Training Log Archive: chitownclark

Longest run since last June. Very slow, but pleasant to be outside in the sun, running. I've come to like rowing over the past month, but there's nothing like running for an aerobic workout. Let's hope nothing is broken, and I can do that Oak Park 5k next Sunday.

Like an old horse, upon arising I just couldn't refrain from pulling on my shorts and going down to the basement for a bit a exercise.

This was possibly because yesterday I'd read about the wonderful effect "vigorous" aerobic exercise 5 days/wk has on all the diseases of aging: stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. disclosed in a January 2011 paper. And it turns out exercise is invaluable not only as a preventative precaution, but also as treatment for existing conditions. Figures such as "61% reduced death rate.." were tossed around -- major findings.

So 17 seconds greater than my best 70-year time; but all negative pace splits: 2:17.0, 2:15.9, 2:15.5, 2:14.2, 2:10.3 Nevertheless I've got to shift gears and try to do some running outside...even in the forecast snow for the next four days. I've a 5k to try to do in 8 days!

C • well done 2

Two pieces at race pace:
4min row = 937m
2000m = 8:42.9 @ pace of 2:10.7

Neither particularly outstanding. The 2000m piece was only my 3rd fastest in 2011...the 8:30 effort in competition at CIRC benefited from more adrenaline and rest beforehand. I think I'm getting a bit tired. But tomorrow I attain the Concept II March Madness Challenge goal: 25 days in March rowing at least 5000m.

Cold, snowy weather forecast for next week. So I'm trying to lengthen my workouts. 10k rowing; 2k pace splits showed major breakdown: 2:20.6, 2:16.9, 2:19.7, 2:19.8, 2:15.3 but took 25 seconds off my previous 10k PR.

Good weather forecasted today; rain tomorrow. So I'm headed out to the suburbs for another hit-and-walk day. Pace splits today very lazy at the start...how do I hit the piece charged up and hustling, without becoming tired out, and the 4th split slowdown? 2:24.9, 2:16.2, 2:14.7, 2:14.9, 2:11.1

C • 4th split 3

Joe Lewis "The Champ" GC. By self. Nice balmy day which started out foggy and dripping wet, ended with hazy warm sun. This is an easy course to get to: el all the way to terminus on South Side; then bus down Halsted Street to the GC on the banks of the Little Calumet River, which drains into the Mississippi. The Grand Calumet River next door, historically drained into Lake Michigan, and from there to the Atlantic. Voyagers hand-dug a rudimentary canal between the two rivers, across a "continental divide," in the 1700's to eliminate a troublesome portage. Today both rivers are more polluted than any other site in the Great Lakes region, inhabited only by sludge worms in some places. Still....it was a beautiful early spring day, and golf was the perfect activity...as long as I kept the ball out of that river.

C • Sludge worms 3