50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Agreed. No parent should allow a child to incur that kind of debt. Basic financial sense is missing from many of today's young and that is on the parents. Allowing 30-somethings to live at home just enables this kind of selfishness. Parents need to do their job!

How are your children doing, and what are their ages?

Hey mopak, it's been a spell. Heart issues here, but climbing back into the saddle. Completed a 5k in 26:27 3 weeks ago. Engaging in a variety of light workouts, all kept under a hour duration.

Our 2 girls are both married now. One teaches elementary school, the other is in retail selling electronics. They both left home at 20 to pursue univerity educations. No grand kids yet, but I'm hoping soon.Despite the fires, storms , etc. plaquing the States, the upper Midwest is kicking off a beautiful fall with splendid tree color. So ,albeit 11:00 minute pace, it'seems time for a run.

Coyote Montane wrote:

In-laws are in their 90s and two of my sib in-laws have moved back in. Ostensibly to help them out, but grandma still does the laundry for them, and shares in the cooking/shopping duties. All expenses paid. Third sib in-law got kicked out by his girlfriend and possibly could move back in. They're all in their 50s and 60s.

Some annoyance there, Coyote? Understandably so! Following through on this topic, I have two sons and my wife has a son and daughter. My sons will be 30 next month, and my wife's daughter is 36 -- all with advanced degrees, good careers, living independently (or with a spouse/girlfriend), etc.

But my wife's 34-year-old son has been living with us for four years -- since getting kicked out of his father's/stepmother's house. He refuses to find employment, refuses to help with even the simplest of households tasks (considers such things as "beneath his dignity"), and won't contribute a dime to the household. He receives SSI disability payments for supposed "social anxiety." I say "supposed" because he seems able to turn on or off the symptoms at his convenience. He has a healthy bank account and IRA, but limited spending money because he leases a brand new car.

Since asking him about his employment prospects a year ago, and suggesting he could help with some of the chores, he has developed a violent hatred of me. Similarly, at his father's house, he threatened to kill his stepmother when she was pushing him to help out around the house. That's when he was kicked out.

Now the tension here is nearly unbearable. Due to job losses and career changes, we're teetering on bankruptcy. Seeing this healthy adult man so unwilling to contribute in any way, annoys me 24/7. I am, admittedly, not a good business man -- I tend to give away a lot of my work. My fault, not his, but it's irritating that there are many months his income is actually greater than mine!

And, meanwhile, he runs or bikes or goes for long hikes every day, with his greatest challenge being how to fill endless hours of leisure. All while I struggle to carve out enough time for even minimal training.

Oh well. So it goes.

Allen, that's not a healthy picture for anyone involved. No self-respecting 30-something should be living at home. I suspect you would like to give him the boot, but his mother is having trouble with that. You're not doing him, or you, any favors. Please revisit this with your wife and try to make her see this is not doing him any good. Perhaps a counselor can help you work through this together. Good luck.

Thanks, Old Stiff. My wife is finally becoming more proactive, insisting that he seek counseling. She took time off last week to drag him to County Mental Health Services, and, encouragingly, he went on his own this week. And she is enlisting his father to possibly help finance a place where he can live on his own.

Sadly, he could truly have been an asset to the household if he had chosen to be. There are endless tasks. 1830s house, barn, gardens, chickens ...

My wife says all the pending tasks are the results of OUR choices, and he can't be expected to be involved. Still, it annoys me. For example, last winter when I asked that he split firewood, he ignored me, as always. When I came in after hours of hand-splitting and stacking in the brutal cold, I became irrationally upset at the sight of him happily relaxing by a nice warm fire. If he wasn't there, I would, of course, still be splitting and stacking!

Despite my annoyance, for four years now I have patiently and quietly accepted the situation. Outwardly, anyway. Hopefully we are close to a resolution. Before I start showing my irritation.

These two posts are as close as I have come to outwardly venting.

200 miles ahead of last year at this time.

On track to hit 2000 miles for the year. but am really bogging down

I think I took too big a bite this year, my 40th year of training.

Getting my first social security check next month.

Allen1959, I'm sorry for your troubles.

There is a line between helping out the next generation in a healthy way, and enabling them to be helpless by providing too much support.

I wish that we may we all figure out where that line is, in our own family situations.

Not all situations are the same, and therefore one approach will not suit all situations.

Great to hear from you Bushie. Look after that engine buddy.Any running is good running and just getting out in nature's beauty is a win.Spring here and the forests are brilliant yellows with the many different wattles at their best.A highlight on yesterday's kayak session was a sighting of a platypus.

Bush'Man wrote:

Hey mopak, it's been a spell. Heart issues here, but climbing back into the saddle. Completed a 5k in 26:27 3 weeks ago. Engaging in a variety of light workouts, all kept under a hour duration.

Our 2 girls are both married now. One teaches elementary school, the other is in retail selling electronics. They both left home at 20 to pursue univerity educations. No grand kids yet, but I'm hoping soon.Despite the fires, storms , etc. plaquing the States, the upper Midwest is kicking off a beautiful fall with splendid tree color. So ,albeit 11:00 minute pace, it'seems time for a run.

Wednesday

September 13, 2017

- Hip stretches (3 stretches)

- Basic stretching routine (11 stretches)

- Back stretching routine (9 stretches)

- 100 pushups, 50 situps, 30 dumbell curls each arm (20 lbs), 30 lat pulldowns (85 lbs), 30 wrist curls (30 lbs barbell)

Brittle Master 1958 wrote:

Wednesday

September 13, 2017

- Hip stretches (3 stretches)

- Basic stretching routine (11 stretches)

- Back stretching routine (9 stretches)

- 100 pushups, 50 situps, 30 dumbell curls each arm (20 lbs), 30 lat pulldowns (85 lbs), 30 wrist curls (30 lbs barbell)

I wish I could stretch more- it is so boring. I have tight hips and tight calfs

I did feel good sprinting on grass field today though.

4 x 20 seconds, 4 x 30 seconds, 2 x 45 seconds and 3 x 10 seconds. Good turnover on last one 40 strides in 10 flat.

Back to Track on Saturday.

Still in awe of a 51 year old teammate who ran 4:32 mile yesterday. 2018 should be a record breaking season for him.

Wow Allen, that's pretty rough and you have shown a lot of patience. Best of luck with a resolution.

The situation there doesn't affect me too much directly--other than I loathe going over there--but I know they are taking advantage of the situation, as did my own sibs with my mother.

I was fortunate that my older brother was caregiver to my mother. I did my share of handling administrative duties and compensated my bother for his efforts. My wife and I were caregivers to her father for six and a half years. We spent thousands of dollars for his care. During that time we came under much criticism from her two older sisters. At my father-in-law's passing however, they were in town in a New York minute to get their one-third cut of the loot. The one sister even took his half used box of Q-Tips. Kind of funny actually. In my career as a financial advisor I hear similar stories frequently.

September 14

Thursday

169 pounds

- Warmup: (treadmill, 2% incline) 0.25 mile at 6.1 mph, 0.25 mile walking at 3.0 mph, 0.25 mile at 6.5 mph, 0.25 mile walking at 3.0 mph.

- Workout: 6 miles on the treadmill, 2% incline, in 53:22 (8:54 mile pace). Progression run from 6.5 mph to 7.0 mph.

Study: "BMI, a Performance Parameter for Speed Improvement" (2014)

Excerpt:

"Links between performance and morphology are strengthened by gradient of size within each discipline. Not only sprinters are heavier than their long and middle distances counterparts but within their distance, the fastest athletes are also heavier. This confirms the trend observed by Khosla [11], [12]: olympic champions in sprinting events are heavier than the finalists and the other participants. In contrast, the best long distance runners have a lower mass compared to less rapid athletes, like gold medalists versus finalists and other participants during Munich and Montreal Olympics games [12]. We find similar trends regarding height; the most successful sprint runners have a greater average height, whereas the best performing endurance runners have a smaller height than their slower opponents. Our study shows, through physique gradients, the importance of mass and height in all track and field events."

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090183

Translation: Taller, heavier (=more muscular) runners have an almost invincible advantage in the sprints. Shorter, lighter runners have an almost invincible advantage in the long distance races.

As a middle distance runner, I can't do much about being 6'5", but I can try to get faster by reducing my BMI. Starting a new job recently has caused me to gain back a few pounds, but as I get used to my new schedule and establish new routines, I can try to start shedding weight again.

September 16

Saturday

169 pounds

- Hip stretches (3 stretches)

- Basic stretching routine (11 stretches)

- Back stretching routine (10 stretches)

- 100 pushups, 50 situps, 30 dumbell curls each arm (20 lbs), 30 lat pulldowns (85 lbs), 30 wrist curls (30 lbs barbell)

- 2 miles elliptical

Today I added a new back stretch. I have high hopes it will help me. It is based on a yoga asana I have seen my wife doing. She doesn't do much yoga, but this particular stretch seems to reduce her arthritic hip pain. She thinks it is called "The Cat." I call it "The Supplicant" because that is what it looks like to me, and also because I am desperate to reduce my lower back pain.

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Week 328

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Greetings, 50+ers! Well, it's mid-September and I still feel like I'm just treading water. Was able to get out four days this week with roughly equal length runs of 4-4.5 miles each, and thus only about 17 miles total to show for it. I did throw in some effort, which these days means getting a few of those 17 miles in under 7:15/mi pace; sadly, they left me gassed. Fitness has deteriorated, for sure, but weight is the big albatross. It's going to take a concerted effort to get this off, but so far this September hasn't been conducive. As for stretching, it's pretty minimal. I used to stretch a lot, but I was still getting injured. Then I talked to my old HS coach who said that he's stopped stretching with his boys in favor of dynamic warm-up routines and rollers for dealing with niggles. His injury rates went dramatically down, so I sort of follow that philosophy: some dynamic warm-up (not much with the knee right now,) still some targeted light stretching and more foam roller/stick for the tight stuff. I don't see much difference, I still have something blow up once or twice a year. The last couple years have been particularly trying, I think in large part because of the stiffening of my big toes due to arthritis; it's really had an effect up and down the kinetic chain on how I can comfortably run. Oh, and the knee is doing better, but still not 100%.

On the plus side, our daughter has always had an independent streak, so at 25, she's pretty self-sufficient. She and her boyfriend are both nurses and will be doing travel nursing out west starting in late-October. They bought themselves a 39-ft RV trailer and a dually truck to live out of and will be heading out to Reno, NV, where they've accepted their first assignment. We'll probably make a trip out there in December (the week after Club XC) to visit.

OK, that's all I've got. Hope things are going well for you this week.

All the Best!

Good morning. Cooler weather has made my workouts much more fun. Yesterday I decided to forego my usual 5 mile run in favor of the track. Since its open to the public on weekends I should take advantage. I did 5x150 and willed my legs to turn over as fast as possible. By the last 2 I was actually running on my toes, like a sprinter does. Pretty amazing! There is a short hill by the track about 30m and it's steep too, so I decided to add some hill sprints to my workout. Did 5 of them with a walk back down. I finished off with crunches, push ups, single leg squats onto a bench, and I managed to do one pull up which is a big victory for me. I felt very accomplished.

The weeks workouts consisted of 2 five mile runs which are now at a non-embarrassing jog pace, one yoga class, and one weight-lifting workout. My weights consist of single legged bench squats, goblet squats, leg press, crunches, push ups, box jumps, and dumbbell shoulder press. I usually do a set of 10 of each one in my circuit, and I do 3 circuits which gets me quite knackered.

lucKY, treading water is better than the alternative :-)

Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, 5 miles elliptical + dumbbell workout

Tue: 3 miles treadmill easy, post Irma rain

Thr: 3 miles medium road and trail

Sat: 3 miles medium/hard road and trail

First full week of training. The right heel is manageable but not perfect. I feel like a beginner runner at this stage. I have the chicken-or-the-egg debate going on where I’ve been lazy on my diet during my time off for injury. Pain-free faster running motivates me to work on that diet but being lean reduces the torsional stressors on the heel, thus, increasing the likelihood of the pain-free faster running….I’m currently at 163 and my ideal masters racing weight is 150 to 153. I tried going lower in 2012 and getting to my college weight of 142 but my times were actually slower and I got injured more easily.

I appreciate Brittle Master’s info on BMI and it got me thinking about these studies. We have a very educated group here who, I’m certain, have done quite a bit of reading of the scientific literature. Probably many of you have noted some rather glaring root assumptions in many of these studies. So very many of these studies are done with either elite runners, younger runners, or both. The BMI study was done on “Top 100 International Men”. This is common. What is also common is the fact that many of the training methodologies in use now are based on that research.

I’m not insinuating all that research does not apply to masters, and super masters runners; as it is still sound, basic, physiology. But….those root assumptions cannot be ignored and one wonders how much of the training based on those studies can be applied to older runners? I don’t know about you but I’m guilty of looking over my old logs and trying to apply the same method from X years ago to now. I’m only now realizing that is part of the problem with my being injured so often. For me it begs the question of whether we’d have a lot more masters runners competing if the training was properly tuned for them, the older runner, rather than just a watered down version of what college runners are doing?

Anyway, I think its an interesting topic as I know I’m not alone in my frustrations of how X training method that used work great a few years ago only gets me injured now.

Have a great week folks.