50 and over 5k and beyond

Hi! (Read 120 times)

    Hi everyone!  Didn't run, don't want to run lately.  Last run was last Thurs, 9 miles, felt good. Was feeling optimistic but I just didn't feel like running my LSD on Saturday or Sunday.  Much more humid as thunderstorms have come through.  Loud thunder late into the night, and what a lightening show!!  Power was off for a few hours.  Got some rain but the worse part of the storm was south of us.

    Yeah, Deb, The last few months have been tough in addition to acclimating but I know 'homesickness' also has much to do with it.  I didn't take it for granted when living in northern AZ because I knew that "someday" we may be moving.  I enjoy staying home, I think it has to do with traveling all the time on business.  I don't like going 'into town' on errands/to shop unless I absolutely have to.  It's boring. Roll eyes I've really never cared to shop anyway.  Yeah, you read that right. Wink  I find things to do so I'm NOT just sitting around.  That's too depressing. Confused I work from home, which can get pretty busy with conf. calls, emails, meetings, etc. on/about various stages of the research projects.  Also, still settling in the new house so I have been painting and 'quiet time' is spent reading, from books to magazines. I have tried looking up activities/events around here to possibly meet/network with other like-minded individuals but it's been disappointing.

    So, here I am, had a long self-pity weekend, and not feeling any better.  DH suggested a harley ride on Sat. or Sun. but It's been raining, and then tooo darn humid to have a fun, comfortable ride.  The roads become wet and slippery, trail most likely muddy and slick too.

    Woke up this morning hoping to try a short run but it was already 75 degrees before 8am!!!  Didn't run.  It's breezy though but sunny so it's hot, and soooo muggy. The pesky skeeters are everywhere already, and I am fresh blood.  I swear I'm constantly scratching every part of my skin that is NOT covered, even my head!!  ugh!!  Will see how the week goes, taking it one day at a time.

    WDWRich


      Mary Kay - Thanks for the race report and congratulations on a good finish under very trying conditions.  Humidity can really take a toll on even the best-conditioned athletes.

       

      This weekend's training called for a medium distance run, so I opted for a 10k distance.  Mapped it out pretty close as my GPS watch read 6.22 miles just as I reached the driveway in front of our house.  Overall pace was 9:35 per mile.  DW was able to come along on her bike and I was happy to have the company.

       

      Summer is upon us, so remember to run smart.

       

      Cheers,

      Rich

      Rich

      PRs:  9/1/2012 Disneyland 5K 27:08,  01/06/2013 Resolution 15K 1:30:17, 03/10/2013 San Diego HM 2:18:05, 04/19/2014 ACT! Today 10K  51:54

       

        Greetings to all my online friends whom I deserted over the last months.  After a winter of generally ho-hum core and running workouts (regular, but not much fun), I abandoned my training log in February.  I signed up for my usual 20K and HMs, but wondered if I was acting out of habit rather than really wanting to do them.  I did the Wisconsin HM and Dam to Dam 20K without much training or enthusiasm and my times showed it.

         

        Saturday was my answer.  I finished the Garry Bjorkman Half Marathon in Duluth, MN on Saturday three minutes off my PR and 13 minutes faster than I had planned.  Maybe it was the cool, ideal conditions (50 degrees and overcast), maybe I just needed 8,300 other runners to get me going, or maybe I was just ready for an attitude adjustment.  I did the first seven miles nonstop except for one brief walk break for water, then did negative splits starting at mile eight to the finish.  The course is the second half of the Grandma's Marathon course, which starts 13.1 miles farther north.  It is mostly flat or downhill, straight (except for the last mile which has several turns so that the distance is correct).  I started at the back due to being late for my potty stop, so I missed the pace group I wanted to run with (2:30).  I caught them at four miles, ran with them for about three miles, but then realized I could go faster.  That slow pace may have been why I was off my PR, but it also may have let me rest during the middle miles and therefore have more energy to post negative splits from mile eight to the end (maybe I should adopt that as my regular strategy).  My finishing time was 2:17, 22/37 in my age group.  I ran in shorts and a long-sleeved top and put tights and a jacket in my gear bag to put on at the finish.

         

        Security was much tighter than in the past.  Spectators in the grandstands at the finish line were not allowed to have bags of any kind and the runners had to use the supplied clear gear bags so they could be inspected.

         

        Nothing planned during the hotter summer months until the Des Moines HM in late October, except possibly for a seven-mile race in July that is an evening event.  Last year it was still over 90 at 5:30PM, so I did not run.  I do not do well in the heat.

         

        As you may remember, we have a new granddaughter, born last August.  She is now 10 months and crawling.

         

        I hope you all have been well.  There are too many posts for me to read, but I will try to visit and post regularly.  I have found that running less has led to enjoying it more.  Peace.

        2014 Races:

        Wisconsin (Half) Marathon, May 3, Kenosha, WI

        Dam To Dam HM, June 1, Des Moines, IA

        Garry Bjorkman Half Marathon, June 21, Duluth, MN

        Des Moines (Half) Marathon, October 19 (registered)


        justrundan

          Wow, it's  been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon!

           

          SteveBikeRun- welcome back.  That HM in Duluth sounds like a fun one to do.  Your time just a little faster than mine for the Door County HM Debra and I ran in early May (and mine was a PR).  Weather was great for that one too.

           

          Will be back after I recover from the worst 11 mi run of my life.  It will be a time to confess my stupidity.  Embarrassed

          Dan

           

           

           

           

          PaintnRun


          aka PaintingLady

            Steve, it is so good to hear from you and glad to know you are getting your mojo back.

            Dan, I anxiously await your lesson....sounds like it is going to be an interesting one.

            DD & I ran at the state park today. It was slick and muddy in places due to all the rain of late, but still it was nice. We don't often make it over there, so this was a treat. Cool 73 deg temp but still high humidity, made for pleasant running conditions.

            We are on track w/ our training for Dumbo Double Dare Labor Day Weekend. It is a 10K followed on the next day w/ a half marathon. Since it is Disney, we won't worry about time....it is all about the fun. Planning on a couple of half marathons in the fall. DD will likely only be able to run one with me, but I'm looking and training for a pr in the one she will do. It is a double loop on a "flat" (nothing in this area is flat, so this is relative) but it is supposed to be a fast course. The other one I want to do is on an armory property. It is supposed to be a beautiful course, with a small field, and nicely rolling course. I'll use it as a training run for my goal race.

            All is going well for me. Enjoying the summer. My parents are having their challenges, but rather stable for the time being.

            Good running to all my mighty master friends.

            Marie

            Marie from Tennessee

            Dumbo Double Dare!!!

             

             

            Art in AZ


              Greetings everyone. It's been a while and I admit I haven't been running as much or as far as I would like. Between starting work early a few times or doing something early in the morning I have been putting running off. Plus as I'm sure all of you are aware, summer is in full gear now. This morning's temp was already 90 degrees with a little overcast and some humidity. and this was around 6:30 AM.

               

              It's easier to get a long bike ride in than run 5+ miles. That breeze from bike riding does feel good though. Plus I can coast and rest a few and still make forward progress.

               

              Nothing else to report really. No races scheduled for the next couple of months. Still looking at what to do for the fall and later. Still working on the car. Looks about a couple of more months to go.

               

              Wishing everyone the best and "cool" runs.

              Art in AZ

              Mesa, AZ


              Crazy Diamond

                Steve~Welcome back, and congratulations on your great HM time in Duluth!  I recall the race being a favorite of yours.  Annaliese is beautiful!

                Dan~Every run has a lesson for us.  I hope you've recovered.

                Marie~The routes of the 2 HMs you're planning on running sound lovely.  Great to read your training is going so well.

                Art~It sure is difficult to get motivated to run in temps that you have been having.  Good to find a way to keep active on your bike, though! Heartbreaking about the 19 firefighters in your state.

                AZ~Hang in there!  I just finished reading Kara Goucher's book, and she takes 2 weeks off from running every year.  Sometimes we underestimate the benefits of rest.

                Rich~Nice 10k training run and great pace!  Thanks for the reminder to run smart during the summer weather extremes.

                MaryKay~Congratulations on your challenging HM in Chicago!  The humidity that day was awful, it probably felt like you were in water!  It is so difficult to acclimate to those type of conditions after having wintery-type weather only a month ago!  BTW-the cookies were a hit!  Thanks!!

                 

                Back from family camping trip in the state park where JustrunDan and I ran the HM in May.  Thunderstorms every evening, but I was able to get a run in every day.  Special 6 mile run on my 56th birthday along the Green Bay shore and into the cedar forest.  Waves gently washing against the cobblestone shore, fragrance of the woods, beautiful views of the green islands in the bay and the trail all to myself.  Restored my soul.

                 

                Run strong friends!

                Quo Vadis?

                WDWRich


                  Marie - We're looking forward to the Disneyland HM weekend too.  DD and her husband keep telling me to forget about a PR and just enjoy the HM, stopping for some photos along the way.  They're probably right, but it's tempting to try for a PR on such a flat course.  I have a feeling they will win out on this one though.  Smile

                   

                  Went out for a planned 10-miler on Saturday morning.  At 6am my temperature gauge said it was 70 degrees outside.  Not too bad right?  When I stepped outside though, I realized the humidity was very high.  I'm talking foggy/drippy high!  Ran the first 5 miles with no issues other than becoming soaked after the first mile.  Then the humidity took its toll and my energy took a big nose dive.  I started taking walk breaks every half mile and ended up cutting my run to 8.4 miles total.  Every time I tilted my head down a bit, drops just poured off the brim of my running cap.  Never had that happen before.  I guess this San Diego resident just isn't used to such humidity.  I can really sympathize with those of you who have to deal with it regularly this time of year.

                   

                  Cheers,

                  Rich

                  Rich

                  PRs:  9/1/2012 Disneyland 5K 27:08,  01/06/2013 Resolution 15K 1:30:17, 03/10/2013 San Diego HM 2:18:05, 04/19/2014 ACT! Today 10K  51:54

                   

                    Thanks to you all for your very kind words of welcome.

                     

                    Anneliese has started to crawl, so now they are baby-proofing the house (if that is possible).  We all know how that goes.

                     

                    Did a nice four-miler on Sunday morning.  I would have gone farther, but I had to be back to get cleaned up for church.  Tomorrow will be either a longer run or a bike ride.

                     

                    We're going to Minneapolis for the weekend for my wife's niece's wedding.  We're staying at the Sheraton in Minnetonka; does anyone know if there are any nearby running trails (not too far away so I don't get lost trying to find it)?  I don't know the area at all.

                    2014 Races:

                    Wisconsin (Half) Marathon, May 3, Kenosha, WI

                    Dam To Dam HM, June 1, Des Moines, IA

                    Garry Bjorkman Half Marathon, June 21, Duluth, MN

                    Des Moines (Half) Marathon, October 19 (registered)


                    Crazy Diamond

                      Steve~My DB and family reside in the suburb north of where you are staying.  Minneapolis has an excellent system of connecting bike trails/paths that we utilize for running when visiting.  We've used the trail along I-494 from my brother's house to Minnetonka and ended at the City Hall area.  They are deservedly proud of their trail system, and the hotel should have a trail map available.  Safe travels, and enjoy your visit.

                      Quo Vadis?

                        SteveBikeRun - Great job on the Bjorkman HM!! Attitude adjustment, negative splits and an amazing time!! Congratulations on your family addition! Anneliese is a beautiful name!! 

                         

                        Dan - You finished 11 miles. How stupid could you be?

                        Marie - Nice cool run with DD! Gotta love when that happens in the summer!! Truly nothing is flat in TN!! Sorry about your parents' challenges but good they are stable. It must be hard.

                         

                        Art in Az - Your temps are crazy hot!! Good to hear you've been able to get some rides in!  Good luck with work and the car.

                         

                        Debra - Thank you so much for your congratulations!! So glad you enjoyed the cookies!! I love them!!

                        Hope the storms didn't ruin your camping experience. Rain on a tent can be very neat but inside the tent is not ok.

                        HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LADY!!! What a nice run that must have been! Love the smell of cedar and sound of waves!! You are a beautiful soul, can't imagine you needing restoring but we can all use some now and then.

                        WDW Rich - So you're starting to get excited about the Disneyland HM weekend, too?  Maybe you can get a PR and snap some pix. Nice 8.4 miler!! odd how the humidity can be such an incredibly draining factor. I just don't get it!!

                        Run Strong and Safe! I'll be back with an update.

                        Mary Kay

                        2013 Race PRs: FM - 6:30; 5k - 36:39; 10k - 1:24:06; HM -2:57:32

                        Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement - Matt Biondi

                        I am an extraordinary achievement - Me  

                          The good about treating the Chicago Race as a training run is that I didn't go through much transition, either mentally or physically. YAY!! Missed Monday due to sleeping on the bus Sunday night and having a heavy day at work Monday. Tues. tried some speed work with Mojo but it was 95 and humid so lasted about 30 min. Did 6x 400 at around 3:00 but had the race blahs, also. Wed. finished a 20 min progressive tempo (12:40-12:00) run with warmup and cool down. I was tired but not satisfied so hopped on the bike for 6 mi. Went out early Thursday and wanted to run at least 40 min, 2.94 in really inconsistent intervals around the neighborhood. Saturday tried my second group run this season. There were two run/walk ladies two weeks ago at my first. They went so fast i had to veer away at 2.5 and turn around. Was able to keep up with the one, or she was willing to slow down to my pace but still after 4 mi I turned around and ended up with 7 mi. I more or less walked the last 3 mi. Then Sunday went to the gym thinking if I cut down on the humidity, i'd have a better chance at a long run. Was aiming to go for 2 hrs. but only made it 5 mi., 1:22.

                           

                          I finished Born to Run and loved it!! I didn't want it to end. Am also struggling through Run Faster (Hudson). I do not understand the lingo. When he uses a word in reference to a running pace, I never know whether he's trying to categorize a pace or speaking plain English. It drives me nuts. Haven't got a lot of common sense or am trying too hard? Brain fried from so much crap happening at work and in personal life that I'm amazed I haven't wrapped my car around a tree. I've finally lived long enough to know philosophically that what looks like a problem is usually an opportunity but that just doesn't make it feel good. I wasn't chosen for either of the promotions at my office. The interview panel ranked the applicants and I came in second for the one position but was beat out by a man with litigation experience in the military (more years). The other position was not my area of specialty and I blew the interview, spending my morning fretting over the ethics issue. It's really ok because this was going to be a really heavy haul and I'll be freer to train and race. At least I didn't lose to the younger woman who had stuck herself to my boss for the last two months like white on rice. Unfortunately when shopping in Chicago last weekend I used the promotion to justify buying a lot of work clothes I no longer need.

                           

                          Run Faster has some great concepts but here's one example of my frustration. He makes a point of saying that one of the most common errors is running LSD too fast, not at an easy pace. I have the book on Kindle so I searched for "easy" and "easy pace" and he defines it no where. He says moderate is x and you can assume that its faster than easy. He says easy is different for everyone and should correlate to your HR but he doesn't say your HR when you are doing x or relate it to a race pace so I ended up falling back on McMillan paces.

                           

                          Reading the Hansons' Marathon Method and the Hudson Running Faster and the training plans on RunKeeper on my phone and then the store put out its training schedule.  My goals are 1) build speed for 5k on 9/20 and 2) complete the Marine Corp Maration on 10/25. I'd like to work with the store's speed work on Tuesdays and long run (or medium long) on Saturdays. The Hudson book, the store plan and RunKeepr all have only 4 weekly runs. Hudson plans actually have more frequent runs but insert rest days between runs for master runners (over 40) because of loss of elasticity and flexibility. I qualify but am not sure I need the rest days as I' was running 5 days a week last year and have been running 6 days without a problem now 4 weeks.  If I can run 6x 3mi days with one being a longer run and two being faster runs now, is it realistic to think I can build up to run 6x 6-8 mi with a long run and two days of faster pace without injury? Would it be wiser to double, running 2x 6mi in one day and then have a rest day? There is so much information to process and it looks like I'm out of time. I should be starting whatever plan I choose this week. Yikes!!! Any ideas?

                          Run Strong and Safe!

                          Mary Kay

                          2013 Race PRs: FM - 6:30; 5k - 36:39; 10k - 1:24:06; HM -2:57:32

                          Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement - Matt Biondi

                          I am an extraordinary achievement - Me  

                          dyykjt1


                            Congrats on your Chicago HM Mary Kay! Heat and humidity can do a real number on any run!  I know, I run in it everyday now. Sad

                             

                            Steve, Dan, Debra and AZ! Congratulations to you all on some amazing races and times!

                             

                            Marie! WTG! you are one GOOFY runner! I know you will do great on the flat course and on the race without your daughter.

                             

                            I have such good intentions of getting in here at least once a week to post, but just do not ever seem to get the time. I do try to come in every week and skim over to catch up with what everyone is doing and you are all doing great!!!

                             

                            As for me...it is full fledged summer time in the state of Mississippi which means very hot and humid conditions. I run on Mon. Wed. Fri. and Sat. mornings (long run on Saturday) and I get started before daylight around 5:00 a.m. in order to finish before it gets so hot. But, I am still drenched every morning with sweat dripping off my face while I am running. When I finish and stop to stretch it is pouring off my face like I am standing in the rain. Surprised  I have cut my running back to 4 days per week since I am not currently training for anything, but I go to the gym and do strength training and take a cardio mix class on Tues. and Thurs. mornings and I have also been playing some Racquetball which I think is really improving my stamina.

                             

                            I will start HM training again around the end of August. I have a HM in Nov., Dec., Jan. and Feb currently. I may change one of them to a FM once I get started good with training. It will depend on how I feel.

                             

                            Most of my aches and pains are better! Thank God! My MN is just something that I have to live with and I have learned to run with the pain as well as I can. I have been having some PF issues in my hip, but they seem to be a lot better and do not bother me that much unless I am running hills. Thankfully, there are not to many of those here! Smile

                             

                            Good running to you all

                            Kathy

                              Hi everyone, just a brief message.  DH and I left Friday for a weekend visit with his parents in ND.  MIL has been in hospital for a few days so we wanted to see her.  DH's sister and her daughter just moved in to take care of them for summer so we decided to visit Saturday morning.  About a 2 hr drive to hospital, and as we got on elevator, we heard a code blue and her room number.  They couldn't revive her.  We spent most of the weekend making funeral arrangements.  Funeral will be this Saturday.  DH is ok but FIL is inconsolable, they were married for over 56 yrs.

                              Will get back in touch soon.

                              WDWRich


                                AZ - Condolences and prayers to the family.  It's good that you and DH are there to help/support.

                                Rich

                                PRs:  9/1/2012 Disneyland 5K 27:08,  01/06/2013 Resolution 15K 1:30:17, 03/10/2013 San Diego HM 2:18:05, 04/19/2014 ACT! Today 10K  51:54