Good result, especially considering the challenges.
Good result, especially considering the challenges.
Greetings, fellow 50+ers! Happy September and happy Labor Day weekend! What happened to the summer? At least we are now entering what I consider the best time of year for running. Here’s hoping I can take full advantage of it.
Well it’s the peak of hurricane season and so far it has been a busy one. Though we haven’t had it as bad as some, we still got over 6” of rain in one day and a tornado touched down a couple of towns away. Fortunately all the loved ones survived essentially unscathed other than a couple of inches of water in my son’s basement.
So the weather and another planned trip kept the mileage down for the week. Switching back to an old pair of shoes seemed to help with the leg weariness and soreness. I’m still in the market for a new pair of running shoes, but I need to do some more research this time so that I don’t make another mistake.
Anyway, you can put me down for 15 miles of actual running this week. August totaled 58 miles over 12 runs. Life is good!
Sun: 52’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine
Mon-Wed: off (traveling)
Thu: 47’ running (3); 16 oz. curls
Fri: off
Sat: 53’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine
Best to most!
great job of recovering and then racing!
good high-volume week for me as hurricane mostly skipped us. 3 weeks to goal half-marathon, with cherry blossom 10-mile next sunday en route.
M 1:20
Tu 1:40
W 1:00 with 5 X 3:00 hill repeats
Th 2:10 double with drills and strides
F 2:40 progressing down to just a little over marathon pace
Sa 1:10
Su 1: 50
Hope everyone's holiday weekend (in US anyway) is going well,
Dave
Article about another high energy runner with PMR - don’t know if that is still your diagnosis, but the medical history is similar.
Annie
I had an excellent 4mi XC race yesterday. I averaged 7:24/mi pace for a very tough hilly course. This was my best time on that course since 2015. I have been running that race on that course for 28 years now. Looking at my results from age 43 to age 71, I have been slowing by a fairly linear 0.56%/yr over that stretch of time. My good result yesterday reflects my current fitness from running the last 4+ months of the highest and most consistent mileage I have done in more than ten years. I am pretty convinced at this point that total running volume at my age is vastly more important than pace or workout structure. I feel like I now have gotten back to that level of fitness where it's going to take hard work to eke out small additional gains. No more taking big chunks of time off with small improvements in training. Two weeks until my next 5k XC race. 46 mile for this week -
M- 9mi of 400m walk/400m easy run
T- 9mi hills very easy 11:03/mi
W- 7mi of 400m walk/400m easy run
Th- rest
F- 2mi walk with strides
S- 8mi of 2mi w.u.; 4mi XC race 29:36; 2mi w.d.
Su- 11mi trails easy 9:32/mi
Good and healthy running to all!
Good morning from smoky Eagle, Idaho. Unlike the “Best to Most” guy our conditions remain dry. We had several days of cool and crisp weather, but the hot and poor air quality has unfortunately returned. That trend will likely continue thru most of next week.
As far as training goes, I am working a plan that will emphasize total volume and increasing distance running in a Gallow-walking (Jeff Galloway run/walk) routine. I believe this is a valid way to train as one ages, and I am trying to commit to it for the fall. I would estimate at the moment I am doing about 2/3rds of the distance running. I covered a total of 33 miles last week and will endeavor to target a 10% weekly volume increase.
Sunday: Off
Monday: AM- 8 miles run/walk @ 13:35/mi; PM- 2 mile W
Tuesday: 5 miles run/walk @ 13:06/mi
Wednesday: 8 miles run/walk @ 13:37/mi
Thursday: 5 miles run/walk @ 12:27/mi
Friday: 5 miles run/walk @ 13:03/mi
Saturday: Off
Have a good week.
Igy
No progress to report on getting my normal walking gait back, but I did make a bit of progress on “running”, increasing my jogging distance to 1.5 miles. It still feels very hard, but mechanically OK. The cycling mileage is dropping as daylight gets later and the available cycling time collides with the start of the work day. I guess I’ll have to retreat to the trainer as soon as it gets cool enough in the garage to tolerate that. Not yet—triple digits are forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
Mon: 1.1 mile jog, 23 mile bike, gym
Tues: 1.1 mile jog, 23 mile bike, gym
Weds: 1.1 mile jog, 21 mile bike
Thurs: 1.5 mile jog, 22 mile bike, gym
Fri: 1.5 mile jog, 21 mile bike, gym
Sat: 1.5 mile jog, 31 mile bike, gym
Sun: 1.5 mile jog, 31 mile bike, will go to gym later.
9 miles of jogging for the week. A year ago I was running more than that amost every day. Sigh.
Orient, that’s an excellent result. Sometimes you just have to trust Allen1959’s “race day magic”.
dhaaga, wishing you an excellent race at Cherry Blossom next week.
Annie M, thanks for the link. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in January following previous diagnoses of PMR and ankylosing spondylitis. I have a lot more confidence in the rheumatologist who diagnosed RA, the only one who had the sense to order the serological test that is most clearly diagnostic for RA if positive. Mine was positive so I have to believe that RA is the right diagnosis, even if the symptoms are atypical. We’re each an experiment of one…
Happy Labor Day to all.
old guy II,
Good to see all your hard work rewarded.
Igy
Dhaaga: Good luck with Cherry Blossom next week!
OGII: Congrats on the race! I think you’ve proven the case beyond a shadow of a doubt that incorporating walking is damn good training! It’s interesting as I do remember you working more sprints into your walks a few years ago. But, I presume, that was at a cost of some volume? Valuable info for all.
GOI: Agreed, on the focus on volume as we age. I find it frustrating to know how to work out on the track but to have to shelve it more and more. “Dat shoe don’t fit no mo”
My week:
7 runs, 18 miles, 85 streak days. Thursday’s run was a hard 2 miler, 8:00 and 7:40. I did not want to push too hard before tomorrow’s race. The goal for the race is to crack 8 min pace which was my personal worst in 2018. Knock on wood, my calves are doing well. That has been my “Achilles’ heel” so to speak in the last 3 years.
Bit of a somber note, and a pointed reminder that nothing is given. A 51 yo local running acquaintance passed away of a heart attack immediately after finishing a 10K race on Sat. Don’t know any other details. He finished a double marathon earlier this year, so, def in shape.
Have a good ‘ern!
Hey there,
Nice to drop in and see posts from you regulars. I've been gone in the mists of my Achilles injury for 15 months now. I haven't been posting as my jeans get too tight, ha ha.
PT has helped a bit, as have acupuncture and laser treatment for inflammation. I'm considering surgery.
I tried to resume training in April/May and signed up for Boston off the strength of my March 2020 qualifier.
Sad to say the injury wouldn't allow more than 10 miles slow per week so I used the race insurance to get my Boston fee returned.
I've turned to biking (I see you there too AMK!) - at least I can get in long rides a few times a week. Jogged 6 miles slow this week.
Best wishes to all for happy running & workouts, great racing and overall good health.
The truth, don’t ban me, I’m 49.
After several years of injuries, I’m looking at how to keep running and not get spannered.
One plan is off, recovery, easy, workout. Repeat. The workout will depend on the block and will include the long run. Anyone else do a similar 4 day cycle? If so, how do you find it?
The other plan is 6 days activity a week, one day off, like this: off, easy, workout, cycle, easy, easy, workout. If niggles appear, I can switch out any of the 3 easy for the elliptical.
How do you keep running past 50 and stay bullet proof?
I don't know anybody who stays bullet proof past 50. Despite the best of plans, injuries do happen. Sometimes randomly, and sometimes from doing stupid stuff (I am an expert on that). Mainly, you have to be patient, persistent, and know that you will have ups and downs, no matter how well you believe that you have thought out your training.
old guy II wrote:
I don't know anybody who stays bullet proof past 50. Despite the best of plans, injuries do happen. Sometimes randomly, and sometimes from doing stupid stuff (I am an expert on that). Mainly, you have to be patient, persistent, and know that you will have ups and downs, no matter how well you believe that you have thought out your training.
I agree. I took my first bullet at age 33 and was mostly out of running until about age 41. From 41 to 61 I dealt with many different injuries from which I could always come back, but I probably never had more than 6 months at a time of really steady training. At age 61 the wheels came off completely with rheumatoid arthritis.
Be careful and patient, and listen to your body.
My take on running post 50, frustration tolerance. And the older you get, the more will power to overcome frustration is required. 😹
Two years ago with my switch from the half marathon to the marathon, I felt mildly bulletproof. I made all the classic mistakes--overtraining, too fast a buildup, not enough rest between cycles.
I was a complete Macbeth, ignoring obvious warning signs. I'd had a 7 year period of half marathon improvement, leading to hubris.
I am patient, I know I'll be able to run again at some point. Believe me, I've already mapped out training that incorporates solutions to each dumb mistake.
But I'll still be patient and ready to roll with the punches.
And of course, I still want to run plenty of races.
Big Red wrote:
I was a complete Macbeth, ignoring obvious warning signs.
Very well said.
I really hope to see you back in action at some time in the future.
We are still hot, but not beastly hot. Just regular hot, which meant about 85 degrees this morning. But of course ours is a dry heat and it actually was quite pleasant. I kicked my old body into gear and had 4 miles of powerwalking the straights at race pace and recovery walking the curves. My flexors are going to feel it later today.
Our state senior games sponsors a track and field meet, and it's USATF sanctioned which means either COVID vaccination cards or a recent negative test result must be presented at the entry to the venue, and we have publicized this ad nauseum in order to eliminate any "surprises." I'm still antsy about it. I've already received several cancellation requests which is actually great - if it's an issue (even though it was clearly stated when you registered), I want to know now. You'll get your fees refunded and any unpleasantness at the venue will be avoided. I will be very very happy when the meet is done!
Other than that, still working up to hopefully a meet age-group record in my powerwalk event at the meet in October. Best wishes to all.
Soft Sand has worked for me.
Finally feeling pretty good 2 weeks after finishing the efudex calcipotriene topical treatment.
Cut back on training volume and intensity to let my body recover.
Looking back over this buildup I see my peak was 2 weeks before turning 65 . So in a way having cut back on the hard stuff to treat my skin works out. I still have a very good base. Workouts have been slow but I been doing them by feel.
Maybe a mile TT in a few weeks. Signed up for a mile race in Portland in a month.
Anyhow I am really enjoying my runs and feel good so anything else is gravy but I do like gravy
8-31 Track Old Wavy
4x400 flats progression 91,88,86,81
9-3 Track Old Wavy
200/43 , 300/61 , 400/81 flats complete rest
400s(81,79) , 800/2:49 (85,84) DFs R60
Mon. 33 min kayak and 5 km run on steep technical trails 155 m. elevation gain 35 mins.
Tue. 4.5 km steep trail run with 200+m. elev. 38 min. 20 km mtn bike in the forest 56 min.
Wed. 35 min kayak and 8 km steep trail run 320 m elevation gain 60 mins.
Thu. 20 km mtn bike 51 mins then 7 km steep trail run 260 m elev. 47 min. punching out the 4th km in 4.28.
Fri. 33 min kayak. Walk jog a km to warmup then a 6 km steep trail run 180 m elevation in 37 mins. Out and back up and down run. Up in 22 and back in 15. The last d/h km in 4.15
Sat. 23 km mtn bike inc solid 5 km climb. 72 min.
6.6 km smoother flatter forest run. 37 mins last couple of kms picking it up to tempoish pace (4.45 per km)
Sun. Hilly forest riding on mtn bike 21+km in 73 min.
Same 6.6 km run in 37 mins but ran 6th km in 4.30 (current 5 km pace) and finished off with a few 50 to 60 m bursts.
For both of these runs I walked 100 metres at the end of each of the first 4 kms. I then try to gradually increase effort through the remaining 900. I have been doing this sort of thing quite a bit on my flatter runs lately. Trying to avoid a grinding plod.
The plan was to cut back duration of my various sessions and increase the frequency.
Orient - Good for you! My vanity always stops me from racing after an injury layoff. I did race pre Covid while experimenting with a 6 months block of MAF training. Worse than being injured IMO.