track run, etc as promised

so monday has turned into track workout day. for the golfers in the audience, track work is the meat of running like practicing your short game is to golf. harder on the body, but necessary. running has times and your future efforts can be pretty well predicted-unlike golf.

so after gail's cal from the UK, i headed up to the track- short sprint day today with particular attention to my right hamstring and trying to use the right leg more. two divergent issues there for sure, but i am really good at monitoring when i am running.

37 degrees and windy. the morning heart rate was 48, not a good sign, but figure i was tired from the driving to and from philly and the night sleeping on my mom's couch. shorter warm-up than normal as i wanted to go really easy at the beginning and work the right leg in. so i started slow and worked my way up. ran 22 x 100 and 10 x 200. at some point more than soon i need to do longer stuff, but that will wait- would like to be able to use both legs and not drag the right one along.

mixed up the 100's and 200's a bit-paid close attention to how the leg was doing and tried to use the right one more now and then. noticed that when i used the right leg i gained a second every 100 meters and heart rate went down a bit. that tells me i am right about how much better it would be using two legs. i know that seems obvious, but it is worth the effort trying to retrain the right leg. got the pace down to 6:40 and didn't try to go lower. could keep the rpm's at 90 and that was a good sign, though it still felt tight. stretching was helping a little but not enough.

most speed workouts cover 2.5-4 miles. the average runner - like the 19 handicapper- would run about 3-with warm-up and down that would be about 6-8 miles depending on your recovery intervals. the closer you get to a race the less recovery you take trying to simulate race day pace more. earlier in the season you take more recovery trying to get the body in tune. usually longer and slower speedwork comes first following a base season and a hill season- i have done both of those and am using the 10 mile run days to get longer speedwork in with hard miles and halves on the trail rather than on the track with the curves putting pressure on the hip and knees.

and when i slowed 4 seconds on the last effort i knew it was time to stop. 2.75 miles of sprint work and with a 2 mile warmdown an 8 mile day. a good effort and fun time- not for everyone, but not everyone can spend two hours practicing their putting either. as my old friend frank used to say- nobody gets faster sitting on the couch at home.

and with the fun part of the day over it was time to go to work. spread 300 pounds of topsoil and fixed the stone path in the backyard. then headed down to the cpa's to finish the tax stuff. all went ok and rather than get a haircut i stopped at the post ofc and then headed to hilltop. played 12 holes with 2 balls. making progress but a long way from where i was and need to be again.

afterwards, i hit 100 balls and did the js drills. then chipped for awhile and hit a couple of hundred putts. 100 pitch shots and that was it for the day. off to get a haircut and dinner. some m ore work in the garden and did laundry and folded clothes. started to pack and made several phone calls. read the post and still having some light, went out and hit another 75 pitch shots and little chips. played with flop shots from 25 yards and spin cuts from 8 yards- sort of practice, but more like being a kid and just playing- tried to get the ball to bounce left and right hitting over the bunker- should be an easier shot on the course once you have hit several hundred of them in practice right?

and now back to packing- ride to the airport arranged. with enough done tonight i can squeeze in some golf tomorrow-

forecast for oxford is rain for the next 5 days-