apologies for a late midweek post--day job(s) is(are) keeping me busy, but right now my students are taking a district writing test and i already finished my grading, so now's a good time as any. it does, however, make me appreciate those who post and contribute so regularly--it can be time consuming!--and i hope it's ok that i probably benefit more from this thread than i contribute...
as a self-professed winner of the genetic lottery for runners, one thing i'm pretty sure i had yet to succumb to was canceling a race because of illness--until last week. yes, in 38 years of running, i've definitely run while sick, usually poorly, but a week ago last saturday i finally gave in and chose not to race. woke up early AM, feverishly sweating my @ss off, turned off my alarm, and went back to sleep. the sickness had actually started a week earlier with a pretty bad cough, but it'd clear up when i ran, so training went well that week until the night before. saturday ended up being the worst of it, though the week since was spotty training-wise as the sickness continued to cycle through. last night i had a decent workout, so i'm probably 80-90% through, meaning by tallahassee in 10 days i should be fine. can't really complain, especially if all i've missed is a local 5k in my leadup to nationals.
as for the "getting older" questions:
i have found, especially around the age of 46, that i more often than not needed two days between some of my harder workouts. my tue/thu/sun cycle sometimes became a tue/fri/sun followed by a tue/sun cycle. tuesday nights are the centerpiece, sunday long runs are the next priority, then i try to build around that by feel.
i'm a lazy cross trainer, because i simply like running. not too many viable alternatives for me at this point, but i suppose i may have to reevaluate that stance if i ever have a real long-term injury, because i definitely enjoy being fit as well.
i'm probably 9-10 years away from retiring from teaching; i'll likely continue coaching longer, though. neither impacts my training much--coaching generally helps it--but they do impact my ability to race whenever i want. but racing is actually low on the list of why i run, so it really hasn't been a sacrifice. some of the world championship meets in europe seem attractive, so someday i can hopefully make one of them...
carpe crepusculum,
cush