August Running At Age 80 Log
8/1- resisted the workout, but ran moderate 2.28 miles in the hollow at 32'32"; 14'17" pace; mile splits 13'34" & 15'05" with last .28 at 13' flat. Seems skewed but I'll note it. Compares with this two days ago (2.2 miles, 32'02", 14'32" pace, mile splits 15'04" & 14'16" ); pace a little quicker. Pointing toward a 5K Saturday.
8/2 my 80th birthday- cross training day, some random exercises, one moderately intense over 30 minutes combining my "threes" - three minutes on the treadmill working on relaxation and cadence, four sets of those; three basement room walking laps working on springiness before and after the treadmill; three exercises on the total Gym, presses, lateral curls, squats, three sets of those. Randoms were lunges and planks.
8/3- so, a hip flexor twinge from yesterday's cross-training workout along with some fatigue is telling this old bod to take a break today, so I will. I think the strain happened on the treadmill, and an Internet search suggests I need an adjustment in body posture as I run - torso over the hips; I tend to lean forward slightly, putting constant strain on the illiopsoas muscle. Upright it is, walking too. Hope it doesn't affect 5K race in three days.
8/4- moderately easy 1.14 mile run in the hollow. Hip flexor held up, no further aggravation. Pace 14'08" - pretty good at this stage. Working on a lighter and smoother running form.
8/5- Rest day before tomorrow's 5K race, first since I turned 80. Did do a 15 minute light indoor walk to loosen up a bit.
8/6- Ran the Chick-fil-A 5k in Chattanooga, 46'23" chip time, 46'26" clock time, 46'30" on Fitbit- So, 14'43" clock pace; Fitbit had distance 3.18 miles, it's pace 14'37"; chip pace is 14'38". Different, but the chip is the official one. Faded at the end, need more volume runs and short sprints and surges. Compares with Riverbend 5K seven weeks ago 52'08", 16'47" mile pace. Improving. Knocked about 5-3/4 minutes off. Still slow though.
8/7- Recovery day, indoor form walk for 20 minutes, a few stretching exercises.
8/8- Moderately easy recovery run, 1.1 mile, 14'40" pace, 16'09" for distance. Stretches afterward. Didn't try to keep 175 bpm cadence. Focused on stride and body form. Took it easy somewhat.
8/10- Dressed to run this morning but felt outside like I shouldn't so didn't instead thinking I really needed a rest day. In afternoon, decided to walk indoors, later adding hall-length very short runs, capping this with a couple of treadmill sprints. 21 minute workout. Yesterday a 30-minute interval cross-training workout, four sets of fast walking 3-minutes with 10 each dumbbell curls/presses and underarm curls and squats. It takes time to improve at this age but body responses seem so slow.
8/11- tried the crazy thing a little - ran 1.58 miles in sunny 88f 90%+ humidity heat along nearby hilly power line trail at less than moderate pace to see how it felt. Not bad, though I stopped when I perceived I should. Did not push it. Time was correspondingly slow, 25:38, 16'10" pace. Also slowed for trail conditions.
8/12- slow paced 3.26 mile hilly morning run in the hollow, working on stride form at slow cadence and strength; very humid, temp 80 and climbing (54:19 16'40"). Later, indoors, cross-training for 27 minutes, the threes upstairs- four sets of ten each 10lb dumbbells curls/overhead presses and underarm curls, of 10 squats; and four 3-minute hallway walks. Good workout day.
8/13- No run. Workout mowing steep backyard grass, vacuuming, stretching exercises.
8/14- *Running tough love* ... Daughter Viv had sent me an article about a woman Olympian runner in her 40s and running physiology as one ages. Inspired, I wrote my thanks and that I love to run and had forgotten that. Well, this morning, I didn't want to run. No love. No way. But I did, a 2.23 mile moderate jaunt. A helpful push from my daughter. I do love it. Time 32:32, pace 14'36".
The article -
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/08/42-year-old-olympic-runner-is-a-sign-of-athletics-to-come.html
8/15- Monday morning, again resistance to running outside, decided to cross-train. So, 43:51 minutes of intervals- dumbbell curls/presses and underarm curls and squats interwoven with 3-minute hallway mixed walks, thigh lift and butt kick stepping, and high-thigh skipping. Good workout with new additions.
8/16- Deciding I need to revise how I thought I'd do road racing, even though I registered, too ambitiously my thinking now, for upcoming 5Ks. This has impacted how I feel about and approach training, especially forcing competitive me to think about (poor) race performance rather than how to best proceed as an 80-year-old feeling out sensible workouts and breaks. So, I'll skip this weekend's race, may or may not do one at the end of the month (both registered $ for), and leave open the option of racing in a registered 5K in mid-September before we head to the cabin. Don't know about a workout today, yet, either. Obsessed.
8/17- *Reality Check* Mixing road and indoor training today though hesitant about pushing it, weariness. Started with an outdoor mile at a moderate pace, as I revise how I train, refocusing more on workout and far less on racing, including skipping 5Ks I've registered for. Have to keep my age in mind, as well as muscle and bone mass I lost from two bouts of prostate cancer treatments since 2002. Working on strength.
Followed run later with a 23:24 minutes cross training workout, three 3-minute treadmill form strides, two at steepest incline, .44 miles, three sets of 15 total gym incline presses and lateral curls, form walking between.
Outdoor run was 1.14 mile, 15:22, 13'33" pace.
8/18- somewhat of a rest day. Walked indoors for an hour keeping form in mind and occasionally doing thigh lists and back kicks. Low impact, less strenuous, and likely needed. It felt good finding a way to keep at it by taking 4,571 steps, according to Fitbit, in a less tense way, to relax and take a walk.
#RunningatAge80 - 8/19- #Refocusing ... Scaling back road racing, including skipping 5K events I've registered for. Ran on the road just twice this past week, mostly cross-trained, working indoors on building strength, running form exercises, and treadmill intervals. One new long term goal is to run a 10K when I'm ready and to build around that and from that. Great viewing the Rio Olympics this week.
8/20- Fairly easy 2.21 mile hollow run, 32:48, 14'52" pace. Keeping it enjoyable as well as vigorous on this new refocused approach. I need more volume runs and will work up to that. Later, 15 minutes of cross-training, four sets of Total Gym presses and lateral curls interspersed with three minute walk intervals. Skipped the Chatt Superhero 5K I registered for.
8/21- Raining and Olympic marathon kept me indoors. Ran on treadmill for an hour, focusing on stride rate of 170 steps a minute, slight incline, not pushing pace. Longest duration on treadmill, and on road this time around. Did a little steep hill walking as well.
8/22- Feel I need to recover from the weekend's workouts. Might do some light cross-training to loosen up. Numinous dream about "placement" on my mind. Also what could be synchronistic "discoveries" along with that, especially an article about a "resurgence of running in the Southern Tier" of NY. Probably will skip Saturday's 5K I registered for, the third pre-registered race I've decided not to run. Did do cross-training, about 30 minutes, four intervals of 5-minute form walks with four sets of dumbbell press/curls, armpit curls, and squats. Like this quote from composer John Luther Adams: "What I crave in life, running, music, and art is direct unmediated experience" (in Runner's World)
8/23- Hill run day, 3.17 moderately hard miles focusing on stride form, not on cadence though, humid, almost 80f, 49:17 duration, 15'33" pace says Fitbit. In the hollow.
8/24- Doctor's appointment this morning, all things from his examination are good, lab results in a few days. Took it easy in the afternoon. Will be checking out a Polar M400 activity watch, to compare it with the Fitbit Charge HR I have - one feature missing on the Fitbit, constant pace readout, something I think I need. Has GPS, too; Fitbit only when synced with the iPhone app. Looking for more precision. At my age? Why not. Maybe I'll become age groups competitive.
8/25- poor sleep, slow start on day, run workout in basement large room, back and forth for 30 minutes - temps outside near 90, humidity high. Hard to calculate distance, with stops, turnarounds and starts, maybe 1.5 miles.
8/26- Moderately cautious hollow run of 2.24 miles, 31:38 time, 14:05 pace, 53 feet elevation, data from MapMyRun app. Also tested Polar M400 activity watch, didn't finish the run timer properly, getting the hang of it and am liking the device vis a vi the Fitbit I've been using- Continuing to pass up races I've registered for, including tomorrow's 5K. Have another in mid September that I might do. No other set plans after that. Want develop a good training regimen.
8/27- two cross-training workouts, one 30 minutes, one 25, recorded now by Polar M400 device - one, six sets of stride exercises intervaled with Total Gym incline presses, lateral curls and squats; the other five sets of stride exercises intervaled with standing squats and dumbbell front curl/presses and underarm curls. Workouts considered mild according to parameters I set. Didn't push heart rate much, but muscles knew it was work.
Roughly 11-12 miles running this past week, duration about 3:10:0 - estimates not including cross-training. High humidity runs outside bother me. Feeling stale.
8/28- indoor workout, 1.5 miles about, easygoing "mild" 27:28 on treadmill, cadence focus.
#RunningAtAge80 - 8/29- Three months now into this return to running after almost three decades away, old body improved, speed also. Endurance taking longer. Recovery, too. Road races show that. Cross-training helps a lot. Form work, as well. Decided to avoid more races till speed, endurance, form and recovery feel more in sync. Keeping it playful, like a dance, like skipping (which is part of a workout). Rhythmatic ... Okay, tested very short hill intervals outside and did two 20-minute cross training sessions combining resistance work and cadence practice indoors.
Unrelated but related. I have a persistent feeling that Eileen and I and our little family will be moving permanently to our cabin soon. No logic to it and don't know how the possibility could happen.
8/30- Morning moderate run 2.92 miles in the hollow, humid, near 80f, 43:06 duration. Avg. pace 14:45, peak 11:22. HR avg 124, peak 130. Ascent 80 ft. Hill and grade. Cadence around 170. Felt somewhat taxing, cautious about pushing the pace. Focused on cadence, form following cadence 😎👀. Extending avg pace to 5K, duration would be 45:52, half minute faster than last 5K race on 8/6. Bit of improvement. But not competitive.
#RunningAtAge80 - ELITE Runner's Oxygen Consumption- Took the Polar Flow VO2 Max test and it estimated a score of 47, defining it as the oxygen use of an *Elite* male runner my age and charted as *Excellent* even for men over age 46 and above average for males 18-26. Hmmm... Still it's an estimate, and I have to get the rest of the body's "running economy" in shape as well.
"VO2 (or oxygen consumption) is a measure of the volume of oxygen that is used by your body to convert the energy from the food you eat into the energy molecules, called adenosine triphosphate ( ATP ), that your body uses at the cellular level."
8/31- I'm nowhere near competitive despite the estimated VO2 Max "elite" score of 47 and wonder if I can be. Progress seems so slow. Muscle strength and fitness is wanting. So, cue to cross training workout. Intervals: four three minute jogs on treadmill, .55 mile; four 30-second planks with alternate leg lifts; on total gym max incline: 4x18 avg chest presses; 4x21 avg lateral curls; 4x21 avg squats. HR rated low intensity - 83 bpm avg, 103 peak; body effort felt more intense.
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