50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Good morning from a smoky Treasure Valley. We have been hit like many parts of the West with air quality into the hazardous zone. It looks like we may get a break in a week with lower temperatures, but for now very poor conditions.

Covid 19 cases have backed off, but not enough to move to the last stage of Idaho’s reopening plan. Hospitalizations, and healthcare worker infections are too high. I continue to work from at home, but I plan to go into the office two days next week to pack my belongings, and then move them home.

I don’t think I would have faired well in this era of online teaching. My current profession will face some type of transition once this period passes, though it it is hard to game theory what that looks like. So many functions have worked well electronically, or via teleconferencing, I can see workforce reductions. Perhaps not as much as banking, where online deposits, transfers, and bill pay makes tellers an endangered species. Investment firms and investors face similar with platforms like Robinhood. If you’re not familiar, it is an app more akin to sports gambling for the naive, uninformed, and manipulated. Not all things technological have a happy ending.

As for my week, still nursing a strained quad. Nothing serious, but feel tightness left thigh and lateral. As mentioned last week I had our 46th anniversary Monday, oncologist review Wednesday, and an emergency crown replacement with the dentist Thursday. So a good time to take inventory of where I am at. In between managed two sessions each of walking, swimming, and running.

Have a good week.

Igy

wow, eventful week all around. In the context of emergency dentistry, fire ants, and dubious air quality, I'll go easy on complaining about high humidity and noisy work on the pipes in our building.

In terms of running it was a good week here:

M 1:25 with drills and strides

Tu 1:05 with 10 X 1:30 hard (1:30 jog)

W 1:15

Th 1:50 double

F 1:35 with 4 X 2:00 uphill hard (3:00 jog) and 10 X 45 sec hard (45 sec jog)

Sa 1:20

Su 2:00 with 20:00 at half marathon pace (thru 3 miles on bike path at 19:32)

After 31 years of in-person teaching, my first online classes and clinical supervision sessions are tomorrow. I hope the young people are patient with me as I think aloud ["now I read that i'm supposed to unmute........"]

have a great week,

Dave

M61, 5'11", 181 lbs

AUG 16-22, 2020

Sun - Off

Mon- Off

Tues- 6.0 mi (9:26, 8:55, 8:36, 8:29, 8:13, 7:37)

Wed- Off

Thur- 5.0 mi (9:15, 8:52, 8:26, 8:18, 7:41)

Fri - Off

Sat - 2 mi warmup, 1 mi TT 6:48.6 (440y splits 1:40.5, 1:43.5, 1:43.8, 1:40.8), 2 mi cooldown

TOTAL: 16.0 MILES

Yesterday's 1-mile time trial was a nice improvement over my previous 7:30 on June 28. My goal was to break 7, so I was happy. I started a bit too fast, had to back off for two quarters, then rallied for the final.

I'll continue with the three runs per week as long as fitness continues to improve. Then re-evaluate.

The only glitch this week was a turned ankle. It happened at the start of Thursday's run, hurt for a half mile, then I didn't think about it until last night when I saw that my left foot and ankle were swollen. Hmmm ... I had been wondering why my left racing flat felt painfully tight for the time trial.

Nice progress Allen1959.

8/22/20 Saturday 715am

61.5 yo black male 6ft 150lb.

Saturday ran on the treadmill baby sitting the gkids.

Wu 30min then fartlek style ran @ 6min pace for how ever long I felt then R for however long I felt alternate with 640p with 5% incline by feel afterwards it added to 9x for both combined. + 3x 40s @ 515p, 515p, 500p with minute R + 1 mile @640p. Wd 10min. Total 7mi

8/23/20 Sunday @ 7am 10m or 16k whichever you prefer started very easy. Feeling yesterday wo reach 8k and pick up the pace to moderate. Reaching the last mile and a half pick up the pace to light tempo. There is some master track events in SC try the link if interested.

Cheers to yall.

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fraceroster.com%2Fevents%2F2020%2F33418%2Fsouth-carolina-trackfest%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3VcPZG9vGoHTinxCVs3rB69WUY4NCrzUF3sEhZn0YNIcFydKviLils4GM&h=AT2DDQ2EOXoFgHFsDUS-OPAnZ3nOKZzPyOUxkSI--dGVW6CjGG7jtC5sO8M1UbBxhsvzB1qjxj_3Vmgr4bWaIvdDswLEG0KuSTsBMlJ-Sha6wW3k8DeYHiKX_Sm4qFBMYnyVTWRUcoLpDpO1mdRGow

Somebody on this thread mentioned having a treadmill in their garage---but I can't remember who that is? Anyway, for that person and anyone else with experience, how is it to have a treadmill in an unheated garage?

At what low temp is damage caused to a treadmill? I figure I will have a space heater to keep the garage above 40 degrees when I'm running on it, but wondering if I will need to run the heater(s) more than that to avoid damage to the treadmill when it's not in use.

As I've gotten older(61), my sinuses and lungs have had increasing trouble dealing with cold weather exercise, so treadmill is the answer. Unfortunately, the garage is the only place in our house where the treadmill can go.

Any other thoughts/considerations/advice for this situation? Thanks in advance

Not specific to your treadmill damage question, but I had a 220 receptacle installed, and bought this garage heater. In winter just working in the garage I have to turn it off. More efficient, and works better than a space heater.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cadet-The-Hot-One-4000-Watt-240-Volt-Electric-Garage-Portable-Heater-RCP402S/100351722

Thanks Ghost. I could see having the heater you recommend and just leave it on all winter. I have no idea what that would do to the electric bill but it's good that the heat from it is so strong.

I have access to the garage attic, and insulated with Owens Corning Pink rolls. That Cadet heater has a sensitive thermostat, and strong blower motor. If you go this route, I would mount at corner top near garage doors with air flow directed at access point. Plenty warm for typical Idaho winter, even when sitting on hard concrete.

Ghost, what's the approx square footage of your garage? Your suggestions are most helpful.

667 square feet with 10 foot ceiling

I had a treadmill in a double bay unheated garage. I used it primarily during blizzards and extreme cold snaps. It did not suffer from the cold (the garage was insulated) and I was plenty warm after the first few minutes. Having no wind chill effect certainly helped.

Thanks Old Guy, what would you guess is the temp inside your garage at its coldest? If you're in blizzard territory and uninsulated, obviously pretty cold!

I just emailed the Precor company website to ask them at what low temp would cause damage to the treadmill. Who knows when I hear back from them. Very interested in your situation.

It was partially insulated, but unheated. I estimate temps got below freezing, but probably not below 20F. The cold never seemed to bother the ‘mill or me, but I was younger then. ?

Mon. 49 min. kayak. Still doing laps of Hedleys forestry dam. Cold, wet, windy.

Tue. 68 min. Steep technical trail hiking, rocky and muddy. I broke into a gentle jog for 3 less technical kms then hiked the last km. Testing the calf out and it felt ok.

84 min. of mountain biking, battling a bit in bitterly cold winds and a series of hailstorms.

Wed. Walked a km to warmup then a slow jog in the forest first 3 .5 kms gentle uphill then 2 kms downhill. 5.5 kms in35 mins. Walked 2.5 kms back to the start. Calf was ok but felt a bit tight so I called it a day a bit earlier than planned.

Thu. 49 min. kayak, laps again. Rain andwind again. Changed into running shoes and dry clothes and went for an easy trot up to a nearby lookout point and then xc through some soggy paddocks. 3.5 kms with 90 metres elevation gain. 26 min.

Fri. 84 min. of steep bush bash hiking inc one 40% gradient. Cold but sunny.

85 min. of mountain biking. Sunny turned to Antarctic squalls. 10th ride in a row I have been hailed on.

Sat. 10.4 moderately hilly kms in the forest, yep it hailed again. Sunny by the end though. Calf was pretty good but I kept the effort easy.

Some long cold walks with my wife inspecting various rural proprrties to potentially purchase.

Sun. 64 min. mountain bike, guess what happened, yep a bloody Antarctic squall full of hail lol. Anyway I hid the bike in the bush and changed shoes and jogged a gentle 3 kms in 18 min. then a quick 10min.dash home on the bike.

Hopefully back running at full strength this week. I have been conservative with the calf and won't push the pace for a week or two.

Volume is down both on the bike and the kayak. We have been copping some ordinary weather for the last few weeks so I decided to just ease back a bit until the weather picks up.

Igy Very happy for you getting the port removed 2 years living with a constant reminder must have been a real grind.

AMK Fire ants are nasty, similar experience when I was living in Austin.

OGII any chance that paddle board is causing the sciatica? I have a set of leg swings I do before every run to keep em happy. Not sure why they work but they do and have for decades. Leg swings that center around activating my glutes.

Mopac Smart moves on the calf issues next summer find some soft sand and shuffle awhile I swear this fixed my chronic calf issues.

DHaaga lots of hard short stuff;) enjoy following your training.

Allen1959 nice mile tt !

BM enjoy your enthusiasm but I agree with others

just relax take it easy ....

I was once like you are now, and I know that its not easy,

Slogged 50 minutes a day 4 days were super super slow felt good afterwards 20 minute miles or so.

One hard 5k effort for 5:17 real happy with this one. I like running hard on twisty rolling trails !

One 4x30 seconds full recovery all out sprints on a mild uphill dune lost a bit here but that is ok.

Also did a 4x30 on the bike which unlike the run I felt super strong this was right before doing the 5:17 run

Took 3 easy days after that 5:17 . Used to say 1 one per mile recovery for me it is one day per minute of hard stuff;)

Charlie wrote:

AMK Fire ants are nasty, similar experience when I was living in Austin.

Funny, when we first encountered fire ants here in the Central Valley of California, the only friends of ours who knew what to do about them were a couple who had come from Texas A&M.

BM enjoy your enthusiasm but I agree with others

just relax take it easy ....

I was once like you are now, and I know that its not easy,

Cat Stevens was a wise man.

63.75 y/o 5' 8.5" Weight 132-129 range.

Weekly workout summary:

59 miles and change total:

M 7 miles wit 4x400 200 active jog recovery plus 2x200 at :45 at the better HS track

T 7 miles super easy recovery day - air temp wonderful at 70

W 8 miles Up 1.5 .5 at 3:11 then at the 400 yard track 3 sets of 2x200 +1x400 w/ 200 recovery

T 5 miles recovery day 82 degrees at 7 p.m.

F 12 in 2 runs a.m. 6.5 easy - p.m. 8x110 in and outs on the dirt track then 4x200 hills 6% grade

S 10 in 2 runs a.m easy 4 - p.m. easy 82+ degrees again 6 with 8x150 strides

S 10.5 in2 runs a.m 80+ degrees 4x .75 miles at 5k race pace 1/2 distance recovery easy 8pm 5 nice and easy.

I calculated wrong so no 60 miles this week. 13.3% harder miles. Good week overall.

The BEST news is the mile road race is still on for me on the evening of September 18th Yay! Plus as an added bonus the is s chip timed timed mile road time trial nearby. on the evening of the Friday September 4th. This is nearly perfect, as I haven't been able to race since late February and then only has two mile race in. So have have no idea where I am at. The time trial will help me dial in. The 38 year youngest I run with about once a week is in the same 'wave' as I am, and we are fairly evenly matched right now (until he gets back into shape!)

How others have had a good week - keep your head's up even if not, better days are coming....

Ha! - I just reread my post - That last paragraph reads like I was drunk typing.

Nope. Just a long long day.

What I meant to say was I have only had two one mile races in early in the year . One indoors and one in South Carolina the night before a half marathon race. So it has been hard for me to gauge where I am race condition wise.