50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

IronChopz wrote:

... visiting the fitness center as much as I can through the end of the year, following the 4-dayweightlifting rotation, and running 3000m - 5000m on the treadmill.

Started Cycle 11 of the 4-day rotation today.

Chest & triceps (Day 1) routine

Leg (Day 2) routine

Back & biceps (Day 3) routine

Shoulders & abs (Day 4) routine

There were a half-dozen days in the last 10-11 that were warm enough for me to get outside for the running, which was nice. Otherwise, I average about 4000m on the treadmill after the weight sessions. Suffice it to say that it feels good not going dormant in the winter.

Have a great 2019, everyone!

I am 68 and raced yesterday morning in temperatures in the mid-teens and seemed just as cold as it always was. I came home changed clothes and took down my outdoor Christmas lights. By that time it was in the 30s, working outside for about two hours, and seemed just as cold as it always was.

Hi Cold Old Runner - from outside Denver

on NYE ran 7 as it dropped from 21 to 16 with a pretty good breeze, but yesterday it was -6 and the roads weren't plowed so I stayed in and ran on the treadmill 9.2. Did go for a 40 minute walk with the dog at 4+ later in the day.

My cut off is about 0 anymore, but having decent footing plays in. I always have a pair of winter shoes with hex screws drilled in to the soles and that helps with traction.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I am 68 and raced yesterday morning in temperatures in the mid-teens and seemed just as cold as it always was. I came home changed clothes and took down my outdoor Christmas lights. By that time it was in the 30s, working outside for about two hours, and seemed just as cold as it always was.

Who wants to run outdoors in freezing weather with the invention of the treadmill? And you can get really creative and get some good workouts on a treadmill:

Curious: Heat exhaustion or heat stroke?

Just a poor race result between the heat and my caution. Sounds like you had a pretty serious event.

On the cold stuff: Is there a low temp threshold where it's too uncomfortable for you to run in?

I have no idea as it rarely freezes on the Oregon Coast but I do comfortably run barefoot in the mid 30s . I grew up in a pretty cold climate living in a drafty house with a wood stove that had to be lite every morning. Probably was pretty good for me.

Anyhow my plan is to just keep some temperature stress in my daily life as it seems to be beneficial without much real discomfort. I think getting too comfy in the gym is a mistake and over time will lower your ability to tolerate the cold.

At age 41 I moved from western New York, where it's snowy and generally below freezing for 4-5 months of the year, to Kansas, where winter is equally cold but shorter and less snowy. Then at 45 I moved to inland central California, where it never snows and cold winter nights get only slightly below freezing. So it's hard to compare my cold tolerance as a 60-year-old with my 35-year-old self.

Temperatures around freezing actually feel a lot more comfortable than they used to because I used to have a great deal of trouble keeping my hands warm even in only "moderate" cold. Several times when living in New York I got my hands mildly frostbitten when running with inadequate hand protection, and my hands got extremely cold sensitive, such that my fingers would turn completely white and numb even at 45-50 degrees. When I first arrived in California I had to wear mittens over gloves when it got down to 45 or so, and light gloves up to 55. But after a decade of never exposing my hands to extreme cold, they recovered. I now don't wear any gloves until it's around 45 and don't go to the mittens until about 35, and my fingers never turn white any more. So in that regard I am more cold tolerant now than I used to be.

I recall visiting a 92 year old lady with several of my colleagues last year during the summer. She had the heat on in her room and it had to be pushing 100. I remember noting my peers were all sweating and near passing out and I’m like, totally OK. Below 45 means gloves and covering for my ears. I’ll wear long pants and long sleeves over a shirt at 60 degrees. I do handle heat really well, though. I’ll be 60 in few weeks but this is the way I’ve been for the last 10 years. I do think it’s getting worse as I age though.

Just as a follow up to my last post, my wife had to get home and get her toes rewarmed and shoes changed after just two miles in the 20 degree weather. She's had frostnip or frostbite of her hands and toes MANY years ago, so I think she's less tolerant. Maybe it's just my larger build that makes me more able to handle cold, but I know that we will all be less able to handle temp extremes as we age, just a matter of degree how much.

The fresh air was good, but I still like getting a good workout in, so indoor exercising isn't so bad either!

Charlie wrote:

Anyhow my plan is to just keep some temperature stress in my daily life as it seems to be beneficial without much real discomfort. I think getting too comfy in the gym is a mistake and over time will lower your ability to tolerate the cold.

That's if you want to tolerate the cold. I would think if you race in the cold it would be imperative to train in the cold as much as possible so race day won't be such a shock on the system. But I don't race anymore in the winter season and I think back to all the blizzards & sub-0 temperatures I trained in as a young buck. It was fun back then - but more or less a been there...done that type thing now. One thing I like about training indoors periodically during the winter is the non-weightbearing cardio I do (eliptical & bike) which is good for rehabing my chronic injuries and giving my body a break from all the spring/summer/fall pounding. And it's nice that you can just wear summer running clothes instead of having to bundle up in a lot of layers and all that for winter running.

Here's an interesting study on "Aging and human cold tolerance."

Good discussion.

I would say the reason I treadmill now is (a) it gives structure to my hard workouts and (b) I don't fall when it's icy. Otherwise, I'd rather be outside. So if it's dry and 9 below like it was on 1/1/2018, and my running club is doing a run and social, 30-40 minutes outdoors on the trail why not?

In Chicago this weekend the weather made running outside dangerous, even though it was 20s and 30s, so I signed up for a $5 Planet Fitness membership, ran on mills for four days, then when I got home spent $4 on a letter sent by certified mail to cancel my plan. (Those fitness clubs and their fine print.)

I was a paperboy through four Montana winters, and even in 20 below weather I barehanded the newspaper, not because I was all tough and all, but because if you're working barehanded you move faster and get done quicker. Today when I do a regular easy run outside, even in bitter cold (again assuming I don't have to worry about falling), I enjoy that run more than if I did it inside. You may think that an aesthetic choice but to me it's practical -- the more you associate running with pleasure the more likely you are to stick to the routine, don't you think?

Per the cold, yesterday did 10 outside at about 31 degrees, wearing long pants, merino wool long sleeve and a short sleeve tech shirt over that, mid-thick polypro gloves and a buff. Was dressed perfect for a moderate workout (would go lighter if it'd been a race or hard workout).

Have spent much of my adult life in very cold country, most recently Alaska 2004-14. You get pretty good at figuring what to wear. There my cut off for an outdoor run was -20F because I found anything less than that was pretty miserable. I'd use chemical handwarmers in my gloves and boots at sub zero temps. Got frostnip on my feet and fingers a few times, and frostbite on my face (one year pretty bad, twice due to wind chills not ambient temperatures).

I found that marathon training outdoors was really rough in the winter. Did CIM one year and we got a bunch of cold weather in November and doing a 17-20 miler at 0 with a foot or two of snow on the ground--no bare pavement all snow and ice--was almost impossible. I'd get through those workouts but came out worse than if I'd used a treadmill. I had better access to treadmills later in my time there, and of course had XC skiing.

Anyway, I do think I now go to gloves at somewhat warmer temps than in my past. Even at 50 F I'm digging around for a light pair of gloves.

KCgeezer wrote:

Today when I do a regular easy run outside, even in bitter cold (again assuming I don't have to worry about falling), I enjoy that run more than if I did it inside. You may think that an aesthetic choice but to me it's practical -- the more you associate running with pleasure the more likely you are to stick to the routine, don't you think?

I agree completely. I love running largely because it's outdoors, and I can see the real world go by while I'm doing it. I have spent long periods of time on stationary bike trainers when injured and unable to run in the winter when it's too cold or wet to ride outdoors, but I've never been able to consider indoor exercise as anything but drudgery.

I do go to a gym four or five times per week to do strength exercises, but only for about 30 minutes at a time. I just shake my head when I see those banks of stone-faced people slogging away on the treadmills when it's 50 degrees and dry outside, and my gym is only 2 blocks from a lovely bike path alongside a creek where you can run a nice 5-mile loop or pick up another set of bike paths for a longer run. I understand using a treadmill for specific workouts, when injured, or when it's too hot or too cold to go outside. But I just don't get people who run only indoors.

Coyote Montane wrote:

Anyway, I do think I now go to gloves at somewhat warmer temps than in my past. Even at 50 F I'm digging around for a light pair of gloves.

Running in any temperature turns my normally warm hands and feet into swinging chunks of refrigerated meat. As long as the blood is being rerouted to my core I'm good with it, but man! Can you buy battery-powered electric socks and gloves?

On gloves, I have found two pairs works well. One pair that fits tight close to the skin and a second bulkier pair on top.

I’m with KCgeezer and amkelley. For me, the main point of running is getting outside...especially during the winter when it’s easy to succumb to cabin fever. I’ve got yak trax for snowy conditions, but need them only rarely as the plows typically make things quite accessible. During blizzards I used to use a treadmill, but I’ve since given it away and don’t miss it.

Once I get going, temps in the teens and twenties don’t really bother me. The pants go on once the temps dip below 30 and I’ll don the balaclava for wind chills nearing single digits. I usually wear three layers on top with the middle one being a short sleeve wind break. Light gloves for 40-ish or lower, but they typically come off in the second half of the run until the temps get into the lower 20s.

I’m a Green Acres guy. Fresh air!

KCgeezer wrote:

Coyote Montane wrote:

Anyway, I do think I now go to gloves at somewhat warmer temps than in my past. Even at 50 F I'm digging around for a light pair of gloves.

Running in any temperature turns my normally warm hands and feet into swinging chunks of refrigerated meat. As long as the blood is being rerouted to my core I'm good with it, but man! Can you buy battery-powered electric socks and gloves?

I'm good down to zero and even a bit colder as long as I'm dressed okay. Deciding factor will usually be amount of snow and ice out there and type of workout. The problem for me on long runs is not hands and feet usually, it's getting sweaty at my core and then clammy cold after some 90 minutes. 2 to 3 hours gets tough at low single digits or sub zero. Likewise, if I have a tempo or 1000 m reps planned and it's 20 F with 6 inches of snow on the ground and blowing at 20 mph I'll usually opt for an indoor day or wait for a day or two for the weather to clear (fortunate to live where weather doesn't stay adverse for long). The exception is if there is an XC race in a temperate climate coming up--then, bring it on!

Ed and Gene part 3

https://canute1.wordpress.com/2019/01/04/ed-and-genes-genes-how-do-genes-contribute-to-the-longevity-of-a-distance-runner/

Maybe fitness enthusiasts and not runners per se?

Charlie wrote:

Ed and Gene part 3

https://canute1.wordpress.com/2019/01/04/ed-and-genes-genes-how-do-genes-contribute-to-the-longevity-of-a-distance-runner/

Wow!...some serious genetics with those two! ?

It's perfectly clear now that when they handed out running genetics I was at the back of the line. ? However, since I believe in reincarnation...I hope in the next life I'll be at the front of the line. ?