In Southern California Sunshine workin' out

I came to So Cal last thursday the 20th to get in some good running in the sun. It's been a great series of workouts, and I still feel great after nine days in a row. I think I'll take tomorrow off, then do one more hard double workout on Saturday before the trip home. The strangest part of all this training lately is how I don't have any real aches or pains or injuries other than my chronic shoulder, but's even it's not that bad. My arthritic foot has been fine, and I've even started doing some single leg bounding off my take-off leg because I felt like my spring was really slipping.
I’m starting the final push to get ready for the indoor champs in Albuquerque where I’m hoping to improve my pentathlon score, so being able to train in the sun even for just a week and half will help much. On the way I stopped in Dublin and had a great little training session with Aaron Thigpen at his training facility Gamespeed, who helped me a lot with my start and general sprint training.
I had the idea that it would be fun to drive out to Azusa Pacific where Bryan Clay lives and trains to meet him and maybe even workout with him, because I know he’s pretty open about having people stop by the track and such. So, through my friend and coach David Lemen, who is a contemporary and former competitor of Bryan’s, and the wonders of Facebook I was able to get in touch with Bryan. Turns out he was resting the weekend that I would be able to drive out to meet him, and before he was flying to NY for the Millrose games “Multi-Challenge”, be he still generously offered to meet me for a chat over coffee at Starbucks. I got a chance to hear a little about his experiences over the past ten years trying to get to the top, and stay there, as a decathlete. Bryan comes off as a perfectly sincere and thoughtful athlete and human and it shows that he is serious in his efforts to use his accomplishments to further some causes that are important to him, and not just to bask in the glow of Olympic stardom. He talked about his Bryan Clay Foundation and its goals of helping less advantaged youth to get some exposure to the same life-building skills and balanced lifestyle that helped Bryan move past his own family problems as a youngster and realize his potential. I would encourage anyone that’s interested to find out more about the Foundation through his website.
We talked about the difficulties for decathletes that want to stick with it after college and try to train full time, and he related how long it took him, even after some great scores and national place finishes to really get anywhere with support and endorsements. I liked his story about calculating after he finished college just exactly what the minimum would be for him to live on and train, and going to some large concerns in Hawaii to pitch for support. He figures now with hindsight they just chuckled to themselves what a small number it was, and he did in fact have no problem getting that support, and the rest is history as they say. I also liked hearing about how he is hurting all the time, because it makes me feel a little better knowing there are other people in the same boat. I didn’t even have to ask if he ever thought he would compete as a master, soon as I started to say that not too many former elite athletes stick with it past 35, he was very quick to point out that his body just wouldn’t make it that long. He has the same problems I do, like getting out of a chair after a workout, standing up from a crouch, always training and competing injured, etc. And that’s at 31! Maybe I'll get to workout with him some other time next winter while he's getting ready for his third Olympiad. After meeting him I got the crazy idea that it would be fun to try to meet all of the living Olympic decathlon champions, and write an article about the experience, since I've met three now. The American ones would be fairly easy to meet probably, but a couple of the European ones could prove tricky.
While here in socal I've run twice a day 4 times, including some good sessions of 8x45 sec sprints with a short equal rest, and yesterday I ran 5 200s in 25.8, 26.2, 26.9, 26.1, 27.5, with a longer rest in between 3 and 4 when I did some bounding. I had a good long jump session, and a good hurdle session where I did 6 crouch starts over 3 hurdles three stepping. This is so much more than last year when I had the bad groin that kept me from doing much real speed work and few hurdle starts.
I'll upload of picture of me and Clay after I get home and hook up the camera

Oh my aching feet...

I'm hanging in there, but the stress of my workouts is taking a toll on my feet. My muscles and joints are fine, which is very good, but hurdling is getting to be very hard on my feet, particularly my left foot, which has developed arthritis. It might have originally come from a stress fracture I had as a teenager in about the same spot, the middle of the foot on top. So much force goes through your foot at odd angles when while hurdling. Whatever the reason, running in spikes may become impossible in the future. I think I'll be ok through the pentathlon at least, and probably through the rest of this outdoor season as well if I take it easier.
Just about 5 weeks of hard training before I start to taper for the indoor pentathlon March 4, so the goal is in sight. I still feel like I can improve my record by a good margin, although my running has actually slipped a little from November. It's amazing how easily it can drop off if I tip the balance away from just running to doing more lifting and technique work. I've stopped training for now in the non-pentathlon events, but even still my energy is limited. I don't have any fantastic workout times to report, but all around I'm still solid. The lifting and strength work I did starting back in September has paid off I think because I feel stronger, but it also hurts my running for anything over 100m. Training for the multi events is just diabolically difficult with the opposing requirements of strength and lightness. I think I'll stop lifting altogether now until the competition, and maybe that will give me the energy to run more and get back down under 175. The shot put is only one event, and it doesn't pay many more points for an extra foot or two, so I don't think my size and strength will help anymore. I'll be spending 10 days down in Southern California to be able to run in the sun, and I'll just run as much as my feet can handle. After I get back from that trip, I'll have two weeks until an indoor meet in Seattle where I'll hurdle (60m 42") and long jump.

Back at it December 18...

Had a little forced vacation from running due to a minor injury to the groinal area. It might have been related to the ab pull I had back in 2009, but it's better now. I couldn't run for 9 days, but during that time I continued to lift and ride the stationary bike, and when I ran yesterday for the first time, I felt just as strong as before. I was worried that it was going to put my indoor season in jeopardy, but the relatively speedy recovery means it wasn't too serious. The day I hurt it I was putting in a great series of workouts, ran over some 42" hurdles, and did some good high jumping and long jumping. I also threw the turbo jav a few times, and I think that was what did it to my groin. I just have to stay away from the jav, or work into it sooooooo slowly. I'll probably not do any jav work now until after the indoor nationals. I threw the shot outside yesterday, and had a couple around 38', so I was happy with that, and I'll start running some intervals again tomorrow, and will report workout times starting next week again. I'll try the 2x600m workout again, and see if I can match or beat the workout from November 8. The indoor season is approaching quickly now...

800m for time

Ran 2:17.4 in a workout with neg split 70,67. So I could probably run a little faster than that now, and have set a new goal of 2:10 by March. Followed up the 800 with some 200's in 28, so recovery is decent. Last week I had a good series of workouts with a 6mile run on Sunday, Monday did 2X600 in 1:37.8 and 1:50, Tuesday 30 minutes hard hurdling, Wednesday 20X100 at average 13.69. Thursday 40 shot glides. Tomorrow I start going out to Rick's building for vaulting and high jump practice. Hopefully the neck holds together.
I saw the information for the European indoor championships in Ghent March 16 of next year. If I could compete, this would give me another chance to do a pentathlon, which makes sense because I'm putting so much effort into the training. I'll find out whether or not I can compete.

Moved workouts to the Track

So it's early November, and the high school cross country season is over now, so I'm on my own. I've started doing more track workouts now and stepping up the intensity. I haven't been thrilled with my times so far, I thought I might be running a little faster after running cross country for a couple months. I think I just need the intensity of running against the stopwatch on a track to start pulling it together. I did do a decent 800 workout last night, 3x800 in 2:32,2:33,2:38. Those times are similar to what I would run a few years ago, so that's not too bad. I'm going to run a 800 weekend after next for time, so that will be a good indication of how the 1000m training is going, and whether breaking 3:00 is realistic. I did a 2:16 in practice about 4 years ago, and last year ran a 2:20 before I pulled my hamstring, so somewhere in that region is what I'm shooting for. A 3 minute 1k is 72 pace, or 2:24 for 800. It won't be easy.
My shoulder is hanging in there, but the pain is still there a little bit, and I tried to throw the jav the other day, but between the shoulder and right hip it's still a no-go. I'm going to a chiropractor for my neck,and it has improved a bit, I need my neck to be better before I can high jump again. My hurdling and long jumping feel great, I'm still confident I can match or exceed my marks from last winter in the pentathlon.

Fall training going well

I haven't written in quite a while, so here goes. The national meet in Sacramento was ok for the long jump and hurdles, but the high jump was a bomb again. I'm not sure what happened to my timing in the HJ, but hopefully I'll get it back.
I won the long jump, however, for the third year in a row, so I can't complain about that. I wasn't jumping that great, but my first jump of 6.16 was long enough. The weather was extremely hot, so between that and a rising headwind during the competition, I couldn't go any farther. The hurdles were good, my time of 15.82 got me third and was a good time into a headwind as well. I lost my balance over the first hurdle a little and the other guys were way ahead to the 5th hurdle, but then I got a little turbo boost and almost caught them by the end. If it had been a 150 meter hurdles, I would have won(15 hurdles? that would be hard!!). I really have to work on my start to the second hurdle for next year. If I can get that smooth and fast, I should be able to take a few tenths out of my time.
So now I'm hot and heavy into training for next season, and what's nice is that I feel like I'm picking up where I left off back in July, not starting from scratch like usual due to injuries. I'm running cross country with my daughter's high school team, so my distance fitness base should be very good by the end of the month. If I can build from there without major injury, I should be able to make a real running improvement next season. I've thrown in some hurdling and long jumping and short fast sprints as well, and it's all been pretty easy.
I got a new diagnosis for my shoulder which led to a cortisone shot in a different spot, so maybe I'll get back the full strength there. It barely hurts at all now which is good, but I don't have a lot of confidence that it'll stay like that. At this point my goal is to do the indoor pentathlon at the National Masters meet in Albuquerque in March, but as to whether I'll do another decathlon, I just don't know yet. If my shoulder holds up, it be hard for me not to stick with it and do another one...
In the meantime, here are my goals for the indoor pentathlon in March:
8.70
6.40
11.40
1.78
2:57
The shot and HJ are less, but the others are better. This adds up to WR4367, which is 250 better than last year, and probably optimistic, but very realistic. It is still a long way off, though, so I'll update this estimate closer to the competition.

Solid Score in Joplin

Well, I'm happy with the Joplin decathlon: no AR or WR, but unofficial single-age (46) AR, total score of 7308 using 2010 age factors, (5700 on IAAF tables), which is almost 300 points better than the winner from last year's World meet in Lahti, and the best score in my age group in the world since 2002. Additionally, my hurdle time of 15.60 is the fastest ever world FAT time in a decathlon for age 45+. I'm sure that question will find it's way to Jeopardy sooner or later...("what American masters decathlete...) The weather in Joplin was very hot, in the mid 90's with the heat index over 100. This was hotter than any decathlon I did as a kid, and made it a bit challenging. The heat and favorable winds helped my sprint times, but by the end of the first day I was really feeling it. I must not have drunk enough water, because I had muscles cramping in the 400. For a few strides I thought I might have to stop, but I didn't of course, although the time was pretty slow(57.24). I should have run in the low 55s probably, so that cost me around 80 points right there. If I hadn't cramped up there, I would have been able to run fast enough to get the AR, but I'm not complaining. I achieved my objective of completing a decathlon with all ten events and doing a solid score in the 7000's.
What the future holds for me now, I'm not sure. My performance in at least three of the events is below my potential, so on the one hand I'd like to keep training and improve the vault and javelin, but on the other hand I don't want to have to keep fighting these chronic pains in my groin and shoulder. I'll probably spend 2-3 months this fall just working on these issues, and if I feel like I can improve my score next year in the World Champs in Sacramento, then I may go for it. Or not. Or I may just try to improve my WR in the indoor Pentathlon, because I know I can do that with minimal effect to the shoulder.
For now, I'll train for the Nationals in Sacramento July 22, where I'll LJ, HJ, and hurdle. Let's see if I can triple!