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.