stoked

 Beautiful day in Sewanee, brilliant sun and low 60ºs.  Went to the track to warm up and do some band work and drills.  Couldn't resist trying out my wheels... and it felt great.  I did time myself in an easy 100m at 17.2.  No need to run any faster for a while to get where I need to be.  Really happy it's going well.  Yesterday, felt sore after PT but it's good and strong today with no soreness.  Stoked!

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands

50m high  knees

100m easy

100m - 17.2

I told myself I wasn't going to run on the track for another week, so next Monday I'll start with some easy 100s.   Tomorrow is my hill day, so I'll see how it goes. 

This exercise is one of my PT exercises, a test to measure recovery level.   Feels good, strong.  On schedule to run soon.  

Bike and PT, thoughts

 Did bike climbs Friday and Saturday, not super hard as I did Tuesday.  Doing lots of strengthening today... squats, RDLs, pull ups, and various bands and PT.  Want to run soon but have to be patient.  Not sure if I'll bike or run hills tomorrow.  Monday looks really nice.  Tomorrow, like today about 60º.

Went to the track to do some stretching and then a brief bike ride, but not a hill climb.   Ran a few strides, felt fine.    Did feel a slight soreness from my PT to let me know the injury is still there.  That's typical, as long as it's gone tomorrow and I'm even stronger.  

Was talking to Dave I. from Australia.  He had this same injury in 2011, recovered to run world class by 2016 in Perth (Silver 200m), and had a reoccurrence in 2018.  He said it took 6 months to recover while he trained through it, cautioning about what I already know... don't push it to an unacceptable level of pain.

Outdoor Nationals

They launched the website for USATF Master Nationals in Lexington.  I'm totally focused on this as a goal.  It is July 28 in Lexington, KY.  16 weeks away, I should easily be ready to defend my title.  I'm happy that it is later rather than sooner.  I feel like I'll be starting from the beginning when I finally get to running again.  I'm not super heavy, but feel as if my muscle mass is down, and I've not been real aggressive with my cross training and not real strict with my diet.  I'm still hovering around 143 lbs.

Aussie Championships this weekend.  One of the most amazing times - which some of my colleagues immediately started to call "juicing"... was M65 Rob M. who ran a 25.00 (wind legal).  Really pretty astonishing, considering that was what he was running 9 yrs ago.   M60 winner was 25.34.   Dave says he thinks it may be the new Maxflys and real good conditions.   UPDATE:  The M60 Aussie 400m champ was Todd in 61.98.  

A lot of great performances this weekend with some major meets.  A HS junior in FL ran 45.78 400m at the FL relays.

Observations on my local college track team: I was watching the Sewanee track practice.  It finally dawned on me what is going on... why it seems so casual and no one ever seems to be working hard, and why there is apparently a lack of participation.  I face the same exact thing in my music program.  College enrollments are becoming so small that if you push kids too hard, they'll quit and you won't have a program.  It's really a sad state of affairs.  Can't totally blame the coaches.  Their best sprinters are only about as fast as I was in my mid 50s.  Some are embarrassingly slow.  What was quite interesting is that in their meet this weekend,  those 2 Namibia women, Mboma and Masilingi (who were banned from the 400m due to high testosterone), showed up at this DIII meet in Birmingham.  Mboma the Olympic 200m Silver Medalist ran a 22.12, setting a facility record... (while Sewanee's girl ran a 29).  I raced in 16 meets and ran the 400m 15 times last year, 28 races.  I doubt any Sewanee sprinters will race more than ten races this year.   Sewanee athletes seem to go to meets only when they feel like it.  Only about 10 Sewanee track members attended this most recent meet - male and female combined - while the team roster lists 50 members!  

stairs

 They should give me a key to this place.  

At the MTSU stadium early this morning, about 52º,  cloudy and breezy.  Never have I not been able to find a way into the stadium.  This time was hard.  I walked the entire way around before I found an open gate where the garbage man was going in.   

Felt good.  I did 15x, 3 more than last time.  On the ladder up to recovery and track work.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, 2 x 40m jog warmup

15x stadium stair sprints

Wasn't too hard since I took some recovery after every 4 or 5.   Feeling really quite good now.  Yesterday was a full rest day.  Will bike and rehab tomorrow.    A general warming trend from mid 50s to upper 60s next 4 days and no rain.  

bike climb, new exercises

I'm in reasonable shape since I did today's bike climb in about 22:30, about a minute off my PR.   I also tried some new exercises.  Both are variations on the theme: RDLs with leg locked straight, and kettle swings with both legs locked straight.  Both these exercises target the proximal ham area much more than just a slight knee flex.  

My dad keeps expressing caution that this 'white tendon tissue' will never heal if it's stressed.  From what I gather, there has to be a happy medium where the stress load is carefully monitored and pain remains low and continues to abate.  If it increases, then more complete rest.  

I have a colleague who is training through an achilles tendon injury and he seems to accept that it always hurts.  I was in the same boat in early Feb and was running at 90% speed.  My pain is far better now than it was back then, and it's taken some restraint not to simply dive into track workouts.  But, I want it gone.  It has to be gone to sprint anything shorter than a 400m with confidence.  I do think I'm making progress
but it's not gone.... yet.  But it will be.   

Hopefully get my stadium stair workout in on Thursday morning.   Hills Sunday or Mon.  Maybe start some light track by 4/11.  We'll see.

Been eating not very well lately, but at least eating small.

142.8 after workout. 

Beautiful in Sewanee this time of year.  Trout lilies just opening up.  From yesterday's brief hike...

100m hill sprints, rehab

Felt good to go to the track and warmup before my hill sprints.  I started slow and gradually sped up until I felt the slightest twinge of soreness, then stopped.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 2 x 50m, bands

5 x 100m hill sprints ~ 20-24

RDLs, Nordic eccentric drops, squats, lunges 

Felt good.  Very little sign of the injury but still playing it very safe.  Probably do 2 or 3 similar workouts before I start mixing in one session of flat track running a week, then 2.  All out I can barely break 18 on this steep hill in a 100m, so my last 2 were pretty hard, 20.5, and 20.  Still running cautiously, short stride.

Beautiful sunny and cool today but not cold.  Will do a little hiking.  

Training and rehab are like a ladder.  Instead of going up and up, it's like 2 steps up and one step back.  Eventually, I'll get back to the top.  Happy to be on the ladder.  

May go to the gym tonight.  

  

rehab, outdoor work

Yesterday had a good rehab session.  Did RDLs, lunges, abs, adds, abds, some hip rotation stuff.    Then did a lot of outdoor work with the chain saw, clearing and hauling.  Very hard work for more than 3 hrs.  Was a tad sore last night but feel great today.  My daily injury test - straight leg backward resistance band on my heel - produced no sign of pain or soreness.  Really happy about that.  Was going to run hills today, but it's a little cold.  Will definitely be out there tomorrow.  Return to the track is on schedule so far.  

Stadium stairs

 At the MTSU stadium to run stairs this morning at 9am, was brisk 48º and sunny.  Everything went ok, felt fine, except for my loss of fitness.  I just did 12x to see if it would cause any soreness to my ham, but no adverse effects noticed at all.  Got to be patient.  Would like to start running this weekend, but will opt for a brief 100m hill session by Sunday or Monday, more cross training and rehab.   Definitely improvement, and feeling like I'm on schedule to start running on the track in 10 days or so.  

It's going to be a long slog, starting again, essentially where I was in Nov.  I'm reasonably fit, 142.3 lbs after workout today, but 'fit' and '400m fit' are 2 different worlds.

Stretches

12x stadium stair sprints

Will try to keep to this schedule for next 10+ days:

----------------------------------------------

Thurs - run stadium stairs

Fri. - stage 1 exercises / bike

Sat. - stage 2 / 3

Sun. - run hills 

Mon. - stage 1 / bike

Tues. - stage 2/3

Wed. - rest 

--------------------------------------------

I talked with my brother the other day and he has this notion that there 'must be' some masters aged athletes out there who don't compete but could be top world ranked, like former elites, etc...   I think he may be right when discussing age groups below M55, but as we saw at Indoor Nationals, just being well enough to make it to the start line, is an accomplishment for the over 60.  (Personally, I value world rankings above who wins a championship).  Yea, there maybe some 50+ yr old Maasai warriors in the Kenyon bush that could race a world class masters long distance event, but sprinting is a whole other world.  Nobody but nobody over age 60 sprints a 400m in less than 59 seconds without a great deal of serious, specific, and long term committed training.  I don't care who they, are or how fast they were.  I've raced Olympians before, like Sunder N. and Ray S., and they certainly were not out of my league, even at M50 and M55.  

Early spring cool down next 2 days, low 50ºs with a frost for Sat night.