4 x 200

I did a 15 minute easy shakedown run this morning around the neighborhood, as usual. Then drove to Foothill College to meet D. The parking lot was full of cars. There was a cycling event going on and as a result parking from free. The nice thing was the track was as semi-deserted as always. The 72 year old race walker was there pounding out an 8K time trial. He is one tough mother....


I warmed up for another 15 minutes and then launched a few striders to get ready for my main workout. The menu called for 4 x 200 faster than goal pace. I ran the first one in 38 and as usual sucked wind afterward. The second one was 37 and I felt better at the finish. No sucking wind this time. The third one was another 38. I did let up a bit on the front 100 on that one. The last one was a strong 37 but it had me bent over at the finish.

I jogged down for 20 minutes partially with D who had finished his workout which was 1 x 600 and 1 x 500. Both were good times for him. Better than he has been running.

Had Mocha Frap light and a blueberry scone at Starbucks after the workout.

None and one

Ran and walked myself through 60 minutes this morning. 9 minutes of running, one minute of walking. Legs still recovering from yesterday. I plan to take Saturday off and run Sunday.

79 second 400

Ran 70 minutes this morning with 60 minutes of it in the company of my good buddy Danny. We went to the track mid run, did some strides and then we got on the line for a fast 400. I told Danny I was going to lead us through the first 200 in 41-42 and when we started I took off and pushed down the backstretch hitting the 200 in 41. I didn't want a replay of the slow first 200 of the week before. I told Danny to lead us in. He is simply faster than me in the sense of pure speed and I knew we would both do better if he took over. We clipped across the finish line in 79 which meant we had covered the last 200 in 38.

I worked on form over the last 100 because I had begun to feel a bit ragged but as soon as I focused on lifting my legs and driving my arms, I felt better. Turns out Danny was doing the same.

Afterward we had a discussion about how both us preferred negative splits and that we should train ourselves to run that way even though classic 800 meter runners often run the first lap 1-2 seconds faster than the last lap.

70 minutes

Ran ten minutes around the neighborhood and then drove to WVC and ran another 60 minutes with Danny. To make it way easy we walked 1 minute in 10 and kept the pace really slow. Could not believe the weather. Sunny but cool (high 50's).

Good recovery from Sunday. Legs felt better than usual because of the extra day off. I asked him if we could shift to Tuesday-Thursday when possible. It helps to have that extra day off after Sunday.

3 x 300

I got out early and ran 10 minutes around the neighborhood. Then drove over to Foothill to meet with D. I jogged another easy 15 before doing some stride-outs. Ran a high 17 second 100 strider which told me that all was right in the universe.

The workout goal was 3 x 300.

I ran the first one in 61 which was the throw away rep. Had to bend over and drag air into my lungs because it is always a bit of a shock at first. Plus this was the first time I had run this distance at pace.

The second one was 60 seconds and was MUCH easier. Recovered very quickly.

I ran the third one in 59 and that was easiest of all.

Jogged 15 minutes easy and called it a day.

50 minutes easy

I decided to back off and only ran 50 minutes this morning. I checked out the college track and it is still open for business. I ran into my walker friend and he mentioned that he had heard that the par course hill will be leveled in the renovation of the track. I'll have to get used to not having it around. There are enough other hills in Cupertino. Still, I'll miss it.

1:48 - 500

Another WVC run with Danny. I ran 10 minutes locally and then drove over and met Danny. We ran an easy 30 minutes and then did some quick striders prior to a 500 meter trial.

We came through the 200 in 44 and picked up the next 200 to hit the 400 in 87 and then pushed the last 100 to finish up in 1:48. I was hoping for a 85-1:46 but it wasn't in the cards. I felt like I was laboring and so did Danny. Not the smooth flow of last week.

But as they say, it was what it was.

We then completed 60 minutes of running (including the 500). It was getting warm as we cooled down.

70 minutes total for me.

Sore Quad 75 minute run

Back to back days. I ran 15 minutes ahead of time and then drove over to WVC and ran another 60 minutes with Danny. My right quad is sore for some unknown reason but I can run with little or no discomfort. I feel it more just walking around. Maybe it is the big (not!) Fort Mason hill. As we were running it yesterday, Shel reminded me of how we used to scamper up that thing back in the day. It's not very long but I guess it is steep grade.

This picture (from a different race) just about captures the crowd around us as we ran the hill. I have become them.

Fort Mason Hill from the east side

DSE Run

I ran around the neighborhood for ten minutes this morning very early. Then I drove up to Shel's. He drove us up to the DSE run in SF. I jogged around for another twenty minutes before running the Fort Mason 5K. I ran into Joe Hurtado from our club. He was on long run (alone). We chatted a bit before I had get to the starting line.

I hung back with Shel and we ran in the high 29's coming back a bit faster than we went out. The race crowd (if it could be called that) was not very big so by the time we finished there weren't that many runners behind us.

The Dolphin Club is just above the ship in this photo.

Dirty Girl Gaiters

I ran a an easy 65 minutes this morning circling the neighborhood and then heading over to the college. The track was still open. The rumor now is that the work of tearing the old one up and putting a new one in will begin next month. In any case, it was nice that it was still there. I wonder if my par course hill will survive the renovation?

I wore my Dirty Girl Gaiters and ran the soccer field with it's artificial surface and myriads of little black pieces of Astro Turf that normally get kicked up and into my shoes. But today nothing got through. I am going to order a back up pair. They seem that good. They will also serve double duty by protecting my shoes when I am at an XC meet or if I decide to do it, next year at track.

Legs were tired but some of that might be the dearth of carbo's I ate yesterday. I always seem to pay the price.

85 seconds

Danny and I met at West Valley and jogged an easy 60 minutes around campus. We threw in some one minute walks to keep our legs fresh.

We finished up on the track.

I casually asked Mooney if he was ready for a 90 second quarter. He didn't flinch. We went through the 200 at 42-43 and cruised an 85. We were both ecstatic.

If I include the 10 minutes around the neighborhood it all equals 71:30.

70 minutes

Early day. Ran the neighborhood by myself and over at WVC with Danny. 74 minutes total. The slow pace allowed me to recover from yesterday.

The weather has turned cooler.   Enjoying it while it lasts.

Danny and I are going to revive Men of the 800. We're going to call it Mature Men of the 800. Should be fun.

6 x 200

I ran the neighborhoods and over at Foothill College for a total of 25 minutes. It was all pitty-pat jogging. Some 72 year old guy who is a race walker was gaining on me as I circled the track.

But then I got down to business doing some strides and then launching into the 2011 version of a hard workout. My goal was to run 6 x 200 at 800 meter orgasmic pace.

I ran the first one in 38 and consciously backed off to the 39-40 range after that.  It's not that I could have run them at all 38 but I once again had to remind myself of the goal of the workout which was to run 6 or them at 40. I ended up running them in a 39 average and felt reasonable good doing just that.  My recovery was a 200 meter walk back.

I then I pitty patted another 22 minutes.

So maybe 60 minutes all together.

60 minutes early

I had a 9 am breakfast scheduled so I got out early and ran an easy 60 minutes.  I went over to the college to see if anyone had torn up the track yet but the answer was nada. It looked the same as always.

I threw in four repeats on par course hill. I don't charge them. I just pick up the pace slightly and run for about 8 seconds. Maybe 40 yards.

Since I don't do plyometrics or weights this may the closest I get to something that is supposed to make my legs "younger".

The two things aging runners can do something about is stride and weight. Running is strength building in of itself. Hill repeats or just running longer hills can lengthen the stride.

Keeping your weight under control is the other big issue. Aging runners seem to gain about 5-8 pounds (I know I have). My body used to want to be around 135-140 lbs and these days it seems to want to be 140-145.

Of course lifting weights is good too but making that an end product detracts from the energy you'll have for running. I prefer pushups when I remember to do them.

MEN OF THE 800!

Danny and I decided to start up the Men of the 800 group again. Right now it has two members.

Danny and myself.

Our plan is to focus our training on becoming decent 800 meter age group runners. We'll probably make a singlet with a to-be-decided logo.

In the meantime, we met this morning and ran together for 45 minutes at WVC. I had already jogged for 25 minutes so I had a 70 minute day.

70 minutes and a cloud of sweat

I met up with Danny at WVC (after doing ten minutes in the neighborhood) and we ran a very easy 60 minutes throwing in walking breaks every ten minutes.  Not as hot as yesterday.

Another club member, Dez, joined us for the last half of the run. Turned out he is a friend of Nick Rose who I remember from the 1970's. He was a top collegiate runner in his day. That's him in the picture below getting smoked in the last mile by Prefontaine  in 1973.

Steve Prefontaine, 145, winning the Nov 19, 1973 NCAA XC Championship, with Nick Rose (2nd in background, OR athletic media services

Steve Prefontaine, 145, winning the Nov 19, 1973 NCAA Cross Country Championships 6 mile race in a time of 28:14.8, at Hangman Valley, Spokane Washington, with Nick Rose (finished 2nd in background),

3 x 100-150-200

Heater today. Dimitri and I decided to meet at Foothill an hour earlier. I go there even earlier than that to warm up. Between running around the neighborhood and around Foothill I got in a slow 20 minutes. I then did some striders on the track (which felt like the inside of a frying pan on medium heat).

I was supposed to do 10 x 150 but decided to "progress" a bit further so I made an on the spot decision to run 3 x 100-150-200 (walk back after each). The goal was to run them in 20-30-40 or thereabouts. I did better than expected averaging 19-28-39. My fastest 100 was in the 17's. My fastest 150 was in the high 27's. My 3-200's were 38-38-39. I then slow jogged 20 minutes the last 8 with Dimitri.

Tough workout but walking back as a recovery really helped.

Frappuccino and scone afterward at Starbucks. Really yuppie but good.

Quiet and Serene

Woke up early so I got out early and ran an easy 65 minutes. I dropped on over to De Anza to see how the resurfacing work on the track is going. Well, it ain't going. The old track stood there quiet and serene, hurdles still in place down in the slot and everything unchanged. So I grabbed the moment and carpe diem'd the course.

I am in no hurry.