50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Oops, my "skinny" BMI was about 17.5, not 18.5.

63 wrote:

... Is there anyone here that have been told that they are too skinny? Do you have a comeback? ...

My wife tells me this every day. And she is a former competitive runner (and at 5'8" was only 114 lbs when she was racing in her 30s ... I didn't know her then, but in photos she really looks unhealthy). Anyway, my comeback is, "just gotta lose 10 more pounds, honey, just 10 more."

She is correct, though, that I am losing muscle mass, and need to be much more proactive about fighting that. I injured my shoulder over the winter, so stopped lifting. Still have severely limited range of motion, but am lifting again in the range I have.

By runner standards, my height/weight ratio is actually on the heavier side: 5'11", 160 lbs or so.

63,

Response, “yep, I’ll put on some meat once you get rid of that flap gut.”

Or, “have you seen any fat 90 year olds lately?”

If you are really angry you can say “oh go grab another ham sandwich like Mama Cass.”

Igy

In 2012 a co-worker started a rumor I was an anorexic. This was an obese, cigarette-smoking, diabetic hag. I was infuriated when I found out as it was in a professional setting. I filed a grievance and she came within a hairs breath of being terminated. I've gained weight since then and perhaps a little bit of it was fear of getting that label again. Not just weight, but being healthy is abnormal in the US, the fattest nation in the entire world. I don't know a comeback other than to try to understand that anyone that is set apart, for good or bad, runs the risk of intemperate comments. I don't know about you but I've been the healthy alien in the last 7 or so jobs I've had. Most of the time, however, people have seen it as a positive and I've gotten great support for running. But occasionally....yep...the idiots can't keep their mouths shut.

Any non-weight bearing excercise of just cold turkey from any activity?

Does fishing count?

The peroneal tendon brevis pain scared me so just no bare foot sand dunes but still walking and easy bike rides.

Also I have been doing the jetty rocks at least once a day which involves lots of jumping from rock to rock. I swear these have made my legs stronger.

Reposting the jetty rocks which rock:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ceaEn5JwqlTFaxlWLzA8Qp7jYPfP-JUe

Man I was amazed at how healthy fit you looked truly inspired me get serious about my own lardness.

Grabbing life by the handle. Spoke with a 60 something guy wearing wet suit with fins , snorkel and spear pole . I asked if he was going out on the jetty? He said yep he was going to the jaws then letting the current float him back in while he spear fished for ling cod. He had this twinkle in his eye. I said yeah I used to spear fish for sheeps head Newport Beach Ca. back in my twenties he said why did you quit? I laughed but the truth is I would like to do stuff like that but I am chicken. One big wave could throw you up on the rocks. What does this have go do with running well for me it has to do with all out efforts. My central gov or what ever you want to call it keeps me from going all out like I used to do. The irony is the older I am the less I have to lose but the more chicken I become.

Charlie wrote:

What does this have go do with running well for me it has to do with all out efforts. My central gov or what ever you want to call it keeps me from going all out like I used to do. The irony is the older I am the less I have to lose but the more chicken I become.

I think my central governor always kept me from going all out even when I was young. I suspect that's part of the reason why I wasn't very good at anything shorter than the marathon. I could go quite hard for a very long time but could never really go all out. I always lost close races, too.

I'm pretty sure I could have been a better runner had I been more reckless. However, that built-in sense of self-preservation also prevented me from continuing to run when really injured, or from getting heat stroke when racing in hot weather.

You dudes have been scrawny your whole lives and you just now are getting all sensitive about it? WTF? You guys may still be pretty quick over 5K, but seem a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to athleticism and aesthetics.

63, aren't you one of the fast ones on this board? "I won't win as many races if I fatten up" is a reply I'd love to use! Instead, I tell people this is just what happens when you run every day. It's an oversimplified answer, but they don't know that.

No, he's right about the cultural shift, which if you'd read the post more carefully was the lead-in to the question.

Flex Luthor wrote:

You dudes have been scrawny your whole lives and you just now are getting all sensitive about it? WTF? You guys may still be pretty quick over 5K, but seem a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to athleticism and aesthetics.

63 wrote: Is there anyone here that have been told that they are too skinny? Do you have a comeback? By the way I am lean but far from anorexic.

yes, i've heard this criticism, but i usually grin and bear it. responses depend on how direct you want to be.

to a half-joking remark: "i know you're half-joking, so your remark is half as funny as you are fat."

to a clearly rude remark: "i've worked my whole life to be a fat a-hole, inspired by role models like you. i've still got time..."

or the classically concise and alliterative: "f-off fatso."

i actually have never used any of these responses because the fat a$$es making these remarks can usually kick my skinny ass--if you do, let me know how they work ;)

cush

KCgeezer wrote:

No, he's right about the cultural shift, which if you'd read the post more carefully was the lead-in to the question.

Flex Luthor wrote:

You dudes have been scrawny your whole lives and you just now are getting all sensitive about it? WTF? You guys may still be pretty quick over 5K, but seem a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to athleticism and aesthetics.

Independent of any supposed "cultural shift", the top masters distance runners typically are sad specimens of physique in any culture at any time throughout history. They literally look like cancer ward patients.

Masters sprinters are better, thought there are some fatasses in those events.

Hey Flex have do a google search for London 50-59 winner Graham Green.

mo'pak wrote:

Hey Flex have do a google search for London 50-59 winner Graham Green.

Is he a regular poster with body image insecurities? If so he should chime in here, where he has plenty of company.

Flex Luthor wrote:

Independent of any supposed "cultural shift",

hey good comeback

Go in peace, John McCain, not only a hero, but also honorable (this from a very different political persuasion).

I don't recall ever being criticized for being too lean, so maybe I still carry a bit of Iowa-fed baby fat? :) I do see many overweight people that come into our running store, and they tend to appear to be rather insecure about their fitness vs. our staff, so we get no negative feedback. We try hard to make them feel welcome for coming into a healthier lifestyle, which is what we all want, right?

Wife and I went to our crushed gravel trails nearby, yesterday. I ran 7 x 1/6th of a mile, 8:21 pace, in 90 degree weather. Was fun to put in some effort!

We are far too old to care about what people think or say about us...ha ha...

Mike Lundgren wrote:

I do see many overweight people that come into our running store, and they tend to appear to be rather insecure about their fitness vs. our staff, so we get no negative feedback.

People who come to a running store is not representative of general population. I get a lot of negative comments about my weight (I am 5-7, about 130 now). But no one told me I needed to gain more weight. They are mostly comments of resentment or jealousy. Some (not all) fat people have victim mentality and they want to blame skinny people. And I am way too old to worry about what other people say.

Regarding injuries, I didn't have much of problems until I was in my mid-40s. This might be due to my age, or the fact I was a very low mileage (under 30mpw) runner. Injuries started to pile up once I started increasing my mileage and training for marathons. One thing I would change if I could is to see a qualified medical professional early on. If I had known what imbalance was causing my injuries, I could have avoided a lot of troubles.

Anyway, here is my week.

M: off.

T: 4 miles / 7 miles.

W: 2km warm up. 1000mx6, 1km cool down.

R: 4 miles / 7 miles.

F: 7 miles.

SA: 7 miles.

SU: 12.2 miles.

Wednesday's track workout went 4:41-4:35-4:33-4:30-4:27-4:19. Each rep got faster without exerting more effort, so I decided to push the pace for the last rep. 4:19 is still a long way from what I used to run several years ago, but it felt "fast" compared to what I have been running recently. Hopefully, there is still much room left for improvement.