Sluggish Mile Attempt

At the end of a long week of training, I thought it was time for a mile attempt, so on Saturday, I biked to the track, warmed up, and lined up.  I felt tired and almost aborted, but figured at least it was a good mental exercise. That's about what it ended up being.  I ran a 5:33.8, when I am really thinking that I'm close to 5:20 condition.  But, I didn't feel too bad, as I ran 29 miles for the week, with 2 speed workouts, and did not rest the day before.  Feeling a bit bad, I then decided to salvage the trip to the track and ran 4 quarters, averaging about 82 to 83 seconds each.  I want home exhausted, but felt it was a good workout.  Then yesterday I ran 5.8 miles mainly on trails, including getting attacked by a goose that was protecting some goslings!  Today I ran 5.4 miles in a heat wave (for us) with temps about 85 degrees and very humid.

Next weekend I'm eyeing a 5K road race.

Stay tuned!

Back on the Trails (for a day)

We had a couple days with no rain, so I was able to get back out on the trails today.  I ran a total of 5 miles, including 1.5 miles at "tempo run" pace, about 6:56/mile.  The run was nearly all on grassy trails, and the tempo run portion was in a park, with soft grass and rolling hills, so I was ok with the pace (slower than on flat pavement).  16 miles to date for the week.  Thunderstorms and rain predicted the next several days again.  Clay court tennis club is not open yet!! But that has allowed me to focus more on running.  We'll see what happens!

Forty Years After a Dream Mile, a Harsh Reality for Track

By TOM CONNELLY

Published: May 15, 2011

The news that the Millrose Games are leaving Madison Square Garden after 97 years to relocate uptown to the 168th Street armory reminds us of how indifferent we are to track and field. And yet, in a coincidence of timing, we remember, too, that we were not always this way. Friday’s announcement came almost exactly 40 years after an event that placed the sport, however briefly, front and center in the consciousness of the American public.

New Blog Look!

Click on the video below for a brief summary of the blog's new features, look, and feel.

Training Speed Increasing

I ran a comfortable 5-mile trainng run on the roads last night, averaging 8:08 per mile.  These types of runs really provide me with an idea of my fitness level, because they are designed to be run at a comfortable pace, in which I am not really pushing.  In the winter, I was probably in the high 8s/minute for this type of workout, and even recently, around 8:20 or so.  Dropping into the low 8s for a 5-mile comfortable run is a good sign.  Tonight I plan on another 5 or 5.5, then a speed workout tomorrow on the track.

Mark

Tempo Run!

Despite the thunderstorms, I completed a successful "tempo run" last night.  It consisted of a 4.5 mile run, in which the first 1.5 miles were run at an 8:23/mile pace, the next 1.5 miles at 6:28/mile, and the final 1.5 at 7:57 pace.  Overall, felt pretty good.  This weekend I would like to do either another interval workout on the track, or a 5K road race or track time trial.  I haven't decided yet.

Mark

Training going well despite lousy weather

There has been a return to lousy, cold, incessantly rainy weather here in the northeast - so much so that I opted to ride a bike indoors on Sunday, with temperatures in the 40s, heavy rain, and wind.  I did, however, finish last week with 24 miles, including a good track workout of 8 quarters on Saturday.  This week started with indoor biking, followed by a relatively easy 5.5 miler on the roads yesterday, at 8:19/mile.  Tonight (if not rained out) will be 5 miles, with possibly a 1.5-mile "tempo" run in the middle.

On a side note, please notice that the blog has been updated, with an additional column containing useful information on the left, including a live feed of world tennis news (scroll down).  Tennis involves a lot of running, so tennis news is very appropriate for a running blog.  In fact, during the recent ATP clay court tournament in Rome, Italy, the announcer was commenting regarding Andy Murray (ranked No. 4 in the world) that he was in great condition from doing 400 meter intervals with 60 seconds rest!

Enjoy the revamped blog!  More changes yet to come!

Mark

Blog Facelift!

Heads up!  I'm thinking about another round of blog revamping, to keep our cool image fresh and updated, and keep all our visitors coming back.  I'll save the old template in case we want to go back to it, but i've located some new external templates that look pretty cool.  So in the near future, the blog may look different, hopefully better.  Here are a few new things to look for:

1.  New template.  color scheme and possibly number of columns may change.
2.  New gadgets.  planning to add new "gadgets" in the sidebars.  May try to see if I can "feed" in some RSS feed info from Runnersworld or another running site (maybe Binghamton's track web page).
3.  I updated the posting options to the newer version, so you may see more options when you are creating posts (better control over uploading and formatting photos, etc.).
4.  I already added a link to Facebook/Twitter to improve our visibility.
5.  I already added a "recent" posts gadget to the right sidebar near the top, for easy access to our most recent posts.  I can modify this to show the first sentence or so of each post, but it starts looking a little cluttered.

By the way, i know we're not the most popular site on the web, but behind the scenes, you can view some details of web traffic, and we do get routine hits of our blog from around the world.  Germany seems to be the most popular spot.  Not sure it these are from real people or just "web crawlers/robots."

Mark

A solid week!

This past week was one of my best training weeks in many months. I finished the week with 29 miles. Many of those miles were on grass/trails, and there were also two "speed" workouts included. One of the speed workouts was a 5 mile run on the roads, with a 1.5-mile tempo run included at 6:43/mile. The second was a track workout on Saturday consisting of 8 400 meter intervals, with 90-second rest intervals. I think I averaged about 82 to 82.5 seconds per quarter. I did not record them, but kept mental track during the workout. The first was 83, the second 82, then a series of about 82.5, then an 82, and finally, 81.4 for the last interval. I was encouraged, although I was hoping to run a bit faster, this workout was at the end of a fairly tough, 6-day running week.

This week will be a bit lighter, as I missed running yesterday due to family visiting/Mother's Day, and will likely not be able to run tonight (grandson babysitting duties).

However, if I can keep this type of running up, including the track workouts, I am hopeful regarding improving my mile time.

Mark

"Long Run"

Today, shortly after I wrote the post about the wind, I went running barefoot on the beach. Conditions were perfect. Just a slight wind coming out of the south and a very comfortable temperature. The tide was such that there was plenty of firm sand to run on.

According to my Garmin Forerunner 205 I ran 4 miles in 38:20. Pitifully slow, but at least it was the longest run I've done in a few years.

I'll be writing another post soon about some the problems I've had with the Garmin Forerunner 205.

The Wind

Love is the wind
The wind is my love
Who knows the wind?
Where blows my love
The wind is my love.

--from the song "Wind" (lyrics by Bob Bruno, performed by Jerry Jeff Walker)

I doubt that Bob Bruno or Jerry Jeff Walker ever trained much for running or biking on Hatteras Island. I think it might be worse in the spring than in the summer. Just about everyday there is a strong wind that is hard to escape since almost all routes are out and back.

The wind makes it difficult to know just how good or bad training is going because it has such a big impact on how fast I run or bike. Further, I don't have an understanding of what kind of training benefits there are from running and biking into a strong headwind.

A typical bike ride for me is about 20 miles. I've been running about 2 to 3.5 miles. Almost everyday I do at least a ride or a run--some days I do both.

Late this week and early next I expect to be on the track running. I'll have a better idea of my conditioning after a few days on the track. I do know that I'm still too heavy.

First track workout of "season"!

I sometimes put "season" in quotes because my wife will often comment "what season???" She doesn't seem to understand why a 53 year old talks about spring track "season" or cross country "season" when it has been more than 30 years since I finished college and actually participated in real sports "seasons."

Anyway, I hit the track Saturday, the one sunny day we have had in a couple weeks, and did 6 repeat 400s, with about 90 seconds rest between each. I averaged about 81.5 seconds, with the fastest at 79 seconds, and the slowest at about 84.

The interesting part of the workout was meeting a couple runners at the track. I saw a young high schooler doing repeat 200s, so I asked him if he was a middle distance runner. He said he was, and was actually from NYC, visiting his grandmother, and figured he was missing a workout back home, so was conscientious enough to do one. He asked if I still ran, to which I mentioned what I did in college, and that the 1500 meters was probably my best event. He then pointed down the track to his dad, and said his dad ran 3:42 for 1500 in the past, and 4:00 point something for the mile. He likes ribbing his dad for never breaking 4! He also mentioned that his goal was to beat his dad's times, but it was proving harder than he originally though. Of course, he looked like he was only 15 years old or so, so he has some time.

I didn't get a chance to talke to the dad, as I was just starting my quarters, and they were just leaving the track, but they stood and cheered me on during my first 400, which is probably why I ran 79 seconds for that one, when I was targeting 82 (then ran 84 on the next one after they were gone).

You never know what will happen when you head to the track...........you just might run into a 4-minute miler!

Mark