No 8's today

It rained all night but cleared up just before my morning run. I decided not to run the 8's. Instead I jogged around with Danny for an hour. My HR stayed low. Mostly in the 120's. Either I am in awesome shape or this is my new 70%. Of course I doubt the latter and the former. The face that my HR stayed consistent and didn't climb told me that I wasn't running tired. I walked with Lucy before the run so maybe (maybe) I got in 7 miles today.

Busy day:

Walk Lucy
Run
Breakfast
Lunch
Chiro visit for pinched nerve in my shoulder

So goes the day of the retired Silicon Valley Warrior.

Tom-less run

Sunny and cool in the beginning but it warmed up. I did several loops before running into Danny (excuse the pun). I had strapped on my HRM to keep myself under control but it was unnecessary. I bopped along in the 120's maybe hung over from Sunday's 10 x 400.  Danny was overdressed and besides, he was in questionable shape given his recent history of chronic under training and two colds one right after the other.

The workout was 68 minutes total but there was some significant walking in the mix towards the end.

A Tom-less run, he being on vacation in the Caribbean.

Which reminds me of a song.

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It's the Love Boat-ah! It's the Love Boat-ah!

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/theloveboatlyrics.htmlull

A bit too fast but.....

I decided to hang out at Foothill Track this morning and run 400's at whatever. It's been a stressful last 5 days and I figured that I'd go do something just to get it in. I warmed up slowly for 23 minutes and then ran 10 x 400 (200 walk) and surprised myself with consistent low 1:50's. It was all done under control. Sub tempo at best and my legs felt surprisingly good. I actually had to back off because I was beginning to nail 1:50 and probably would have gone under if I hadn't put the breaks on.

A bit too fast but not too hard.

6 miles of various

Didn't run until midday but finally went out and got in a 50-55 minute run. Not exactly sure because during one brief stop, I forgot to start up my watch again plus I stopped to talk to our UPS Delivery guy briefly. He's also a good friend.  Anyway, had to kinda, sorta rely on watch time versus stopwatch time. I also walked a mile with Lucy beforehand. Somewhere in there I got six miles of various something. Can't complain about the weather. Cool, hazy and a slight wind. I carried my iPhone in case Sue needed to call me. I made the mistake of turning on the Nike running ap. My pace varied between 10-10:30 on the flats and low 9's on the downhill sections. This closing in on 69 years old is unforgiving. If I age grade it, it's a bit more sane but slow is still slow.

It's been almost 29 years years since I was at my best running-wise.
It's been almost 19 years since I decided to stop racing.
I doubt very much I'll be around for another 29 years or maybe even 19.
I'm not complaining. Enjoying each day as much as I can,

I still get to run 3 days a week. I can walk with our dog Lucy.

Tight run

Tom, Vince and I were running and Danny was walkin'. We did our usual 60 minutes of various campus loops. My legs felt very good but my lower back was tight. I ran on though it.

Altamont

Dimitri and I had another great run today. We climbed out of Foothill College and headed up Altamont Road towards Palo Alto Park. Strangely even though the outbound course was a consistent steep uphill, we got up to the park entrance right around 44 minutes. We took the old way down which is a back road that drops down to Moody Road and then to the college. We got back to the finish in 74 minutes. We jogged a bit of the way into the college to round off the time at 75 minutes.

I wore my HRM which stayed right around 137 going out and back.  The weather was near perfect. Sunny, cool (50's) and windless.

Tennis Court 600's

8's but not on the track. Tom, Vince and I ran 8 x 600 on the half tennis court loop adding in 100 meters to make it 600.

The course ran downhill counter clockwise, turned in at the main driveway and then up towards the bathrooms to finish. No reference points to stay on pace at first. Just effort base. The first one was on the slow side but after that we were under an 8 pace the rest of the way. Actually I averaged 7:33 pace included the first really slow rep.

It was a nice break from the track. It's a fast course because of the downhill sections but you pay it back over the last uphill.

Foggy run

Vince, Tom and I on a foggy clingingly cold morning. We ran 60 minutes even though Tom came up a bit short with a calf pull. Hopefully it's nothing but then what's not nothing at our age?  Tom broke into a walk immediately which was smart. Been there. Done that. Four times in 2008 and again in early 2012. Deep tissue on my legs ever since.  Our little buddy missed again. He elected to go to the fat (gaining) farm with his wife for Valentine's week. It's called Reno. She gambles and he sits in the spa and relaxes. Both gain five pounds.

Hmmmmm...

Actually that sounds pretty nice except for the Reno part. Seems to me that there's got to be a spa and weight gaining place a great deal closer than Reno.

100 minutes of hills

Dimitri and I and ran a different course heading out of a Foothill College. Instead of heading up Moody we bore right and took Elena. 100 minutes of hills, rolling hills, long hills and other types of hills. Overcast but it didn't rain so the only wet was our own sweat. This was my longest run in a long time. I wore the HRM and stayed in the 65-70% range.

Great run but my lower back tightened up on the way back, I walked and ran my way out if it.

8's in the drizzle on a wet track

It rained last night and into the early morning. Tom and I figured that we would run half tennis court loops instead of the track but the rain let up send settled down into a drizzle. The track was wet but only several sections of the inside lane were flooded. So we went and did our 8 x 600 workout. We both got off to a slow start before we adjusted and began to mow the 600's down with precision. Well, mow might be too strong a word. After all it's only an 8 pace.

We'll stay there until Tom get's back from his cruise.

Long Valle Vista

Tom, Vince and I ran for an hour around campus and up long Valle Vista. We ended up back on campus and spotted Danny running wind sprints on the track. The weather was clear and felt cold. Tom must be on PEDS. He pushed the pace throughout. Afterward Danny, Tom and I drove up to see Bill Tarr for an adjustment and then went and had breakfast.

Seems I definitely have a pinched nerve (according to Bill). He did an adjustment plus I have been taking Aleve 1-2 x a day. It all helps but my left arm still numbs up at times.

Ritualistic Soaking of the Hands

The usual long run from Foothill College up Moody with the turnaround at Foothill-Palo Alto Park.
It rained most of the way drenching Dimitri and I. It didn't really bother either of us except for our cold and wet hands. My gloves, which are great for cold weather, did jack once they were soaked. Our time was okay. 81 minutes. That was from car to car.