Change of plans

UPDATE: I did the Sit 'n Kick workout. I warmed up 1.25 miles, stretched for close to 10 minutes and began. My runs were: 66 (32/34) and 32; 67 (32/35) and 32; 64 (31/33) and 32; 64 and 32; and 64 and 31. I definitely missed on the frist two, realizing too much on the second 200. Overall this was a pretty good workout, especially consiering it was about 32 degrees and I ran in flats, not spikes like last year. Also, the 1200 slow jog-rest was 10 minutes, not 11 like last year.
I cooled down 1.1 mile. Total: 6 plus.

Wednesday, 12/30/09--

I did not run this morning, but I am planning to workout after work since I am taking the afternoon off. On Wednesday 12/31/08, I did Sit 'n Kick Reps. The goal was 5x (400m @ 65 . . . rest 60-sec . . . 200m @ 30) jog 1200m btw sets. I did: 65, 33; 65, 33; 64, 33, 65, 32; 64, 32. 1200 meter, 11-min jog in-between...for a 5.9 mile total.

World Record

Tuesday, 12/29/09--run in Borough. Ran 5.25. 29:20 at 4 mile mark. Nice, easy pace of about 7:35.

Monday, 12/28/09--
Recovery run. Easy 6.6 in 51:00 (18:00, 17:00, 16:00). DJ did most of it with me.

A note of gratitude from Chuck Shields:

Delvin,

Thanks for your help.. Bet you can't wait to turn 40... when is that anyway? Looking at two sets of splits and adjusting to the official FAT, we have Scott 2:01.4, Bob 2:02.8, Kevin 2:05.8, Nick 1:57.4. We found out on the way home (Ray looked on the internet) that the Ameican record was also the WORLD record ! How about that! My guess is Phil was about .3 behind Scott. But you may have a better recollection of that than me. You and Bob were almost a dead heat, maybe a tenth sec or less. So if Phil is , say, 2:01.7, that would put you at 2:02.5. What ever lead Scott had on Phil, you pretty much made up, so I would say mid 2:02 is pretty accurate. Thanks again, great effort !

Congrats, Comrads

Sunday, 12/27/09--The Armory. What a great, but long day. We left at 10:40 to meet some of the crew in Trevose at 11:30 so that we could follow them to NYC. Encountered our share of traffic. Got there, thinking we were late, but soon realized they were an hour behind. The hour eventually became 2 hours. Of course I did two rounds of warming up and admittedly was a little concerned about my left hamstring, which was rather sore and a little knotted. I applied icy hot, massaged it really well, stretched it constantly and eventually borrowed "The Stick" from Kevin. This seemed to help. He was taken aback when I said I used a rolling pin at home. Even though it is the one my daughter uses for art, he said he hadn't planned to eat at my house anytime soon! Could you blame him?

Here is the cut and dried summary: My club team, Greater Philadelphia, went to The Armory to attempt to break the American Club record of 8:15.29 in the 4x800 for 40-49 year old age group. We had two relays, an A and a B. I was on the B team, whose job was to push the A team. (I think we had a no-show on the B team and had to pick up a "random" masters runner who had just finished running the 1500!) Anyway, the A team killed two American records, the age-group club record and the overall club record when we went 8:07+. I know the approximate splits, but am waiting for something more definitive. The B team's first two legs held close and steady with the A team. Chuck wanted to front-end the race so we could push them. Our first leg was run by Phil Reilly from the TNT Track Club. He ran against Scott Landis, a rematch from last year when GP went up against TNT. This time, however, it was Scott who outran Phil and put the A team in first. I ran second leg on the B team against Bob, and I was clocked at 2:02 (29,59,1:30,2:02)! Can you believe it? It's not like I've been doing tons of speed work. In fact, I figured that I'd run about 2:10, given my fitness level. But I hung in there with Bob, not giving much to chance.

Race video: https://share.icloud.com/photos/060Hbdz6aJw0P28m_ehlJs5Aw (provided by Nick Damalas, Jan. 2023)

https://share.icloud.com/photos/060Hbdz6aJw0P28m_ehlJs5Aw (A review of the video indicates the following splits: 28.2, 30.4 (58.6), 31.1 (1:29.7), 32.5 (2:02.2) (58.6/63.6)). https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0d9ltsPgajB2fsgCdz4IM0WqA#4x800_race_video_(provided_by_Nick_Damalas%2C_Jan_2023) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q7BqmFSDYkFVzJ59xMv9IWH0wX83gFIg/view?usp=drive_link There is something magical about that track! It's fast and furious! I just have to see whether my son was accurate. Even if he was off by a second or two, this will have been my fastest time since college...not that I ran the 800 much then. I figure that I can discern my time from Bob's, Scott's or Phil's ran. I remember seeing the clock after I handed off to Chuck, who ran third. The fourth guy was run by someone whom we "picked up" from the crowd and had just completed the 1500. The B team ran 8:48 and change. The let down will come next week when I run the open 800 on Swarthmore's slow track and without the excitement of a relay or atmosphere of The Armory. Oh well. That's life.

Time for my recovery run!

Saturday, 12/26/09--I wound up going to Penn Oaks to avoid the steady rain. I ran a mile on the treadmill for warm up purposes and stretched really well. I cooled down a mile afterwards.

sharpen myself

Saturday, 12/26/09--It's raining right now. I am trying to figure out what I am going to do to sharpen myself for tomorrow's trip to the NYC Armory for the 4x800.

Friday, 12/25/09--Merry Christmas. Took off.

Thursday, 12/24/09--ran 7.9 in WC Borough with a few guys. Easier pace. 30:15 at 4 miles, and 60:45 at 7.9. Didn't push the hill or last quarter.

Wednesday, 12/23/09--mile warm up. 5-150, 25-second equivalent runs on street behind Rustin stadium. Cooled down .6 mile. 2 miles.

Roads were icy and slushy

Tuesday, 12/22/09--
Met group of about 8 at the WCCC. Roads were icy and slushy. Ran 5 miles @ easy pace of 7:45.

I'm anticipating that the roads may still be icy tomorrow, so I may wind up going to Penn Oaks to do treadmill intervals again. We'll see.

I probably won't see the track until some time next week!

All snowed in.

Monday, 12/21/09--back at Penn Oaks. .5 warm up. tried to simulate hills. Used the 7:30-8:00 per mile settings. Increased incline to 10.0 every 4 minutes for a minute. Did this for 2.2 miles. Cooled down .5. 3.2 miles

Sunday, 12/20/09--still snowed in. Went to Penn Oaks. Made the most of the treadmill. Warmed up 1 mile. Did 800,800,400,800,800. 800s were in 2:30-range (used the 4:57 pace setting.) 400 was in 1:15. Lifted in-between each for 5-7 minute rest period. Cooled down 1.0. 4.25 miles

Saturday, 12/19/09--snowed in. 15 inches. a little yoga and dumbbell action.

Friday, 12/18/09--took off.

My fingers were icy

Thursday, 12/17/09
like last week
headed into town
got there late
but not as late as last week
folks had already left several minutes before
began my run thinking perhaps I'd catch them
kept running
hit 4-mile mark in 28:35 (28:15 last week)
caught one guy at about 7.25-mile mark
slowed down so as not to be a show off
jogged big hill
hit top of hill in 53:05 (52:55 last week)
think I woul have hit 52:55 had I not slowed down
this means I ran the 4-7.5 faster than I did last week
jogged, waiting for other runner
finished up 7.9 in 56:45 (56:15 last week)
am sure I lost at least 30 seconds slowing down and waiting for comrade
felt good-second strongest run on this route
especially running by myself
being late is not so bad but
it was 24 degrees and my fingers were icy.

I can no longer be sure

Wednesday, 12/16/09--

Was going to go to Westtown to do some more 200s, but as usual I was running behind. I wound up doing some hills, however slight, on the street behind Rustin's stadium. .18 mile=about 300m. I ran 8 of these hills, jogging back down in-between in 2 minutes. My runs were: 53,56,55,54,53,54,54,51. On 11/25/09, I ran between 50-55 seconds, but according to my notes the runs were shorter by from anywhere between 10 and 15 meters. On 3/5/09, I managed: 50, 50, 49, 49, 49, 49, 47, but these were downhill. After each repeat, I jogged 300 to the start. I wonder where I am. I can no longer be sure I am ahead of the game. I need to replicate a workout from last year exactly. I need to see where I am, as I have only a few more interval workouts before my debut at the NYC Armory on the 27th. For benchmarking, I will do what I did on 1/17/09 or 2/15/09.

Unlike last year

Tuesday, 12/15/09--

Got a later start than I wanted as I had to send an early morning email. I wound up doing 4.6 in 34:20. I felt good...until a dog threatened me and I had to change my route.

On tap for tomorrow: 200s. I plan to do a repeat of my Thursday, 1/15/09, workout: 9-200s with a 200 meter/2-min rest between each and a 400 meter/4-min jog between sets. 1st set--33, 32, 32; 2nd set--30, 30, 32; 3rd set--29, 30, 30. There was nothing special about the workout, but I'd like to see where I am compared to last year this time. Unlike last year where I did interval workouts in spikes, this year I've been running in flats only. If I can do this exact workout--as is, including the generous breaks--then I'm in decent shape going forward, no pun intended. This would mean set 1 should be 32, set 2 should be 31 and set 3 should be 30.

I guess I need more speedwork.

Monday, 12/14/09--I had initially planned to do some hills, but then I decided to head to Westtown School for some 200s. I thought I'd have time to do 10, but I did only 9, as I was running late. I felt a little flat--33,34,33,34,33,33,33,33,33--but at least I was consistent. I jogged 200 in-between each; on average the break was 1:30. I can no longer be sure that I am ahead of where I was last year. This time last year (12/18/08) I did 8 x 200 at Penncrest: 32, 33, 32, 31, 31, 30, 30, 29 with a 300 meter jog in-between. I apparently took 400 meter jog after 5th one. This morning I took less rest but ran significantly slower. I guess I need more speedwork.

Total for the day: 4.1 miles

Yup, I bagged my meet

Sunday, 12/13/09

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day!"--a line I used to sing to my kids when they could appreciate it! Anyway, today was r-a-i-n-y! I was supposed to run in my first meet today, but I bagged it. I was too tired and dehydrated from our annual holiday party. Between 5-10 we had over 50 people walk through our doors! We spent the day preparing and the late evening cleaning up. We had a great time, though. So much food.... Yup, I bagged my meet and drove to the gym instead. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill (22:45), stretched a little, lifted for 20 minutes, then ran another 3 miles (20:45). The last half-mile was in 2:45 minutes. Felt good! 6 miles Hills tomorrow??

Saturday, 12/12/09--Took off the day. Went to my son's first indoor track meet at Haverford. Spent afternoon getting ready four our annual holiday party/open house.

being late is not so bad

Friday, 12/11/09
overslept
jogged .7
stretched for maybe a minute
did 2 300s strides on road behind Rustin stadium--52 sec
jogged back after each
jogged back home .5
2 miles
I take back what I said yesterday about being late


Thursday, 12/10/09
headed into town
got there late
they had already left several minutes before, it seemed
began my run thinking perhaps I'd catch them
kept running
hit 4-mile mark in 28:15
did ok on big hill
hit top of hill in 52:55
finished up 7.9 in 56:15
felt good-strongest run on this route
especially running by myself
being late is not so bad

It's pouring

Wednesday, 12/9/09--It's pouring!!

Tuesday, 12/8/09--running a little behind. Did 5 miles.
pacing:
4:02 -.5 mile
8:03 -1.0
15:40 -2.0
17:15 -2.2
20:45 -2.7
----
31:30 -4.2
33:05 -4.4
37:10 -5.0

I may grow to love this

Monday, December 7, 2009--Shiloh hills 300 meters-->hovered around :59 average with last of 6 hills at :57. I felt pretty strong. I may grow to love this Monday morning workout. I figure come January my hills day will become my Tuesday workout (and will be in town), as Kevin and crew will reconvene at that time.

Sunday, December 6, 2009--Penn Oaks. 3.3 there in 24:58; 3.3 back in 23:28.

Total for week: 29.4

I really struggled

Saturday, December 5, 2009--I went to Westtown School's track and wound up doing 8x300 with the goal pace for #s 1,3,4,6, and 7 :52 and the goal pace for #s 2,5, and 8 48 seconds. 2-min rest-walk of 100 meters in-between. This workout was tougher for me than it should've been. I really struggled. What does that say? My runs were 52, 48, 52, 52, 48, 53, 52, 50. I'll have to see if this compares favorably to last year's equivalent workout at this time. (Warmed up 1.35 and cooled down .85; my leg started to twitch for some reason. Total: 3.7 miles) Today I am off to Penn Oaks. Report later.

For tomorrow I'm thinking about

Friday, 12/4/09: Woke up late. Tired, 2.2 miles--untimed, but likely 17:00.

For tomorrow I'm thinking about doing one of these workouts:

Russian intervals--> 3x (3x300m @ 48 w/walk 100m at 60-sec) Jog 800m between sets

Pick-up reps--> 8x 400m @ 72 w/2:00-sec Int and #s 2,5,8 @ 65

Pick-up reps--> 8x 300m @ 52 w/90-sec Int and #s 2,5,8 @ 48

Neg-split reps--> 2x (300m-500-400 w/neg-split last 100m) @ :33+15 (=:48 300m) . . . 69+15 (=1:24 500m) . . . 49+15 (=65 400m) 2-min btw reps/jog 1200 btw sets

We'll see.

We'll see.

December 3, 2009: Was supposed to do 7.9. Took the morning off. Overslept. Dead tired. Mentally exhausted as well. Hoping for a better day tomorrow. May do light run, so that I can run hard on Saturday. We'll see.

Beginning of hills

Wednesday, December 2, 2009: Was tired this morning since I went to bed late. Decided to try my luck at some hills. Warmed up 1.2. Stretched near school sign. Jogged down to Street Road and began my hills. The hill is .185 mi (or about 300 m). Ran up; jogged down. Wound up doing 6, each about 1 minute. The beginning of hills season felt pretty good. Cooled down 1.2 miles.
Total: about 5.0 miles.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Went to Henderson for last Kevin Kelly interval workout (on track) for the year. Warmed up 1.3 miles. Similar to last year, the track was a little icy, so we ran the perimeter of the turf field. The workout was run 2 laps, jog 1 lap, run 1 lap, jog a lap--4 sets. Two laps=approx 600 meters; 1 lap=300 meters. I hopped in after the first set, choosing to do 3 sets and not to time the repeats. I felt good, keeping up with Joe, Kevin and Rachel. In fact, I held back a little. To be honest, though, the short recovery is still tough for me. Cooled down 1.2. Total: 5.3 miles