Last week only included two days of running. But I rode an indoor bike two days and skied and snowshoed three days, so at least I was active every day. While we don't often deal with snow and ice in the Seattle suburbs, we do have winter challenges with rain, wind and short daylight. Add in the holidays and there are some weeks that are more relaxed from a training perspective.
I did get to run in my new Nike Air Zoom Tempo Next% yesterday. very nice shoes.
Just 2 years ago, could run 3 HM's in a month and my last would was the fastest for 2 consecutive years. I wonder now how this was possible. My legs are a wreck after the half last Sunday. Not racing for a year and the crazy fast first 3 miles might have something to do with it but simply feels old.
Monday - 1 hr walk - painful!
Tuesday - 90 min. 20% incline walk - painful
Wednesday - 90 min. Two runs 9:30 pace - stiff all over
Thursday -80 min. 20% incline walk - feeling human
Friday - 100 min. 20% incline. Workout 25x30 seconds at 6 mph with 1 min rests. My partner beside me doing her yoga and my workout were quite the contrast. Resort owners were laughing. Followed workout with long incline walk.
Saturday - 100 min jungle trail run. Average pace around 10:00.
Sunday - 70 min dirt roads run at 8:00.
Best of luck in 2021 to all!
Mon 48 min kayak. 58 min mtn bike ride.
Tue. 103 min mtn bike ride.
Wed. 25 km "tourist" run with a couple of buddies. Climbed the Rubicon Pipeline 1.3 kms 440 metres elevation gain. Then following the 100 year old tramways and hydro works in the beautiful forests. About 3 hours but some of the running was at 5.00 kms but lots of photo stops etc. A fun day out.
Thu. 106 min mtn bike ride.
Fri. 55 min mtn bike ride. 49 min kayak.
Sat. 15 km forest run 86 min. Easy run, walking 50 metres after every km. Managed a 4.40 and a 4.36 toward the end even with the 50 metre walk included.
Sun. 70 mins kayak with a buddy at a cruisy effort. A slow 5 km trot in the forest in 32 min on soft trails, arthritic toe wasn't very happy so took it very quiet.
Seem to be getting into fairly good nick at the moment. The guys were telling me to slow down the last 5 km on wednesday. Accidently ran a couple of fastish kms on saturday on what was just a quiet forest trot, hitting about 4.10/15 pace without trying.
Not one for NY resos but I will make a concerted effort to drop a few kgs through January. Running and riding pretty well despite a bit of extra body fat so I might go pretty well if I get rid of it.
*Week 501*
Happy New Year, 50+ers! Good Riddance, 2020! May it be a one-of-a-kind. Here's to a brighter 2021.
It'll be quick, as I've got a lot to do today. Happy to report that I did get out every this week; none of it was running, but at least 3 miles each day totaling 23.5 miles of walking at a moderately brisk pace.
Hope you've had a good Holiday. I'll be back to the grindstone starting tomorrow, as we start preparing for Spring semester that starts in a week. We're down to one car after the old beater finally bit the dust. I told my wife that I think I can get by without one for a while. I'll take the bus in to work, and walk/jog home afterwards; that'll insure that I get 4 miles in each week day. We'll see how long that lasts...fingers crossed.
Anybody do any New Year's running challenges? Have a great week, and look forward to reading your stories.
All the Best!
2020: 2000 miles on the nose. 13 weeks over 50 miles a week. 20 runs over 10 miles.
Nothing much else. Could not get myself to race. Sheer arrogance I guess. 40 years ago I could not have imagined an 8 minute race pace. That’s not worth driving to a race, figuring out where to hide your car keys.. finding a bathroom...you know.
No 2021 resolutions.
If I can come close to this year I’d be overjoyed. Maybe a week more or two over 50.
And get myself to go to a race. They were a blast for over 4 decades.
65 years old. Prostate cancer survivor, colectomy... joints semi destroyed ha
BigMango and mopac, I love reading about your variable and adventuresome training. Mine feels so boring.
lucKY2b, walking or running home is a great way to get in some exercise when strapped for time. I do all my running first thing in the morning and can’t stomach the thought of running at 5 or 6 pm. However, in the spring when trying to get into walking shape for hiking season I sometimes put on my hiking boots and walk home from work. (My husband and I work in the same building so a one-way trip is logistically easy.) I have a nice route home that goes partly through a local park on a dirt trail around a lake and avoids all major streets, about 3.6 miles. It’s a good distance to walk, long enough to do some good but short enough that it doesn’t take too long.
Robert E. Lee, I hope you can wrap your head around the inevitable slowing with age, illness and injury, get out to some races and enjoy competing against others in your age group.
I had a rather frustrating week as my Achilles tendinosis blew up again after a promising start to the week. I had progressively better “runs” on Monday through Wednesday, but then had to take Thursday on the bike trainer to rest the heel. Another decent run on Friday, and then the heel really blew up. Saturday’s outdoor bike ride was truncated by rain. I’m still hoping to get out on the bike later today if the weather holds; if not, perhaps drag the trainer from the garage into the kitchen to watch the Bills take on the Dolphins. I ended up with 41 miles of running, 95 minutes on the bike trainer, and a 21-mile bike ride plus whatever I do later today.
I have my follow-up appointment with the UCSF rheumatologist on Thursday and I’ll see what she things. Polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatoid arthritis, or ??? After six weeks I still have not received approval from my insurance company for the MRIs she ordered, so apparently we’ll have only blood work and x-rays to go by.
Stay safe, and let’s hope for an improving 2021!
Spring like weather moved in last couple of days. Saturday’s foothill run was slushy, hilly, and muddy in spots. I have a few simple goals for 2021, race three half marathons, which would then require more running. Why three? Statically the third race is the fastest, besides I think it will take more than one half marathon for me to be sufficiently motivated to train adequately. Good start though this week, completed 30+ miles running, and another 30 of my equivalent miles.
Sunday: 60:00 spin bike
Monday: AM- 2 miles easy; 6 x 200m good speed / 100m easy; 400m easy; 6 x 450m good swing / 200m easy; 400m easy; 6 x 200m good speed / 100m easy; mile easy; 2 sets weights; core exercises; PM- 42:00 easy on trail + 10:00 walk
Tuesday: 2,000 yard swim
Wednesday: AM- 2 miles easy; 6 x 1,000m tempo @ 5:42 average / 2:00 rest; mile easy; 2 sets of weights; core exercises; PM- 48:00 easy on trail + 20:00 walk
Thursday: 15:00 easy/walk + 60:00 spin bike + 15:00 easy/walk
Friday: 15:00 easy/walk + 2,000 yard swim
Saturday: 8.5 miles easy in foothills @ 14:01/mile + .25 walk
Have a good week.
Igy
lucKY: Maybe that broken down car is good luck after all!
Robert E. Lee: Great year! Yeah, 8 min pace used to be like walking. Not any more! HA!
amkelley: Hoping you'll get some answers and put all that stuff behind you!
Tue = 4 miles civic center parking lot
Thr = 4 miles industrial park (64 and shorts!)
Sat = 4 miles industrial park
Sun = 4 miles K-Mart parking lot
A good week where I felt really solid. An unremarkable cruise into the new year. Unremarkable is good.
Have a good one.
happy new year everyone. fun week off work for me (ends with a thud, as tomorrow and Tuesday will be wall to wall zoom interviews with candidates for Dean of our college)
M 1:20
Tu 2:30 w/30:00 at marathon pace (thru 4 miles in 27:33)
W 2:00 double
Th 1:35
F 1:30 with 4 X 4 X 1:30 at 5k pace (1:00 jog between reps/3:00 jog between sets) - most 1:29 or 1:30 at 400m
Sa 1:05
Su 1:15 with 3 X 10:00 (2:00) at half-marathon (intended) or really closer to marathon pace (still flat from Friday -- needed another recovery day but too busy tomorrow)
Now to load up on coffee in prep for staying up late to see WFT beat Eagles and make the playoffs. Have a great week,
Dave
Next week base building:
Mo. 2x 2km in 6:30 pace with 400 m walking, total 7 miles
Tu. 1 h drills and jumps uphill
We. 45 min recovery, hilly
Th. 60 min progressed from medium to sub threshold, hilly
Fr. 7 miles easy, 6x100m buildups with slow jog back
Sa. 10x200m on dirt with slow jog back, total 7 miles
Su. 1:25 h recovery/easy in the hills
Enjoy health, nature, and the process
BR
hei, amd happy New Year !!!
Shall be your wishes fulfilled.
'mopac, I see you are feeling pretty fit right now. When I get the feeling that my fitness is really coming along I always try to think about what I have been doing the last couple of months that seems to be working well. Sometimes it's pretty obvious what has worked and sometimes it's a bit of a mystery why things are going better than usual.
I finished 2020 just over 1850 miles, which was about 10% less than 2019. On 1/1 I was 128lbs, which was the same as my weight coming into the holiday season, so I counted that as a total victory for self discipline over my sweet tooth. My only racing goal at present for 2021 is Club XC in Tallahassee in Dec. I hope our local Fall XC series will be back, but there still is no telling when racing will be permitted to start again here in SoCal.
I got off to an ambitious training start this week with 41 miles running and a 24mi bike ride this morning -
M- 7mi with 1mi w.u. 6x1000 at MP, with 600 walk recovery
T- 7mi with 1mi w.u. 6x1000 at MP, with 600 walk recovery
W- 6mi with 1mi w.u. 16x200 at mile pace with 200 walk recovery
Th- 7mi with 1mi w.u. 6x1000 at MP, with 600 walk recovery
F- 7mi with 1mi w.u. 6x1000 at MP, with 600 walk recovery
S- 7mi trails with my son 8:11/mi
Su- 24mi bike 2:12
Happy New Year!
OGII, your week looks interesting. Quite curious how you will proceed.
Take care & good success, BR
Need to put a shout out to KP, who noted on Facebook that he luckily survived hitting black ice while driving and flipping his car upside down! So glad you came out well, your life motivations are so inspiring to us all!
I'll report later on my year, but nothing major other than my age 69 time trial mile of 7:59.6 last May 6 (day after my birthday but the anniversary of Bannister's sub-4 mile).
Newbi, I am experimenting with a program called "easy interval method" training developed by a Dutch coach, Klaas Lok. I read about it in an interview of Dan King, who recently set the M60-64 mile and 5k records. I have been struggling lately with fatigue levels trying to do a more typical hard day/easy day training program so I decided to try something very different for a while. There's not a lot of guidance out there on how to train at 70+. I'm two weeks into and like the overall feel of it so far.
OGII,
Cool. Actually, I like this kind of approach. For me the idea seems to be: build up the strength and neural rhythm/efficiency for all paces before doing the next step.
The risk may be that you need good tendons etc. to cope with 16x200m at mile pace followed by another good bunch of meters at higher velocity during the next day. I am trying to solve the issue of injury prone tendons (aka wrecked by too much too fast) with buildup of strenght with 10x100m (not so many meters; done weekly for about 1 year) and drills&jumps uphill (to get the rubber legs; still doing them). The "drill day" is important for me for recovering my tendons because (a) I am avoiding the thousands of steps running another 7 or more miles, and (b) put some physical stress on the tendons (without hurting by monotony and with a large motion range) to make them stronger.
I am wishing you a successful buildup with this method. Please, keep up posting. I am most curious what you will do after the current buildup as next step towards more specific work, e.g. if you want to run a fast 800m. However, it is phantastic what you are doing a >70 years. Will be happy to reach this in a bit more than 2 decades.
Respectfully
Happy new years to yall.
62 yo black male 6ft 145lbs.
After resting the left toe which still has small stinging & tenderness I ran a couple times this new year Sat 6mi in 52 minutes and this am 53 minutes on the treadmill about 5.5 miles. Will probably stay away from long runs this year which means doing only 10 miles or less. And focus more on fast twitch type workouts. While not running close zero in December didn't feel to bad. And work kept me busy bc fellow workers took time off so that meant short staff and covering. Schedule to get vaccination on Tuesday for first part. Will let you know how that goes.
Cheers to yall.
2020 summary, 2408 miles plus another 250 km of Nordic skiing. Had a slow start from the injury but had a decent roll for the last 9 months of the year.
Last week -
M - 6.1
T - 7.9
W - 8.8 with some pick ups - felt off
Th - xc ski 19.5 km - felt off
F - 7 easy
S - 10.1 with workout, alternating some race pace work with 1 mile tempo repeats. Avg. 6:15 on the faster stuff (2400 m total) and 6:34 on the tempo work. First hard workout since Oct/Nov, felt okay and haven't lost any fitness.
S - xc ski 26.2 km, with about 600 m of vertical, nice day for ski
Run 40 miles, training time 9:08
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, 50+ers! My Garmin tells me I did 826 running miles in 2020. I remember one or two runs without the Garmin, so it’s actually a smidge higher, but not much. Not a bad total for an olde farte.
Last week I was happy to get in 22.5 actual running miles. That’s about 12.5% more than a typical week has been. The last time I tried to increase my weekly volume, I ended up being sidelined with an injury. So I will try to proceed with caution this time. But the legs have been pretty good after a brief period of tired legs. Life is good!
Sun: off
Mon: 62’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (6 x 2 on/off); body wt ex + med ball routine
Tues: off
Wed: 61’ CR w/ fartlek (5 x 30” on / op” off); body wt ex + med ball routine
Thu: 3 runs totaling 50’ ; 16 oz curls
Fri: off
Sat: 55’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine
Best to most!
M: off.
T-W: 10.7km.
R: 12.5km (10:01-9:46-9:36-9:26-9:15-9:04-8:39)
F-SA: 10.7km.
SU: 19.6km. (10:37-10:23-10:11-10:03-10:02-9:55-9:46-9:37-9:28-9:24-8:57)
I could not close my "long run" as fast as I had planned. But that was the longest distance I ran since March. So I hope to run better once I get used to the distance.
I suffered a knee injury in April, and got back into running very slowly. Here is how it went month by month.
April 42.6km.
May 82.3km.
June 110km.
July 144.9km.
Aug. 178km.
Sept. 213.4km.
Oct. 256.6km.
Nov. 272.8km.
Dec. 315.6km.