10x300m average 46 seconds

Today was a cold rainy day. I decided I needed to work on my speed after doing a lot of base work. I started with 5x300m @ 47,47,46,45,46 and did a lap jog and finished with 5x300m @ 46,46,45,45,43. I finished with 2x200 @ 32,31 seconds at a very low perceived effort. I also did about 2o minutes of weight training. I recovered with a lot of rope stretching and the foam roller.

Yesterday I did 8x100m hill sprints

I was feeling a bit tired and felt like doing a short workout. I also ran about 3 miles easy.

8 mile run @ 7:30/mile pace

I am spending Christmas in McMinnville. I ran an 8 mile run in a rain storm with my nephew who is trying to get fit for indoor track.

4 mile warm up and 4 mile tempo run

In the morning I did a 4 mile warmup on the Nike campus. I then ran 4 miles @ 5:45/mile pace with my good friend Jason Odem. After that I played a fun gig at the MOTA church with my good friend Andre St James. It was a beautiful Christmas Eve Service. Later in the evening I gave a classical piano concert at my sister's house. Now I am trying to decide if I am a classical pianist trying to be a jazz pianist or a jazz pianist trying to be a classical pianist.

12 mile run on Leif Ericson

A good 12 miler on Leif Ericson trail. Averaged about 7:00 min pace.

3 mile warmup 4 mile tempo run 3 mile cool down

Tempo run on the Nike track with my friend Jason Odem. Averaged 5:40 pace. Finished with 61 second 400m.

14 mile run on Nike campus

An easy 14 mile run. I ran the last few miles around 6 minute pace. Yesterday was a rest day. I finished with some light weight training.

7 mile run last half mile all out.

I ran a good 7 mile run up a big hill and back. On the last 1/2 mile I decided to go 100 percent all out. I finished with 4x100 meter strides. It was a beautiful day. I am off to another Christmas party tonight to play the piano.

10 mile run on the Nike campus yesterday

Another 10 miler followed by weight training. I also had a fun gig playing the piano in the evening.

10 mile run on nike campus

I ran a nice 10 miles on the NIke campus. I sprinted up the hills on the last loop. I will be focusing on mileage and building my aerobic base this month.

5 mile tempo run on treadmill

5 miles @ 6 minute pace last mile @ 5:30 followed by light weight training.

Recovery Day

I worked most of this morning video editing for a client. After a long nap, I went to the gym and ran 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by some light weight training. Now I am feeling recovered.

1st place in the 800m at the University of Portland Indoor

I felt like I ran a good effort after coming off a bad illness. I never got my official time. I think it was around 2:02. It was a solo effort since I led the whole race. This was my first official race as a master runner. I plan to get my mileage back up for the next month.

Solid Track Session

Today I ran a short speed workout in freezing conditions. I was able to warm up and cool down on the indoor track. I then went to the outdoor track and managed to run around world record pace for my 40-45 masters age group. My last 200 was in 27 seconds and I focused on staying relaxed. It was definitely the easiest interval. The key to running fast is to focus on not straining.
I did 2x300+200 @ 41,28,41,27 with 200 jog rest between intervals and 400m jog rest between sets.

I recovered with stretching, foam roller, whey protein recovery drink, and a 16 ounce glass of fresh made red cabbage, ginger, carrot, apple, beet juice. I am pretty sure that my exercise and nutrition routine is keeping me healthy and feeling and looking 15 years younger.

Easy 20 minute run yesterday and Hill repeats today

Today I found an 80m hill and ran up it at 90% effort 6 times.
I felt pretty strong after taking several days off. I also had a good weight
training session three days ago. The weather is freezing so its nice to have
an indoor track facility near my house. I am considering doing an 800m
time trial/race on Sunday night.

preventative medicine

Why are the side effects of most prescription medications worst than the symptoms they are designed to cure. I laugh every time I see a drug commercial on TV because it seems like a bad joke. That is why I prefer taking preventative measures to be healthy and prevent diseases are caused from environmental and lifestyle choices.

Back after taking three days off due a bad chest cold.

I came down with a bad chest cold on Friday and took the weekend off from training. I was able to get over this terrible virus that went straight to my lungs with some natural remedies. I slept most of the day yesterday and today. I also took extra doses of astragalus, bovine colostrum, echinacea, apple cider vinegar, vitamin d, and zinc. I am sure that my immune system was compromised due to my lack of sun exposure, hence the low vitamin d levels indicated by a recent blood test.

Today I went to an indoor track and ran 20 minutes easy, 40 minutes of weight training, and 20 min jog cool down. I recovered with a large glass of fresh made red cabbage, ginger, carrot, and apple juice. I hardly have any cold symptoms and I am glad to be over this.

The last few days

I have been busy in the recording studio the last few days. I still managed to do a few good workouts. Yesterday morning I did 10x200m on the track in training flats. I ran 29 seconds for the first 5 and 28 seconds on the second. The day before I did a 3 mile run @ 6 minute pace followed by 2x1 mile @ 5 minutes. I have been taking extra rest days in order to complete more intense workouts without feeling over trained.

2 miles @ 10 minutes then 4x200 @ 27 seconds

Three days ago I did a good workout starting with 10 minute tempo run then followed by 4x200m on a windy, rainy, and cold dark track. I managed to average around 27 seconds with 200m jogs.

14 mile run and feeling fine

Yesterday I decided to put in some miles and ran 14 miles on the nike campus. There are a few hills to contend with but makes for a more challenging long run.

Pretty good track workout despite feeling a little lethargic

Today was another dark cloudy and 35 degrees. It is beginning to feel like winter. I took yesterday off from training since I had a busy day setting up for an early evening gig. I ended up taking a rest day and coming back today with 6x300m cut downs @ 48,47,46,45,45,42 and then finished with another 200m @ 28. I felt a lot better as I got into the workout. My last two intervals were in spikes and definitely helped my speed. My achilles were feeling pretty good at the end of this training session. Hopefully I can continue to keep them strong and injury free.
I have found that sometimes I have to do a special therapy on my achilles in order to break up scar tissue. This means wearing a sock and pressing in with my fingernails in a vertical direction. I wear a thick sock in order to prevent damage to my skin. I will often follow this therapy with some topical DMSO. I also do the contrast showers that seem to help reduce inflammation.

I ended with some light weight training, foam roller, and good stretching. Tonight I plan to load up on some good fresh vegetable and do some serious juicing. My goal is to drink about 2 pints of fresh vegetable/fruit juice to help me recover. My stomach always feels much better if I take some digestive enzymes after I juice.

Alternate with Hard and Easy for Maximum results

Lately I have been training with a lot of intensity one day and taking the next day almost completely off from training. Today I ran an easy 30 min jog as slow as possible since yesterday was a very hard workout for me. By alternating like this, I have had much more productive workouts on the hard days. Sometimes I forget that the real benefits occur when your body is resting and rebuilding from the previous workout. I have been focusing more on recovery and noticing huge improvements in my aerobic fitness. I have not doubt that in 1 month I will be able to run 20 minutes for 4 miles if I can continue doing a lot of intervals at 5 minute pace. When I was running 3:45 for 1500m, a 20 minute 4 minute tempo run would be a bench mark workout. My main focus this winter is going to be building aerobic fitness through threshold training.

Getting Aerobically Fit

Yesterday was a rest day. Today was a V02 max building workout. I started with 2 miles @ 10 minutes. Then 2x1 mile @ 5 minutes. I felt very good on the last mile and probably could have done another 10 minute 2 mile. My goal is to get fit enough to run 4 miles in 20 minutes. Once I achieve this fitness level, I will feel ready to compete.

I finished my workout with 40x400lbs inclined leg press. I think it is great to do lower body weights following a tempo run. I believe I am recruiting more muscle fibers. Also if I am able to go straight to doing weights while still in oxygen debt, I am able to train my muscles to fire in an extremely fatigued and oxygen deprived state. My theory is that this type of training helps me to be able to finish stronger at the end of a race.

I also spent a bunch of time calling up bass players and drummers for some upcoming gigs.

Blood Report

Today I got my report back from my blood test. Everything is perfect according to the doctor. I had a very high red blood cell count and hematocrit. I had slightly low vitamin D levels. I guess that is what what you get when you live where the sun hardly shines.

Easy 30 minute , weight training, and piano practice

Early this morning was my Sunday church gig. It takes a bit out of me and I end up coming home and crashing for about 2 hours. When I woke up I took it easy and ran a 30 minute recovery run. I also did a good upper body weight workout. I need to be careful and not bulk up too much from weight training. I also did some plyometric box jumps. These are pretty difficult when you use a knee high box and jumps. I have also been wearing compression socks after workouts and I feel that it helps speed up my recovery.

I also put in a good two hours of intense piano music on some difficult classical music. I am starting to nail it and ready to do a recital very soon. I am not really a classical pianist but I am slowly gaining more confidence. The key for me is slowing down to practice and listening by staying focused. It is definitely an awesome challenge to take on some of those crazy Liszt and Chopin compositions.

Easy 10 mile run on the Nike campus. Felt great.

I decided to put in some easy miles today. I also treated my body to three ounces of wheat grass after the run. Some call it the green blood since it has nearly the same molecular structure as hemoglobin. What better way to improve your oxygen carrying capacity than putting green blood into your body?

Getting it done

Today I was feeling a bit lethargic since I have been fighting a cold and working hard in the studio. I have also been staying up late to program web sites and fixing bugs. It is difficult doing the job that usually takes 3 or 4 people to do and have it done in the same amount of time. I haven't been getting the greatest sleep. Today the weather was windy, cold, rainy, and dark. I decided I needed a little introduction to my race pace as I prepare for indoor track. I decided to do 2x(400m+300m+200m).
I am saving my achilles by doing my interval training in orthotics and road racing shoes instead of spikes. My workout went pretty well despite the conditions and not being in great shape. So my times were 400m @ 62 sec, 300m @ 46 sec, 200m 29 sec then a one lap jog and 1x400m @ 62, 1x300m@ 46, and 1x200m @ 28. I had about 300m jog rest between intervals. I finished with an intense lower body weight workout. One was doing 50 reps of leg presses of a full rack of 300 lbs. I usually do this until my legs are burning with lactic acid and I do 20 more reps. I was also a bit tired from doing 3x1 mile repeats at 5 minutes the other day.

My recovery included foam roller, stretching, undenatured whey protein drink. I also broke out the juicer and made 2 pints of fresh carrot, spinach, apple, ginger juice. A great way to end my day of training and help my body to recover and hopefully become stronger from a hard day of training.

3x1 mile @ 5 minutes

Did a 3x1 mile @ 5 minutes on the treadmill after taking a rest day yesterday.
It felt a bit difficult. It is a little depressing knowing that I once ran a twelve mile tempo run on the Leif Ericson trail in 63 minutes. I would love to get back into that kind of shape. It gets a lot more difficult to train high mileage as you get older. I guess biological age is all relative and I will continue to train as long as my body can handle it.

12 mile run today

Yesterday I spent working all day working on my pacing robot. I decided to take the day off since I was feeling very tired. I may have been fighting a virus. I ended up having a great time playing the piano in church with a good bass player and drummer. I had someone say I sounded like Vince Guaraldi which was a huge compliment. Today I felt good and decided to go for a 12 miler. It is the longest I have gone in a while for my long run. I through in some surges and felt like I was activating dormant muscle fibers. I think it is imperative to do at least one long run per week in order to maintain aerobic fitness. My long run now is going alternate between 12 and 14 miles.

A link to a race last year

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=19708

My national rankings

My ranking as a master athlete.

I just created a Facebook music page.

I will try to keep my friends and fans updated with my public performances at this site.

7x400m and 2x300m

7x400m @ 65,64,64,62,66,63,63,59 with 1 lap jog rest.
2x300m @ 46 seconds. I ran all the intervals in road racing
flats with orthotics. My last 400m was in spikes and I ran
it sub 60 very easily. My achilles were feeling a bit sore
mostly due to the cold weather. I ended up finishing with
3x300m in training flats. I also did about 30 minutes of
heavy weight training. Finished with the foam roller and
rope stretching.

Later I created some nice recovery drinks. Pear, Bean, Carrot,
ginger, apple, and grape. Also I took two servings of my favorite
undenatured protein drink made from whey protein, cocoa, coconut milk,
and agave nectar.

This is a very disturbing trend published by the Center for Disease Control

Obesity trends in the United States
If we keep going this direction, it will be the demise of our health care system.
As you can see, we are passed the terrible blueberry stage and now we are in the red. The red is the point of no return.

rest day, fighting a wimpy cold virus. worked on robot

Today I battled a the beginning of a cold and I won. I had to take the day off and rest my body. I ended up spending time working on my robot. I was able to get the a digital compass installed so now it will now what direction it is going. I also figured out how to take my resting heart rate and send it wirelessly to my robot. My robot will log my heart rate during my workouts and even travel the speed that will keep me right below my threshold pace. I have learned a lot about different type of sensors, dc motors, and programming micro-controllers. I think I will be coming up with some cool inventions in the future. My resting heart rate was 41 beats per minute.

light jogging and swimming intervals

Tonight I jogged on the indoor track at All Star Fitness for 30 minutes. I then headed to the pool and swam 4x50 meters @ 48 seconds and 2x25 meters @ 16 seconds. When I swim all out, I get my heart rate up to it maximum. Next time I will measure my max heart rate to see where I am at. I am feeling good and getting good rest and nutrition. I spent the rest of the day working on my robot, booking some Christmas gigs and recording jobs. I also worked several hours on my classical piano repertoire. All in all, a productive day.

random workout

Today I did a totally mixed up workout. I started with an easy 10 minute jog. I then went inside and ran on the treadmill for 10 minutes followed by a very hard weight training. Then went to the track and ran 800m @ 2:30, 600m @ 1:43, 400m @ 66, 300m @ 49, 2x200m @ 32. Finished with a 1 mile cool down. Not too hard but still had some aerobic benefits.

I spent the rest of the day practicing my classical piano repertoire.

10 miles over hills

Felt a little difficult to finish a 10 miler. The conditions were not too bad. I waited for the rain to stop and ran at about 7pm. I did 10 miles of slow running over hills.

30 at age 40?

Everyone thinks I look ten years younger on my 40th birthday. What is it that makes me look young at age 40?

Maybe its because I exercise about 6 times per week. 2 times per week I do some sort of weight training. Every day of training includes some type of aerobic exercise.

I eat about 1/2 as much as the average American. I am sure that the typical American
diet has way too many calories. Proof of my theory? The obesity epidemic.
Eating less is the only scientifically proven way to increase your life expectancy by up to
30 percent. Just do a google search. I think long distance running also puts more caloric demands on your body and thereby increasing the stimulus to the gene that is activated by caloric restriction.

I get at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
I take a bunch of anti-oxidents that help fight inflammation
and free radicals responsible for cell damage.

Some of my favorites:

Alpha-lipoic acid
Tart cherry extract
Vitamin C
Resveratrol
Quercetin
Tumeric
krill oil
rose hips

I also have sensitive skin and use rose hip seed oil, Argon oil,
and my favorite burts bees on my face especially after
shower, shaving, or swimming in the pool.



I also have low stress in my life and trust God that he will
provide.


Why go to extremes to improve your health and longevity?

Who wouldn't like to be healthy enough to run a marathon at 90 years of age?
Don't believe it is possible? Someone 100 years old just finished a marathon.

My 40th Birthday

Today I got up to a sunny day. I went out to the Nike campus and ran 8 miles. Tonight I am joining my family for a nice dinner then heading out with some good friends to hear Phil Baker at Jimmy Macs. He is the bassist for the world famous group Pink Martini. I did a gig with him once and he was a pleasure to work with.

Officially a Master runner

Today is my induction into the masters running scene. I am injury free, motivated, and ready for the indoor track season.

Treadmill workout

Yesterday I spent the day in the studio recording and decided to take a rest day. Two days hard and two days easy is a small crash training cycle.

Tonight the weather was bad so I headed to the gym. I set the treadmill for 6 minute miles and went 3 miles. My 4th and 5th miles I took short breaks and ran each at 5 minutes. I finished with some weight training.

What a way to spend the last hours before I turn 40.

30 minutes swimming and 20 minutes light weight lifting

Feeling the need for an easy day.

Taking care of my body for peak performance

After a tough 6 mile tempo run, swimming and weight lifting yesterday, I thought I would be out of commission. On the contrary, I felt fine. I ended up doing 20x200m @ 30 seconds with the last ones being around 27. I still felt good so I finished with a 400m @ 60 seconds. I ran this workout in training flats and orthotics to help protect my achilles from excessive trauma. I went to the weight room and did some light ab work and lower body weights. I used the foam roller for about 15 minutes and did some rope stretching. I got home and had my favorite undenatured whey protein drink mixed with cocoa and agave nectar. I hopped in the shower and alternated between hot and cold. This really gets the blood flowing and reduces inflammation. To finish my recovery, I got the juicer out and made spinach, apple, carrot, ginger, and grape juice. The spinach gives me the iron I need, the ginger is great for my digestion and is has anti-inflamatory properties. Carrot juice is great for the skin and grape juice is high in anti-oxidants. Combining all these together creates the ultimate healthy drink. I now feel 100 percent recovered. I wish everyone could feel like I do right now. There is no better feeling in the world to be fit and healthy. It does take a lot of work and discipline but the results are priceless.

good v02 max boosting workout

Today I started with a 1 mile warmup, 4 miles @ 6 minute pace, and finished with 1 mile @ 5 minute pace. 30 minutes of weight training, and 25 minutes of swimming. Feeling good.

Yesterday was a 7 mile run and weight training

Feeling a little sore today after some hard weight training.

Rest Day

Today I had a gig with a great bass player named Andre St. James. I was a little tired this morning and didn't get a workout in. My fingers got a good workout playing some jazz standards. Also finished the day with 100 pushups.

8 miles on the Nike campus

8 mile run on the Nike campus. Just purchased a new keyboard. A Roland RD 700.

3xmile, 2x800m, 1x400m ,1x200m, swimming and weight training

A full day of training and practicing the piano.

My workout was on the Duniway track in Portland.
3 x mile @ 5:10,5:08,5:06 2x800m @ 2:25,2:20, 1x400m @ 60 seconds, 1x 200m @ 28 seconds.
Finished with some light weight training and 30 minutes of swimming. Last 2 intervals in the pool were 2x50m free @ 45 seconds. I also did about 10 minutes of the foam roller. Feeling good.

Yesterday 7 miles run

Today I'm feeling pretty good after two easy days. I am going to try and put in some miles this week.

Easy recovery day.

Today was spent in the studio mixing music for a client. In the evening I went to the gym and jogged for 10 minutes on the indoor track then I did 15 minutes of swimming, finished with a 1 mile run @ 6 min pace on the tread mill followed by a 1 mile cool down and some ab work. I did low volume and low intensity to recover from a hard day of training yesterday. Now I am getting excited for indoor track just around the corner. I will be 40 years old and ready make some new records both on the track and in the studio.

This guy has the knowledge

For Hip Hop News & Entertainment at DimeWars.Com

A good workout today and how to kill a cold every time

Today was a beautiful fall day with some much need sunshine. I ended up going to the track and doing 4x800 @ 2:20,2:28,2:25,2:20 and 1x400m @ 61 seconds, and 2x200m @ 26 seconds followed by some light weight training. Yesterday I ran about 4 miles easy. I was very low on energy and I was exposed to a bad cold virus that I seemed to be fighting off. I was able to sleep a few extra hours this morning and I was able to fight it off. I can't remember coming down with a sickness in the last 3 years. I usually mix iodized table salt with water and snort it. Then I let it sit in my nasal passages for at least 30 seconds. I then follow that with taking 1 gram of echinacea, 1 gram of colostrum, and 1 gram of astragalus. I then make sure to get an extra 2 to 3 hours of sleep. I also do a hot cold shower in the morning to help stimulate my blood flow that carries an army of my immune fighting antibodies. How do I know I am fighting a virus? The most common first symptom for me is fatigue followed by the common cold symptoms. I also make sure to carry hand sanitizer every where I go. I follow my cold fighting regimen even after being exposed to someone that has a cold as a preventative measure.

8 mile run and light weight training

Today was an easy 8 mile run. Tonight is I'm playing the piano for a nearly booked out show with an amazing singer from New York. Not much free time when most of my time and energy is spent running and practicing the piano.

Hanging in there

Today was a nice day to work out. There was a little wind and rain but still a nice moderate temperature. I started with a 15 minute jog and then ran 2 miles @ 10:30. The first mile at a comfortable 5:20. I then did 4x200m cut downs 30,29,28,27 and finished with a 400m in 61 seconds. I am going to continue to do about 1 track session per week that involves both threshold and light speed work. I also did some weight training and recovered with the foam roller.

Rest day

Today I was feeling a bit lethargic and listened to my body and took the day off from working out.

8 mile run on the Nike campus

I ran a late night run on the Nike campus. I ran at 9:00pm and didn't see anyone. The only thing worth mentioning is that I collided with a huge bull frog. I guess it was a little to slow to get out of my way and hit me in the shin. There is a lot of protected wet lands around that area and I always run into interesting creatures. The strangest are the nutria that sit on the side of the trail and chomp on vegetation all day long. They also get can get very fat since they consume around 25% of their body weight daily. The nutria should replace the American Eagle as our national symbol since this animal represents a lot of our current population that unfortunately suffer from obesity.

10 mile run on Nike campus

Perfect weather on the Nike campus. I ran into the Mo Farah, the world champion for 5000 meters. I ended up running about 4 miles with him. He is very humble and perhaps will become known as one of the greatest distance runner of all time. He was just starting training again after a well deserved two week break. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah

30 minutes swimming and 20 minutes weight training

Taking it easy today.

10 mile run and weight training

Put in a 10 mile run on the Nike campus. Finished with some weight training at All Star fitness.

40 min run over hills 30 minute swim and 20 minutes of weight lifting

A good day of training. Today was spent practicing for a show that I am hired to play the piano.

My workout was running was running up a hill about 1500 feet and then back. I finished with some light weights and a 30 minute swimming workout.

Easy 4 mile run

I took it very easy today and did a little 4 mile run. I'm resting up for another big week of training.

8 mile run on the Nike campus and 30 minutes of swimming

Today I was feeling a bit sore but managed an easy 8 mile run and 30 minute pool workout. I also did some light weight lifting and ab work.

7 mile run

Just an easy 7 mile recovery run with some hills. Feeling good.

Cut down Aerobic Threshold and Speed Work

1 mile warmup.
1 x mile @ 5 minutes
1 x 1000m @ 3 minutes
1 x 800m @ 2:20
1 x 400m @ 1:00
1 x 200m @ 28 seconds

Easy 1 mile cool down, 20 minutes of light lower body weigh training, 15 minutes of foam roller.
Feeling very good today. Working on pushing my Aerobic threshold with a track session or tempo run at least 1 time per week.

8 miles easy on the Nike campus

8 mile run on the Nike campus. I love the fall weather.

30 min run and 40 min swim and light weights

Today I ended up doing an easy run to recover. I also did 8x50m swimming intervals in 55 seconds. It similar to doing repeat 400m on the track. It is nearly the same time and effort for me. I finished with some light weight lifting.

8 mile run on Nike campus

A nice pm run on the Nike Campus. Perfect weather.

Two miles at Threshold pace

Feeling a little tired and sore today. I went out and ran 2 miles @ 10:50 followed by
7x200 @ 32,32,32,30,30,30,28 seconds. I definitely need to add two threshold runs per week in order to get my VO2 max to a respectable level. I also hope to reach 70 miles per week in October.

8 miles run on cedar chips followed by 40 minute swim

I am enjoying getting a little more aerobic exercise without the impact of running. As a novice swimmer I feel like 40 minutes of swimming is like running up a mountain at high elevation for 40 minutes. I also did some light weight lifting for about 30 minutes.

A day in the life

Today was mostly spent practicing the piano. Working on works by Chopin, Liszt, Bach, Schubert, Gottschaulk. I also practiced a bunch of jazz standards. I ran about 40 minutes of hills, then 20 minutes of swimming. I also spent some time mixing an original composition.

10 mile run on the Nike Campus in perfect 70 degree weather.

Felt a little wiped out on the last two miles but kept hammering. I'm enjoying this nice weather. Perfect for training. Oregon has the best weather in the world in September. Later in the evening I went to the gym and lifted weights for 1/2 hour and swam for 20 minutes. I also stopped by Jamba juice and downed 2 ounces of wheat grass and 16 ounces of carrot juice to help me recover.

a little speed work

15 minute jog warmup. 8x100 @ 14 seconds and 8x200m @ 30 seconds in training shoes. Last one in 28 seconds. Finished my workout with some weight training.

8 mile run today

Felt terrible but I still hammered out 8 miles in the dark. I hate it when bats fly two inches from your face. I think they need to upgrade their sonar. At least I had some company on my run.

40 minutes of swimming with sprints

Tonight I did some intervals in the pool. I tried swiming as fast as I could for 25 meters and timed myself at 16 seconds. I did a couple more around 17 seconds. I believe swimming is an excellent way to improve aerobic fitness without the pounding. Swimming is going to become part of my base training. I also do some aqua jogging and various exercises such as high knees and butt kicks in the water.

8 mile run, lower body weights, and 20 minutes of swimming

Feeling a bit tired from the ten miler yesterday. I am hoping to hit the weights and the pool at least twice per week. I always find it very therapeutic to do some swimming and aqua jogging after a run.

10 miles run @ 7min/mile on Nike campus

Getting an aerobic base is the hardest part of the macro-cycle of training. I will need at least 4 months of consistent 60/70 miles/week to be competitive next year.

40 minute run up to charter house, 30 minutes of weight lifting, 20 minute swim

My training has been a little off and on over the last two weeks. I have been very busy building a web site. www.tulagems.com. I am hoping to get into a regular training regimen in the fall. I will be turning 40 next month and I am looking forward to competing as a true master.

8 mile run on Nike Campus

I am now at the beginning of a new macro-cycle with the base training phase. It has been a nice change to do some swimming when my body is feeling beat up from running.

8 mile run tonight

I did a late night run on the Nike campus to avoid the heat of the day. It was a perfect 70 degrees. I am trying to finish my runs with a couple of strides. I think it is very important to keep the fast twitch muscle fibers active throughout the year.

I'm back with 8 miles today

After taking about 9 days off, I am back to training. I could definitely feel a little out of shape on my run today. I am looking forward to getting back my aerobic fitness with some heavy mileage.

taking a few days off and then back to the grindstone

After a couple days of complete rest. I am planning on starting a new macro cycle starting with 3 months of base training. I am planning on working up to 80 miles per week.

North Shore Bumps.

A link to a web site featuring my nephews surfing on the North Shore of Hawaii.


North Shore Bumps.

Mark Simon is in need of a Liver Transplant. Please help by making a donation.

Mark Simon is in need of a Liver Transplant. Please help by making a donation.

Another good bench mark workout for August 400m@54sec and 2x200m@26,25sec

I decided that I will continue to work on my speed through the month of August. Although I have no races scheduled, I can continue to improve my speed in ideal conditions. In September, I will start my base training with the goal of being aerobically fit for indoor track.

Today I started with a 400m @ 54sec, 2x200m @ 26,25 seconds with 200m walk/jog rest.
Finished with 30 minutes of swimming with a good effort near my aerobic threshold.

8 mile run on nike campus

I had a good run today on the Nike campus. I have been spending a lot of time helping my sister in law transfer her blog. I also added a lot of cool wordpress plug-ins for her. Here site is located at http://www.thegrommom.com

4x400 and 4x300m

Today I felt pretty sore from the workout 2 days ago. It was a very nice day with the perfect temperature to do this workout. I spent about 1/2 hour warming up and I still felt pretty flat doing strides. I spent the last two days completely sedentary working on my Arduino projects so I probably lost some of my rhythm and fitness. The Arduino is a cool micro controller that is easy to program to send commands to motors and communicate to a variety of electronic gadgets. A very good starting point for people interested in learning robotics and C++ programming.

I started with 4x400m @ 62,62,62,63 with a 200m walk rest. I ran this part of the workout in training flats and had to contend with a strong head wind on the home stretch. I finished with 4x300m @ 44,44,44,42 in spikes with about 3 minutes rest. I also did some light weight lifting and foam roller to roll out the kinks. I am also taking a lot of anti-oxidants and protein supplements. I was very surprised to finish my 300m in 42 seconds. It was mind over muscles. I just said to myself, I will run 42 on my last interval and I did.

Good track workout

Put on my spikes and started with 400m @ 53 seconds,
300m jog rest, 300m @ 42 sec, 200m @ 27
800m jog then 2x300m @ 44,42 seconds
finished with a relaxed 400m @ 61 seconds in my training shoes.
I felt a little tightness in my right calf muscle so I
backed off a little.

10 mile run on the Nike campus

10 miles at an easy pace. Last 2 miles @ 6 minute pace. Finished with 2x150 strides.
I am considering heading to Seattle for an All Commers meet to try and run a good 800m time before the track season ends.

10 mile run on the nike campus

Yesterday was an easy 4 miles followed by a 30 minute swim.

Today was a nice 10 mile run on the Nike campus. I ran with a talented
distance runner named Sam. I always enjoy getting to run with someone.
70 miles per week can get pretty boring.

Solid workout

1x800m @ 2:01
1xmile @ 4:43
20 min cooldown

30 min weight training

about 90 % better with a solid track session

3x (400,300,200) @

58,43,27
60,43,26
60,43,28

1 lap jog between sets
100m and 200m jog between intervals.

I kept backing off the pace because I could feel
my hamstring tightening up a little.

80 degree temp helps when doing track work.

recovering

Yesterday was a complete rest day with stretching, foam roller, and hot cold treatments. Today my right hamstring is feeling much better. I spent the morning recording two time grammy winner, Peter Boe for the KMHD grand piano series. I spent a few hours practicing the piano. In the evening I went to the club and lifted weights for about 15 minutes and swam for about 30 minutes with some sprints. I also did an easy 20 minute jog and a bunch of dynamic stretching. Its amazing how the body can heal itself when allowed to rest and given the right nutrients for regeneration and healing. I am planning a three mile tempo run tomorrow for a VO2 max boost.

A couple easy days and slight hamstring strain

Sunday was a complete rest day. Yesterday was just a easy 6 mile recovery run. Today I did a 20 minute warmup and 5x100m @ 15,14,13.5, 12.5,12.7. On my last interval I went for full effort and felt a slight strain in my right hamstring. If I kept up the pace I think I would have ran sub 11.5 if I had not let up the last 50 meters. The weather was unusually cool for this time of year. I think my muscles tightened up in the cold weather and caused my hamstring strain. I also had some very hard workouts last week. I was thinking about doing an 800m time trial tomorrow but I am now having second thoughts. I will see how I feel tomorrow.

1x600+200m, 40 minute weight training, 5x400 + 200m

Finally getting fit. Today was my biggest day of training this year. Started the afternoon with a 30 minute warmup 4x100m cut downs. 1x600m @ 1:24 in spikes 200 jog and 1x200m @ 27. I cooled down and went to the weight room and did high reps hitting about 15 exercises. I went back to the track and did 5x400m @ 62,60,62,60,58 and finished with a 200m @ 27. I had 400m jog rest between intervals. I finished with a 1 mile cool down. I ran the 400m intervals in my road racing flats and I felt very relaxed. Also this is less than 48 hours after one of my biggest training sessions that included 35 x100m at sub 14 seconds. I am recovering very fast and reaping the benefits of hard training. I am definitely on a mission to make my mark as a masters runner starting with the 2012 indoor season.

35x100m and 4x200m

Working on pace. 35x100m @ 14 and 13.5 seconds. Most of my 100m where 13.5 in training flats.
My 200m were 28,27,25,25 my last two 200m, I wore spikes. Also my last 200m was into a strong wind
and probably would have been 24 seconds with no wind. Finished with 50 pushups and lower body weight training.

last two days

Monday I swam for 40 minutes
Tuesday was a good track session. I was focusing on changing gears on the last 200m.

4x400m @ 56,58,58,57 and 2x200m @ 26,25 with 400m jog between intervals
I ran the first 200m of the 400m in 30 seconds and kicked in the last 200m.

PM lower body weight training.

On Saturday, I stepped on a sharp rock on a run and it bruised the bottom of my foot.
It is a bit painful when I walk or run.

last three days CRASH training

Friday: 30 min warmup 1x2mile @ 10:40, 3x800 @ 2:15,2:14,2:13 last 200m of each was 29,28,27 sec. 1x600 @ 1:34 last 200m @ 29 sec
pm Intense lower body weight training.


Saturday 4 mile warmup 3 miles @ 16:40. I ran this with my good friend Jason Odem who is destined to be one of the top sub masters 10,000 meters runners. He is one of the toughest distance runners that I know.


Sunday 12 mile run @ sub 6 minute pace on the Leif Ericson trail. Again I ran the first half of this run with Jason Odem who hammered the last 6 miles in 32 minutes.

45 minutes of swimming and light weight lifting

I felt like I needed a break from running and enjoyed swimming this evening. I definitely enjoy the aerobic workout that swimming provides minus the impact that running puts on my body. I also was able to do some light weight lifting.

Back on the track

Today I felt a little lethargic. It was about 90 degrees on the track and have not adapted to the heat. The wind was very heavy which makes for a more difficult workout. I did 4x400 and 2x200 @ 54,56,57 and 27,27. I had about 8 minutes rest between the 400m. I finished with some light weight training. I am probably not quite recovered from my last workout. I also need a little more quality rest after a long 4 day family reunion at the Cascades family camp.

A nice time at camp of the Cascades

I had a nice time with my family at the Camp of the Cascades in Yelm Washington. I spent the fourth of july weekend hanging out with the family. I got about 6 miles of running per day. On Saturday I ran a 10k tempo run in about 38 minutes followed by 5x200 @ 30 seconds and 1 uphill sprint about 400 meters. Today I ran 8 miles easy on the Nike campus. I am feeling pretty healthy and fit.

Tired today but managed some cross training in the evening

I was very lethargic most of the day. I ended up gathering enough energy to hit the health club in the evening. I ended up doing some light weights, 20 minute bike, 30 minute swim. I am feeling a little soreness in my left achilles so I am taking it easy today. I usually can fix any sore tendon with the following. Light massage, ultra sound, DMSO, alleve, hot/cold treatement, foam roller, light stretching, and a bunch of antioxidant supplements and anit-inflammation foods. What used to take me out for weeks now only lasts less than 24 hours.

A solid track session 3x800m 1x400, 4x200m

Today was a good track session where I worked on improving both aerobic and anaerobic systems. I started with 1x800 @ 2:18, 2:23, 2:10. Then a 400m @ 57 seconds. 4x200m @ 28,26,26,25. I finished with a light weight training session. I noticed that I was able to jump into a second gear on the last 50 meters of my 200m. I am starting to feel like I may have a 1:52 800m in my legs.

Easy 8 mile run to shake out the legs

Ran 8 miles at a recovery pace on the Nike campus. I needed to recoup the benefits of a good speed session last night.

am 40 minute run and pm 5x200m + 2x400m

I had a great time watching the US Track and Field championships in Eugene yesterday and Today. The only thing I don't care for is the tactical racing in the finals in the distance and middle distance races.. It makes for poor track and field. It is comical to see a men's final 1500m go out in 2:10 for 800m. Maybe its time to introduce a way to keep the pace more honest in championship races. Since rabbits are not an option, then maybe something in the back of the pack chasing the runners will keep them running fast. I am sure there are tons of creative possibilities.

Yesterday was a nice rest day and full day of track and field at the historical Hayward field. I spent the the night in Eugene and got another full day of track and field and sunshine. I also got in a 40 minute morning run on the Amazon creek trail. After I got home for the meet, I went to the the track and ran a 20 minute warmup then 5x200m cut downs @ 28,27,25,25,24 sec and ran two relaxed 400m @ 61, 59. It always seems easier to run my goal 1500m pace after doing a 200m at my 400m pr pace. I think it is important to do all out sprints of 300m or more in order to improve speed which will translate to less perceived effort at your race pace.


Nick Simmons recently ran a benchmark workout that was 3x400 @ 49 seconds with 6 minutes rest. He then was able to run a Sub 1:45 800m to win the US title.

Weight training and Plyos

Some good weight training today. Ended with an easy 20 minute run of soft surface. My workout was mostly lower body with high reps. Also did some box jumping. Very intense workout.

Easy 20 min run, 10 minute bike, 20 minute swim

A little cross training to mix it up to make for a nice recovery day. Feeling good after a fast speed workout yesterday.

Tuning up for the 800m

1x400m @ 53 seconds, 2x200m @26 seconds
followed by 1 hour of weight training

Easy 30 minute run and 4x100m

Easy 30 minute run. Then 4x100m @ 15, 13.5, 12.5, 12.1. I am now going to focus on improving my speed. The last few races I have been a bit flat due to hard training. I am going to now lower my mileage and focus on improving my 800m time from last year. I believe I have enough strength to put together a good 800m in the month of July.

45 minutes of swimming today

Yesterday evening I had some light weight training and circuit training. Today I took it easy with a
relaxing 45 minute swim mixed with aqua jogging.

A tough race

A tough race this morning

I ran a road mile race this morning against some tough competition. It had a couple hills and the rain made for very slippery conditions. I finished sixth place. I also joined a gym today http://www.allstarfitness.com/portland.htm

A little speed work

Today I was feeling surprisingly recovered the day after a hard track session. I decided to warm up with an easy 20 minute jog. I then did 8x100m @ 16,15,15,15,15,15 in training shoes. I want to feel comfortable at 60 second/400m pace. I think doing short strides every other day at race pace helps to keep your coordination and efficiency. I am hoping to get close to my PR for 1500m when I turn 40. This would be sub 3:45 for 1500m. I will have to do a lot of work around 4 minute mile pace in order to be able to do this.

I finished the workout with 4x200m cut downs. @ 28,27,26,25. I ran these in spikes and I felt very good. I am starting to feel ready to run a good 800m. Next Saturday is a road mile and it will be my last mile race this year. I will finish the season by trying to run 1:53 for 800m.

8x400m

Today I had a good workout on the track. 8x400m with 200m jog rest. @ 60,62,62,61,63,63,63,59
It was a little windy but a very nice temperature. I started using bottled oxygen to help me recover. It
seems to help me get recover more quickly for the next interval.

12 mile run on Leif Ericson Trail

Ran about 7 minute pace for 12 miles with my good friend Jason Odem.

Raced feeling tired

Finished second in the master's mile race at the Portland track festival. My time was 4:24.86. I was not too happy with the time. I felt a little flat not being completely recovered from last week. I will be much more rested for my next race.

Ready to race the mile tomorrow

Feeling pretty good. I took two ice baths today and some good stretching. Yesterday was an easy 20 min jog and 4x100m @ 15 seconds to get a little rhythm in my legs. I should feel very rested for tomorrow. My goal is a sub 4:15 mile.

5x400m and 200m

Today I was able to do 5x400 @ 60,61,62,61,60 with 2:00 min rest. I finished with a 200m @28 seconds. My quads are still very sore. I decided to do an 8 minute ice bath that should help my recovery.

Easy 30 minute run

Another easy 30 minute recovery run. I have very sore quads from hammering downhill last weekend. I scheduled a much needed massage for tomorrow. I resorted to applying DMSO to the sore muscles and it seems to be helping. Hopefully I will be able to get in a little track session before my race on Saturday.

Easy 20 minute recovery run with stretching

Just an easy 20 minute run on cedar chips. Trying to recover from a very
intense last two days of training. I am very sore in my quads from all the hills in the race last Saturday and Sunday.
Doing hot cold treatments, stretching, foam roller, alleve, anti-oxidant supplements.
Hopefully I will be recovered for my mile race on Saturday.

Ran up a mountain

This morning I ran hard up a hill that was about 2000 feet high. I made it up in about 6:49. I had about a 30 minute warmup. This was part of the Wild Canyon games creek to peak relay. The hill is called communication hill in Washington Family park in Antelope Oregon. This felt pretty tough the day after a hard 10k run. If this won't make me tough then nothing will.

Yesterday 10k tempo

Yesterday was a solid 10k tempo run over hills in 37 minutes. I ran the first three miles at an easy 6 minute mile pace.

6x400m cut downs to sub 60

30 min jog warmup.

Cutdown 400ms

6x400m @ 64,63,61,60,59,63

90 seconds rest between first 4
2 laps jog after first 4.

My last 400m I decided to run
at an easy pace. I was feeling a little
pain on my right hamstring.

Current weight is about 147 lbs.
Feeling light and strong.

Yesterday was a rest day

Working on web site programming all day. No time to run.

4x600m @ 1:31,1:34,1:34,1:34

A good track session to work on my speed endurance. Nice weather today.
4x600m @ 1:31,1:34,1:34,1:34 with 400m jog recovery.
Finished with 2x200m @ 28,27

Getting ready to race in June. Ran 12x300m tonight

12x300m with 100m walk recovery. 48,47,46,45,44,45,44,43,42,41.

Again rainy and cold conditions. Feeling lean and fast. I finally have a good
racing weight of 147 lbs at 5'10". I always feel a lot more efficient when I have
a little less dead weight to lug around. As I am approaching 40 years of age, I am looking forward to racing as a true master runner. Currently my workouts are similar to when I was fit to run about 4:10 for the mile. Hopefully with a good base this summer, I can hit a sub 4:10 indoor mile as a true master.

Easy 4 mile recovery run

Feeling a little tired, so I decided to take it easy on with 4 mile jog on cedar chips.

yesterday 8x400m in pouring rain

8x400 cut downs. Started with 66,63,62,62,61,60,60,61. Terrible windy and raining so hard it blinded me. I am getting so tired of this Oregon rain that I am considering a move to a warmer climate.

8 miles today on the nike campus

A good middle distance track workout

After taking 2 full rest days, I was able to come back with a solid track workout. I am reducing my volume from about 60 miles per week to about 40 with the addition of two high intensity track workouts.

1x800@ 2:12 in road racing shoes. I ran a little slower than current mile pace. This is also my 3000m PR pace.
400m jog recovery
1x600@ 1:30. This a little slower than current 800m race pace. This is also my 1500m PR pace.
400m jog recovery
1x400m @ 58. This is my current 800m race pace.
400m jog recovery
200m @ 27. This is a little slower than my current 400m race pace.
4x100m @ 12.5. This is a little faster than my current 400m race pace.

easy 6 mile run today

6 mile recovery run on soft surface.

1x mile @5:00 min and 8x300m

Started with a mile at exactly 5 minutes. Then a track session that consisted of 8x300m @ 46,46,46,46,45,45,43,43 seconds
Last 4 in spikes. About 150 meter walk/jog recovery.


Here is a link to some nutritional products that I am currently using. I highly recommend these supplements.
I have benefited greatly from taking these supplements. I have noticed greater recovery, less illness, higher
energy, and better sleep. These products have helped me to be ranked #1 in the in the sub-masters 800m run

Yesterday 40 minutes easy

Easy recovery day. 40 minutes easy run. 5x80 meter barefoot strides in the grass. 1 minute plank, 30 pullups, 50 situps. Lots of stretching.

6 miles today

Easy 2 mile warmup then 2 miles @ 5:50 pace over hills. Then easy two miles.
Just getting a little aerobic work in the day after an intense workout.

Drills and more drills

Mixing it up with a variety of drills. Ran about 1 mile worth of drills. Every 100 meters I alternated exercises.
4x50 knee high box jumps. 4x10 burpees, 4x10 pullups, 1x1 minute plank, 4x100m lunges,
4x100m skips, 4x100m butt kicks and finished with 5x100m @ 15 seconds.

Plyometrics for middle distance runners

I found a good article on the topic of plyometrics for middle distance runners.





https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=152153291469705&topic=348

Track session 2x400m, 1x300m, 2x200m

2x400m @ 56,57 seconds with 2 laps jog , 1x300m @ 42 seconds, Finished with 2x200m @ 26 seconds. Ran workout in spikes. After a couple weeks of base training, my speed has suffered. I will probably need another month of speed work twice per week before I am race ready. I will also lower my mileage to about 35-40 miles per week in order to be a little more sharp. I will be ready to race in July when the weather hopefully warms up. I think this is the worst Spring weather I have ever experienced here in Portland. Today was 50 degrees F. Lactic acid seems to accumulate more when your legs are numb from the cold.

8 miles today easy

easy 8 mile recovery run on soft surface. Next track session will be 3x400m @ 55 seconds with 1 lap jog.

7x300m and 200m

Today I drove to McMinnville to help my Dad with some yard work. I shoveled and ripped a long section of the lawn for about 1 hour. This turned out to be a tough upper body workout. Later that evening, I stopped at the Duniway track and did 7X300m @ 46,46,46,46,43,42,42 and finished with a 200m @ 26 seconds in spikes. I had a 100m walk recovery. I am planning on racing an 800m in about 2 weeks so I am stepping up the track workouts a little. I had a rest day yesterday. I put in some mileage last week so I am trying to keep the fast twitch muscles active.

10 mile run yesterday

10 miles on the NIke campus. One more week of 10 miles/day and I will start hitting the track 2 times per week with some tough intervals. My goal is to do 8 X 400m with 90 seconds rest @ 60 seconds.

10 mile run today perfect weather

A relaxed 10 mile recovery run. Finally some nice Spring weather.

Keeping it rolling with 16x200m

Today was a solid day of training with a 4 mile warmup. 16x200 @ 31-32 with 200m jog recovery. My last two were 29,27 seconds. Total miles for today was 8. I was a bit tired from yesterday's 12 mile run. I'm trying to keep my fast twitch muscles from going dormant during some base training. The weather was perfect today. Its nice not to have to train in the dark thanks to daylight savings.

More wildlife drama

After running thousands of miles on the Nike campus, it's hard not to get familiar with the behavior of some of the local wildlife, not to mention runners, in this nature preserve. I have now had three encounters with a red tailed preying on the babies of a variety of animals. Last year, I saw it fly about ten feet over my head with a baby robin it talons. A few seconds behind it were two adult robins chasing after it while making what sounded like agitated and desperate calls.

A couple of weeks ago, I was observing a mother mallard with about 8 of its baby duckling following in a single file line when out of the blue, comes a red tailed hawk diving for a baby duckling. The duck was able to defend its babies by slamming into to the hawk while flapping its wings as if it was in ultimate fighting match. This all seemed like some sort of strange irony to see this happen on the grounds of the NIke world headquarters. Nike's founder Phil Knight, has donated millions to the University of Oregon athletic program who's mascot happens to be none other than a "duck".

Earlier today I yet another encounter with this cunning hawk. As I was running my second two mile loop, I noticed a gang of crows in a nearby tree. I could see that they were surrounding what looked like a large bird nest. The crows were unusually close to the trail since they are typically skittish. I figured the crows were raiding the nest so I felt obligated to scare them away. I went over and shook the tree by grabbing and pulling on a nearby branch. I was startled when a red tailed hawk flew out of the nest. Could this be the Hawk's nest, so low to the ground? I decided that the crime scene needed some more investigation before I could prove the hawk guilty again of being a baby killer. The trail is a two mile loop and I still had 4 more loops to go. On my second time around, I wanted to see if I could find the owner of the nest that was previously raided. To my surprise, I saw a very distraught squirrel defending the nest and chirping at me like I was the one who just committed the crime. I also gained some new respect for the intelligence of crows. The crows were obviously keeping a close watch on this hawk and maybe following it for potential left overs since they are scavengers by trade.

I have to give the hawk credit for being very resourceful what seems like a limited territory for a large bird of prey. It is also interesting to see a complete ecosystem that is sustaining a wide variety of native plants and animals. Not to mention, it is in the center of an industrial park.

In retrospect, I have learned that I cannot pass judgement on this seemingly evil hawk.
Theoretically, every time I eat a hamburger, I am no less immoral than a hawk, just a little more technologically advanced
in my animal protein consumption.

8 miles today on the NIke Campus 7:30 pace

I missed running yesterday due to a busy schedule. This morning I had some deep tissue massage work done on my legs and later ran 8 miles at an easy pace. I will be scheduling 1 massage per week to help with recovery and help prevent injury. The sports trainer I am working with, discovered a lot of problems that I need to get worked out.

10 miles @ 7:30 pace over hills

Another 10 miles on the NIke campus. Trying for 70 miles this week. Almost half way there.

8 mile run on the NIke Campus

8 miles on the Nike Campus. It is a bit challenging the day after a 12 miler. Also there are some
small rolling hills on this trail that make it a little more difficult.

12 mile run 7:20 pace

A nice easy run in perfect weather. My next two weeks are going to be high volume and less intensity.
I am not planning on racing until June. I don't like training only to enter track races in windy and rainy spring conditions. I would rather wait until some nice weather.

NIke Campus 4 mile run and 2 mile tempo

Ran an easy 4 mile warm up and finished with 2 miles @ 5:40 pace.
On a track it would be about 5:20 per mile because of the hills
and soft surface. Later I did 2x20 pullups and 100 sit ups.
Finally had some nice weather. I also saw a red tailed hawk
try to snatch a baby duckling out of the water. The mother duck was successful in
fighting the hawk off to defend her young. I wish more large
corporations would install a full ecosystems to sustain a wide
range of native plants and animals.

3x(400m+200m)

I did this workout two days ago on cold and windy day. The weather in Portland has been terrible for training.
I have had a busy week so I have had only the time and energy to train every other day.
My last track workout was 3x(400m+200m) with 200m jog rest. I ran around 60 sec pace with the 200m around 28 seconds.
This is an effective workout to work on your finishing speed. It is more effective if you take short rests.

8x300m

This morning I ran 8x300m with 100m jog rest.
45,45,45,44, 43,44,44,44

Still a little sore from deep tissue massage work.
Nice to get some sunshine.

After I do speed work, I love to replenish with
fresh squeezed ginger, apple, carrot, and cabbage
juice. I also take a lot of anti-oxidant supplements.

I finish my recovery with a contrast hot/cold shower.

Running fast is not only a matter of hard training, it requires
extreme healthy living that is made up of proper diet, rest, recovery, and relaxation.

Last few days

My last track out was on Thursday April 14th 4x(400+200m) 60,29,60,29,60,29,60,27sec
Last three days have been no running due to busy schedule. Every now and then a couple consecutive
rest days help me get ready for another tough month of training. I am currently trading web programming
services for deep tissue massage. This should help me recover from some tough workouts.

Today 20x200m @ 30 sec

Never ending cold and windy conditions. After 20 years of fighting terrible weather, I am thinking more about a move to Arizona.
Today, i felt sore, tired, and I felt like packing it in after 10 minutes of jogging. So what did I do? 20x200m.. The last two in 28 seconds. I ran in road racing shoes to help save my legs from the doms.

3x(400,300,200m)

Two days ago I did 3x(400,300,200m) in cold windy conditions
60,45,29 61,46,29 61,45,27sec

8x300m at Sunset High School

It was fun working out on my old high school track. I remember doing my best workout there with Martin Keino, Graham Hood, and Bob Kennedy.

Tonight was 8x300m @ 45,45,45,46,46,46,42,43 with 100 meter walk recovery.

10 mile run on NIke campus

10 miles on the soft trails of the Nike campus.
A little tired from hammering 12 miles yesterday.

Still managed to sprint up the hills on the last
2 mile lap. A couple more weeks of base training then
back to doing some tough track intervals twice per
week.

I also played piano at two church service and had to read
a bunch of new music. It all went very well.

12 mile run nike campus

Yesterday was a rest day due to a busy schedule. Today I had the energy to
put in a 12 mile run where I ran close to 6 minute pace.

The Nike project guys where training there too. This group includes
a bunch of current American record holders.

20 x 200 meters

20x200m @ 30 seconds. last two at 27.

Cold, dark, lonely, solo, workout, 9 pm on the Duniway track.
Yesterday was a rest day. Put in about 4 hours of piano practice.
I am playing piano for a Bach 2 violin concerto coming and I have
about 1 week to learn it.

8 mile run on Nike campus

Running in the rain. It seems that the rain is never ending. I notice that ducks and the geese seem to like this weather.
I didn't see one person on this trail but I did run past a bunch of large rodents.

8 mile run @ 6:30 pace

Today ran in the pouring rain. 8 miles on the Nike campus. Picked up the last 2 miles to threshold pace.


Finished with 2x20 pullups, 3 minute plank, 100 situps.
1x100m sprint.

3x1 mile 4x200m

Last night I did a workout after two days of due to a busy schedule.

easy 3x1 mile
@ 5:30,5:20,5:20

4x200m @ 30,29,28,27 sec in training flats.

Planning on another week of higher mileage.

Good track session today

1x800m @ 2:09 felt very easy in road racing flats
1 lap jog
1x400 @ 55 sec, felt relaxed.
200 jog
1x200m @ 28 sec


2 laps jog


1x400m @ 57 sec felt relaxed
200 m jog
2x200m @ 27 sec

Yesterday was a rest day.

8 mile run on wildwood trails

Nice easy 8 mile run on with huge hills.

8x300m and 2x200m

I took two rest days due to a busy schedule and needed recovery.

Today I came back strong with 8x300m @ 46,46,46,47,44,45,44,43 with 100 m walk rest in road racing flats.
2x200m @ 27 and 26 seconds in spikes
Very cold and wet conditions.

12 mile run

12 miles on the Nike campus.
Last 6 miles @ 39 minutes.
I feel that these runs are getting easier.
Better aerobic strength will allow me to tap
into my speed at the end of my race.
If I don't have the aerobic strength,
then access to speed is denied.

10 mile run

10 mile run @ 7:00 min pace on hilly course.
surged up the hills on the last two miles.
Feeling good.

Yesterday was just an easy 4 mile run. with a 3:00 minute hill surge.

10 mile run Nike Campus

10 miles on the NIke campus. I picked up the last two miles a little bit
and ran 5:50 pace.

8 miles and 16 x 200m

Very hard day off training. Ran in snow, hail, and sleet.
2 mile warm up
8 x 200m with 45 sec rest @ 29 sec.
6 mile run
8x200m @ 28,28,28,28,29,28,27,27 with 200m jog rest
37 degrees F
I also ran in road racing shoes to save my
legs from the doms.

Tired today

4 mile warmup.
1xmile @ 5:10
Just a little workout to keep the wheels turning.
I was pretty tired from ripping out a deck this morning.

12 mile run 7:00 am

Today I got up early on a beautiful sunny but icy cold morning and ran 12 miles on the Nike campus. I took the day off from running yesterday because of a busy schedule.

Later in the day, I decided to a hill workout. 5x200m hills at 80-90% effort.
I also did a 2 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down. Total of about 15 miles today.

I also did 100 sit ups and 20 pullups.

Now time for 4 hours of practicing the piano.

8 mile run on Wildwood trail

This morning I was a little sore from the workout yesterday. I decided to do an easy 8 mile run on the wildwood trail starting at the world forestry center. Over the last 20 years I have run thousands of miles on these trails.
Tonight I am playing a gig in the Pearl district.

8 mile run today

Another cold, dark, rainy night running solo on the Nike campus. Felt pretty
tired and sore today. My body is slowly adapting to the aerobic training.

10 mile run

Tonight, I ran 10 miles on the Nike campus. Easy 7:30/ mile pace.

8 mile am run and 4 mile pm run

Ran a good 8 mile run on the nike campus. I did a bunch of surges on the small hills that are on this trail. I plan to do another run tonight after I get rested and refueled.

Ran up a hill with a 1000 foot climb. Did some hard surges for extra aerobic work.

I also have been drinking a lot of Aloe Vera juice.

http://naturalhealthezine.com/health-benefits-of-aloe-vera/

10 miles today

Two runs today to get a total of 10 miles today.
am. 6 miles on the Nike campus @ 7 minute pace
pm 4 miles easy jog.

Base Training

I took a few days off to begin another macro-cycle of training.
My plan is today about 2 months of 70 miles per week.
I will then start some interval training in mid April and
begin racing again in May and hopefully peak in July.

Yesterday was 10 miles on the nike campus.
30 pullups, 3 minute plank


Today am 4 miles ending with 5 minute mile on the track
pm 6 miles on the Nike campus.

Sunday night I did 1 mile @ 5:00 min
followed by 2x(400m + 200m) @ 56,28 and 56,27
I did a 400m jog between sets and 100m slow jog between intervals.
The weather was very cold and I was not feeling
very good.

Last 4 days

1/24 rest day fighting cold virus
1/25 rest day

1/26 A pretty good track session. 8 x 300m cut downs.

2 x (4 x 300m) @ 45,44,43,41 and 45,44,43,42
2 laps jog between sets and 400m between intervals.

1/27 am 1 x 2miles @ 10:58. This felt a little more difficult than in the past.

Sometime back to back workouts, less than 48 hours apart,
are great ways to get bigger fitness gains due to the enhanced training effect.
This is also known as crash training.

It is important to schedule equal amount
of recovery days as consecutive hard training days during crash training.

10 miles on the nike campus

I had a 3 hour gig last night then played piano for two church services. Had hardly any sleep. After about 2 hour nap, I felt ready to do an easy 10 mile run. I ran easy 7:30 mile pace. I always like to do a couple surges on the last mile.

After 2 rest days, I feel good.

My workout today was 2 mile warmup.
1x600m @ 1:32
1x400m@57 sec
1x300m@43 sec
2x200m@ 27,26 sec

100 plyometric box jumps. Very
difficult after a speed workout.

I made some good progress on my pace robot
that I am building. It is an autonomous differential steering robot that follows
the white line on an all weather running track.
The difficult thing is getting it to go at an exact
speed while staying on a white line. I am about ready
to take it for a test ride. It will be used to help
pace me for workouts.I also added sonar to it so it won't
plow into anyone.

I finally figured out how to make it have cruise control
with PID. PID is fancy feedback control equation
for closed loop systems.

I have had fun getting to learn the Arduino programming
environment. It is a version of C with a lot of
libraries that are available. Its a great place to
start if you want to build something that requires
a microprocessor.

10 miles on the nike campus

10 mile run on the Nike campus. I ran the last 5 miles with a guy named Mo Farah who is
England's top distance runner. Also a 3:33 1500m pr. He is being coached by Alberto Salazar. He told me he is running
100 miles per week. its always fun to chat with the best runners in the country and in the world. It seems that they
are all showing up in Beaverton.

My race today

I ran this race after a 4 hour drive to Seattle and only 1 hour warm up.

One of my better track workouts

With a race 1 week from today, I decided to work on

an 800m race simulation.  It was a bit more difficult

to run fast in 35 degrees outside temp. 

I started with 1x600m @ 1:26,

200m jog then 1x200m @ 29,

200m jog then 1x200m @ 28

I then took about 3 laps jog 

and decided to work on a

some 1500m date pace work.

1x800 m @ 2:07 and 3x400 @ 64,60,61 with 1 lap jog

These felt very relaxed. I was able to find

some guys to run the second part of this workout.

It made it much easier to share pacing duties. 

After running a lot of sub 60 sec 400m  pace in 

workouts, it is relatively easy to run at my goal

mile pace.    

28x100m repeats @ 14 sec and last 4x100m @ 12 sec

Tonight I started with a 40 min run with about 1000 feet of elevation climb.
I came to the track ran a high volume of 100m repeats. 28x100m with short rest.
I averaged 14 seconds for the first 20 and 20-24 in 13.5 and finished the last 4 in 12.5.
I felt pretty fresh since yesterday was a 20 minute recovery run.

This workout is very comfortable since the intervals are not long enough to get into oxygen
debt. I felt this workout was great finding a rythm at race pace. It is great practice to get so many intervals at race pace. One way to get a lot of practice at race pace is to shorten your intervals to 1/8 th your race distance and do 2 or 3 times the volume of your race distance.
For example, I hope to run 1:52 for 800m. That breaks down to 56 sec/400m and 28 sec/200m and 14 sec/100m. A good workout for me would be 24 x 100m @ 14 seconds. I always like to tag on an extra 4 intervals faster than race pace to practice a good finish. Races are often won by the person with the best kick.

In addition, doing this workout is meaningless without having the strength to go with it.
If I just do interval work, then I will just be good at doing intervals. I must add
a lot of stregnth work if I plan to race well in middle distance events.

Another track workout in freezing temperature

Started with 2 miles @ 10:50 min

2x(400m+200m) @ 57,29 sec and 56,27 sec

Again the effort felt like two seconds faster per 400m interval

than what I ran in this workout.  It was difficult to get warmed up even

wearing hats, gloves, half tights, etc...  After the two mile

I had to sit in my car with my heater on high for a few minutes before starting

my faster intervals .

I am sure that intervals in the cold will translate to faster

times in warmer weather with the same effort.  When I come home 

from a run in the cold and try to play the piano before getting warmed up,

it feels impossible. My fingers are half paralyzed. Similarly, when I run fast intervals

on the track, it is like I was shot in the butt with a tranquilizer gun.

When I do an anaerobic workout, the increase of lactic acid seems to have

double the effect. I think it may be eliciting a greater training response

that could result in greater adaptations that will result in improvements

with a proper recovery. After all, when we run hills, train at altitude,

run intervals, etc... We are trying to elicit a bigger training response

resulting in great compensations or physiological adaptations not to 

mention the improved mental toughness that is achieved from getting

outside your comfort zone. 

Rest day

Today I played the piano in two church services.  I was pretty tired today and decided to take it easy. I jogged about 20 minutes and did a few pull ups.  Tomorrow I will attempt two mile warmup in 10:20 followed by 2x(400,300,200) @ 56,42,28

2x4x300m in sub freezing temp

I am now entered in the 800m scheduled Jan 15 at the first of a series of University of Washington Indoor meets. My goal is to run a sub 1:55 opener. 

Today was a pretty solid workout considering the cold and windy conditions.

I started with 4x300m @ 45,46,46,46 with 60 sec rest. I was wearing many layers and road racing  flats. After a lap jog, I put on my spikes and ran another 4x300m @ 43,44,43,43  with 90 sec rest

and finished with a 29 sec 200m . 

This workout would translate to a faster workout in warmer conditions. This session definitely felt the same intensity as running this same workout 2 or 3 seconds faster in warmer weather. 

 There is nothing like very hot shower alternating with freezing cold shower to feel completely recovered.  Forget the concept of exposing yourself to cold as being the reason for getting sick.

IT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE!!!  Getting exposed to cold temperatures for short durations has been shown to boost the immune system.   I just did a little research about cold therapy and found that there are amazing benefits. Before you jump into an ice bath, make sure that you are healthy enough to do so.  If you are healthy enough to do moderate exercise, then you are very likely healthy enough for total body cold therapy.  It may be a good idea to get check with your doctor to make sure that you are in good enough health to start an exercise program and or cold temperature therapy.  I found that it helps to warm your body up before taking a cold shower or ice bath. Try a warm sauna followed by a cold shower. Eventually build up your tolerance by decreasing the time in the Sauna or warm shower.  Also, I am now more dependent on a cold shower in the morning than I am for coffee. In fact, no more coffee for me, just a healthy cold shower and I am instantly healthier, happier, and wide awake.  Don't forget a healthy glass of carrot, apple, ginger juice.  Why feel like @!@#bleep%%%3 all the time?  Try a little exercise, raw juice, and cold therapy and  you will start to enjoy life a lot more.