lived when we were married. I stopped to rest in the hallway of a building and must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes there was a puma standing over me. It wasn't snarling at all. Just wanting to play like a big cat. I felt some concern but no real fear and in the end I scratched its muzzle and behind its ears and it seemed content. Others came and wanted to harm it but I told them to leave the puma alone.

I woke up.....My first thought.

Coffee.

Thursday: Joined Jake at Forbes and ran two up and backs. The first was dam slow. 30 miniutes from my car. The second was a hair over 24 flat and I really felt good throughout.

Total of 54 minutes of running.

3rd day in a row

I may try some easy hills pretty soon






Jogged out the front door on this morning's run keeping it as slow as I could but after about 5 minutes I realized that I felt OK. Picked it up a touch and ran 50 minutes. Could easily have gone further. I actually passed a runner on the track!

Hallelujah

Left thigh a bit sore from God knows what. OK. Running. But I don't feel it when running. Just getting up from a chair or rolling off my other favorite perch, the bed. I took some Advil. Will ice later on.

The Big Bear Stayed Away

I went out the door on Sunday morning expecting to run 50 minutes but stayed to run an hour. My ol' legs felt recovered from yesterday and that surprised me. I kept waiting for the big bear to jump me like last week but it never came.

The air was that early morning crisp that sometimes descends heavily on the south bay this time of year. Almost like at Vashon running the peninsula. You can run it in t-shirt and shorts but you could wear gloves and long sleeves and come out as well. That's what today was like. To me this is summer. Not that hot, baking, sunlit "I love the heat" sort of day that people seem to crave.

4:46

I drove over the WVC but Dimitri and Jake told me that the track was closed (again) so we high tailed it over to Prospect. Very quiet track. Think empty. I warmed up with Jake for 23 minutes (having already done 5 minutes at home). Did some quick striders. Once again Dimitri and I agreed to 3:16-17 at the 800 and then whatever.

We went out in 96 which was a tad too fast but what the hey I thought. I kept my trap shut and Dimitri over corrected us down in the second lap so that we came through in 3:17. I came up on his shoulder which is a sign that we can pick it up. Then we went, gradually increasing the effort over the last 400 and came across the line in 4:46. An 89 second last lap.

Warmed down for 7 minutes with a few more striders and called it a day.

Jake faced the truth that he was not ready to run a 7 pace for 1200 meters and defaulted to a 200 meter workout.

Dimitri added in his usual 400 skimming to a 60 flat. Of course, like us all he wants faster.

I want faster because I feel that time is running out for me to do this sort of thing (run sub 6). I can feel the weight of aging but I also think of fast guys in their mid to late 60's and realize that I can shoehorn in more time if I stay the course.

Get under 6:20

Then get under 6:10

Then you'll know.


Anyway, I age graded the run. It's worth a 3:37 as an open runner.

Masters T&F Age-Graded Tables

The Age-Graded Factor in the 1500m for gender/age group M64 is 0.7598

A performance of 4:46 corresponds to an Open (ages 20-30) equivalent of 3:37.30

3:37 is what I would expect to be able to do if I was running a 4:50 mile.

Twice again to the dam

Forbes Mill again on Thursday morning. Beautiful day. Cool and windless. Jake and I ran up to the dam and back twice. I ran the hills but slowly. Slower than slow.

27 and change on the first up and back. 26 and a few on the second. About 53 and half minutes all together.

No calf problems (and how many times have we heard that before?) but the key was that I kept the pace easy and slow and ran the upgrades very slowly.

Breaking You Apart: But not today

Quietly ran 50 minutes this morning. I kept things slow (but then what's new about that?).

Master runners always think they can come back. As Jake said, "I wish my legs felt as good on the run as they felt in the car on the way over."

Nolan Shaheed has it right (IMHO). Just try to beat what you did last year.

You are always in a retreat. Age is relentless that way. Time and wear and tear are trying to break you apart. You win by showing up. So many others have fallen by the wayside. Their knees or hips or backs won't let them run anymore. It'll break you too. Just not today.

Soft Surfaces

I showed up at Forbes this morning and ran for 53 minutes. My legs actually felt reasonably good. I ran up the trail to the dam, getting to the top in 15 minutes (and change) and then came back down in 12 minutes. That added to my endless circling of the high school track kept most of the run on soft surfaces.

I may be overdoing this diet thing. I felt the lack of carbs which led to a slight cratering on my Sunday 60 minute run and again on Monday. I ate pasta last night and again tonight. I want to get my weight down but not at the cost of energy to fuel my so-called running. I am and continue to be a running, idiot savant.

Drag Ass 60 minutes

I beat the worst of the heat and ran a very slow 60 minutes today. I was out on the road around 7:30 AM. My legs were tired from yesterday.

I stumbled on an article about Frank Condon. He ran a 5:12 mile at age 66! Lives up in Chico, California. He runs 4 days a week. Two days in the park and two days on the track. There may be something for me to learn from him. I am obviously not his ability but just to hit my menial goal of breaking 6 minutes will require luck and skill.

If I ran one day of 100's and one day of my rep workout that would be my two days on the track. The other two could be 45-60 minute easy runs on the road. I might be fresher. As it was, I was drag assing around today.

Tough to break 6 but my real goal is 5:48. It will take a year to get there.

2 x 800

I went to WVC this morning, met Dimitri and warmed up for 25 minutes including striders.

The workout was 2 x 800 followed by 1 x 400.

We ran the 800's in 3:10-3:08 with a lap walk in between. Then Dimitri ran a 400 in 60 while I jogged some more. I almost didn't run the 400 but at the last moment I decided that I had to get by this inertia that makes me a coward.

I ran an 83.9 and felt really in control (no pushing).

The total workout including jogging around was 40 minutes.

And another

Ran "another" 50 minutes and felt good. Ran/walked to the dam in 15:30 and then came down in 12 minutes (all the way back to my car). Continued over to the school track jogged over there for a while.

Jake ran today. Whoa! Two days after his arrhythmia procedure. Breakfast afterward.

Talked big about going to 6 days.

Do I really want to do that?

At work (again)
:
I understand that there are 3 levels in my game

1. The cage

2. The habitat

3. The wild

There are good and bad things about all three but in the first two I am fed by someone else. In the last, I kill my own food. Presently, I am in the second level but I need to morph to the 3rd level to be effective.

Another good day

Ran another 50 minutes this morning. Cool and sunny but it's not supposed to remain that way. Heat in the forecast.

Once again my legs felt good. Two days in a row.

Two faster runners on the track. An Asian woman with a welders helmet sun visor and some young whippet who was tearing up the track on the inside lane.

Feeling Good

I rolled out of bed this morning, drank coffee (fuel of choice) and ran 50 minutes but not at the usual slow-slow pace that has become my trademark. I actually moved along after the first 5 minutes and felt pretty good. Who knows what the per mile was on this thing and who cares. It was nice just to feel decent and today I felt good.

The weather co-opted and stayed sunny and cool with almost no wind to speak of. One could go high on the mountain on a day like this.

Ready to go

I took the day off and drove with my son to Santa Rosa. Had lunch with my mother and then drove back. Nice seeing my mother but also sitting in the shade next to a deli and having a Macanudo cigar. It was at Oakmont and it was peaceful and quiet and million miles away from Silicon Valley.

When we got back to the house around 4 pm I went in and took an unplanned nap. Felt even better afterward.

I feel ready to go running-wise. Ready to go.

Jake made a comment at breakfast the other day.

I wish my legs felt as good during a workout as they did while I was driving over to the workout.

That could be the masters mantra but I pretty much have cease to care. The delta between how my legs feel when I am out for a run is very different (as in BIG) than how they feel when I hit the track to actually train.

60 minutes of slow

I ran the slowest of the slow this morning. 60 minutes of jogging. My wife mentioned that she saw me out running and noted that I didn't look very much like the runner she met on the February day 29 years ago. What she meant was that my style of running pretty much stunk out the joint. I agreed with her and mentioned that along with my age related slowdown I had added in my self imposed how slow could I run style.

I admit that I would happy running 3 miles of faster stuff rather than 6 miles of slow-slow but I am worried that I would simply bust my calf again.

The path of the world class master runner is lonely and slow.

2 x 600

West Valley College. Cool but getting warmer rather quickly. I met Dimitri and warmed up for 25 minutes with striders. Then ran 2 x 600 meters in 2:14-2:15. 10 Minute easy jog afterward. 40 minutes total.

The club was running 400's and we got tangled up in their workout at the start line but otherwise it was all good. The first 600 was tougher than the second one. I tend to warm into the workout. I felt like I could have run a 3rd one if I had chose to.

Dimitri then went and ran a 59 second 400 so he had a great day. Mine was on course. I did what I said I wanted to do. I have a long way to go.

Keeping it real

I ran 50 minutes at lunch on Tuesday. It wasn't what I would call HOT but it was in the mid to high 70's and humid. Still the run felt good and I had to hold back. Nice breeze in the Baylands kept it real.

I came right back Thursday morning and slow danced the dam loop and adding in another 15 minutes for a total of 45 easy minutes. Jake did the loop with me walking the hill. It was my first run to the bottom of the dam since late 2008.

Work has been boring lately. We all seem to be waiting for the other sandal to drop but it hasn't.

Rain softly but steadily

The weather has warmed up again while the universe tries to decided if it is spring or still winter.

I rolled out of bed early (for me), had some coffee and went out and ran 50 slow minutes. I got about 100 meters down the road and it began to rain softly but steadily. It wasn't a cold rain so it was actually refreshing.

Do You Want To Be A Millionaire

The following is not mine. It is floating around the web.



Dear Mr. President:

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy.
Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander
the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the
following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered - Auto
Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing
Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their
constituents pay their taxes...


Of course it is moronic for many reasons. It goes against everything this country believes in (but still, a million dollars...wow!)

Let's see, pay the taxes, end up with about $500,000 apiece. Just enough for a newly minted class of "dumb" millionaires to get into real financial trouble. So I pay off my 250K mortgage (hypothetical) buy a nice big American car and I have around 200K left. How do I live on that with a 0-3% annual return on investment (ROI).

No question the million will have to be tax free. Now you have 700K but still with present interest rates...uh, how do you live on that much money?

So I have to buy an American car?

I have my million and I am still working. How about just you paying off my house, you keep your American car and I will take it from there.

There is no free lunch.

Where is John Galt? (Not who is..but where is?)

Slow is a Bottomless Hole

I finished off the week with a 50 minute very slow run. I find that if I keep it slow enough (and slow is a bottomless, dark hole) I can recover well enough.

4 x 400

I got myself over to West Valley, warmed up for 20 minutes and did some quick striders. Then Dimitri and I launched into my goal pace, let's get used to 90 second pace, 400's. The club was down on the track too doing 200 meters. We avoided getting too tangled up with their workout.

I asked for and got 92-90-90-88. Walked a lap between each. Dimitri did a great job of leading me though. I felt much better than last Saturday. 10 minute slow slow warm down.

Strangely, for May, it is raining even though it held off during the workout. Not heavy rain. More of a lead colored sky with a drizzle machine left on. Even the sky is conserving water.

I own the track

I drove over to Forbes Mill and ran 45 minutes of slow stuff while Jake walked. He ran hard this past weekend and hasn't recovered yet.

The track was almost deserted. Several workout women and personal trainers mostly. I had the track to myself.

At the front: We are not invading the steppes just yet. In my underutilized way I have fallen back from the border and am staying very tactical. It's a good time to sharpen swords and clean our firearms. I need to know the lay of the land. Hard to go on without knowing exactly where Damascus is.

50 minutes of fierce, windy running

I drove out to Sunnyvale Baylands and ran at lunch. Because I still too cheap to buy a parking sticker I had to park my car at the ball field lot next door. The wind was blowing something fierce but I got in a good 50 minutes with 6 x 100 strides towards the end. Outside of the last part, the pace was abysmal and slow. I am dieting my way down to racing weight which means that even if I eat enough calories to cover the run and my goal weight (1400), I am deficiting. So I am a bit on the weaker side. The pain dujour is my back and hip. Nothing too bad but annoying. If it continues, I will go see Big Bill.

In regards to the latest Damascus opportunity. I have looked closely and evaluated the chances of being the mainspring of something important but it's not there. At least not in a way that I could be effective. The CTO has the relationships. He is the influencer, not me. Over time I have abdicated too much. I have a very decent relationship with him but he is not my prophet. I am going to have to settle for a very minor role. If a greater opportunity comes along I will look and see if it is doable. Otherwise, my sphere of influence is minor. When I came back inside I knew that this would probably be the case. My role will be more as a doer and less as an initiator. That and being a now and then seer or oracle to those in power.

45 minute Pitty Pat

I pitty patted around for 45 minutes this morning. It's late April and the weather is winterish. Cool, breezy and overcast. I ran over to the track and ran the outside lane and walked the short par course hill. My legs seem to be "over" the nicks and scrapes of last week. At least for now. I find that if I run slow enough I hardly feel the effort. I may feel sluggish at times but not beat up.

The Life of a Cheetah

For me, survival in Silicon Valley is often like being a cheetah. Not the zoo type that gets fed every day at 4 pm but the ones on the plains of the Serengeti. The ones that have to hunt for their own food.

It is being fast, agile and adaptable.

It is realizing that two out of three times, when you bring down prey, hyenas, jackals or lions will chase you off and eat your kill.

It is realizing that when you make a kill, you did it on your own. For a brief time you don't owe anything to another creature except the one you killed. It is the fiercest type of independence.

Today, the strange thing happened. One of our chiefs, a VP, had a heart attack in an European Airport. He went down at the ticket counter. Luckily several doctors were nearby but they had to defib him twice to get his heart going again. Tomorrow he have a bypass (or is it already tomorrow there?)

At work, a gap in leadership has formed, yawning wide open so I can see it's ugly throat. The sub-chiefs, the next line, are stepping up and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will help but he will not lead. He can't stand the pressure. Easier to stand off a bit and criticize. I am not blaming him. He sees the problems well enough but he won't fill that gap.

It is there waiting.

Is is sizable and sustainable? It is the one in three or the other two?

Lawrence in the desert. 1916. Wadi Hafra.

"How do you like our place?" the tall pillar-like man asks.

Well, but it is far from Damascus.

45 minutes in Golden Gate Park

I drove up to Golden Gate Park with Shel. We met up with Bob Bean. Cool but sunny morning. There was a 5K DSE race in the offing but I chose to run around the Polo Fields and up and down the flatter sections of the road bordering the fields. I jogged 45 minutes at a slow pace. Legs felt a bit stiff but not overly tired from yesterday's time trial. Still think I would be better off if I ran every other day but for now I will stay the course.

3:03:95

I got my ass over to West Valley Track. Cool but sunny morning. Dimitri showed up and we jogged for 20 minutes. I felt sluggish but we did the 800 meter time trial anyway. I hung on for a 96 first lap and didn't feel that fresh. Mr. "D" picked up the second lap (at my request) and gaped me immediately but I was able to work my way back up and hang on for a 87 second last lap and a "just under" 3:03:95 final time. I was struggling a bit down the stretch but pulled myself back together and crossed the line without staggering. The good news was the time which was a 6 second improvement over last week and that fact that my recovery was relatively quick.

Ran a 10 minute easy jog afterward.

Happy with the time but not with the way I felt.

Forbes Mill Two Step

50 minutes from Old Forbes Mill. All of it was slow. I thought briefly about adding in some strides but decided that the better part of valor was to just two step my way through the workout. It was all over by 9 am and Jake and I went to breakfast afterward.

The weather had cooled down significantly overnight.

30 minutes

Waiting for a the corporate equivalent of a war is mostly boredom. My father, who was in the South Pacific during WWII told me about the very same thing. Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of intense action.

It was good to get out in the late afternoon for 30 minutes of slow running at the Saratoga Track. Still warm but not like the last several days. It had been months since I had last joined the Wednesday night group. I showed up like some wraith from another past (certainly not mine!). I was everyman who rose up one last time for one last run, cheating injury and illness for the moment.

I use to worry about sleep. As a runner, I was possessed by the thought that if I didn't get 8 good hours a night that I would be useless the next day. I still value sleep but I no longer obsess about it. It is a luxury born on the wave of being at peace with oneself. I am comfortable with who I am, to be sure, but I am not at peace. I don't think I am wired that way. Besides, philosophically I know that I will sleep the sleep of the dead for an eternity and that living longer or sleeping more will do little to enhance my enjoyment of life. My friends drone on about how long they are going to live (based on their life style and their parentage......boring!!!!).

Sitting on a couch staring at my (future) grand kids. Now that is scary. Nailing down my family with grand child ogling events. That is death before death.

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Jack London

Hammering Who?

The generals are all coming to the same conclusion. If we invade and are successful, do we want our present leader to be the winner???? He has shown little or no capability in this area and if expand our territory three X, is he the guy we want to rule us?

Probably not.

I think the enemy are willing to let us walk in and take over as long as they have a say as to who our eventual ruler is if things begin to fall apart.

We all seem to get it except our leader and his most trusted advisor (he who shall be unnamed).

I have drawn off into the desert on the right flank, staying in loose communication with GHQ but contenting myself with a diminished role for now. If I get restless we conduct a raid and blow up some track. Nothing too dangerous. Trying to avoid inactivity and rust. I am fighting a very small war. A side show of a side show. I am out of touch with most of the generals except my own.

For now I have told Allenby that this is not a good time to keep saying "Hammer them, Harry! Hammer them!"

Hammer who?

The Road to Sub 6

Tuesday

Early alarm. Had some coffee while Amber eyed me suspiciously. Say what? Why up so early???? her "look" seemed to say. Amber is a dog so no words allowed. Just barks.

I headed out just around 7 am and ran for 45 minutes. Walked Amber afterwards. Avoided the heat.

Another one of those-them birthdays cropped up. So begins my last year of work as I know it.

Think Attila The Hun

If the story of Oracle taking over Sun comes to pass then you can be sure of several things.

There Will Be Blood

No Country for Old Men

In speaking of the Peoplesoft and Siebel acquisitions:

Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce.com, which sells hosted CRM systems that compete with products from SAP, Oracle and Siebel, wasted no time in criticizing that plan.

"Oracle's strategy is simple. Instead of innovating, buy as much installed software as possible, call it all Oracle Fusion, and make sure it all uses Oracle's database," Benioff said in a statement Monday. "Now, the same thing that happened to PeopleSoft will happen to Siebel; it will die."

Solaris will be the target of this deal. I believe Oracle will quickly and ruthlessly make the tough decisions that Sun was unable to make. Anything that doesn't make money will be slashed.

Think Attila the Hun.

If I were a Sun employee in a non essential area, I would begin to look for my next zoo now.

Bright Shiny Things

Bright shiny things. It is a repetitive concept. Invasions are like that. No matter how many of these I go through, it is always the same. Oh, variations but on the same theme. As I mentioned in a recent post it is a bit like invading Russia especially when it is 3-4 times larger than the forces you are bringing to bear.

It's best not to invade Russia at all. Historically you will fail. The odds are small.

But if this is the direction you are going to take you need to ask yourself some tough questions and also look at reality. Most of us corporate types put on the gloves and just go at it saying "It's the right thing to do."

When you invade Russia (metaphor, no one is invading Russia so get over it) you need to know who is your general on the ground? Who will be there to make sure that the campaign has a chance. Who will own it?

Are you going to let the Russians handle the invasion? Of course your campaign will never get off the ground but this is exactly what we did the last time around. It didn't work out at all.

Don't let the Italians handle the invasion. They look good, wear nice uniforms and like the idea of a good fight but not if they have to get bloody. Think Italy in World war Two.

Just because you are invading Russian doesn't mean that it will stop being Russia.

Right now I am observing an inner circle, making decisions on important things, who have little or no campaign experience. The inner circle is too inner. How's that for a word? Walked out of work the other evening. Two of them standing there talking, revved up like sports cars. I did my invisibility thing. I passed by, not making eye contact. It's an art.

I am an admitted skeptic. I believe, based on my observations, that an empire will fall if we cross the River Halys. It will be our kingdom, not the other guys.

Am I actually Moving Forward?

Friday

Ran 30 slow slow slow minutes in the morning. Wondered several times, Am I actually moving forward? Walked Amber afterward.

Saturday

I met Dimitri over at Saratoga track. We warmed up for 20 minutes, did some striders and then ran a 800 meter trial. I kept my eyes off the stop watch and stayed right behind the D man and kept focused. Dimitri slowed at the end of the first lap, more of a hesitation really, and said something about the pace being too fast. I told him not to worry about it and keep the tempo up.

We crossed in 3:09 and change. A big improvement over last week. Good progress. I felt the same as last week when I ran 3:21. I know it won't continue in gulps like this but I can begin to see 3:00 flat and that eventually leads to 4:30 for 1200.

After the 800, we jogged down for 10-11 minutes and then went to breakfast.

Sunday

The weather is heating up. Summer sending it's warning. The drums beating. I ran 60 minutes with a 4-1 run-walk ratio to keep things easy. I walked Amber prior to the run and gave myself an easy 20 minute leg stretching.

The rules are different for old runners.

There is no forcing it. Any movement forward is valuable. Recovery is vital.

Invading Russia: A Metaphor

An army is trying to invade Russia in the hopes that it can take Moscow before the winter settles in. Think Napoleon in 1812. What they are taking on is much larger than they presently are. The Mongols did it but then they were fast, agile, mobile and came from the East.

This army is coming from the West.

Somehow the prognosticators have done the math and figured it all out.



Napoleon did the math too.

I may be there going in but I won't be there coming back out. I already know what the winters in Russia are like.

Ol' Tall Steve

I actually got out at lunch and ran an easy 40 minutes in the baylands. I came upon "tall" Steve, my ol' running partner from 10 years back. He was getting over a hamstring pull. We chatted fro a few minutes and agreed to hook up given that we could both stay uninjured. Steve and I ran some hard runs together but both of us have been going through evil times as of late.

At the finish, I lined and ran 4 striders of 20 second each. I walked back for recovery.

Shell Game

More and more of my sleep is taking place out on the couch in the living room. I sit out there and read until I can't keep my eyes open anymore and then when I am in full nodding mode, I go to bed. Last night I fell asleep again on the couch and woke up in the early morning when Amber shifted onto her pillow creeping in from her hallway spot.

I thought about not running once I staggered out of bed but decided to go anyway. My work schedule seemed too crowded around noon time to have a relaxed run. I ran-walked 40 minutes. The ratio was 4 minutes running to one minute walking. Very Galloway. After a half hour of this I was finally felt awake enough and I decided to run in the last 10 minutes.

Work has been a let down. Meetings cancelled and moved like a shell game. "Where is the real meeting? Which shell is it under?"

Lunch ended up being wide open. I spend most of the day thinking about that big, computer screen sized slab of milk chocolate that Sue gave me for Easter.

Geronimo and the Christians

Geronimo!

Easter Sunday in Silicon Valley

I walked Amber for 25 minutes and then went out and ran 50 minutes with all the other non Christian weekend warriors. Actually there weren't many to be seen.

I stayed away from the local church parking lots. Christians have a tendency to drive rather blindly after encountering God. Which reminds me of my salad days as a runner back in the late 1970's when I used to run by the Los Gatos Christian Church on my Sunday log run. Woe be to he (or she) who was in the way of God's faithful flock when services got out. The cars seemed to be spring loaded and if you were in the way, there was a good chance you would simply become part of the pavement.

The bad news in our area is that we have Asian-Christians so there is a double chance of becoming road kill. I tried dressing up as Jesus but that didn't work at all. Then they seemed to aim at me with purpose. The next step was simple avoidance.

3:21

Got up early. I did 22 minutes easy jogging. The last part was with Dimitri at the West Valley track. Then we ran a simple 800 meter trial.

1:41-1:40 which equaled 3:21. Age graded it is a 2:34.

A very even effort. Not at all exhausting.

We did a mile warm down as slow as possible.

Cool, sunny and very little wind.


So far

3:30
3:21

Long way to go.......

The Track Was Mine

I rolled out of bed at 6:30, grabbed some coffee and dialed in the the deal conference call. It was the first time both transitions team were talking about next steps. Except the next steps are to have a hand shake deal and a letter of intent and we're simply not there yet. The troops are massed at the border but what if we give a war and no one comes?

This will be Thursday's for the foreseeable future. Early morning meetings while we all revel in how tough we are as the exhaustive process begins to pave over our private lives. I plan to gulch (as I have done with politics) and stay away from the frenzy as much as possible and focus on exactly what we need to do. Truth be told, I really don't want to do all of this. I was simply looking for a quiet year but instead I have stepped into the whirlwind. It's strange. My time may be up but I still want the ball.

This morning after the call, I drove over to Old Forbes Mill and ran an easy 35 minutes with 6 x 100 striders thrown in for good measure. Except for one other runner the track was mine. Windy and some light showers. School empty for some unfathomable holiday.

Easter week?

45 minutes

I ran early, covering a slow 45 minutes. Nothing beautiful in my form. Just a slog but glad to out there anyway. It is hard to know if my physical self will be able to do what my mind says it wants my body to do.

I arrived at work later than usual. I could feel things getting tight. Spiraling and clenching because of the deal in the works. I can see the people around me getting into the normal, crazy rhythm. 10 cents a dance.

Start

Stop

Go fast

Slow down

There's no deal yet. It will be coming soon enough like the Teutonic Knights in Alexander Nevsky. We just need to stand still and wait for the barbarian to arrive at the gates.

Zoo animals will huddle in their cages or endlessly repeat the commands of the keepers so they get fed. The beasts of prey will roam free waiting for the night and then they will hunt. In the end we're headed west. So far west that we'll end up in the old far east. In a year we'll know.

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.”

The Lion and the Jackal

I went out in the cool of the morning and ran 50 minutes very slowly. Running slow deadens the legs but seems to keep them from getting reinjured.

I met another beast of prey today. John sent her my way. Definitely not a zoo animal. She was not looking for a home but "hunting" opportunities. I sometimes wonder why I am back in a habitat. Good range of freedom but eventually you do hit a fence. Then you can't go any further. I haven't hit that fence yet or at least no so that I can see it.

Talking to a colleague today. She is being punished for being a lion. She is really caged in but then she plays the zoo game including who gets the largest cage and who gets the biggest peace of meat. She fights with other zoo animals. She is a caged female lion who has unwittingly allied herself with a jackal and wonders why her keeper gets annoyed with her.

She is a lion who acts like a jackal. That's why.

So here is the message I have not sent her (yet).

I am reminded of the tale of the lion and the jackal.

There was a lion in the zoo who fought unceasingly with other zoo animals. Now this lion belonged out on the Serengeti hunting for prey but had decided that the zoo was a comfortable place and that she could easily play the game of who had the largest cage and who got the biggest piece of meat. Now most of the other zoo animals didn't like the lion because they knew she had once been a beast of prey and had not been brought up as a zoo animal. To top this off the lion often was seen in the company of a jackal and even the other lions thought less of her because of this. Whenever the jackal felt impugned upon it would rush over to the lions cage and screech and laugh like only jackals can. Except those who know the jackal know that the laughter is not because it is happy. It is just a sound it can make. It sounds like one thing but means another.

Other jackals made of fun of the lion because they hated lions in general and particularly this one because once it had been beast of prey. The lion expected her friend the jackal to defend her but this jackal thought it knew how to play both sides: The jackal side and the lion side. It told the lion what it wanted to hear and the jackals what they wanted to hear.

This set up a great deal of commotion at the zoo (because that was what the place was) and eventually the zoo keeper went to see the lion to tell her that she had better behave. In the end the lion was very confused because she knew that she was losing the thing that made her a lion and she was also losing that which had made her a mighty and fearless hunter out on the Serengeti.

The strangest thing was that this zoo had no doors on the cages and the lion could have escaped and gone out into the wild anytime it wanted to but it chose to stay because the zoo was such a comfortable place.

If you can't measure it, don't eat it

I am not overweight but I believe I am heavier than I need to be. 135 pounds would be "ideal". That is about 1350-1400 calories a day for my base metabolism and then I can add in calories that I earn either running or walking. On the intake side it is rather firm. If you can't measure it, don't eat it or something like that. There is some slack there but when I stoke up on almonds when I get home from work and don't know what that means, I am headed for trouble.

I earn about 6 calories a minute walking and 12, running. This is rough but is based on my own personal experience measuring the effect of exercise on maintaining or losing weight.

So, if I am on track and drink a coke which is 150 calories I need to do an extra 12.5 minutes of running or 25 minutes of walking that week to offset the calories if this is over and above my planned intake.

I can remember doing this back in 2005 and for the first part of the program I was constantly hungry but over time I adjusted and lost 11 pounds (149 down to 138).

I don't know the starting point because I haven't stepped on the scale in quite a while. I will have to take that step soon and then I will know where I am and where I have to go.

I ran 45 minutes this morning and threw in a sub-tempo 800 meter trial. I ran an even paced 3:30 which was no big thing. A starting point for the 3 flat I hope to run in the future. I was surprised because when you run a whole bunch of workouts at a pace that a snail would disdain, you begin to wonder if you have the ability to run faster (note: not fast..just faster) if you ask your body to ramp it up.

48 minutes

Sunny but windy today at lunch time. Windy as in very windy. I went over to Baylands Park and ran (if it could be called running) for 48 minutes. Three Asian runners whipped by me going the other way talking about manintaining a 9 minute pace. And to think I used to fly along at a 6:30 pace with ease. I have idea what today's pace was like but I doubt it was ever under 10 minutes a mile.

Still, it was nice to be out there.

THE SLOWEST RUNNER IN THE BAYLANDS!

TA DA!

After I completed the workout, I stood downwind and let the breeze blow dry my hair.

On The Trail

I ran an easy 45 minutes from Old Forbes Mill. I ran some of the lower dam trail which is relatively flat but then went over to the track to run the rest of the workout.

BUT!!!!

There was a maintenance man pushing a loud gasoline powered machine that was blowing leaves and dirt off of the track surface. I ran a few laps and realized that I wasn't having much fun, so I headed back up to the trail taking the left fork. It was generally flat except for one short sharp hill which I prudently walked.

It was girls with dogs day on the trail. I guess most of the guys were out working for a living. It wasn't just girls with dogs but girls with long hair with dogs. A double-double.

I did get in the 45 minutes running as slow as I could. The weather was near perfect. Cool, sunny and almost no wind.

Breakfast (on me) with Jake afterward.

Marshal Ney: Merger Czar

I was going to be the merger czar at work but today I was relieved of that job because one of the execs wants to run the show. My boss was not happy abut it but I had warned him that this is the new shiny bright thing and I was fine in stepping aside and just working the HR side of things. Mergers are a like fresh meat out on the Serengeti. All sorts of prey animals (AKA...New Friends) show up for a piece of the action. Of course I wanted to head this up. Good players want the ball in their hands. It's their nature.

The problem is that the exec they CEO chose is like Napoleon allowing Marshal Ney to general much of the battle of Waterloo. Ney was the Bravest of the Brave but not a great general. The CFO just doesn't lead or communicate very well and mergers need good generals. He will say he is the general but in the end it will look more like an armed mob than an organized effort. Luckily he has some good officers under his command and they will do their best to deliver.

I have to hope our Marshal Ney will be successful. The fate of the last one was rather final in nature.




In the old days a merger like this would be call The Show. Roughly translated it is the Western Front of the business world.

No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The outcome will be random in nature because there is a random characteristic to mergers and a randomness to the company I work for. I knew that coming back in.

I will ride off into the desert with my tribesmen "as usual" and let the big general run the big army. We'll stay on the flank and away from the heavy guns. Lately I seem to be spending more and more time out there anyway.

Went for it

I went for it today. I ran 45 minutes very slowly and non stop (well a bathroom stop, perhaps). I also threw in 4 x 100 in 20 seconds on average. The 100's were easy to carry off. No strain at all.

My achilles felt fine. I hate to say it but putting the heel lifts back in my street shoes seem to have alleviated the tightness.

This evening Sue and I went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. It was fairly dead for a Monday night but towards the end of the dinner three E-staff's trooped in from different companies. Obviously it was BOD (Board of Director) meeting time. End of the quarter and all of that. One team raided their glasses to the toast "One Team" or all for one and one for all as long as it is me. Gag me with a spoon!

I always prefer the Inner Circle over the BOD but then that's me.

What A Heel I Am

Jack Lovelock-Miler



I finally had to give in and put heel lifts back in each shoe. Running and otherwise. My right achilles was just way too temperamental and even if it's only for the time being, it takes the load off of the heel. The transition needs to be more gradual. I will have to watch my calves which have not bothered me during this whole period.

I walked Amber for about 20 minutes this morning and then went and walked another 40 minutes by myself.

The question that lurks is what can I run for the mile. I have to stabilize my achilles and both calf's to have a chance. I would like a sub-6 which is equivalent to running a sub 4:40 at age 30. Just before the end of the year I ran a 4:50 1320 and believed myself to be in sub-6:30 shape (and I was hardly racing. It was a solo time trial).

Given than I can avoid injuries this is what I think I will need:

Some mileage but not much. 3-4 miles a day, four days a week will do it with one 6-7 miler for "strength". I need to not obsess about mileage.

Time trials over 800 meter, 1200 meters and 1600 meters. Gradually pulling the time down until I can see that I have a chance. I ran a 3:08 in December and felt strong doing it. Another solo effort. If I can hit 3:00 then I can try to work down to 4:30 at 1200.

A pacer now and then to help. Dimitri has offered to do this for me. It is The Bannister Touch.. He had Chateway and Brasher.

Some Progress

I got out early this morning and ran 25 minutes non stop (ya-hoo!!!!!). I then ran another 15 minutes with three 1 minute walks inserted in to break things up. The achilles is "there" but not painful. Just slightly tender. I will continue to monitor it.

The De Anza track was pretty much empty. There was very plump (OK..fat) women who was walking with a friend. The fat woman kept blabbing on at a steady rate and her friend, soft spoken and slender, murmured in response.

I drove over and had breakfast with the club afterward. There was a lively discussion on whether Hitler could have ever successfully invaded England in the early years of WWII.

I quote (God knows who).


Could the British navy have stopped the invasion?
Britain did, it's called the Battle of Britain.

Would the Germany air force be able to hold off the British navy?
First it would have had to destroy the RAF, but it lost to them. Hence the Battle of Britain.

Did the British navy have any large air craft carriers like the Americans and Japanese? Loads, but sea based aircraft were unecessary so close to land.

Would the British have used poison gas to defend their island?
It's possbile. It wasn't particularly effective in WWI.

Would the Soviets have attacked the Germans while they were bogged down in Britan? It was impossible for the Germans to get to Britain, they lost the battle of Britain. However the Soviets were building up to attack Germany but would have liked to wait a few years. Each month that went by Soviet production was catching German up. The germans knew this so started an early war.

Getting Slaughtered

Back to Forbes Mill this morning and the slowest runner on the track experience. I jogged over to the Los Gatos Track and then proceeded to run as slowly as I could for twenty minutes straight. I took a short break and then finished the last 20 minutes with 4 on and 1 off segments until I was at 40 minutes total. My competition was a very slender woman with long blond hair who zipped around the track passing me multiple times. If she had even noticed, she was slaughtering me every several laps. That was how slow I was forcing myself to run.

Went for breakfast with Jake afterward.

Upping The Ante

Saratoga High Track





I took a day off from work and decided to go out and run at the Saratoga High Track. I upped the ante a bit and ran 5 minutes on and one minute off through a half hour and then shifted to 4 and 1 until 40 minutes. All was well except my right achilles. No pain but it is slightly swollen. The slant board has left its calling card.

I then ran 2 x 100 meters surprising myself with an 18 followed by a 17.

Saratoga Track is a zoo, by the way. Around 5 pm the place is a still filled with students suing the field for various sports, runners and walkers meandering or zigzagging across the track blissfully unaware of anyone running there. I find myself constantly changing lanes to avoid the masses. At any rate it is a very popular track but frankly I just don't enjoy running there. Danny does, because he is both coach and mayor of the track

Be the mayor, I told him. A few minutes later I lost him to some nice young thing (a blond) who joined him for his Tuesday 200 meter workout.

As for me, I am everyman when I run there. The slowest man on the track.

Picking up the pace

I picked up the pace of my recovery, running and walking 40 minutes this morning. For the first 30 minutes I did 4 minutes of jogging with one minute of walking. After 30 minutes I shifted to one minute "on" (run) one minute "off" (walk). My legs seemed fine.

Cool and crisp weather.

I emailed Dimitri on my recovery plans and he has agreed to help me do some time trials. I have no idea where I am on all of this having not run anything significant for quite some time.

40 Minutes of Something

Life is piling up. At work, I have been made the Merger Czar for some potential acquisitions. Can't say much more than that. Hopefully we come out the winner in all of this Barbarians At The Gate episodic corporate game playing. I have been though a overly large number of these in the past. Few work out in the long run. But the grow or become irrelevant drums are beating hard. And my job is to focus on making the integration process work if one (or more) of these decides to become reality. If (it is a big "if")I also get the book deal my life will be a slag heap of work. Hell, if I don't get the deal it will be a slag heap.

Strange dream #2. I am in an auditorium listening to a speaker. There are many peple in the room sitting quietly listening to the guy behine the lenctern. Right Wing Republican is sitting one row in front of me raising his hand and waving it around trying to distract the speaker but no one seems to notice him. The speaker keeps on speaking and even though Right Wing draws a few looks basically folks ignore him. I wake up.


On the running front, I regained 40 minutes of something. In this case something was 40 minutes of 35-25's. I preceded this with 15 minutes of walking with Amber the wonder dog. Now am I sure that Brian will have me stay at 40 and close up the walking gaps with running until I can run 40 minutes with no problems.