track and golf on gail's birthday-ron griswold's also

up and at the track while still dark. had a 10:12 tee time and needed to be done the workout as early as possible. mostly just wanted to stretch the legs out a bit and see how i felt. whatever i had seems to have passed or else it is lingering quietly inside and at least not bothering me daily as it did last week.

did a short walk/jog warmup in sort of a surreal setting as there were two pole lamps over by the baseball field on and they cast some light onto a water laden and puddled up track. since i only wanted to run 100's and maybe a test of a couple of 200's this did not cause any problems.

ran sets of 6 like i did in oxford and stretched every 6. the goal was to stretch out the legs and not just beat myself into the ground. basically each 100 for about the first 12 went a little faster as i got looser and more warmed up, a sign that i really need to warm up more-like i used to be capable of doing. this is mental to some degree, but i know i only have so much running in me before the leg starts to tighten up and i hate to waste it warming up- as a coach i know this makes no sense. my runners may remember that i always said i coached myself differently than i coached them- must be like being your own lawyer and having a fool for a client.

through the puddles i ran. at 45 degrees it was nice running- the wind was tough, but so be it. i did each set in a different direction so that i ran with and against the wind for training purposes. the sun came up sort of behind some clouds, but the wind picked up. was not raining yet, but it would be. after 23 x 100 i ran a 200 in 51 and then another in 49. heart rate was 157 for the 49; had been 151 for the 51.

49.3 actually and that is 6:36 pace. i used to run half marathons at a faster pace, but it also shows that not all of my speed is gone. i know i need to take more time off and do other things as well to get faster if i want to do that. i have the head of someone who has run 184 marathons and about 35 ultras. my head is a 50 mile guy, but is my body doomed to be a 5k runner? will need to sort that out instead of fighting it.

with 24 x 100 and 2 x 200 i did a 20 minute cooldown and stretched and headed home. just enough time to shower and eat a healthy breakfast and head off to the golf course. the wind had picked up and it was pretty cold. a drizzle was on and off. at the course i was the first golfer of the day. i knew the staff and they seemed happy to have someone show up. i walked 18 holes alone and only saw two other guys out there behind while i played. did so-so with only two birdies and 11 pars. didn't hit the ball that well, but got around and tried to get used to the new glasses prescription. very strong and the ball seemed weird when looking down on the tee box or putting. need to get used to that.

finished up and stopped by the nursery and picked up the last plant of the season- like to put one final one in before the ground freezes, my own little tradition. picked up a nice abelia with white flowers and also got a very large rock to start a new island around in the spring. and then home.

did some painting and cleaning up and started to put the laundry room back into shape. hit a bucket of pitches and chips in the backyard and then did some laundry and after dinner here i am. another day done-

today is gail's birthday, but she is at school and by now on her way home. back to philadelphia tomorrow. have driven a great deal lately for sure.

one week until the election and will be glad to have it over i hoped!

happy birthday to ron wherever you are- my emails come back to me.