Thank you for your service on this Vet's Day recognition Mike.
One Hundred Thousand Miles of congratulations on putting one foot in front of the other. Excellent example for real living Mike.
KP
Thank you for your service on this Vet's Day recognition Mike.
One Hundred Thousand Miles of congratulations on putting one foot in front of the other. Excellent example for real living Mike.
KP
Navy fast attack submarine officer from '72-'76 doing classified stuff in WestPac. Glad to finish that up alive and in one piece when a number of my high school and college classmates didn't make it back from Vietnam. 30 miles and the last race of our local XC series this past week. I had a good but not great race. I got 2nd in the race and 2nd for the series in my age group. I was far enough behind #1 in my age group on Saturday that I didn't feel like I could have done anything different for the race and closed that gap. Now I plan to try to get back to a steady, moderate pace 55-60mpw until the new year and then started adding back workouts for some Spring road races.
week 7 (21 day cycle x3)
mon 7:10 mile steady
tues 10:04 mile (45mins@level 3 7:11 pace )
weds 6:10 mile
thurs 9:60 mile (30 mins@level 3 7:09 pace )
fri 7 miles + 10x100 mtrs
sat 6 mile rec @8:10 pace
sun 7 mile steady
weeks total 52:84 miles
not alot to report,just doing it.Ken great track work out,keep at it.Mikef nearly there well done>keep running
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Week 76
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Greetings all! It's been a super busy week for me, so sorry that I really didn't interact with the thread this week...other than to read your alls posts. MikeF is out there pounding the pavement as I write this; wishing all the best as you cross your lifetime 100,000 mile mark. Quite an achievement, my friend! While he's in the city of brotherly love, I'm here in Earle, AR.....I don't mean to disparage the place, but a center of culture, it is not. My wife's dad moved here many moons ago (inexplicably), and so it's a famiy thing. I'm thankful that we get to visit and my wife's sister has also flown in from Phoenix. It's been a good visit.
I totaled to a bit over 46 miles, on 9 runs this week. The log reads as such:
Sun: 9.4 easy w/7.8 on grass (we ran 4 loops out on the Masterson Station course....it'll be relatively firm, I think)
Mon: 7.0 w/5x(.2 on, .2 off) + strides. (62,88,61,88,59,85,59,86,58,80) for a total time of 12:04
Tue: 8.1 easy (4.7 am, 3.4 pm)
Wed: 3.5 + 6x9 stories of stairs.
Thur: 8 easy (4.5 am, 3.5 pm)
Fri: 5 w/5k hard tempo in 18:40
Sat: 5.2 easy
Notes:
*Monday's workout was on the 5 laps/mile indoor track at UK. This is the first time I've run there since last spring, and the results were similar, so I guess not much has changed.
*Did a few more stairs on Wednesday, knee is doing well.
*After the drive to Arkansas, my right leg really stiffened up, and the run Saturday was not pleasant. I did a lot of the "Stick" and targeted stretching yesterday. Feels better this morning, of course, now we'll drive home again. Part of the problem, I think, was that I didn't get to do a proper cool-down after Friday's tempo run before we hit the road. Not recommended.
OK. I've gotta get going. We've got more visiting to do this morning before the long drive back to Lexington. You all take care, have a great week, and I hope you get to celebrate a nice Thanksgiving (for us in the US, that is) with friends/family.
Be well!
I can't wait for the report from MF on the 100,000 mark. He's a colorful writer and I expect nothing but the most entertaining marathon report ever.
Hear that MF? Congrats!
I had a great week running with some of my athletes who are training for FootLocker. I ran a few steady runs with them and got in a solo 5 miles of steady running Saturday. Capped the week off with a long run with the 'old guys' - who run a bit closer to my pace.....
All in all, a great week.
Bring it on MF!!!
Also looking forward to MikeF's writeup. Wishing him the best for a successful finish in the race!
Seemed like I just slogged out all my miles this week. About 55. Attempted a bunch of random on/off's in the dark on Tuesday. Barely hit 10K pace...But the magic of the race kicked in again yesterday. Real happy with my 8K XC run...went 532, 528, 528, 536, 531 for a 27:34. Course had a little mud and a few small hills. Ran with three of my Club XC teammates...Our 50's team beat a rival 40's team by two points for the masters win!!!
I think I'm right where I need to be for Lexington. Just need to maintain for a few weeks. Got a 5K Turkey Trot this Thursday. Love this race as it is a very fast course run through my neighborhood.
Have a good Turkey week everyone. Eat lot's....
Dave
Well done racerdb in besting the 40's, good time too in xc mud! Congrats to MF on 100k!
Weird week of training that ended up good. A special thanks to High Point University and their new Exercise and Human Performance lab, particularly Dr. Smoliga for the treadmill testing and Dr. Wright for her great PT evaluation!
Week of 11/12
Mon AM 4+ mile run indoors, easy. Legs feel fresh but the hamstrings not quite back.
PM PT exercises, stretching.
Tue PM 4 mile run plus 6 strides, legs feel fatigued after 2 miles, hamstrings burning on each stride. PT3, lights stretching.
Wed travel, no runs, light stretching.
Thur AM PT evaluation & treatment, VO2max & submax tests, (76 VO2 max!), felt awkward running, hamstrings better, left one started to act up last minute of test. I've done faster & longer runs on treadmill this year but once I heard mid 70's, with the way I felt, I had no motivation to test longer. Don't think I would have improved my Vo2max but might of produced more lactate. Travel home.
Fri AM 5+ mile run, PT4 (new) exercises plus slide board.
PM new weights & new PT exercises, massage.
Sat PM 2+ mile warm-up outside then indoors: some PT4, 6x100m strides, 4x200m, then 4x300/100m jog recovery 49, 50, 47, 47, full recovery, 3x300m (first 200m ~ 31 then accelerate last 100m) with 4 min rest 45.7 (30.9, 14.8), 45.8 (31.1, 14.7), 45.2 (30.5, 14.7), 1 mile cool down. Legs felt a lot better, the acceleration on the 300's was easy, never tying up. Some residual ham soreness, but in different areas - good, not a surprise after the last two weeks. Amazing how quickly some good treatment can have an impact.
Weights, new weights, light stretching.
Sun AM 4 miles easy on treadmill @ 2.5%
PM Massage, PT4 + slide board, stretching.
Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone and safe travels for those of us on the road!
Week 76: 10 hours 31 minutes in 9 runs. Started my fallback week 1/2 day early. :)
Sleep not good enough, only two days at goal (8 hours), and here I am again, on the internet past my bedtime:
8.5, 6, 7.5, 6, 7.5, 5.5, 9.5, avg 7.2
@lucKY2b - Driving is bad, flying is worse, running then driving without a cooldown and/or stretching is the worst. I'm constantly amazed by older folks who claim they don't mind driving long distances. I can only guess their bodies must feel so bad all the time that they can't notice the difference.
@WOC - 76, that's some outer space number.
@racerdb - Was watching Fox's "The Five" (not my pick, just what was on in front of the treadmill at the gym) and one of the guys had written a book, in it he called one of the other guys mediocre. The mediocre guy complained, and the author quipped, "Yeah, you're mediocre, but for you that's pretty good!" What I'm getting at is: nice race, but from you it's kind of expected.
Greetings from Philly, PA...today is "the day after" and I only wish I had a hangover...am slowly recovering but still " walking" around as though i ve a pair of peg legs...yes, I completed my very final ever marathon yesterday...note that I did not say successfully completed just finished...frankly time was never a factor as my very damaged feet started barking at me at 3 miles...made for a very very long day at the office.
Surely the highlight came between miles 13 and 14 as that was the unoffically "official" 100,000 th mile...I backed off mileage this week so that I could manipulate precisely which one would be the "mile" stone...this is the stretch from the art Museum to Boathouse Row...as a high school lad my Pop, Nicholas Pasquale would bring me here as the local Philly road races pretty much all started and finished here...it was only fitting and poetic that this long strange trip of a lifetime would come full circle ...from where it had commenced 42 years earlier.
I wasn't sure what to do during my mobile landmark...Smile? Laugh? Cry?
So I did what any good soldier would do and did all three. It was a moment of deep reflection...a moment of deep gratitude and one of pure appreciation.
We are just so very fortunate and blessed to be able to put one foot in front of the other regardles of how fast or how slow...how graceful or how awkward.
The remaing 12 miles were pretty much torturously painful because of barking dogs...twas not even vaguely a surprise and was the reason for dubbing this final final as "The Last Suffer"
Thanks to you friends who keep me richly inspired week in and week out with your own personal lores of running...I am a lucky man to know you.
Cherish every step...see you all a little further on down the road ... but that road will not ever be another 26.2 miler...Marathon R.I.P.
MF
Mike F, congratulations on hitting an awesome lifetime running goal, and on getting back to further running as soon as the legs permit it. Last week was another easy 33 recovery miles for me after the end of XC racing season.
MF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DvJ2erZhi4KaTfbzQ-X0b_
Diminishing returns or where do I go from the top of my game?
AS I reach the end of rapid improvement Allan's remark hits home.
My pattern as been to demand too much get injured or bummed out quit for awhile then start over. Not sure if this is what I really want to be doing or maybe it is. I do know that starting over fun.
Quads were DOM DOM DOM DOM DOm Dom dom guess going from a 14 to a 28 minute tempo was DUMB DUMB DUMB dumb or maybe not I feel good now anyhow going to just run for a few weeks and enjoy it.
and the NUTS was right 144 and dropping
Mike, way to represent the 50+ crowd. Take your time recovering.
I tweaked one hamstring this week, but spent 3 days on the bike and was back running, albeit easy and not too long. Thus the total miles were only 15. I should be able to get back up to some reasonable mileage this week, but no speedwork or tempos.
Both hamstrings were feeling unusual and I was taking it easy, but obviously not easy enough. So WOC, make sure you monitor your hamstrings and keep 'em healthy.
well done /great just keep on going
wxboy,
Hams are good, strength is fine, flexibility is fine, this really was a hip/low back/sacrum issue, with originations from weak abductors and adductors, that I was trying to strengthen the last 5+ weeks but incorrectly so. The hams were tough with all they went through, if not for all the tending to them over the past 9 months they would have pulled for sure.
Once a different PT highlighted the still weak ab/adductors, and gave me different weight exercises and different planks, the affect was remarkable. I have a hunch that chronic tightness is due to muscle weakness, and although stretching may help, if the muscles return to ground zero each day after a run, then strength training is needed for the tight muscle(s). I have too many personal examples of this, and seemingly contradictory, flexibility of the tight muscle improves.
Of concern to me now are my tight hip flexors, probably the last muscle group for me to shore up. I'll proceed with caution but only after consulting with the PT again. I suspect that they are weak, and I know that they are tight, and they may act up unless I do something about them. But the old 'ain't broke don't fix it' saying certainly makes me wonder what to do.
I think a lot back to my younger days when I regularly did hurdle drills, bounding, etc, even basketball. I'm sure the general strength in my hips was much better than now. There is no easy way to run fast, maybe youth allows one to coast for a few years, but at my age there is a lot of undoing and I think more attention to detail. Staying healthy is 80% of it now.
Alan Bennet wrote:@lucKY2b - Driving is bad, flying is worse, running then driving without a cooldown and/or stretching is the worst
Prior to the trip home, I didn't run. Legs were much better upon return, so no running Sunday---my usually reliable day to get a run in.
Alan Bennet wrote:@WOC - 76, that's some outer space number.
I'll second that. Wow! I'd be curious to know how some of your PT sessions are structured.
Props again to MikeF for achieving this major life milestone! Thanks for sharing this journey with us.
Dave, even if I were to lose another 15 lbs (which isn't going to happen), I'd say this rubber match is a done deal, haha! Your Frontline team sounds ready to roll. I'll be doing our club's turkey trot, as well; it's run out at the horse track...lot's of fun!
Charlie, I totally understand where you're coming from as far as not knowing if/when/how much one can ramp up without incurring setbacks. The old rules of thumb seem useless; sometimes, even the status quo isn't the right approach.
Cheers!
Mon - 1 hour on the mountain bike and an easy 5k run in the forest.
Tue - 40 minutes of strong paddling on the lake. Stopped in at the golf course and did 2 easy kms then some retro runs and then 8 x 400m barefoot on one of the fairways. 90, 88, 86, 86, 84, 84, 82, 82. About 2 minutes walk recoveries, 2 more easy kms. I did my usual sets of squats, pushups, lunges and high knee lifts before and after both the kyak and the run. This gave me 100 pushups, 100 squats, 60 lunges and high knee lifts (each leg) also 6 minutes total of planks. I also did the same the previous day before and after both bike and run.
At home I also did a super set of bent over rows with dumbbells and chinups.
Wed - Rolled through an easy hour run over the ranges in the Nat. Park, just the one significant climb of about 160m in 3kms. My shoulders were feeling the 2 days of 100 pushups so I just did a set of 15 before and after the run.
Idid a 30 min spin on the windtrainer while watching tv in the evening.
Thu - Much the same run as yesterday except did it in the opposite direction and added a little to the end, 70 minutes or so. The uphill is a bit steeper this direction. Shoulders were good after the freshen up the day before.
Fri - 90 minutes on the mountain bike at a brisk clip on a windy day.
Sat - Went out in the afternoon for a good hard hour paddling on the lake in windy conditions.
Sun - Ran the hilly 25km loop up in the hills of Tooboorac and East Baynton. Comfortable effort but a quite quick 2h 10 m. Ran 2.19 on it the last time so was pretty pleased with that.
Well done Mike F on your amazing effort not only to run that many miles but to maintain accurate records of having done so.
Having had my vO2 max measured once in my prime at just 64 I am also WOWED by Ken's amazing 76 measurement.
Keep on running.
Good job Mike. You earned the right to be sentimental.
lucKY2b wrote:
Dave, even if I were to lose another 15 lbs (which isn't going to happen), I'd say this rubber match is a done deal, haha!
Funny stuff, L2b...regardless of how the race turns out, at least we know the Kentucky beer will be good!
Dave
lucKY2b,
I'll have to post them sometime, but you may have noticed that I repeat PT1, PT2, & PT3 twice a week. Now I have new exercises, PT4 to fit in somewhere. I think that totals about 25 PT exercises I do. What has annoyed me is that they all missed significantly strengthening my hip/pelvis ab/adductors. Some of the PT exercises might of loosened up some tight muscles and strengthened weak muscles to a degree, but until weights were added I felt that PT exercises, including bands and balls, only got me part of the way back to proper strength.
The latest set of PT exercises includes a weird plank that I haven't seen anyone do, it is an adductor plank. Lying on my side I put my top leg up on a high bench (weight machine seat adjusted high), then I plank up to the top leg and do an adductor motion with the bottom leg. Right now I do two sets with both legs.
I also do abduction lying flat on my side and in a plank postion, thee sets in each position, with foot flat (parallel to floor), foot turned in, and foot turned out. I had been doing just planked flat abductions before.
I've added slide board which I like the eccentric portion of that as I compress on each side of the board. But the exercises that seem to have produced the best results are standing, straight leg, side ab/adduction weights using a pulley. This not only works the leg that the pulley is attached to but also the stabilizing leg holding you up, which my long-term problematic right hip wants to keep collapsing.
The VO2 max surprised me (actually 75.8). It is typically assumed that one loses 10% per decade, so from my high of 80.5 I should be down about 65. Considering I had cardiotoxic chemotherapy drugs I was surprised it was that high. My lactates could use some improving though!
This makes me wonder about the power of long-term exercise, even short-term, to protect cancer patients when they are given anthracyclines (one of the cardiotoxic group of drugs). I had been looking at the exercise literature regarding detraining and muscle capillarization, mitochondria, and VEGF (important for vessel growth but abnormally expressed in cancer tissue), there is some interesting studies that go all the way back to Hollozy in the 80's, and some recent work too, that indicates exercise benefits remain even after cessation of training, which is what many cancer patients do once they are diagnosed (shock I guess). I stopped running before diagnosis because I was so skinny (cachexia - muscle wasting) and thought I'd only lose more weight (actually this may be the wrong thing to do, and some research supports exercise as a way to slow the muscle wasting). The long-term benefits I built up may have really protected me. I'll get off my advocacy soap box now!
I hope this helps you with some of the structure of my PT sessions.
Happy Thanksgiving lucKY2b!
Great stuff, Ken! Get on your soapbox all you want; you are a treasure trove of interesting and relevant information. Much appreciated!
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