Back to the office, 300,200,100

Sunday.  First time back to the oval office since Penn.  I wanted to do some conditioning but not much volume.  Foot still a bit sore.  I was going to do 2x300m w/ 3 min but I did the first 300 pretty fast and ended up splitting the second 300. 

Hoka trainers on

Stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka rocket x2s on

100m - 13.69

300m, 200m, 100m w/ 3 min rest - 45.20, 31.10, 13.71

The 200m was really a 300m on which I bailed.  Overall, wasn't much but it pushed my heart rate pretty high.  I got a phone call just after the set so I shut it down.  

Have gained some weight.  142.4 lbs after workout, and I ate quite a bit tonight.  

First recovery interval only got down to upper 140s, second recovery before the 100m, was in the low-mid 150s.   Hit max 181 at the end of both long sprints.  The rest of the chart was just sitting around, talking on the phone.  

Next workout will be Tues evening after my last classes in Sewanee.  Will probably rain in the morning so will go out in the evening after my student's final.  

Bike climb, moving forward

Still planning to write more on Penn, but first... 

Did a bike climb today, didn't work too hard except for the final sprint.  Got it done in about 22 min.  

I did reach a new max HR of 186 at the top.  9:10 min over 170, 15 min over 164.  

It was really beautiful.  The forest canopy is in and the wisteria and lilacs are blooming.  It was like a tunnel of green and purple.  Love Sewanee in the spring. 

 

HR Data:

 

Foot is finally starting to feel ok.  Planning on hitting the track tomorrow for a conditioning workout, but nothing too serious.  If I race again this summer, it will probably be a 100m or 200m.  I want to really start working on my top speed and strength.  

My diet has tanked in the past few days.  I made traditional kataifi pistachio pastry today.  But my weight hasn't yet gotten out of control.  

143 ish

Tea and pastry at sunset.  Life is good.  

 

100m Gold at Penn Relays, 2 Silver in relays

Brought home my first individual Gold medal at the Penn Relays yesterday in 100m.   The 100m is the only individual sprint event offered for masters athletes at this, the oldest and largest track meet in the world.   Being a Penn Relays Champion has been on my bucket list for a while, since I ran my first 100m race here 12 yrs ago (PR 12.17).  Since then, I ran the Penn masters 100m in '17 (Silver - 12.25), in '23 (Bronze - 13.19), and this year ... so this was my 4th attempt.  Although quite slow, 13.23, a win is a win.  Like last yr, this was without starting blocks, and on a cool and windy day, so conditions not perfect.  

I also anchored my GPTC track club to 2 Silver medals in the 4x100m and the 4x400m relays.  

The whole experience was a whirlwind... fly out midday Wednesday, return home Thursday after the meet.  Didn't get back to Sewanee til after midnight this morning.  I'll talk about the trip, stay, and travel more in another post, but first about the races.

The schedule seemed crazy... 4x100m at noon, then the 100m 30m later and the 4x400m 30m after that.  I was the only person in my age group and one of just very few in the meet to do all 3 masters events in the meet, all in a space of 1 hour.  

But, it was actually good.  I only had to warm up once and the 4x100m relay was a really good warmup for the 100m race.  

100m

It wasn't the slowest M60 100m win, but close.  Actually a few hundredths slower than I ran last year when I won Bronze.  At least it was faster than the age groups above, including last years M60 winner.  There were supposed to be 8 people in the race but 3 scratched.  Former world champion and many time previous winner Don M., may have been injured but was in the race and lined up to my right, definitely something wrong since he finished well back in 4th.   I knew Zac was fast but I didn't know the other guys.  Last year, I think I lost the race in the last 15m so I didn't want that to happen again, so I made sure I relaxed and tried to maintain what little good running form I had til the end.  It paid off.  I got a fair start, decent reaction not a great drive phase, due to no blocks and very little practice with starts this season.  I felt it stayed quite close through 70m and Gerald finished on the inside was just 0.16 behind me, Zac just 0.03 behind him, less than 0.20 separating the medals.     This is the second year we've been required to race with no blocks.  Never used to be this way.   Afterward I took my spikes off and let my feet rest for a few minutes before having to jog to the start line for the 4x4.  During my brief rest, was happy to have talked with Zac a bit and to learn his daughter is also a musician.  That's the great thing about this event, the people.  Especially to a loner like me who lives pretty much in isolation.  

Photo: about 30m into the race

Relays

4x100 - Backing up to the first event, we were told to get there at 9:30.  Well, I was 10 min early and ended up waiting almost an hour before Chuck left the table and delivered our packets.  By the time we got to our team place in the stands, We had about 30m to sit before going to the field to warmup.  When we left to enter the field, we were direct to the massive line at the paddock but it seemed like a ridiculously long line. So we later learned we were to enter at the masters table.  So... we walked around the stadium one full revolution before we actually went in, so stupid and unnecessary.  My foot didn't need that.  I think one of the 100m guys missed his race because he was misdirected also.  

Bruce led off and got totally smoked.  He was I think tied for 4th in his leg.  He looked injured, wasn't sure what happened.  Daryl made up a little ground and handed it to Wally in third, well behind Flashpoint (Ron's all-star team) in first.  Pony Express Club's 3rd leg was really slow and Wally handed it to me in second but by that time Don M. had nearly a 20m lead on me.  I did make up some but the race was over before I got the stick.  Anyway, a good opportunity to run at full speed and feel the track.  Now I was warmed up.  

After the 100m, I was pretty happy and not really looking forward to the 4x400, but like the 4x100, the race was already decided by the time I ran the anchor leg.  Ron had 30m on me by the time I got the stick.   Scott led off for us and we were down by 20m at first exchange.  Bruce made up quite a bit of time on the leading team with a good 62 sec leg and Mark took the stick less than 10m behind.  Mark lost almost 4 sec to the leading team, managing only a 65.37 leg (to Jerry's 61.86), so Ron had more than a 5 sec lead and it was over.  I ran a respectable leg but didn't kill myself, my 61.19 split was the fastest of my team and the third fastest among all teams (behind Ron 59.80 and Oscar 60.14).  Not a bad workout and I was able to sprint to the end with no rigging.  

So I collected 3 more Penn Relays Medals, I now have 9 total.  6 from relays, and 3 from the 100m event.  Here's the tally:  100m: Gold ('24), Silver ('17), Bronze ('23).   Relays:  Gold ('23), 3 Silver, 2 Bronze.

Winning the 100m at Penn was a nice consolation after the experience at Nationals and it puts me closer to the end of my competitive season and closer to wellness.  More about the travel and the Penn Relays experience in the next post.  

3x300 tempo, Penn

Perfect day.  Mid 60ºs, bright sun, light N wind.  Last conditioning workout before Penn.  I thought I might try and get 4x3w/3, but no way in hell.   My HR only recovered from 179 to 160 three min after rep 3, so I was done.  Only slightly faster avg than the set I did 12 days ago.  Started rather ambitiously.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

100m - 15.78

Hoka Rocket X2s on

3 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 49.54, 49.41, 52.48  (avg - 50.47)

Went back and looked.  I did two 4x300 tempo sets in Jan, then one in March at Marist (PR 49.08 avg) fast Mondo track in perfect weather on 3/3.  I only completed 4x3w3 three times this season, so tall order.   I did complete a 3x3w/3 at the end of Feb average 48.94 with all three under 50.  So, still not fully back but not too far away.  I think that injury I had while stretching on 2/2 was somewhat the start of the problem that plagued me during mid March and Nationals, and that's why I went back to 3x3w/3 in Feb.

Had an amazingly huge weight drop from last night to this afternoon.  I was 146.6 lbs last night at midnight after eating at the school cafeteria, then 140.8 lbs after workout today, an almost 6 lb drop in about 15 hrs.  I was totally FOS.   I think I'm finally past this injury although I can still feel it ever so slightly in leg swings.  

PENN

Weather looks awesome for Penn.  Same as today, mid 60ºs and sunny.   I am a bit concerned about the 100m race, not because for fear of injury, but for the fact I've done zero acceleration or short speed work this season.   I'll go out tomorrow and do a little.  Really be lucky to break 13.1.   

I heard some bad news that the Masters 100m sprinters will again be denied starting blocks, Masters winners will no longer get the famous plaque ... the 'Penn Wheel'.  So, I'll never own one.  Should have really had last years 4x1 wheel considering I had the fastest splits in both relays, medaled in the 100m, medaled in the 4x400 and won the opening leg by a lot, and above all... paid to fly there and paid the cost of 2 nights in a hotel, (where all my teammates drove to the meet).   Alas, it's more about the experience.  

test run

Ran a cautious 400m race in a college meet today, 61.00 - the annual Sewanee Mountain Laurel Invitational.  About what I expected.  Took it really easy on the first half into the wind and probably ran somewhere around 29/32 splits.  Also, my blocks slid back a few inches at the start, officials didn't call it back.  So, didn't really care that it was one of the slowest of my masters career, just happy to finish uninjured and good to go for Penn Relays.  (61.00 would still rank #3 in the world in M60 right now, but it's early).   I finished about 15m behind the back of the pack and ahead of one astonishingly slow kid (about 9 sec behind me).  Weird that it was exactly 61.00.  That's a first.  I ran faster even on that tiny 160m flat indoor track in Feb.   

I knew by my recent workouts that I wasn't in the shape I was in Feb - March.   This is a slow track but in previous years, I'd run 56 here.   If I am to get back to where I was, it's going to take a while.  Not sure I will, as that level of fitness is fleeting, then again, I'm on vacation and not much else to do.  This track will be gone in a few weeks and hopefully the new one installed by end of June.  

I didn't wear my HR monitor, just my watch, and it recorded a max HR of 175 at the end of the race.  I was about 140.5 lbs for the race.  I think the extra lb or two may have made a difference.   

Weather looks awesome for the rest of the week after tomorrow.  I'm planning a tough endurance session on Monday then just something light on Tues.  Penn is Thurs.  

100, 300, pre race day

Went out to do a light workout before my return to racing tomorrow.  Great weather.   70º and partly cloudy, light winds.  I wanted to try out lane 3 for tomorrow's race but I'm thinking they'll combine my 3 person heat with the previous.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

Hoka Rocket X2s on

100m - 13.88

300m - 43.62 (28.44, 15.18)

The 300m felt ok.  I was NOT at all spent at the top of the home stretch.  If I pace correctly, I might come close to 60 tomorrow.  I'm really going to try and restrain myself and run the first 200m really easy.  My HR never exceeded 160 during or after this 300m so I'm feeling ok about it.  

This Sewanee meet is just a 12 min drive from my house, so I couldn't resist.   I was put in a 5th heat with two really slow seeds (over a minute) but I'm fairly sure one of them is a fake seed.  "Ben Doverman"  seeded at 71.  Come on...lol.   99% that is a fake seed name (because we don't have to pay to register).  So, I'll either run with just one slow guy or they'll put us in lanes 6 and 7 with the previous heat, which is likely.  Slowest person in the previous heat is 56.6, but if the other guy shows up, I won't be last.  (He's never run under 61 and I beat him by a lot at Sewanee's indoor meet).   

This will be the very last track meet on this 20+ yr old track that is badly in need of a resurface.  The new track is going in next month but it may take much of the summer to get it done.    Fortunately, I'll be off for most of the summer from racing.  Probably won't race after May.   We'll see.  I can train at St Andrews.  Unfortunately, no shade or bathrooms there.   I'm a little nostalgic about seeing the old track go that I've been training on for 14 yrs.   It's not the fastest track but it's soft and good to train on.  

I'm really happy with the way the injury is healing.  I can barely feel any issues at all when stretching.  I should be good to go for Penn on Thursday but really need this time trial to get my bearings for a 400m in my present state of fitness.     

Not going to be really light for tomorrow's race, definitely over 140.  140.5 lbs after workout.  

3x300,200 tempo, meet Sat?

Rain ending, with thunder, wet track, low 60ºs and with a SW wind.  Not idea conditions but I needed a conditioning workout, and I made an attempt at a 4x300m w/ 3min.  Pulled up 100m short on last rep.  Ran these conservatively.  All 300s about 51.  Last 150m was into the wind.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

Hoka Rocket X2s on

3x300m, 200m w/ 3min rest - 51.16, 51.27, 51.87, 37.04

I started the last 300m in just a fast jog because my HR had only recovered to mid 150s after the 3rd rep.  I bailed after a 37 sec 200m.  If I had finished the last one would have been 55ish.  Despite the slow conditions, really quite a come down after completing my first 4x300 avg  49.66 sec nearly 3 months ago in Jan.   Just shows how fast peak fitness goes away.

Here are the HR stats:

Second graph shows running cadence and HR.  (upper orange lines - running, lower - walking, gaps - sitting).

Detail: HR peaks all in the mid 170s during or shortly after runs.  Peak for session was after 3rd 300 during recovery at 181, a full 45 sec after the 3rd rep.   Lowest HR during recovery periods: 1st: 129, 2nd: 146, 3rd: 153.    To run a decent set of 4, I probably need to get my recovery HR below 150 before the last rep.  Note: the HR was over 170 for a total of about 4min.  

Weight is coming under control.  140.2 lbs after workout.

Last night I did stairmaster hill program on level 16 for 17 min.   I was mostly in the 153-164 HR range.  Peaked on the last hill at 173.

Race Saturday?

My annual local college meet is Sat.  I signed up.  I'm probably not in shape to break 60 sec, but after two days off from runni g this week, my injury feels about gone.  I may do it just for the workout.  Shouldn't be a risk.

 

 

2x300,200, 60s

 First warm day for a workout, variably cloudy, mid 70ºs and windy.  Did a conditioning workout today as I took limited rest between my long sprints.  Was going to do a 3x3w/3 but I started too fast and ran two, then a 200m.

Stretches, drills, bands, 100m

100m - 14.50

Hoka rocket X2s on

300m, 3 min rest, 300m, 7 min rest, 200m - 46.32, 48.17, 28.51

3 x 60m (first 2 rolling, 3rd from the line) - 7.78, 7.48, 8.10

I felt I should do some short speed so I ran a few 60s, the first cautious and the second, hard.   Ran one from the line from a crouch.  Could use some work on my acceleration, something I almost never work on.  

Here's the heart rate data from my optical arm sensor (certified as highly accurate by Engineer Joe E. Page).   I knew I wouldn't get 3 because during my 3min recovery, my HR only went down to 150.  Note the spikes shortly after each interval where max HR was recorded during the walk back.  (You can see it more clearly on the second graph that shows both HR and running cadence).  Not real confident with the cadence indicator, probably some latency.  They make a shoe pod for a more accurate reading.  My highest HR was 185 after my 200m during my walk back.   That's the max I've yet recorded.    

Afterward, went for a hike, now at the peak of wildflower bloom.  It was good.  Needed to lose a few lbs.  I've definitely gained a 2 lbs.  I can feel it, but can correct it in a few days.  Definitely not in the aerobic shape I had attained by early March.  Can still feel the injury a little so may take 2 consecutive days off from the track.  

140.7 lbs after workout.

Purple Phacelia wildflowers at the peak.  

Penn Relays

Still need some significant conditioning work to race a 400m.   The Thursday Masters Penn schedule is ridiculous: 

11:58 - 4x100 

12:26 - Masters 100 

1:00 - 4x400

At least I'll only have to warm up once.  They want me to anchor the relays, which is a lot of pressure, especially in a close race.  I've always had nightmares about losing a 4x4 as anchor.  Has never happened, hopefully it won't.  We should be considerably behind the top team which is pretty much an all star team.  Actually, would much rather get the stick at anchor behind than ahead.

2x100, 200, 300

Cool and windy today, partly sunny and about 60º.    I did some uptempo sprints with long rest in between.   Need both conditioning and speed.  This was just sort of maintenance.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

100m - 14.10

Hoka rocket x2s on

100m - 12.88

200m - 26.97 (12.81, 14.16)

300m - 43.51 (13.68, 14.10, 15.73)

A gust of wind caught me in the last 100m of the 300m, but it was close to race pace.  Max HR was 181 several sec after the 300m.  Max HR after the 200m was 171 but it seemed to take a long time for my HR to come back down afterward to below 130.  I had to sit to get it down to 120; while walking, it stayed over 130 for 10+ min.  These were pretty hard effort sprints, ~ 95%.

Next workout will be a tempo set on Sunday.  Should be sunny and 70º. 

Equipment test

This is not my data but a test comparison of the Coros armband heart rate monitor and a Garmin HRM Pro chest strap.  Pretty close in performance.

3x300m tempo

 My first tempo workout in a month.  Back to the 'unholy trinity,'  3x3w/3.   Cloudy, 59º, wet track, rain threatening, and strong winds from the SE giving a stiff headwind in my last 100m.  Finally a conditioning workout.  Conditioning goes away fast.  This was comparable to what I was doing in Dec.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

100m - 15.72

Hoka Rocket X2s on

3 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 50.23, 50.59, 50.94 (avg 50.58)

Went fairly cautious, just wanted to get it done, and with conditions not so good, wasn't worried about the time.  Set a pace beep at 51 (3x17) exceeded it and stayed fairly consistent.  Wasn't so tired at the end that I couldn't sprint the last 100m into the wind.  

The hamstring is sore when I put the massage gun on it but not while running.  Feeling generally more healthy overall. 

Data from the Coros monitor:

Interestingly, my HR reached max at 180bpm 5 seconds after the first interval.  Recovered to 130bpm after the first rep.  Second rep reached a max HR of 170 3 seconds after the run.  Recovered to 146 after the second rep.  Third rep max HR during the run was only 160, but peaked at 178 20 sec after the run.  Confirms what I've thought, always feels harder just after the run, not during.  Interestingly, my highest HR during any of the reps was on the first one.  It took almost 12 min for my HR to drop below 120 when finished.  Also interesting to see stride cadence.   I'm usually about 245 in a 400m race, max for this set was 234.   Maximum stride length was 5.94'.  In a race it's usually about 2m (6.56').  Not to get carried away with this new data toy, but it's interesting.  Not sure how accurate the stride length reading is.  (They make a shoe attachment for more accurate measurements).  

140.8 lbs after workout.  Weather looks good after Friday, summer like by the weekend.  Maybe I'll take the boat out.

100m, 400m

 After a couple of days off for some hiking and biking, and to allow my feet some recovery from running in spikes, I went out during the solar eclipse today to run a 400m in spikes just to see where I am.  Upper 60ºs and breezy, the track was wet with steam rising from it.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka rocket X2s on

100m - 13.87

Adidas spikes on

400m - 61.13 (13.85, 15.00, 15.32, 16.96 / 28.85, 32.28

Not ready to race a 400m ... (heh, even though this was faster than winning time at Nationals), I really am not 400m fit.  Consider I was running 59.8 in trainers 3+ months ago.  I'm going to need to start upping the volume a bit.  I feel some soreness in my injured ham still and it's moving lower, into the middle of the muscle.  My max HR during the 400 was 182.  

I'll try a 3x long sprint tempo set next time out on Wed and see how I tolerate it.  Looks like a rainy week but I should be able to get one in Wed morning.  Love this time of year and I have just one more full week of work after this week then I'm off til late Aug.  

140.3 lbs after workout.  

I really loved the dimmed mid day sun.  Partial solar eclipse 2024.  

3x100

Was going to run a long sprint today but can still feel the injury so I decided to keep it light.  I did run fast.  Tried out my spare pair of Adidas Prime SP2s.  So whenever I put spikes on, like to keep the volume low.  I originally planned to run a 400m with an easy first 200 but decided not to.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka Rocket X2s on

100m - 13.40

Adidas Prime Sp2 spikes on

2 x 100m - 12.48, 12.53

I did these sprints close to 100% with a 3 step rolling start.

Weight is ok still.  139.9 lbs

Maybe do a more ambitious workout Sunday when it's warm.  Would like to try a 400m about 29 / 31 pace.  It is volume more than speed that seems to stress the injury.

300s, committed to Penn

On Wed morning, I got out for my 2nd workout since Nationals.  I did a little conditioning but not much.  Still being cautious.  Colder, 47º, breezy but some sun.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drill, bands, 100m

100m - 15.19

Hoka Rocket X2s on

2 x 300m w/ 3 min rest - 47.91, 50.32

Felt ok.  Still no high volume or anything fast.  This was still hard as I've lost fitness.   HR peaked at 170.  

Weight good. 140.0 lbs.

PENN

I committed to Penn Relays and bought my ticket.   So, just want to be able to participate and not be in pain.  3 races in an hour.  2 x 100 and 400.  

First track workout since Nationals

First time on the track in a while.  Only my second time running in 16 days.  Need to make a decision soon about Penn Relays, by Friday.

I can still feel the proximal ham injury but it's much better.  I didn't want to push it so I did just a few sprints as a test and called it a day.  I think it's volume more than speed that irritates this injury.  I can tell I've lost a great deal of fitness since it's been almost 3 weeks since I did a conditioning workout.  

Hoka trainer on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

Hoka Rocket X2s on

2 x 100m - 14.97, 13.75, 13.54

200m - 28.51

The last 100m was actually a 200m cut short so it was on the turn.   Felt ok although a little clunky and cautious.   I do think I can race at Penn but won't decide until I see how I tolerate the next workout.  I don't want to prolong this injury.  But, I sure would like one last crack at that M60 100m.  

Weight is still ok. 140.4 after workout.

Sunday bike climb and illness

Sunday, I really needed some exercise so I did a Roark's Cove Rd. Bike climb.   Didn't kill myself but did it in 23 min.   Maximum heart rate was 160 but I only have my watch and not my HR strap.  

Friday evening, Roya and I attended a dance recital and I think I caught a cold from it.  The next night after our hike, I had a horrible scratchy throat and didn't sleep well.  

By Sunday evening, I had a fever of 101ºF and was gobbling vitamin C drops, Emergen-C packets and orange juice.  My fever went away by the morning and woke up feeling better.  I tested negative twice for covid.   

By Monday night, just a lingering cough.

 

Wilderness hike

Finally catching up on this blog.  Saturday, Roya and I did one of the ultimate challenging wilderness hikes and the best thing, it's right outside my door.  We hiked down my bluff to the falls where Laurel Branch meets an unnamed creek.  There are no trails to get there, just a several hundred foot slope of treacherous boulders and fallen trees.   There are just a few places accessible to get down off the bluff, none on my property.  The initial slope is certainly well in excess of 45º.    About the hardest 2 mile hike imaginable.   Locals have told me, "don't go down there alone."  In the almost 12 yrs I've lived here, it was only my 4th time going down.   Twice alone and my second time with Roya.   

The gorgeous falls are so remote and difficult to get to, it is not a stretch to believe that these falls go literally years between human visits.  As one gets deeper into the gorge, cell phone service and even GPS begins to disappear.  The spring is the best time to do this before the leaves come out.   But even with the increased visibility, it is still easy to get disoriented and lost.   We briefly got lost on our return as we took the wrong creek branch but as we got on higher ground, we got the GPS and compass to work and righted our path.   Agility, caution, and fitness is a must to get down and back out.  I can't imagine how a rescue could be carried out in such difficult terrain in case of an accident or injury.  

I wanted to go all the way to the meadow in Lost Cove and to Prince Spring, but we stopped about a half mile short and started the return.   It was really tough on my foot.   Lost over 2 lbs in the effort.