Wednesday, November 1, 2023

420, 150, 100, 50

A very difficult return to the track Tues.  I wasn't quite recovered from the weekend.  Windy (N-NW) and very cool at the Sewanee track.  Mid 40ºs but sunny.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka Roket X2s on

400m - 65.90 / 90 sec rest / 100m - 14.68

150m - 21.07

50m - 6.62 (rolling)

I had planned to do a split 600m, 500m /100m... but gave up after 420m in a strong headwind.  My 400m split was slow. Was very fatigued considering the slow speed.  Everything felt hard today, clunky, hurtin' form. 

Goes to show that hiking can not take the place of track sprinting.... even though during the hike, my heart rate did stay in the 120s on average for about 2 hrs, peaking in the low 130s during steeps.  

I did burn a lot of calories during the trip, so I'm light, but soft.  Muscle mass diminishes quickly at this age.   It's a constant battle.   If I'm not doing some small amount of strength training daily, strength goes away.  Even one set of pullups, pushups, and core is better than nothing.

140.9 after workout.

Cold snap ends tomorrow and back to 70º by the weekend.  Was 26º last night and had to put heaters in my unwinterized boat.  Fall colors are a less brilliant than usual due to the drought.  Second driest only to 2016 - the year Gatinburg burned.  That year Sept and Oct yielded 1.10" of rain.  This yr only slightly better with 1.46" of rain in the 2 months combined.  Only one chance of light showers forecast in the next 10 days. 

7 comments:

  1. Of course hiking is not specific to track sprinting or any sport that requires high levels of either aerobic or anaerobic glycolytic energy production but what it does do is generate energy through fatty acid oxidation which develops and maintains mitochondrial health. Intense exercise does not utilize that pathway so if you are interested in longevity several hours weekly in the 120 to 130 BPM is optimal. Technically you want blood lactate concentrations below 2mmol/liter which probably correlates to the HR/effort level on your hike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what they say, but I can tell you that long hiking stuff, what they call 'zone 2 cardio' does nothing to help my V02 max or my overall long sprint speed. Does burn calories.

      Delete
    2. Yes agree 100 percent. I did 10 weeks of it this summer 6 hrs a week weights 2x weekly and when I resumed hard MTB rides I could not get up some tough sections. Riding well again now. Winter is coming.

      Delete
  2. In fact your recent lifestyle of a lot of time on feet long days doing tasks and hiking is probably better for longevity than lots of rest and 1000 meters of track sprints. Combine the two and you have something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blue zone longevity seems to be correlated with a generally active lifestyle but not with high levels of any type of physical training. And of course the right sort of diet.

      Delete
    2. Probably what I'll be doing when I retire from track or in the off season

      Delete