For the past three days I have been running to Central Park and running easy to moderate steady state aerobic running. Monday I did 44 minutes, Tuesday 49 minutes and yesterday I ran for 72 minutes. Today I ran all the way around the park instead of turning around after I had run half the time I wanted to. Yesterday I turned around at the 37 minute mark and ran a total of 72 minutes. Today I again ran 72 minutes but instead of turning around I just did a complete 6 mile loop of the park. My time on the Central Park loop was 46:40.  The total run is approximately 9 miles. This type of steady state running I think is the most effective way for me to train. The trick is to do this kind of fairly heavy mileage (close to 70 miles a week) and not get injured.

I had a running friend who was older than me when I was in college at Chapel Hill and was running marathons in the low to mid 2:20s. He had a simple training philosophy. He ran about 10 miles a day at a steady state aerobic pace and did one track workout (usually something like 6 x 800 meters in 2:30) and one long run a week.  I am going to stick to that regimen and see if I can get back some of the fitness I used to have.

I hope Russ can meet me on the track this Saturday. I plan to do 5 x 1000 meters in 3:45 (6 minute mile pace). And then do a longer run on Sunday.