This morning I went to the track and ran 8 x 800 meters. My times were 3:30, 3:28, 3:26, 3:24, 3:22, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20. I was right on the edge of my aerobic/anaerobic threshold.

Today I went to the track and ran 8 x 800 meters. Times were 3:30, 3:28, 3:26, 3:24, 3:22, 3:20, 3:18, 3:15. I felt much better today and ran a disciplined workout. The humidity was very low. My heart rate was 150 bpm at 6:40 mile pace and 156 bpm at 6:30 mile pace.

Yesterday, I went to the track and did 8 x 800 meters from 3:40 to 3:30. I probably should have run even easier. I felt tired and heavy from my hard day Tuesday. This is how it goes, one day you feel great and run faster than you expect and maybe faster than you should, and then you have to recover. I plan to go pretty easy today, not much faster than 7 minute mile pace. I have to be very careful not to over stride - I think over striding is how I strained my left foot again and my left hip. Also I am going to use my inserts that have a little more arch support and are more rigid. I have had to deal with plantar fasciitis in my left foot on and off for years. The best treatment I have found is soaking my foot in ice water after I run.

Yesterday I felt tired so I did a light tread mill workout. I did 4 x 3:30 with 30 seconds rest from 8 minute to 7 minute mile pace.

Today I went to the track and ran 800s. My times were 3:24, 3:15, 3:10, 3:09, 3:08, 2:55, and I warmed down with a 3:30. It was warm and humid and a bit windy but I felt pretty good. I was a little surprised at how easy 6:20 mile pace felt. Yesterday's easy day really helped. This was the first sub-3:00 800 I have run in a long time. I am looking forward to a sub 2:30 before it gets cold. My left foot is sore so I am icing it now.

This afternoon I went to the track and ran 8 x 800 meters from 3:30 to 3:04. It was warm and humid. I felt a little wiped out afterwards.

At midday I went to the track - hot and very humid. I ran 8 x 800 meters from 3:37 to 3:24. I used my heart rate monitor and kept my heart rate below 150 bpm at 7 minute pace. I ran the last 800 with a fast initial 200 meters in 40 seconds and then eased up to finish in 3:24. I think I will start doing that more, running around 5:20 pace for the first 100 or 200 and then easing up. When I did that my heart rate stayed up in the mid 150s even though I was very comfortable. Also starting out fast gets my heart rate up to 145 bpm in under 30 seconds so I spend more time in the optimum training zone. It will be interesting to see what my heart rate does when it is cooler and the humidity is lower. This was a very comfortable workout.

This morning I went back to the track. It was humid and my left foot is still a little sore. I did my usual 8 x 800 meters from 3:32 to 3:10. My heart rate was near 160 bpm by the end. I need to make sure I ice my foot when I finish running. Tomorrow, if my legs still feel tired or heavy, I may do all 8 800s at 7 minute mile pace or slower (no faster than 3:30).

Yesterday morning I went to the track at Riverbank State Park and ran 8 x 800 meters from 3:42 to 3:20.

I went to the track this morning at Riverbank State Park and ran 8 x 800 meters from 3:34 to 3:14. I started each 800 a little quick (concentrating on leg turnover) to get my heart rate up faster and then gradually slowed down. My heart rate did not go over 150bpm until the last 800 in 3:14. My fastest initial 100 meters was 20 seconds and my fastest initial 200 meters was 42 seconds. I like this workout, and I think I will continue with this basic workout and just gradually work my times down. The key is to stay aerobic for most of he workout. I may do more 800s (10 or 12) if I have more time - like on weekends.

I got back to the city this evening and went to the track at Riverbank State Park. I did 8 x 800 meters from 3:35 to 3:20.  I felt a little tired from the trip. And it is a lot more humid here.

Nice run in Little Falls, New York

I ran Monday evening on a beautiful track in Little Falls, New York. The temperature was cool, and the humidity was low. I did 12 x 800 meter from 3:48 to 3:08. Most of them were around 3:20 (6:40 mile pace). I ran the first 200 meters of each 800 a little quick and felt relaxed at 5:20 pace (20 seconds for the first 100).

I went to the track this morning and ran 3 x 1 mile is 6:55, 6:48, 6:45. I warmed up with 15 minutes of easy running and warmed down 15 minutes. My heart rate was around 150 bpm after each mile. I think three quality miles is enough to get the training effect I want. I need to do a little more easy running.

I did 7 x 1/2 mile on the treadmill this afternoon. Times were 4:00, 3:50, 3:40, 3:30, 3:20, 3:10, 3:00. I wore my heart rate monitor. My heart rate at 8 minute pace was 134 bpm, at 7 minute pace was 146 bpm and at 6 minute pace was 157 bpm.

This morning I went to the track and did 1 warm up mile in 8:00 and then 3 miles in 6:40 with 2 minutes rest after each mile. I was going to do 2 warm down miles in 8:00 but ran out of time. My run back home was probably a mile. It was cooler but deceptively humid. My heart rate as up to 150 after the third mile in 6:40.

So I am still working out my training routine for the fall and what races I want to train for. I am leaning away from anything over 10K, mainly because it seems that 10K is the longest I am going to run in my training.  Firstly, I really don't have the time to run much more than that, and secondly it is hard on my body to run more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles in a workout). I found a 10K in Prospect Park that I would like to run on Saturday, October 13. Here is the race website: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-york/event-details
10K is a good race distance and I really like Prospect Park. It is hilly, but I really enjoy running there.

Today I went to the track and ran 10 kilometers in 50 minutes - 8 minute mile pace. It was an easy run effort, but my heart rate did reach 150bpm by the end because of the humidity. Using this website: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/rws-training-pace-calculator/1676.html puts my tempo pace right at 6:40/mile. Just plug in 40:00 for a 10K and you get 7:59 easy running pace and 6:38 tempo run pace. So my workout goal for tomorrow will be 4 x 1 mile at 6:40 pace. We'll see how it goes.

Today I went to the track and did 2 miles in 13:58, 1.5 miles in 10:29, 1 mile in 6:58. I didn't feel that great, and my left foot was bothering me a bit. I think it was a mistake to run uphill on the treadmill yesterday.  Tomorrow I want to run easy for over an hour and do 4 x 1 mile on Saturday. I think I want to do the 4 x mile workout twice a week and then do more easy running. My goals is to be down to 6:30 by the end of August and down to 6:00 by the end of September. We'll see how it goes.

It was thundering this afternoon so I decided to stay inside on the treadmill. I ran 40 minutes easy at an incline. Good recovery run. Tomorrow I plan to go to the track and do 8 miles at below 7:00/mile pace.

My brother Russ found a photo of me finishing a half-marathon in Durham, NC almost 30 years ago. I think I ran 1:16 which for me back then was far from my best. I think I was coming off an injury.

Today my legs felt good so I decided to run hard after just one easy day. I did 7 x 800 on the track. My times were 3:28, 3:24, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20, 3:08. I could have run 3:00 for the last one, and that shows me my effort at 6:40 pace was strong but not anaerobic. My plan was to do just six 800s, but the first one was really part of my warm up. I am hoping this workout sets me up to do 6 x 1 mile in under 7 minutes on Thursday. I am hoping that 6:50 pace will feel fairly relaxed.

Today I ran an easy 55 minute recovery run. It was warm and sunny with low humidity. I feel much better after the run.

Well, I decided to make today more of a hard day so I went back to the track and did 4 more tempo (more like quality aerobic) miles. My times were 7:20, 7:16, 7:10, 7:08. My heart rate stayed below 150 bpm.  I warmed up and cooled down about 15 minutes for a total run time of about one hour. I will do miles again next Saturday, and I am hoping they are all under 7 minutes. I plan to run easy Monday and Tuesday (up to one hour of easy aerobic running each day) and do 800s on Wednesday. I am thinking I will start out at 3:20 for the 800s (6:40 mile pace). I will try to do at least 6 x 800.

This morning I was pushed for time (I only had an hour) so I decided to run tempo/fast aerobic. A slight change of plans. Another factor was the relatively low humidity. I decided to run tempo miles instead of a continuous run. I did 4 x 1600 meters (or one mile) on the track with very little rest (just enough to drink some water). My times were 7:28, 7:24, 7:22, 7:18. I don't think my heart rate ever went over 150 bpm. So it was a good effort but well within myself. I concentrated on a smooth efficient stride. I want to build that workout to 10 x 1600 meters or 1 mile and gradually work the times down to 6:30/mile.

Later today I hope I can get out for an easy hour run.

Yesterday I ran 73 minutes easy. Today is Sunday, and I hope to run longer. It doesn't seem as humid today. I just watched the end of the Olympic Marathon. A Ugandan won the Gold and Kenyan runners took the silver and bronze. The American (37 years old) came in 4th. He ran a very smart race.

I am going to ease up on my perceived efforts in my training. I am going to run my easy runs easier and my tempo runs like I used to run my fast aerobic runs, with the emphasis on feeling good. My first 8K tempo run will be maybe around 7:20 pace. If I feel good, I can always pick up the pace.

I am going to run intervals more like I used to run tempo. So instead of running 800s at 90-95% effort, I am going to run them controlled at maybe 80-85% effort. My first 6 x 800 workout will start out at not much faster than 3:30. I can always pick up he pace according to how I feel.

I want to above all, STAY HEALTHY. I want to feel good in my training and if I race, race WELL WITHIN MYSELF. The times aren't nearly as important as feeling good and enjoying the experience.

Yesterday I did two easy one hour runs. I am going back to basics - lots of easy aerobic running with one or two hard workouts a week.

Hot track day

Today it was very hot and humid. I think it is impossible to set pace goals AND heart rate goals in training. On a treadmill the pace takes care of itself, but real running is different. So I am going to go by my heart rate and not worry about pace. The conditions can have a dramatic effect on pace at specific heart rates. So today I warmed up for 20 minutes with heart rate 137-44, did 4 x 100 meters strides followed by 3 x 3 minutes hard (Vo2 max effort) with heart rate reaching 154-55 after 1 minute and 159-60 after 3 minutes. That tells me that I should not let my heart rate go much over 150 during my aerobic runs. (Heart rate after 1 minute of hard running is approximately threshold heart rate.) I warmed down 20 minutes.

I am going to do Vo2 max effort workouts every 3 days. I plan to do only three repetitions but gradually increase the time of each repeat up to 6 minutes. I plan to do 3 x 4 minutes on Sunday.

Wednesday, August 9, 2012

I went to the track at River Bank State Park and ran 6 miles @ 8:05 - 8:15 pace. My heart rate was between 139 and 142 bpm. This was an easy run at my "easy run" heart rate. I use this website as my source for paces and heart rates: http://www.teamoregon.com/publication/online/wizard.php

My plan is to do easy runs from 6 to 10 miles five days a week and twice a week do a VO2 max workout. My goal is to do 800s at my 2 mile race pace (based on my easy run pace) For example, with 8:15 as my easy run pace, my VO2 max 800s should be run at 5:54 mile pace. I plan on doing that workout Friday or Saturday.

My Running Blog

To all who are interested, I am starting a blog to share my training, thoughts and insights on how to maintain running fitness for life. I am 52 years old, and I am just as passionate about running as I was at 22 - just not quite as fast. I am going to post my training, my results of any racing I do, as well as the rationale behind what I am doing. I hope in some small way, I can encourage and inspire others to keep the passion in their running. My real hope is that many others add their training and wisdom to this blog so we can learn from and be inspired by each other.

Don