Catching up with the thread this morning, and offering a little feedback and thanks for the continued inspiration:
lucKY2b - Good news on the knee. Looking forward to following your "comeback."
Rtype - I share your sentiment about injuries. But it's so darn hard to walk away from this crazy obsession, even long enough to heal.
Charlie - Thanks for the encouragement. I didn't get the miracle I'd hoped for, but after nine months of no racing, was good to be back out there. And new age group as of today. Wish I had your natural speed!
Dardee - Nice-looking 6 x 800. That's always my "go to" for an intro workout. Although I'm usually more generous with recoveries, as much as 3 minutes.
Igy - Sounds like we had similar racing experiences this week. Not bad, but not what we'd hoped. And both at the upper end of our age groups. Hey, at least you placed top three! You're comeback is coming along. Good luck this weekend.
Old Farte - Best wishes for the calf/achilles issues. Wish I had some constructive tips. It's unfortunate that the bike aggravated the achilles -- does that remove cycling as an option for now?
dhaaga - Maybe slower than 5K pace, but the conditions and that high-volume week make the 12:08 darn impressive. Although never at your level, age 58 saw the most successful running of my life. Enjoy!
KP - Good luck with the recovery. Fortunately, I've never had calf issues, so no tips to offer. But I will suggest trying to minimize the weight gain. I put on 24 pounds during my recent layoff, and, dang it's hard to take off. I am still 10 pounds over race weight.
MikeF - Yes, looks like a good maintenance week. I can't fathom your lifetime total ... I've been running since 1972, and would guess less than 20,000 miles in all those years!
old guy II - Good luck with the hamstring. I'm nursing the same injury, with a race planned in three weeks. Biking doesn't aggravate it, so that's what I'll be doing.
amkelley - An easy August sounds like a good idea. I don't know how you handle the mileage that you normally run. Maybe being 60 pounds lighter helps!
Allen53 - A couple strong workouts. What's next on your race calendar? Age 53?
CM - 18:26 as a workout. At altitude. At age 61. I'd say that's impressive! Your calendar doesn't allow a cool, sea-level 5K this year?
SCgal - Nice training week. And that's just crazy how things were in the "old days." Hard to believe that was within our lifetime. I'm just enough younger, I guess, to have always seen girls and women enjoying legitimate athletics, including swimming in high school (and even ice hockey in college).
KCgeezer - Hey, it's good I train in a rural area because I almost always need to stop after two or three miles to "take care of business." Just how it is. Regarding 9-day weeks, you can schedule workouts and long runs on a 9-day cycle, and still be have a day off every six or seven days.
Racerdb - "The course did have some grass and a winding gravel path ..." And you still ran an 89.74% AG! Any special prep planned for the mile race?
jimBOS - I'll be interested in what the PT suggests for your hamstring. Usually these sorts of injuries gradually heal over a few weeks for me, but this time seems more stubborn.
MikeL - My condolences, also, to you and your wife and family. Hold onto the happy memories. Best wishes going forward!
socalcush - Last year I had good luck with the Elliptigo. My sessions were less than yours, usually only 20 minutes on it, after 20 minutes on the ArcTrainer, which is a little different. Anyway, that was January through March, and I was able to salvage a good racing season (good for ME, obviously not at YOUR level!)
Have a great week!