Seriously, L2B? I suppose you never saw those deleted posts, too!
Seriously, L2B? I suppose you never saw those deleted posts, too!
Olde Farte wrote:
Seriously, L2B? I suppose you never saw those deleted posts, too!
Actually, I did see the posts, in between advising students, but most definitely didn't have anything to do with their disappearance. Not sure where those posts went. Regardless, I did see your previous post, and I am now responding to you on that. I will acknowledge that this whole episode over the past few months has jaded me, and I have become suspicious when people that I don't know come on the thread and talk more about process rather than the content. That I transferred that suspicion to you was unfair, so mea culpa.
I had proposed that you email me directly because I assumed that you were concerned about how your previous handle had been compromised and why you needed to switch. I was hoping we could clear that up. Sorry if that was interpreted any other way.
At any rate, sorry about your foot, I hope it heals soon, and sorry about the loss of your family member over the holiday.
Have to go to yet another meeting, so I will be away for awhile.
Thank you, sir. I am happy to know that my faith in you was not misplaced. Now, back to running.....as soon as I'm healthy, that is.
Hit a massive stiff-legged wall this week which simply stated that my body is really pissed off at my mind. Turns out I've been running ay too hard and much way too soon. Sound familiar? So I took a super low and slow day followed by another and felt way way better on the 3rd recovery day.
Oh and I got a 60min deep muscle therapy session in for the first time in many moons. Still feeling less stiff still this am.
Bottom Line is what we all know already... we cannot do the same volume and intensity we could at age 45-40-35 and so on.
Rich... YOU are the benchmark of this 50+ mantra - am I right?
KP
Jan. 6th., no run.
Jan. 7th., For 35:56 min., 3x plus loop route, good pick up to finish. Generally aerobic pace.
Tempo run 5k in 21m (very hot)tues.
Easy forest run 90min thu.
Slow hilly 25k run sun.
A hilly 50km mountain bike ride on sat.
3 shorter rides, 3 sessions in the kyak and 2 easy short jogs.
First week on night shift which always knocks me about.
Just a solid week here. On Monday I ran a 1500m test over at Oaks Christian HS in 80 degree weather (SoCal), test went well as a benchmark. Maurice Green was there with a stable of HS and College/Open sprinters. They looked so fast.....and young.
Other days have been treamill due to a trip out to Detroit/Lansing. Managed a couple doubles so 9 runs in 7 days - I'll take it.
Thanks Rich! Should be benefits all around. On top of that, smaller portions, more healthy snacking. Mentally I sense a positive change already.
MN
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Week 33
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The first week of running in the new year was about the same as the last week of running in the old year. Managed 46-47 miles on 6 days. Once again, one day got scuttled due to over-commitment of time, and I couldn't make up for it. I did get in two harder efforts and a longer run this week. My mileage log reads as such:
S: 5 easy
M: 7.8 easy (w/ 7-8 lb backpack, broken into 4.5 and 3.3 runs)
T: 5 w/2.5@ 6:05-6:10 pace
W: 8.2 easy
R: 0 (too busy)
F: 8 w/5k hard tempo in 19-flat
S 12.4 easy (7:50 pace) hip started bugging me after about 7.5 miles. Had to stop and stretch several times after that.
This article in Runner's World shows the type of exercises I have been doing to work on the hip region.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--14173-0,00.html
I also include one more that has really helped (and I'll discuss it once I feel fully healthy). On shorter runs, I'm feeling tons better than I did even a few months ago, but I still have issues on runs over 7 miles. I must also say, though, that the exercise pictured I find really difficult. Side planks I can do, but once I try to lift one leg, it's very hard to hold. Along with the standard 2-minute plank, I think this lateral plank w/leg lift may be a litmus test for whether our core is solid enough for rigorous training. Thoughts?
One more resolve for me this year....focus on range of motion.
I was planning to tally up the numbers from last year, to see where I'd gotten. My logs have been a bit of a mess since the knee debacle over the summer, so it'll take me some time to reconstruct my total mileage for the past year.
At any rate, hope you all have gotten the New Year off with a solid first week.
Cheers!
PS-KP, you've hit on one of those questions that has no easy answer, that's for sure. We've have such diverse abilities to handle volume and speed, that I don't think a single mantra will cover them. Guys like racerdb (Dave) seem to be able to pound out high-volume/high-quality stuff, while Rtype has decided that he needs to focus on a low-volume regimen, similar to rlb (Rich). Muddy Girl and No Longer Stressed also seem inordinately high mileage types. I would say I'm somewhere in the middle. Through trial and error, we seem to zero in on whatever "works" for us....but the errors sure can be really frustrating lessons.
Kevin Paulk wrote:
Hit a massive stiff-legged wall this week which simply stated that my body is really pissed off at my mind. Turns out I've been running ay too hard and much way too soon. Sound familiar? So I took a super low and slow day followed by another and felt way way better on the 3rd recovery day.
Oh and I got a 60min deep muscle therapy session in for the first time in many moons. Still feeling less stiff still this am.
Bottom Line is what we all know already... we cannot do the same volume and intensity we could at age 45-40-35 and so on.
Rich... YOU are the benchmark of this 50+ mantra - am I right?
KP
KP, you’ve set some pretty high benchmarks yourself. I do recall running FAR behind you in a July 4th 5K race a few years ago where you ran 16:40.
This week:
Sat = 5 miles with a 5K track tempo at 6:53 pace sandwiched between a mile warm-up and a mile warm down.
Sun = 3.7 miles mountain run.
Mon = 5K at 7:22 pace in cold/windy conditions
Tue = 5K at 7:34 pace in cold/windy conditions
Wed = 5K at 7:05 pace
Total miles = 18 and Ave pace for 12.4 timed miles = 7:15.
This is the first week in 9 that I did not knock significant time off the average pace. Actually I ran exactly one second slower on the timed runs than last week. I just could not get it in gear Mon and Tue in the cold wind. But the Sat track tempo was my fastest at the same effort as before and the Wed tempo was the fastest weekday push. Again, the focus here is to apply the same effort week in and week out, gently pressing the comfort zone downward. I’m chomping at the bit to hit it hard with quarters and mile reps but I’ve not been free of injury long enough yet. Hat’s off to Jack Farrell’s steady state theory….even though I’m using a unique version tweaked for my chronologically challenged body.
As lucKY2b notes, we are each unique in our training. Last year I was desperate to get to 70 miles per week and I paid the price. I’m lucky to be running at all after the cascade of injuries.
Great to hear so many of us are having "a better week, getting out of bed less stiff", etc. I feel like I've turned a corner too. Got a big rubber bin out of basement, filled it up with cold water, and loaded in some ice... to re-start daily post-run ice baths. It's a wonder cure for stiff legs. It's gotta be a benefit for sore feet, plantar fasciitis too.
mdw... yes I've battled PF for 3 years now (right foot now left). Tried everything from traditional to experimental to voodoo. At some point one has to either wait a year or more for it to mysteriously go away, just as it arrived, or trust a surgeon to get you back on your feet. Pun? Reality. My trusted guy is Amol Saxena Palo Alto Sports Med. LMK if you want to chat more.
Go Falcons!
First week of the year is in the books with 70.6 miles in singles. Now I just need to do it 11 more times in a row! Had a few good runs this week. Went 7:06 for 10 on Monday in a bunch of snow, wind and freezing temps. Not sure how I did that...10 at 7:00 on wed and 13.1 at 6:49 on Sat. The rest were comfortable untimed runs. Fell on some ice Wed night and ripped my pants & bloodied my knee.
Plotted out my entire year race schedule the other day. Came up with 18 races so I'll need to weed out some of them to get it closer to 10-12.
Have a good week. Supposed to nice thru Wed then the cold/snow moves in again Thur.
All the Best,
Dave
Jan. 08, Steady 3 plus loop run, 28 3/4 min. AHR 142 MHR 153.
Well, I think I'm getting more & more of a believer in this minimalism concept...having had to do with a great read this Xmas, Christopher McDougall's "Born To Run" in which so described these Tarahumaras can run literally all day wearing light sandles and over roughest ground...pulled out an older pair of Saucony (yellow) racing flats and went for a run in them...with my orthotics in though...and...no real trouble from my supposed (finished with running) arthritis infested left foot...as well as anything else...hmmmmm!!!!???
Comments?
Week of 01/01/12 - 01/07/12
Sun, 01/01: usual 12 mile group run from SBUX on NW Overton & 23rd
Mon, 01/02: usual day off running
Tue, 01/03: 2 mile warmup, strides, pyramid workout of 600m, 700m, 800m, 900m, 800m, 700m, 600m with 300-400m recoveries between. Spilts I remember were 2:11, 2:07 for the 600s and 2:53 for each of the 800s. 2 mile cooldown. Day's total = ~9 miles
Wed, 01/04: 6 mile easy recovery run
Thu, 01/05: 8 mile easy run
Fri, 01/06: 2 mile warmup, strides, Terwilliger hill workout of 3 x (100m, 200m, 300m, 400m hill) with jogs back down, 2 mile cooldown. This was done in really nasty weather - 36 degrees and rain. Kept the warmups on and didn't time the intervals, just the whole running time. BRRR! Day's total = 7+ miles
Sat, 01/07: 6.5 miles easy on Lacamas Heritage trail.
Weekly total = ~49 miles.
Core/weights on Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri.
One week to go until being in Houston for the Trials and to run the half-marathon the following day. CAN'T WAIT!!!
Solid week here following my usual pattern. Planning to do a 4 mile low key race next Saturday, assuming nothing flares up between now and then. It's a test to see what I can do off of no true speedwork.
M: 8 with 5 long hills, tried a new one that worked legs more than lungs
T: 4 easy
W: 4 easy
T: 4 easy
F: 4 easy
S: 8+ mile tempo w/3 miles timed in 19:30, felt very comfortable
S: 8+ miles with 7 x hill, short hill with flat stretch at top, worked legs and lungs
Geezer greetings from the sun-infused left coast.
Almost nothing makes me feel more like a "real runner" than a bona fide track workout. Yesterday was my first such track session since late last summer. Although I initially felt as uncoordinated as giraffe yearling, eventually the neuro-muscular synapses began to fire as they had once upon a time and by workout's end was actually able to run a "blistering" by today's standards 78 final 400 (1200, 1000, 800, 3 x 400)...(prior to that final circuit, was running my seventh grade PE class pace...and absolutely dying!)
Managed 46 miles for the week (98,155 lifetime miles) and upped the 'streak' to 375 consecutive days...now all I've gotta do is get on a couple of starting lines again to truly feel like a "real runner"
KP, I would concur on your ice bath regime (nasty but necessary) and your choice of podiatric surgical experts...I as well have seen Doc Saxena...he is a cutting machine.
Other elements that I use daily for my geriatric jogging recovery is collagen, MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin, mega B vitamins, epsom salt baths, traumeel ointment, consumption of copious amounts of H20, weekly body work, and red wine of the Rhone varietals (mostly for attitude adjustment)
Here's to another fine week of mid-century ruuning...see you all a little further on down the road (Go Niners!)
MF
My palate still needs definition in regards to the red wine.....but I'm working on it diligently.
Training phase is in the X-C ski mode. We are narrowly in the snow band here. The Bride and I got out 5 times this week.
Though effort level has been in the low to moderate range, my resting pulse tells me fitness gains are occuring.
Looking forward to a return to more seasonal temps by Weds. as these balmy mid 40's are eroding the thin snow base in the immediate region.
Planning to head to Michigans UP for a 42K X-C ski race next weekend. If that goes OK, I'll keep tacking them on.
"When in Rome do as the Romans do"
Hopefully when spring arrives I'll feel more like running and be able to do so, without the nagging sore spots that have plagued my last 2 years.
Coaching the local HS kids makes me feel young and also feel old....young because I was demonstrating hurdle drills and one kid said, "you make it look so easy!" and old because I really rocked my workout on Saturday and Sunday morning I was stiff and creaky. But still feeling good! A day of rest was just what I needed. Back to it tomorrow, preparing for the indoor track season....
Spikez wrote:
Coaching the local HS kids makes me feel young and also feel old....young because I was demonstrating hurdle drills and one kid said, "you make it look so easy!" and old because I really rocked my workout on Saturday and Sunday morning I was stiff and creaky. But still feeling good! A day of rest was just what I needed. Back to it tomorrow, preparing for the indoor track season....
Test
short one today, time constraints..
Got in 70 miles last week. Nothing fast, but glad to get
the time on my feet in.
Recently been using various foam rollers in an attempt to eliminate some tightness in my glutes.
Haven't determines a good way to increase flexibility in my tight hamstrings and would appreciate any success stories from any of the 50 plus crowd.
Hello, nice thread. Rather than bore myself with the usual intro, I thought I would revisit the theme of week 2.
The biggest (40+) master's mistake I made was that first race. Of course, I knew it was a mistake before I did it. Not a deep down, back of the mind sort of mistake, but an up front, verbalized mistake: "No, I don't race."
"It's only a half marathon. I've seen you running, you can do it easy," said the one-time friend who came up with this idea. I explained: "You don't understand. I know myself, I'm way too competitive, I'll get carried away." What do you get with a medium talented, above average compulsive, over the top competitive person who likes to run but already has another outlet for his neuroses? An 18-20 mpw fitness runner who times every mile, logs every run, and stretches religiously.
There was some more back and forth, with me holding my ground well, until Mr. Machiavelli found a good ploy: "I need you there to motivate me." I fell for that one. Yeah, I'm a sucker.
A half marathon calls for some training. Exactly how much training I wasn't quite sure, because when I learned my running the half marathon hadn't been invented yet. Still, I knew that the absolute minimum longest run for a marathon was 13 miles. So I figured 9 miles would be good for the half, but in the end I topped out at 11, and 29 total for that week. Meanwhile, my soon to be ex-friend was becoming scarcer and scarcer. I became worried that I wasn't motivating him, and he was going to suffer if he didn't get in the miles. I finally managed to flag him down on the street just two days before the race. "I can't go," he said. "I have exams next week at the police academy and need to study." That's the problem with kids these days -- they never learned to properly burn the candle at both ends.
You would think I had just been let off the hook! However, there's this "foolish consistency" thing that R. W. Emerson mentioned. I had already sent in the *money*, and more importantly I had been *training* for more than three months. This is as bad as it gets: knowing that I should *NOT* do something, and at the same time knowing that I inevitably *WILL* do that very thing.
It wasn't fun. In my inexperience, I seriously carbo-overloaded the night before: a giant 16-inch mushroom pizza PLUS a one-pound bag of oatmeal cookies. More inexperience... I was completely clueless that big races provide portapotties at the start. They must have been somewhere on a side street, because I never saw them. Due to these issues, I went out extra-conservatively, and only settled in after mile seven when I realized I was not going to explode on the course. So I was actually fine. But I wasn't FAST. And to have a good experience, I needed to be FAST.
It ain't over when it's over.
Hey, did you know that you can check your race results online? And did you know that they have these things called "age groups", so instead of feeling hopeless compared to the #1 finisher, you can feel competitive against some other slow guy? (Best for my ego not to compare myself to the gals.) And did you know that if you train even harder than before, you can actually improve and run faster and finish even higher in these slow guy age group standings? And did you know that training too hard can get you injured? And did you know that it can take years of frustration to go from being an overweight, crippled, zero mpw guy, back to being a happy, healthy 18-20 mpw guy?
Actually, that last part isn't true, because there is no going back. I'll never be that 18-20 mpw guy again. Right now I am at 70 mpw, and looking for an easily do-able 3:19 at the next Flying Pig, which will be a BQ by a lot. Assuming I don't get injured.
Cap City 2004 - my biggest mistake indeed.