50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Wise advice 65.5.

I had my best week yet, averaging about 50 minutes a day for 6 days. Did a 4X 5 minute threshold at a reasonable clip. Moving in the right direction.

Going to keep bumping the volume at modest increments, usually at 2 week stretches.

There are so many soulful posts about this unusual situation today, and it is good to hear the thoughts from our "mature" training cohort.

We drove to Santa Cruz today to pick up our son, a freshman at UCSC. 260-mile round trip. All classes shifted to online for Spring quarter. Disappointing yes, but delighted to see our young man and bring him home.

Although I did a short run this morning, my wife took a look at me when we got home and said, "you need to go run a bit". So, I went out for another 5.3, and dropped a 2.3 in the middle at 15:53 just to blow off some steam.

I realized I was very upset and worried about my most vulnerable friends and family members, especially my 93-year old Mom. Dropping a bit of hard running into my day made me count my lucky stars! I turn 63 tomorrow. It is a wonderful life with so many gifts.

Again, my best wishes to all in getting through these next few weeks in good order.

Cheers All, stay healthy!

Coyote, I hear Covid is taking off in your area. Looks like no races will happen this spring anywhere.

I ran 70, biked 37 this week. Three runs in the low to mid 7:00s; yesterday 13.1 on hills in 1:37 with negative splits.

748 miles in 75 days. I'm pretty disappointed with race cancellations and postponements, but it's the right thing to do. Thinking of doing Rim2Rim2Rim or something else epic.

Take care!

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

We have a suspected Covid-19 case at the Boise Downtown YMCA where I typically attend six times a week. So, I plan to limit exposure at the YMCA to two days a week,

Why would you take that chance and go back there at all for the next few weeks?

I'm kinda with OG on this, Igy. True, people will be keeping their distance. But when I first came down with HCL, I self-quarantined for ... get ready ... SIX MONTHS.

And then I had a birthday party for a friends at home. And then I came down with something. So even though I was in remission I continued to avoid people for another two months before finally going back to work.

So if it were me, I'd avoid any place at any time. And have a plan if your temperature goes above 100.4F. Your money is staying put but YOU may have to take action at some point.

So this was my favorite running-related headline of the week:

https://www.rdrnews.com/2020/03/11/bataan-memorial-death-march-canceled/

Like all of you, it's been hard taking my foot off the gas and realizing that the race I was planning to run this spring is almost certainly not going forward. I've eaten a pile of food in the past 72 hours. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's not even "mindless eating" — it’s the unconscious saying, "We're done training."

Last Sunday I ran a hard long run with a ridiculous amount of climbing (2145ft in 16 miles), more than I'd bargained for. This is a new LR and obviously, the organizer has a sick notion of fun. On Tuesday, my R quad hurt. On Wednesday I ran five sets of 2-2-4. And then Life As We Know It came to a full stop.

So, in deference to my quad and the uncertain race calendar, I've been easy running ever since. Kid Coach wants me to T for 20'+10' on Wednesday, which is fine, I can do that myself at the park. I'm ready to run a PR in the half. I just have to be patient. It's been a mental letdown but I have to tell myself, "young man, this is your hobby."

Mon. 65 minute kayak.

Tue. 68 min road ride pretty solid effort.

Wed. Slow 8 km jog 47 min on flat trails. Left arthritic toe pretty sore.

Thu. Kayak 82 mins.

Fri. 90 min ride with 7 x1.8 km hill climb.

Sat. Slow 5 km flat trail jog 29 min. Testing toe. Still a bit sore.

Sun. Club social run. Ran 6.7 km with the group then ran a few laps of grass track with one of the girls then stretched out for 600 metres at 4 min km pace to take it to 9km in 53 mins.

A light week running wise because of the toe. It often plays up as does the right one. The joints on both are stuffed. Hopefully it settles down.

The 5 non club races I had planned are looking unlikely.

Our late may trip to Scotland looks unlikely.

So if the toe continues to play up I might crank up the cycling for a month.

Big Red wrote:

I realized I was very upset and worried about my most vulnerable friends and family members, especially my 93-year old Mom. Dropping a bit of hard running into my day made me count my lucky stars! I turn 63 tomorrow. It is a wonderful life with so many gifts.

Amen. My mother died two years ago at age 93 of heart failure. If she were still alive, I'd be mighty worried about her. As it is, I am not worried about myself personally nor my super-fit 66-year-old husband, who is furious about our Governor's statement that elderly folks like him should hide at home. As if he's supposed to be retired or something. I told him "honey, you should be glad you have a young wife who can buy food and pick up your meds while you stay at home". (He takes no medications...)

To add to the rest of the gloomy news, it is cold, gray, and raining here today. I went out to run at 5 am in spitting drizzle at 51 degrees, and halfway through my run the wind suddenly picked up, the temperature dropped 6-8 degrees, and it started pouring. I powered the final 5 miles home into a biting headwind through needles of cold rain. Not much fun. This area needs the rain but I really wish it could have come in February where it belonged!

Keep calm and carry on.

oId guy wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

We have a suspected Covid-19 case at the Boise Downtown YMCA where I typically attend six times a week. So, I plan to limit exposure at the YMCA to two days a week,

Why would you take that chance and go back there at all for the next few weeks?

You are correct. I was planning on going on vacation anyway. I will remote in for work and meet my buds for workouts several times a week.

Yeah...I just heard about that. That's not going to be enforced or anything like that? IOW, can a person over 65 leave their residence and go out in public without the fear of being harassed by the authorities? (e.g., a bike ride, run or walk, grocery shopping, other errands, etc.). Also, how about the gyms & rec centers in the area - closing or staying open for the time being?

No one would guess my husband is 65+ by looking at him (athletic, slim, only a trace of gray), so he's probably safe from harassment.

Amazingly, the gym we go to is still open. I quit going last week and plan to do strength work at home with dumbbells and body weight for the time being. Gyms give me the queasies even in normal times.

My gym placed hand sanitizers near the front desk last week. After seeing most people not using it, they put a HUGE sign that says "Please sanitize your hands upon both entry and exit." And still most people are willfully ignoring it. The only people I have seen using it (aside from myself) are an old Chinese doctor and his wife. On the other hand, most of hand soaps and sanitizers at WalMart had disappeared in a matter of few days. One of the things hardest to find right now is rice. I have about two weeks of supply right now. If things don't improve, I may have to order some online.

M: off.

T-SA: 7 miles.

SU: 13.3 miles.

After learning on Thursday that my spring marathon would be cancelled, I decided to go back to my base training. I don't know when I will race again. But I am hoping that my club race in September and St Jude race in December will not be affected.

Back in 2013, the St Jude race was cancelled due to snow and ice 12 hrs before the start. I tried to look for a make-up race, but then couldn't find any good one, so I decided to keep training as if I had run a marathon. Four months later, I ran a 57 sec PB on a very hilly course in St. Louis. That made me thinking that going through a marathon training cycle without actually racing one can boost one's fitness significantly. You get all the benefits of training, but you don't have anything to recover from after the race. Bu then again, recovering from a marathon race could be the ultimate form of supercompensation.

Erring on the side of caution and just assuming this virus can infect from breathing in airborne particles just saying No Gym For Me

...

Assuming these initial results hold up to scrutiny, aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 appears "plausible," the authors wrote — but several key questions remain unanswered.

https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-can-spread-as-an-aerosol.html

Worklife goes on as normal for me. No home office for nurses. The risk of contracting the virus at work will be much higher than anywhere else.

Office has been at 20-30% this week, and we are being encouraged to telework. I'm making this transition today.

One of my age group running peers from Alaska has Covid-19. He's in his 60s, a competitive age group runner, and said to be very ill now. Another friend had just sent a snapshot of themselves last week, as they were heading out for a run in the deep cold.

Charlie wrote:

Erring on the side of caution and just assuming this virus can infect from breathing in airborne particles just saying No Gym For Me

There's a heck of a lot more pathogens at gyms than just airborne viral particles. Bacteria is lurking everywhere - weights, benches, seats, grips on the bikes/ellipticals, locker room benches/floor, etc. I used to worry about this a lot but my approach over the years is to strengthen the immune system through nutrition, supplements and of course excercise. You just can't run & hide from pathogens - there everywhere. The coronavirus is just one of many out there.

In fact, this past January, my 20 yr old son who is a student athlete, came home sick as a dog with flu-like symptoms - he shut it down and went into survival mode. Two days later I woke up sick as a dog also and felt like I just got hit by a Mack truck. All flu-like symptoms with breathing difficulties (I haven't had the flu for over 20 yrs).

After a few days of absolutely no improvement from basic OTC meds, I didn't panicked and for the both of us, ramped our vitamin D3 & C supplement intake, NAC supplement and echinacea tea (we literally drank gallons of this!) Within a few days we both felt tremendously better and I could breath again. All in all - it was about 10 days downtime where I lost 15 lbs, quite bit of muscle and virtually all CV fitness. I gently returned to running and weight workouts getting back to pre-illness levels in about 3 weeks - and I'm no spring chicken either.

I really believe the D3 was the point turning point. A lot of people have low D3 levels. Most of us in northern two-thirds of the country can't get any sun during the winter months. And even in the summer months many people use sunscreen which impairs the synthesis of D3 from the sun. Low D3 levels impair our immune system's ability to fight off viral & bacterial infections.

Now at the risk of backlash from some here (I really don't care because I'm fed up with these lockdowns and the absurd panic by most everyone these dsys):

It's getting ridcoulous with these draconian lockdowns of the entire planet. I crack up at these "medical experts" who say we need to quarantine everyone so as to "flatten the curve." "Flattening the curve" isn't going to get rid of the virus - it's still going to be out there when we finally (hopefully) get our lives back. Some experts says the virus could be around as long as July or August, others through 2021.

This is a terrible time of mental stress & anguish as a result of being locked down by government leaders. In a time like this, people need to excercise to relieve stress and stay healthy. Gyms should have remained open so again people can excercise and stay healthy. You can still practice social distancing and sanitizing measures while there.

The experts should be telling the American people to get out and excercise, go to the gyms, eat healthy, drink plenty of fluids, take vitamin D3 & C, These are measures that will not only relieve stress but keep the immune system healthy to fight off all kinds of pathogens!

I run 3 days a week and work out with weights the other 4 days. There's certain machines & equipment at the gym I need for critical rehab of post-traumatic osteoarthritis from sporting injuries and injuries sustained in a car accident 3 yrs ago (particularly my back!). These excercises keep my pain under control and allow me to run. With my gym closed, and all others in the state (by order of the hierarchy for 30 days!), the pain is back and running is difficult.

Frankly, I've never seen so many people in fear & panic. Store shelves completely depleted, people rushing around stores like crazy with fear & paranoia written over their face, people driving like total jerks. It's like the end of world for these people! I thought the aftermath of 9-11 was bad, but once people realized we weren't going into WW3 things got back to normal pretty quickly. But this takes the cake. And I don't ever remember the 09 Swine flu pandemic causing this much fear & panic.

Crazy times that may get even more crazier.

75 people have died from complications involving Covid 19 in summertime Sth Hemisphere. Our Aussie deaths (6) were 5 nursing home patients and a man from the Diamond Princess.

All 6 had health conditions leading to complications of the viral chest infection.

The virus needs cold dark conditions.

On the Diamond Princess only 20 % of the population became infected. 1% of the population on the ship required any significant medical intervention and 0.2 % of the population (older ave age than in most populations) died. All those who died had contributing long standing heath issues.

So is the virus as contagious as many think? Do many people have a natural immunity to the virus?

Anyway today I have a day off work so I will be able to avoid the constant barrage of droplets I faced yesterday.

Wish you the best mopac, that is a tough job.

I am on the front lines of financial market turmoil, but working from home. The downtown Morgan Stanley office is closed until March 27th for clients. There is a skeleton crew handling administration, but no clients. The balance of personnel is working remotely. I am not getting much exercise with long and late hours. Trying to keep the physical stress to a minimum. Six months from retirement, I see this as a culmination of a career, being a good steward for my clients. Rest will come later.