Tough run

Tried an experiment today and ran with Bill and Joann at Rancho San Antonio. From the beginning the pace, which was easy for them, was a bit fast for me, but I was able to hang with them for 55 minutes before I finally decided to back off and run in by myself. The pace was around 9:40 which age grades to low 7 pace at age 30. It wasn't anything to brag about but the course was all hilly trails.
Bill tells me it's 7 miles total. It took me just under 68 minutes.

It was a moment of truth. Bill runs in the 20 minute range for 5k and Joann runs in the 22's. No wonder I can't run those times anymore. Not sure whether it makes sense, but I might have to experience more days like this if I want to run faster.

The tempo running I've been doing definitely helped. I was never in oxygen debt. But it wasn't an easy run. It reminded me of first training with John and Jake back in late 1975. Back then it took me running with them every other day for a year to get used to a faster tempo. Then I could run with them every day.

Slow runs can tell you a lot

Sometimes slow runs can tell you a lot. Shel and I went up to GG Park and ran an 8k course ( me at low HR ) with one minute easy walks every 5-7 minutes and still ran 55 minutes. My HRM stayed in the low 130's most of the way. 11 minutes miles are slow but better than I expected especially with the walk breaks. Beautiful day in the city. We went to the restaurant at the Harding Golf Course for breakfast.

Fast and relaxed

Took a long warmup today. Over 30 minutes of easy jogging. Danny and I then ran 1000 meter loops with the first 400 fast and relaxed, and then jog-walked to the start-finish and did it again 4 x.

Nothing startling. 1:44-1:41-1:41-1:42.

Slow but age graded to 73-75 seconds when I was young and fast. The goal was not to go hard but to get fast leg turnover and some faster than threshold type speed.

Easy hour

Ran a very easy hour this morning. Danny kept me company ( Tom's in Cheese Head country....WI ).
I can feel my feet and knees. Lighter training shoes may be too light. The weather was cool and clear.

Long run

79 minute long run in the hills with Dimitri. Walked portions of some of the stepper stuff but still got to the park in 49 minutes. Came back down Moody in 30 minutes.

Threshold workout in the heat

Tom and I met a half hour early and warmed up together. No afib day for Tom so we went and ran 5 sets of 400-500's at 85-90%. It was hot out. It's the last day of the most recent heat wave. I let the HRM do the talking. I did the 500's down end 400's up. I ran faster than expected and my recovery was good despite the weather conditions. 2:22-23's on the 500's and around 1:50 on the 400's. One of my fastest yet.

Nuclear

The (((heat))) is here again. Got out early with Tom and Danny and cruised 60 minutes of slow stuff before the temps went nuclear. I'm dragging a bit. Not sure if it's not getting enough sleep, carbs or just being 69 years old. Frankly, I don't care. I'm running anyway. There is no bottom. If I had to trade being fast now for being fast when I was young, there's no contest. I wouldn't make the trade. But I still keep trying to find ways to youth myself. Natural ways of course.

So far, just like everyone else, my running keeps going steadily downhill.

Hey! Maybe I just need to run downhill courses.

The Weekend

I ran an easy 30 minutes on Saturday morning. I was still recovering from Thursday's tempo workout.

Sunday was a steady run on Foothill's track. I kept my HR around 70% much of the run. It hasn't begun to heat up yet but it's a coming.

Sunday's run was a good sign. I had to work a bit to get my HR up to the 65-70% range. My legs felt good so they weren't tired or beat up. It's usually a good sign if my HR doesn't pop right up into range. Of course the heat will speed things up but the HRM will keep me honest.

Ladder Workout

Jogged an easy 20 minutes to warm up this morning. Danny and I then ran a ladder consisting of 400-600-800-1000-800-600-400 (2 minute rest) at tempo pace. My HR never got past 165-166. In fact, 166 was this week's 168-170.

The first part of the ladder was pretty blah. The speed wasn't coming to me. Danny just stayed in lane two and went along for the ride.

"The air is heavy," he said several times. I'm not sure what heavy air is, but something was heavy. That's for sure.

From the 1000 on, the pace got faster while the effort remained the same.

Nothing blazing. Sub-8 pace overall.

Big days (for me)

Two big days back to back! I walked over four miles on Monday and ran 60 minutes on Tuesday (with Danny).  Kept the pace slow so I have dome energy left for Thursday's reps.

A New 70% Record

Dimitri and I ran the Moody Rd course. Up and back. I kept my HR at 65-70% all the way. It felt rediculously easy but surprise, surprise, we got to the park in just under 42 minutes and arrived back in 70:45! A new record for that level of effort. I don't know what to make of it. Whatever it means, it is a good sign.

Easy Run

I decided to run 30 minutes easy today. The club was relaying 200 meters on the track, so I jogged and socialized. I guess the 400's on Thursday despite the heat, didn't take that much out of my legs.

HEATER

First heater run of the year. After a solid 20 minutes of easy running Danny joined me for 12 x 400 at 85-90% on the track. Originally I was going to run 800's but the climbing temps changed my mind. Danny and I grooved mid 150's on most of the reps after a slow start. We decided to pull the plug at 10 reps because of the heat. It seemed counterproductive to keep on going.

I didn't reach 167-168 until the last two reps. I was mostly in the low 160's and my recovery was excellent on the 200 meter walks in between. I was glad for Danny's company.

Jus too darn HOT!

Afib Run

Low key day. Tom, Danny and I ran an easy hour. Tom struggling with afib. He needs to take action. He doesn't get enough oxygen so the pace stays slow. It's Jake all over again.

My HR was rarely over 120 but I am not complaining. It was a total recovery run.

Big HEAT wave coming in. Thursday could be interesting.

Threshold Workout

I was planning to go up and run the DSE race in San Francisco but Shel called in sick last night so I decide to go to WVC and do a 1,000 meter threshold workout. It was overcast and windy and it was a heck of a lot further than I have gone so far since beginning this latest program.

Warmed up for 20 minutes
4 x .66 (5:07-12-10-09) at 85-90% of max. 2 minute recovery between reps.
warmed down for 10 minutes.

I averaged 7:48 for the workout. A looooong way from where I want to be. I ran it alone which made it mentally tougher than it had to be. I saw the HRM flicker at 175-76 once which means my operational max may be higher than I am judging it to be. Mostly, I stayed in the 167-173 range which is AT.

Easy stuff

Quiet day. I ran 65 minutes of easy stuff with Tom and Danny this morning.

MRI

65 minutes of run-walk ( mostly running ) with Ready to go Tom and back from Oregon, Danny.
It was windy and cool. We ran college loops plus the two mile warm up course. Then it was up to Bill Tarr's and breakfast afterward.

MRI on my shoulder in the afternoon. A study in discomfort. Something was jabbing the very spot below my shoulder blade that was being scanned. I dealt with it but I thought of hitting the panic button several times. You can't move and there's the rub.

20 minutes of pain. Low, throbbing pain.

It let up the moment they handed me my get out of MRI card.

Going to the mountain

Dimitri and I finally ran the going to the mountain course in the Los Altos Hills. This is a longer variation of our usual route. It adds one steep #@%* hill.

No wrong turns this time. 49 minutes to the summit and 30 minutes back down which shocked both of us given how easy it felt. Passed twice though by two young women (tall, brunette, athletic, cruising by us like we were jogging....Oh we were!). I kept my HR at or under 70%. If that meant walking some portions of the steeper hills, then I walked.

7:48's

Did my 8's this morning. Tom begged off due to heart rate issues. I ran 5 x 800 (2 minute rest) at a 7:48 pace. I used 168-172 as my AT range and right now I think it's right. I had to push early on to get up in zone but had to back off later to keep from going too high. The good news was that my recovery was excellent. My HR dropped back under 70% in a minute or less. Also, and this was the surprise, my reps got slightly faster as I progressed through them. The cool weather and two minute rest was probably the reason.

Good to Go Tom

It was Good to Go Tom today (versus Not Good to Go Tom). We didn't stay around the college much but instead ran Ray's warmup and the Northwest Passage that took us up to highway 9. It was cool but not cold so the running conditions were near perfect. I wore the HRM and mostly stayed in the 130 range. This was 15 beats below my target so the run wasn't hard.  Good Tom led the way. I hope he feels this good Thursday.

We hit an hour, walked a bit and called it a day.