Too Slow 70

Ran over at WVC with Danny and Tom. I was still feeling the effects of yesterday evening's 3 x 400 workout. Danny, Tom and I ran slow. I thing Tom went a bit bizerk with the too slow pace. My HRM never topped 130 during the whole run.  It was the usual 70 minutes total but I doubt it was seven miles. Both my buddies are gone on vacation next week but Jake joined us for breakfast and said he would meet me to run over at Forbes.

Had a great lunch with Bob Anderson. He is on his crusade to run 50 races, 350 miles and a sub seven pace. He's 23 races in. He has slowly built up an 8 minutes cushion. At age 64 this is quite an accomplishment. Sub seven is like 5:24 at age 30. Just to give it some perspective.

http://www.alongrun.com/diaries.php


Bob and his son Michael

Crucible on the track...

I ran somewhere between 3-4 miles over at West Valley Track late this afternoon. Not really sure of the exact distance. My club was running 400's. I decided to jump in and run three of them. It was warm or so everyone kept saying. The first was the toughest. I was sucking wind the last straightaway. I had to rein in the pace. I thought I was going to lose it. Hit a gasping 85. I had simply gone out too fast. I went out much slower on the second one hitting 44 half way and pushed the last 200. This one was another 85 but I felt much (much) better. On the last 400 I ran even pace, felt strong and nailed 83. I thought about doing a fourth one but decided against it. I am hoping with constant effort that I'll get used to running 400's in the 70's. I have to accept that I have lost ground since last fall before I tweaked my hamstring and later on my calf. Age graded, it's like I ran in the 63-64 range. So given that perspective, I can't be too unhappy.

76 minutes

Ran 76 minutes this morning. Some of it alone but most of it with Danny and Tom. We ran the campus and the hills. A bit nippy at the start but it warmed up. I wore the HRM and kept it around 140 most of the run. Breakfast afterward.

Bonking

Ran 35 minutes today. I tried to run some rep work but frankly felt sluggish. I decided to cut it short. I have been dieting this week. Trying to lose five pounds over the next 4-6 weeks. That could be the reason I was bonking. I am going to have to take a longer approach to dropping weight. Can't run hard and diet. I think there are a couple of easier changes I can make in how much I eat.

Easy 53

Tom and I ran an easy 53 minutes while the club did tennis court loops.  My left knee has been bothering me. Tom's right knee has been bothering him. Quite a pair. No pain for either of us while running. Just getting up from the couch or out of bed. I wore the Protech knee strap just in case.

70-83

Ran 70 minutes this morning with Danny and Tom. We also threw in another 83 second 400. No strides beforehand. Just head down to the track mid run and push a 400. Would like this to be 80 in the same relaxed state that I now run 83. Just not there yet. Weather is incredible. 60's and almost no wind.

72 minutes easy

I ran 72 slow minutes with Danny on Tuesday morning. My legs were nicely sore from the deep tissue massage that I received on Monday. Danny was more than happy to go easy. Tom returns on Thursday so the HRM will go back on to make sure that we (I) don't train too hard. The key to my running anything fast even once a week is to run slow on the other days. While I regret the passing of the vaunted eight minute mile pace the truth is that I haven't done 8's on any sort of regular basis for well over twenty years. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi!

60 minutes

Danielle and I ran an hour over at WVC. The plan was to do a couple of quick 400's on the track but the gates were closed and locked. The maintenance crews had either fertilized or seeded the grass ( or both ). We settled for some striders.

83 second 400

I ran ten minutes in my neighborhood, better known as a dump run. Then I ran another 60 minutes over at WVC with Danny. We threw in a 400 in 83 seconds. Relaxed speed. It felt good. Danny said my form was great. Breakfast afterward.

70 minutes

Ken and Danny were my running mates this morning. My legs were still a bit stiff from Sunday but the weather and the course was nice enough. We ran tennis course loops, Saratoga-Douglas and on the track for an hour. I had done my usual ten minute warmup before. Afterward Danny and I drove up to see Big Bad Bill and have breakfast.

Dumb Run

Ran about 55 minutes. Sandwiched in there was the following: 2 x 100 17-18, 1 x 600 2:15, 1 x 200. 37, 2 x 100 17-16. The 600 was strange. A friend was reading my 400 split and I thought I heard him call out 95 ( I wanted 90 ) and I stopped and started to walk. My intent was to abort the run. Then I heard him call 90 and realized the error. At about 92-93 I started running again and ended up with a 2:15 thanks to a 37-38 second last 200. Probably would have been 2:10-11 without the hesitation halt just before the 400. Just plain dumb on my part.

59 minutes

Ran 59 minutes this morning mostly at WVC. Kept it easy as usual. Tomorrow is my quality day.

Form Check

This morning it was just Danny and me trudging around WVC. We were averaging close to a 12 pace. Could not believe I am that slow but it is true. Even before Danny showed up I was getting in a pre-run at a ten pace. The total was the usual 70 minutes. I had Danny do a form check on my style while picking it up on the track. He said I looked good. I felt good too picking it up anyway.

Drag Assing

My legs were beat up from yesterday's deep tissue massage but I still managed to get in 70 minutes of really slow hilly stuff with Tom and Danny. I was drag assing through this. I know I'll feel better Thursday. The weather was okay but we're entering a spell of hot weather. But at 8:30 am it wasn't half bad.

Relaxed Speed

One hour of running. I did all but 15 minutes of it over at Foothill College. Bright sunny day. Iphone weather app said low 60's but it felt much warmer. I worked on what I call relaxed speed. 3 x 200 striding through but not pushing. I told Dimitri that I expected 40-41 but instead I got 38-37-36. We both agreed that now I have to do some work on carrying things out over 500-600 meters. Next week the plan is to run a 600 at date pace and then a 200 at goal pace. Sort of a simulator.

Running as an old guy

I did 10 around the neighborhood (minutes..not miles) and then drove over to the club workout where I ran another 60 minutes while the club ran 200's on the track. Sunny, a bit breezy and on the cool side. But still a great running day. Had time to catch up with several of the veteran runners. Mostly we chatted about running as an old guy. It's a whole different thing. Less days running, more recovery. Not doing things that wear you down. It's individualized but the story seems the same. There are a few who can more days and more miles. They are the rarity.

Nice Running

Danny was a no show today so Tom and I toured the upscale neighborhoods around WVC. 60 minutes or nice running with plenty of hills (both up and down). I wore the HRM and the Garmin. One for each wrist. WOW!

We covered precisely 6 miles so we ran a ten minute pace (UGH). With the ten minutes of around the house running beforehand, I did 70 minutes total. As Bob Anderson said so accurately, 70 minutes is sort of my thing.

The weather was overcast and in the 50's. Great running conditions.

Waiting for the pace

I jogged the neighborhood for ten minutes this morning and then did the usual drive over to WVC. Tom, Danny and I ran out usual 60 minutes. I jogged a few minutes afterward to run my total up to 72 minutes. I wore the Garmin and even though we were moving along, it still wasn't faster than a ten minute pace. In the old days, age graded to 7:30. I was thinking to myself that this was way too slow and way too hard for the pace. By hard, I don't mean hard-hard. Just not smooth and easy. One of the things I have learned over the years is that the pace comes to you, not the other way around. You can try to force it but you'll just break down.