Funtime

1975 Track photo

I found this photo in my box of track memories and this was the state of the art of track wear in 1975.  A little singlet  and the billowing lightweight pants with your jock strap underneath.  I would probably cry if I had to wear this today.  I need the modern systems that support the calves, hips and upper body.  I do not miss wearing this stuff.  And the shoes were just really starting any sort of development, they were still awful. Time marched on and I am really glad!

 

I have been adding some additional core work to get the waist a little trimmer.  It is helpful, as is the fresh garden veggies that we have been eating for a couple of weeks.  Beans, tomatoes, corn, peppers, carrots and cukes are all plentiful and we are enjoying picking and eating them.  The fence I put up last winter is keeping the deer out and we can keep our veggies instead of feeding the wildlife. Another big help on the core and recovery (my fitness) has been adding some longer runs.  Last night I started with a 6 minute 1200 meter run, followed by a 800 meter in 3:40 with 9 minutes rest between the runs.   My pace in the 1200 was slow enough to keep my heart rate below 95% and is easy on my feet.  The long runs are keeping me in a fat burning zone longer during my work outs and the scale and tape are showing the results.   Long term a 36 inch waist and 195 pound weight are the real targets that I can achieve.  I am around 37 and 197 now.

 

 

I have been doing a couple of these longer run cycles per week and I may add some more.  They are pretty easy on my body at this point.  I have been wearing some Saucony Guide 9 shoes which are light and have a great cushion in the toe where I can really feel the bounce.  I have enjoyed these shoes since I got my first pair a month ago. I have struggled with shoes since New Balance  did the next series of their 880 V5 shoe with a different sole.  I hope Saucony will keep this sole around for a while, they make training a lot more fun.   Speaking of fun, last night I enjoyed my track time about as much as I did in high school.  High school training was a lot of fun for me, we would work hard and do our share of screwing around in practice. We had  5 or 6 real runners and some kids on the team.   Last night, it has really hot and we had a really quick storm come through.  After the storm, I headed to the track for my session.  It had cooled to around 70 degrees and was really nice.  I wore some sleeves to stay warm and put on some Go Go's for music and warmed up.  Once I got to running on the 1200 and 800, it was a lot of fun and very satisfying.  It felt like I was getting better--I think I could feel the improvement.  Maybe it was the ozone in the air after the storm, who knows?  But, I was having some real fun.

 

 

After doing my distance running, I thought I would do a little faster stuff and cracked off a 32 second 200 with absolutely no effort and ran a 100 meter curve in the 15 second range.  I felt great and really strong. It appears I can recovery much quicker than before and still have the speed to get the job done.   I did some slower cool downs and headed home for dinner

 

I am registered for the Michigan Senior Games  that are a one day show at Oakland University near Detroit.  Linda is going travel with me and she will be my lead cheerleader as usual. That event is Saturday August 13.   August 13 will be my real test of the latest edition of my training.  If the early indications continue, I should be very competitive.   And who wants to have fun with a loser?