Last night I returned to the track.
When I showed up, it was noticeably empty. It was a little later than I had wanted, but life - things come up that need to be done.
I decided this week I am going to start pushing on the workouts at the track. It will still hurt. I need to use some care when pushing - as the danger of injury is always lurking. I have moved to a point that reconstructing sprint or endurance workouts, at least partially, is an acceptable risk.
This is complete with proper warmups, more stretching, and now I can add calisthenics. It seems a little on the crazy side to many - not the least - the other people at the track. Usually a few joggers (who last from 30 - 45 minutes) or walkers who last about a half hour on average.
There was more sun, but with partial cloud cover not as much as two weeks ago. I was able to pull off something resembling a proper warmup and this confirms the state of the body. Too bad it doesn't look better. But after confirming many pounds lighter and seeing my blood pressure trend all the way down to 'normal' range is encouraging. It certainly took long enough on both counts.
I was definitely on my toes today. I was able to finish off an 8 turn workout of sprints. I probably pushed a bit too hard today.I can feel a couple of knots in the left calf, which has been especially susceptible to injury - but it is a good sign of the increase in muscle strength. Of course for the others at the track to see an obviously fatter man to go screaming by at a full sprint is probably not the most thrilling thing in the world. Of course I am not there for them, this is about me getting to where I need to be. Push the lungs, make them expand beyond what they can do - is the only realistic way to get them whipped back into shape.
Trying to get used to people using the track, without knowing proper track etiquette - is a rather frustrating prospect. The faster you are going, you are supposed to be closer or all the way to the "inside" lanes of the track. Of course people bring their kids, most armed with bicycles or foot scooters. And then there are the people who bring their 'little dog' syndrome pets who think the track is their personal home ground they need to protect from any person who even looks at the track. (I reserve further comment on this.) Several people bring their dogs - and most of them behave very well, as a dog person myself, I have no complaints. If it doesn't bite me (nor act like it is going to bite me) hey it is a public place. Some are quite friendly.
Last night was a lot of stairs. In two weeks, I will break out the "leg-stair" workouts. I think at that point I will have lost enough weight that I can push the tendons in my legs further than they have been in a decade. In the meantime I want to make sure I don't risk any major injuries of that type. A sort of wait and see how this week goes.
If the next two weeks go well, I may just peel the the top off a case in three weeks. This would mean that I would reach into the closet, pull out the spikes, and do some serious "toe" sprinting. The track is a beautiful mondo surface track now. Gone is the nasty black fiberglass that wears away. In that case, I will most likely scare a few people. As it is, I can accelerate for about 180 meters, and full out sprint (although much slower than I ever was before) for 130 meters. Not to get ahead of myself, but I may be pulling 300's in a month, and possibly 500's by the end of summer. So far so good. As the weight slims off the pulls get faster and the workouts can get more serious. All bodes well for the start of over-distance by September. That will help to line me up for a couple of 5k, 10k shots in the fall. Hopefully with improved times. Even finishing a 5k at this point would be a big step.
Time to get serious and start putting some 'workouts' together - finally. A decade in the making. Progress is good. Planning is key. Perfect practice makes perfect. This journey is not and will not be perfect. It just needs to be the right kind of journey for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment