Another Stroll

This time for an hour and 40 minutes, and I used it to test my new white shorts for my marathon as Johnny Hayes next week. They worked fine except the pockets, designed to easily accomodate tennis balls, tend to sit open a bit most of the time, as a result, my arm swing tends to make my thumbs catch occasionally on the pockets. I'll need to pin them shut to avoid this problem.
The other uniform item that I'm unhappy with is my Mizuno Itaden shoes. They're a great shoe for walking, but their bright orange color will be a poor match with the rest of the outfit. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of Adidas Sambas, a fairly inexpensive black soccer flat, to complete the look.

Gettin' Bombed

This morning, during my workout, I walked under some oak trees, and at the time, a squirrel must've been up there, because dowwn where I was, acorns were cracking against the roadway steadily. It was a little nerve racking, as I knew getting hit would be pretty unpleasant. Fortunately, I got through unscathed.
I had walked about 80 minutes. I was passed by four runners, one alone and a group of three. The one alone was a friend from the running world, the other group was a woman and two men, she, too, was a running friend.
I popped off three sets of 15 push-ups and two sets of 30 sit-ups afterwards. I also tried to stretch carefully afterwards. My legs felt pretty soft afterwards. My weight is back to 180 lbs., a number I'm unhappy with.

Here Come Da Judge

(It's been way too long...I won't begin that way, as a friend of mine claims that is the most popular phrase for beginning a blog post. I apologize for my laxity, and will try to make sure it doesn't happen as often.)

Last Sunday, I spent the early part of the day judging a racewalk. It was my first time judging one, and it opened my eyes a bit regarding how walking style can impact judging.
I should tell you, in case you don't know, there are two rules in racewalking: 1) one foot must always be in contact with the ground (when viewed by the naked eye) and 2) the lead leg must be straight from the time of its plant until it passes under the body.
One competitor was particlarly egregious with his bent legs. He planted bent, and kept his leg bent throughout his stride. He got disqualified quickly, but kept walking without his number.
One interesting thing occurring was a documentarian taping the goings on. I was briefly interviewed, but more interestingly was his tachnique. He needed to be able to move quickly, and in order to do this, and not have the bouncing of running, he used a skateboard. I'll be interested to see the result.

Does Yesterday Count?

I did some upper body work yesterday, but I had no soreness afterwards. I did not do either walking or running. I left the gym figuring to count my workout towards the 45 in 50, but now I'm having doubts. Without soreness, I'm not sure I went hard enough.

My legs and feet felt better today. I did a half-hour walk on the mill. It listed as 2.4 miles. Slow for the condition I was in a year ago, but it seems to be just about my limit for a hard, sustainable effort.

This morning, I was at the gym at the time I used to usually be in. I got the "WHERE have you been?" from Josh and Dan. I had to confess my badness. I joked to Josh, "I've been working out outside," giving the wink that told him that I was doing my best Jon Lovitz playing Tommy Flinagin (How do you spell that?). I know that showing up there again with a large time gap will get me ridden hard. Those guys will keep me honest.

I'll likely be out of touch for a few days. I should be able to keep up the 45 in 50 though.

Passing The Knowledge

Tonight, my son and I went to my club's weekly summer race, part of a series held annually for 44 seasons (since 1964). It's a four-lap course around a lake, that was the home course of Dr. George Sheehan, and has had some superb competitors run there over its long and storied history. (Read that as the records aren't soft.)

Anyway, tonight, my son, who's about to turn nine ran the 5K by himself. There was a man by him, and he pointed out the importance of running tangents to him. It's a lesson I've tried to tell him at times, but hearing from another source means: a)other words, b)it's not Dad, and c)the lesson is delivered in a different style. The result is a lesson that may get absorbed a bit more readily.

I was pleased that someone took the time to try to impart the understanding to him. Sharing important lessons with the next generation makes a world of difference. I spent a few minutes tonight talking to a high school coach who brings her team (well, they come voluntarily) and the race is a measuring stick. This year, she expects to be rebuilding, as she had only one occasional scorer from her cross-country team returning. I commented that the sharing of wisdom is key the year prior to this one. Simply put, if her team from last year could impart their hard-earned wisdom to this year's team, then it would be reasonable to expect big advances from this year's team. We'll see.

By the way, I racewalked and took fourth, garnering me 1st masters honors. Before you are impressed, I was fourth masters, but the guys who beat me took the overall awards, so I got the leftovers. Oh, and I am younger than all of them.

Finally, one of our stalwarts was there tonight. At 94, and with a case of macular degeneration, he's no longer able to compete, but he was in good spirits and moves like an 80 year-old. He walks about two miles a day.

Takin' A Stroll

A friend of mine was an Olympian back in 1956, in the racewalk. He refers to a long, slow aerobic workout as taking a stroll. That was my gameplan for today. I walked for an hour and forty minutes. I did make two brief stops, one near the beginning, as I passed my next door neighbor, who was out walking her dog; the other near the end, when I passed the house of a running friend who I hadn't seen since the four mile race on July 4. He was out in his yard, having completed his 30 mile bike ride.

For whatever reason, this walk seemed to be a collection of little vignettes, so I figured I'd share a few:

Favorite car - E-type Jaguar (aka the XKE), seen being driven early on my walk, it was a pale yellow colored coupe (for those of you who don't know the car, it's the closed version of Austin Power's Shagmobile).

Friends/acquaintances seen: 4 - the two mentioned previously, a neighbor from behind my house, who'd run in Wednesday's race (she was biking), and a kid whose class I've substitutede for, who was in a car with his Dad and someone else.

I can say that this was my longest workout this year. Strolling is good!