3x300m tempo

Sunny, 37º with a NW breeze.  Wind chill probably in the low 30ºs.  Still T-shirt weather for a tempo set.  With the cold and wind, knew I wasn't going to one up my best for the season, so completion was #1.  And the avg wasn't bad either.  Didn't have much time after my noon nap so the 'unholy trinity' was all for today.

Hoka trainer on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m, 50m

3 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 49.00, 51.20, 51.85 (50.68 avg)

About the same as my 2nd fastest set of the season.  

After solving some home problems with my fireplace (it's nw working great!), it looks like I'll be doing one more boat trip this weekend.  Forecast to be 65º.   

Weight is getting there.  140.3 lbs after workout.  

bike climb, boating

Met Bill on Sunday, we did a bike climb up Raccoon Mtn in a light drizzle.  It was about 50º.  Felt harder than the one I did on Friday.   Later that evening, I cruised into Chattanooga to meet Vik and Bill to see a IMAX movie on the James Web Space Telescope.  Then went to dinner at an upscale Latino restaurant.  

I slowly cruised back to the gorge by late evening, drifting with the river current much of the several miles, still in occasional light rain.  I had treated my canvas top with most of a gallon of waterproofing and it was great, no drips, warm, dry as a bone.   I had hot tea, watched football (Eagles v Bills), 60 Minutes, and then the Yellowstone TV series on the way.  Having high speed internet and Direct TV on the boat is really a game changer.   

By the time I went to anchor, the wind was really picking up and temperature dropping.  But, I stayed quite warm with the 12v electric blanket and the sherpa blanket.  

It was a quiet placid cold morning, mid 30ºs and cloudy, but as soon as it got sunny, no need for the heat.  The sun heats up the boat canvas enclosure like a greenhouse. 

Beautiful day but quite cool, upper 40ºs at most.  Other than 2 commercial barges, I didn't see one single boat all day.  The quiet was awesome.   

I was going to stay out until Tues morning and do a hill sprint workout today, but decided to come back because it is going to be in the mid 20ºs tonight.   It's just a 2 day cold snap then back to nearly 60º by the weekend.  Tomorrow night in the low-mid 20ºs.  I'm simply heating the boat instead of a complete winterization, keeping the possibility for one more trip, but it doesn't look promising.  Warmer this weekend but forecast to be rainy.  We'll see.   Just loving being out there, mostly because no one else is.

Tomorrow will be my first workout in freezing temperatures as the wind chill should be in the upper 20ºs.

Pulling out

Morning espresso and milk

Night cruising, watching football

wilderness

Chattanooga dock

5x150 hill sprints

 

On the boat in the TN River Gorge, today is a scheduled training day and I didn't want to simply do another bike climb, since I'm scheduled to do one tomorrow with Bill M.  So, I rode my bike about a mile and half up the mountain and found a nice straight 150m stretch on one of the steeper sections.  Weather was great, about 60º and sunny.   I measured it with my bike computer.  Before going up, I stopped at a picnic table and did a brief warmup.

Hoka Clifton 1 trainers on

stretches, 1.5 mile bike climb

5 x 150m hill sprints (on pavement) -  26.72, 26.57, 26.37, 26.79, 26.87

It was tough, was going to do 6 but instead I took less rest before my last one.  It wasn't full rest but about 5 min or so.  Was surprised at my times because on Roarks Cove, I'm usually doing 150m hills 28-30, however that road is probably steeper and this was straight and the steepest part was the last 20m.  Overall, a decent session.  Here's the hill looking down.  Hard to see the grade in a photo.

It was quite cold last night, in the upper 30º.   Monday night is forecast to be in the upper 20ºs on the river and lower 20ºs in Sewanee.  Thinking I might stay Monday night on the river to avoid winterizing.  The water temperature is still 60º so no way is anything in my boat going to freeze while on the water.  Have propane heat.  

2x300, 150, 100 tempo

Cooler weather but with sun and no wind, it was good.  49º, mostly sunny, mostly calm winds.  I wanted to do my usual tempo set today, but cut it short after starting too fast.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

100m - 15.50

Hoka Rocket X2s on

2 x 300m, 150m, 100m w/ 3 min rest - 47.40, 50.97, 25.05, 14.48

100m - 13.29

I bailed on my 3rd 300m, even after taking a real relaxed 2nd rep.  I knew I needed 52.4 to better my previous season best average so I knew halfway into my last rep it wasn't going to happen so I bailed and did another 100m on the 3 min rest.  I added another hard 100m after a rest.

141.2 lbs after workout.  

Blood glucose experiment - 

I test my blood glucose right after walking off the track, 30m later and 60m later.  Here are the readings:

1) right after workout - 175

2) 30m after - 135

3) 60m after - 85

Wow, no wonder I don't feel hungry immediately after a workout.

Had a rather controlled Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Scott and Pippa at his gathering at his place, 2 moderate plates of food, no carbs, no dessert.  Not too much damage.  

Because of weather, this weekend will be my last boat trip of the season and my last climbs up the mountain.  I was thinking I might bike up to the steepest part and measure out a 400m and do a couple reps running.   

Anyway, it should be interesting.   Fri and Sat look good but cool - high low 60ºs, Sunday - showers and Monday cold and clear.  May stay out til Monday and winterize that day.

My Thanksgiving group in Sewanee -  the guy on the right, Brandon, is Sewanee's national tennis champion, he's from S. Africa.  Hope everyone had a good one.

Split 400m, 200, 100, 50

Finally a heavy rain in Sewanee.  The biggest rain event in at least 3 months, 2 full inches of rain.  It stopped before noon and I hit the track shortly after.  Mid 50ºs, mostly cloudy, NW wind, wet track.  Conditions not the fastestm but at least it wasn't freezing.   I was feeling a bit of fatigue after the two consecutive days of bike climbs and all the prep and put away of the boat.   Only 750m of volume today.  

Hoka trainer on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

50m warmup -7.43

Hoka Rocket X2s on

100m - 13.90

'split 400' - 300m / 1 min rest / 100m - 44.53, 15.53

200m - 28.68 (13.78, 14.90)

 The 300m was close to race pace considering the conditions and in trainers.  I definitely slowed considerably in both long sprints.  

141.4 lbs after workout.   Not there yet.  

Hope to do a tempo set on Thurs, maybe speed on Sat.  

2 bike climbs

I spent Sunday and Monday on the boat and met up with Bill M. to do a Sunday bike climb on Raccoon mtn.  It was nice, cool, sunny 60ºs,  falling into the 50ºs on the way back.   Both times I climbed to the first overlook in 36-37 min. (PR is 34:45).  We rested there then climbed to the top, went to the visitors center overlook and around the reservoir averaging about 17-18 mph on the flat.

These bike climbs I think are good for strength and burning calories, but I do not think they appreciably increase my track speed or V02 max.  It's about the closest thing I do to 'traditional cardio' but it's like 37 min of zone 3 to 4 heart rate then another set of about 20-30 min in zone 3.   

I love being on the boat as these days as it's my last chance for the season.   It's arguably the most beautiful 3 mile stretch of the 600+ mile TN River.  I could count on one hand the number of boats I saw out there in those 2 days.  

Oddly, I had a trailer tire come apart just as I was entering the long bridge across the river.  Amazingly, although the tread peeled off, the tire never lost pressure.  I had 2 spares, but only one was mounted.  (I got the other mounted today and ordered a second).  I don't think I ever had a trailer tire go flat for 10-15 yrs, then the last three consecutive times it's happened.  Very weird.

The track meet on Dec 10 has been canceled so I'm going to open my season on Dec 16.  Unfortunately, I have to be in Murfreesboro that morning, so, long drive.  I'll be racing in the evening.  

It's turning colder but I'm going to go out at least 2 more times before I put the boat away.   I rather like cool weather cruising.  My canvas is pretty tight, and propane heater and electric blanket make it comfortable.  There are some nights forecast below freezing in the next week, but that's ok, nothing below 28º.  I can put off winterizing with space heaters.  

Here are some photos.

3x300m tempo

Mid 60ºs and cloudy, variable SE wind at the Sewanee track.  Good training weather for today's 'Unholy Trinity' 3x3w/3.   I was thinking briefly about upping to 4x3, but I'd need a much slower pace to finish, so I kept to 3x for now.  It was the fastest set of the season so far.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m, 50m

3 x 300m w/ 3min rest - 48.47, 50.07, 52.25 (50.26 avg)

100m - 13.22 

Happy to have one upped myself, with a 0.4 sec improvement over previous season's best 3x3w/3 avg.  This is comparable to where I was last year at this time, and I did complete a 4x3w/3 but it was avg 53+.  I did have an outlier 3x3w/3 set last yr in Sept where I broke 50 (49.84), but ran slower in subsequent tempo sessions.   Last yr, ran a 60.94 in trainers about this time, so similar shape.   

Weather looks fair through Mon, rain Tue, then fair and cooler rest of Thanksgiving week, in the 50ºs  Planning on a bike climb from the boat on Sun, but may possibly get a workout in before that in the morning.  Then may take Mon - Tue off and go Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues and maybe some consecutive days if I feel like it.  One more full week of school after Thanksgiving, it's gone by fast.  

Closing in on race weight, be there soon.  140.2 lbs after workout. 

Sporting the fabulous Hoka Rocket X2 trainers: 

tempo 200s/100, 50s

Good training weather, 64º, dry, mostly calm winds, and mostly cloudy at the Sewanee track.   Been a while since I did a 200m tempo workout.  This was really just a primer.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m, 50m

Hoka Rocket X2s on

3x200m, 100m w/ 90 sec rest - 31.93, 31.34, 31.84, 14.88

2 x 50m - 6.51, 6.32

Looking back several yrs, I once did 2 sets of 4x200m w/ 60 sec rest avg about 30.5.   These 3X200w/ 90 sec rest avg 31.7 and I was working hard to get that last 200m in under 32, then finished with a 100m on 90 sec rest.  It was tough enough.   I then ran a couple flying 50s hard.   

Yesterday, did a some resistance, pullups, pushups, hip flexor bands, ab wheel, single leg squats w/ 45 lbs.  I notice my L side is stronger so I add an extra set of squats to my R side.

Finally getting my weight down.  140.1 lbs after workout.  Going toward the one main meal of lean chicken.  So, 2nd full training week down.  3 or 4 more weeks before first meet depending when I choose to race.   18 weeks before indoor nationals, that's a good long time.  

May be doing the big bike climb on Sunday.  

400, 100s

Nice training weather, 64º, partly sunny, light winds.  I put on spikes for the first time in 3 mo, to see where I am.   Lot of work to do.

I was a bit nervous about running a hard 400m in spikes because I know I'm not ready, but did it anyway, going out rather conservatively.  I started with some 400m pace 100s in trainers and one in spikes, then finished with 2 more close to full effort.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka Rocket X2 on

100m - 14.75

Adidas Prime SP2 spikes on

100m - 13.90

400m - 61.12 (29.01, 32.11 / 14.07, 14.94, 15.40, 16.71 /  44.41, 16.71)

Hoka Rocket X2 on

100m - 13.71

Adidas Prime SP2 spikes on

100m - 12.96

The 400m was a bit disappointing but expected, having done almost no speed work yet, no starts.  I really lost a lot of time in the last 40m, pretty much a rig up.  Was shooting for a 14,14,15,16 splits and was too lax on the second 100m.  My 300m split was a slow 44.41.  I wanted at least a mid-low 43.   Definitely not there yet.  The foot tolerated spikes ok but was sore afterward.  

61 is not terrible... considering the M60 Asian Masters Champion from China ran only 64.15 this weekend.  However, these off season world regional championships are often not well attended.  The NCCWMA (North, Central American and Caribbean) M60 400m regional Championship was won at 68 ... lol, because no one wants to go to Juarez, Mexico, very poor turnout.    

Anyway, it's a process, it takes a long time, longer each year it seems.  I'm still overweight, ran the 400m at about 141.8, was 141.2 after workout.  

I'm still hoping I can break 60 in a month.  I do remember last season when I only ran 61 in January in a race.   With Roya leaving in about 5 days, I'll be alone and I can focus better on my diet and training.  

Yesterday, biked up the mountain in 22 min flat.  Was a good workout.  Still pockets of color on the N side of the mountain. 

  

3x300 tempo

Weather has changed.  Was cloudy, 55º, breezy, and the track was wet this late afternoon.  Knew I wasn't going to set any PRs today but I got it done.  The unholy trinity, 3x3w/3.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100, bands, 50m

Hoka Rocket X2 trainers on

3 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 50.54, 51.34, 53.66 (51.84 avg)

This was 1.18 sec slower avg than the same set I did a week ago, but I'm ok with it.  Conditions weren't that great and happy I got it done.  With no real foundation and a lack of much serious cross training, I need an intensive tempo every week and 2 if I can do it.   

Still not superlight.  Eating one meal a day and ranging daily from about 141 after workout to 145.5 lbs after dinner.  With 4 weeks before first indoor races, I have time to get to race weight.  When I'm alone, I can usually lose the weight easier and focus on my training.   I will be alone for Thanksgiving week so hope to make gains then.   

Weather looks good for Sun and Tues training.  Generally about 60º.  

2x300, neg split 400, 200, 100

 Incredible weather continues.  76º with shifting winds, sunny and dry at the Sewanee track.  Sunscreen on and shirtless, like summer.  

Yesterday, I did a low impact workout, upper body, core, hip flexors, squats.  I was a tad sore from the first speed work on Sunday.  I wanted to do a tempo 3x3w/3 but failed.  My goal to one-up my avg speed from last tempo workout, but the first one was just too hard and I cut #3 short seeing that I wouldn't be able to accomplish the goal.  I needed 51.1 on #3 and after hitting the first 100m in 17, I stopped, seeing as I wouldn't make it.  I compensated with more volume since my foot felt ok.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka Rocket X2s on

2 x 300m, 100m w/ 3 min rest - 49.40, 51.41, 17

Neg split 400m - 68.51 (36.25, 32.26)

200m - 28.56 (13.71, 14.85)

I didn't take full rest between the sets.  My HR was pushing 130 when I launched into the last 200m.  

A decent first full week of training.  1300m today.  Hopefully will get easier as I get lighter and more fit.  Slowly getting leaner.  141.0 lbs after workout. 

Hopefully will return to the 3x3w3 tempo on Friday, but the weather change is coming.  Tomorrow is forecast to be 82º in Murfreesboro, will probably be 85º.  Friday in Sewanee will be moist, cloudy, and near 50º.   We need rain but just 1/3" is forecast.  Second driest fall in a decade+.  There was a 100+ acre wildfire 10 miles from here so we need the rain, bad.  

short speed, 50s, 150s

Perfect weather continues.  Low 60ºs and sunny late afternoon on Sunday.  Did a low volume speed workout.  (All sprints rolling)

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands, 50m

Hoka Rocket X2s on (*Adidas Takumi Sen 9 - 50m #3) 

4 x 50m - 6.74, 6.53, 6.34*, 6.34

150m - 19.90 (6.43, 6.38, 7.09 / 12.81, 7.09)

150m - 20.26 (6.40, 6.63, 7.23)

It felt ok. Started fairly easy on the first 1, then last two 50s and first 150 was pretty much full out.  I didn't run with complete recovery but enough.  

Compared the Hokas and Adidas on the last two 50s.  Times were identical.  Both fast shoes, but the Hokas are definitely more protective, so they'll be my primary trainers for all distances.  

For reference, I guestimate that my optimum race pace first 150m in a 400m would be about 20 - 20.5, with about 42 at the 300m. 

Still not light, due to a couple buffet dinners this week.  141.4 after workout.  Still plenty of time to get down 3 lbs.  

3x300 tempo, 100m

Back to normal training.  The weather was perfect save for a S-SW wind.  Sunny, dry, 60º at the Sewanee track.  It's now Nov and I'm going to try and up to 3 workouts / week - Fri, Sun, Tues.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

Hoka Rocket X2s on

3 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 49.78, 50.97, 51.25 (avg 50.66)

100m - 13.40

It felt ok, controlled and not soul crushing.  I might be able to up it to 4x300m in a week or 2.  It's not far off from the times I was running a year ago.  So far, no real speed work.  And, I've not been doing overdistance either like I was in '21.   That yr I ran a month or 2 of 800s.   Sometime in the next few weeks I need to put the spikes on and run race pace to see where I am. 

141.5 lbs after workout.  

First indoor meets available to me are just 5 weeks away.   The Crossplex has meets on 12/10 and 12/16.

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.