I ordered some Goodr sunglasses on sale- I have multiple pairs. I had 17 emails form merchants when I got back from my run this morning. I unsubscribed from a bunch. Some of them also text me. Lovely.
I've been mostly offline today so I was surprised when I opened my phone and it said I had 40 emails. I quickly made the connection that it was Black Friday. I deleted them all without reading them, so if there were any great deals I'll never know.
I did an easy kettlebell workout this morning, just to say (to myself) that I did something.
Thanks for the start, Jeanne, and also for not mentioning the football score (Ouch! But to be honest, I've seen that coming over the last couple of games).
A nice Thanksgiving dinner even though the turkey that was supposed to take 3-3/4 to 4-1/2 hours to cook was done in just 3 hours! We hustled to get the other dishes ready but at least the turkey was quite ready for carving when it came time. And for once, I was sort of proud of the carving job that I did thanks to having watched a YouTube video earlier in the day.
Also nice having my brother here even though it was a reminder of why we generally don't like having (or being) houseguests: just too much dead time to feel obligated to fill in, etc. We enjoyed visiting my DS's new house this afternoon and kept our record intact by once again forgetting to take the photos that we had wanted. And no telling when we'll all be around together again -- surely not for years.
Like others, tons of Black Friday emails and such but there's really nothing I'm interested in buying. This is not the normal situation for me, but true for once. DW and I are continuing our tradition of buying exactly what we want for Christmas and then handing it to the other one to wrap and present on Christmas day. My DW even went one better by buying a couple things in the local high-end store (Von Maur) where they were offering free gift wrapping. Certainly a heck of a lot better a wrapping job than anything I could do!
I did get out for a couple of walks, mainly to have something to do with my brother, and this morning we did my favorite 3-mile walk through the park with the long stairs. It was cold but sunny and we were dressed about right for the conditions.
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Marathon Maniac #957
I sort of feel guilty for having the day off and not running to take advantage of this nice weather! But David's home, so doing something with him is 1000x more important.
Absolutely!
Jeanne - you managed to keep them from their cellphones for the meal - that is a win!
Karen - I really didn't think the turkey would be unsafe, just maybe with that freezer-burned flavor. Glad it was fine for you!
Old Coyote - I have never followed a real training plan, just one of my own. For a 50k or marathon (same plan for me), it is all about the weekly long run. My longest run would be 20-23 miles, either two or three weeks before the race, and I try to get in three 20-milers, 2 weeks apart, leading up to the race. Basically, I increase my weekly LR 2 miles per week, with every other week being a cutback week of probably 12 miles once my LRs got beyond that. I don't know where your LR is right now, but for a May 4 race I would do this for my LR, staring Jan. 6
10m (1/6)
12m (1/13)
14m (1/20)
12m (1/27)
16m (2/3)
12m (2/10)
18m (2/17)
12m (2/24)
20m (3/2)
12m (3/9)
20m (3/16)
12m (3/23)
20m (3/30)
12m (4/6)
20-22m (4/13)
15 m (4/20)
12 m (4/27)
Race (May 4)
If I am really trying to train, and be fast, then I would use that cutback LR of 12 miles as a Wave Run, meaning 1 mile warm up, then alternating miles - one at HM pace, and then a slow mile in between.
Anyway, that's all I have to offer.
Our annual Black Friday tradition is to go to a local tree farm and cut our Christmas tree. We have been doing this since DS was a toddler, and now both kids have their own places, we bring our trailer and get three trees. I love doing this with the kids! It was chilly today but clear. I forgot to take pictures this time, but here is DD and then our tree. We usually get a fairly small one, since our space is not that big, but it looks fine. All the trees, even the bigger ones, were only $52! They put it on a shaker to get the loose needles off, then stuff it through a net wrapper for easy traveling.
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Old Coyote
Holly - Thank you! That schedule makes so much sense. It's exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to get. I can do my weekday routine as it is, and train hard on weekends because every other week is a "rest week". Beautiful!
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Once again, I drove 1.5 miles to the neighborhood with the access trail.
RCG - nice owls but, maybe, make that, "as always, I drove 1.5 miles to the neighborhood with the access trail instead of wasting time through residential streets when I could already be on the swamp trails watching the civil sunrise colors and real one over the wetlands I love" which is exactly why, after my first couple of times on foot to the two hillside parks a mile and nearly two miles away, until we get our car situation straightened out, I ride the bus or, if I'm too impatient to wait for the bus, I take the Zip e-bikes sitting around on every corner waiting to be ridden.
Leslie - another Japan difference where clerks in Japanese stores always ask if they can help when they pass someone in the aisle or go over to help a hapless customer looking around like being lost to take something down for them to check out, try on, etc. vs. when I went to REI the other day to look for a new yellow raincoat to replace my old thread bearing one and a new helmet to replace the one I got there more than 20 years ago plus upstairs to the shoe department before I got the waterproof Arctic XtraTuf deck shoes and, in all cases, when I asked the clerks who were too busy talking to each other for some guidance, I was just pointed where to go in all three departments with nobody bothering to follow me over to provide any guidance to what would probably be my last purchases of all. However, a gal in the bike repair shop came out and took me over to the helmet section where she talked me out of the one with the built-in lighting I was favoring and helped select a good one so, at checkout, I asked to see the manager who said he'd go over to bike repair and report my comment, . . . in plain sight of the other four who couldn't be bothered. Shame on REI.
Jeanne - maybe, for sure, on the appreciating sunsets more-and-more. Sunrises too, especially now that the 7:30 am sunrise doesn't start lighting up the sky until just before 7:00 am when DW is up and can enjoy them too. In fact, we often get double duty as, even when this morning's sunrise was cloaked behind a wide belt of thick clouds over the eastern Cascades, the civil sunrise reflecting down on the several dozen downtown skyscrapers blesses us with a progression of mini-sunrises.
Old fox - very neat Greenland 50K t-shirt, I guess, without having to go there., Is there a cutoff or something you have to meet to qualify for one? Good luck on your training. I've seen Holly run (Portland Marathon reunion in 2016). You're in good hands.
Happily, . . . . I think, as insurance came through to cover an appointment next Tuesday for the "non-exercise" chemical stress test needed in lieu of the TM one my knee wouldn't let me do last week to check my heart out before the knee surgery on 12/6. I asked if they had enough chemicals for 26.2 miles so I could do this weekend's Seattle Marathon my knee won't let me do in real but apparently not. Rats. .
ps Holly - looks weird getting Christmas trees in green fields?
Is it usually that way or sometimes snow?
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
Happy Post-Thanksgiving revelries to all. Spent the day at my MIL's house with DD and our new granddaughter, introducing little Magdalena to her great grandmother. She me the other g-gma (my Mom) last Saturday at Mom's 90th birthday party. This little one steals the show wherever she goes. She turned 7 weeks old yesterday. It's a 135-mile trip in the back of my Civic, and she slept all the way down, and all the way back. Good news since DD & SIL want to take her to Pennsylvania, a slightly longer trip. She travels well.
Before we headed to great-grandmother's house (over several rivers and through many former woods), I got in a 3,000 yard swim workout. It was designed to be a 3,300 yarder, but right as I finished the first 4 reps of a Main set of 2 (4 x 75 Freestyle) I was moved from one lane (which I had to myself for that part) to one of the end lanes (with protruding ladders) where I was welcomed to share a lane, and the logistics were not conducive to another 4 reps of almost, progressing to completely, all-out effort. I'm not likely to have a collision with my lane-mate, but the risk is fairly high for an arm-to-arm collision with the neighbor in the next lane over. But the good news was that on the first set, which was to be a progression from 56 down to 53 seconds per 75 yards, I went 56, 55, 53, 54; I've never been able to swim a 53-second 75-yarder before, at least in practice. I felt that I could have done either the 2nd or (especially) the 3rd rep in 52 seconds had I chosen them to go all-out.
DW drove to her Mom's about 3 hours ahead of us this morning, and I'm quietly celebrating because she gets to come back tomorrow afternoon in order for us to attend a free concert at our church tomorrow evening. It isn't "why" she's returning early, but a benefit of it.
Have a great evening, Masters!!
I ventured to Michael's and then to JoAnn's looking for yarn to make a baby blanket for my nephew and his wife. Found what I wanted at JoaAnn's, plus some for another blanket. Just don't know who that blanket will be for. One of these days I need to venture beyond scarfs and blankets.
And 40 min of core/ST and mobility.
And made a crockpot of beans for tomorrow.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Carolyn
Tet, I agree, it looks weird getting Christmas trees in green fields! We used to cut trees on our property when DD was growing up, but nowadays just string lights in the house.
Holly, that looks like a good 50k plan. I do something similar but don't do cutback weeks so often - maybe every 4th week.
Kevin/ Old Coyote - have you run Greenland before? I did once, only the 25k, and I didn't like it. Too flat and too hot, although some years it snows, so who knows. Also, you can see and hear the interstate from most of the course, so not a scenic mountain trail like I favor, but it's pretty runnable. Good luck!
Barb, I love your swamp/sunrise pictures! And love Tramps' picture, too! You guys live in such a pretty place!
We have no basement either, because there's too much bedrock here.
I'm weirdly looking forward to tomorrow's 5k turkey trot at the nearby rec center trail. It will be the only race I've ever been able to run to, as it's 2 miles away, out where my dirt road meets the highway. The "weirdly" part is because we got 3" of snow today and the high, both today and tomorrow, won't break out of the mid teens. Type 2 fun!
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
Nice pictures and nice tree, Holly.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Carolyn, I've never run Greenland; did Dirty 30 and North Fork. I wanted something flatter to get back in it.
And I've been completely unable to find a realistic training plan for a 60 year old. No, I'm not going to be doing 50 mile weeks with 2 days of speedwork! So I'll be writing my own plan. I'll start training in mid-January. Til then, I'm going to just keep fit and lift weights.
I started running as a 60-year-old and couldn't find a realistic training plan anywhere. The plans for 'older runners' all seemed to be aimed at around age 40. Galloway is the possible exception, but I regard that as being more for existing runners to grow old graciously rather than looking to improvement.
In looking for a plan I came across the Masters Forum (in RW initially) and then migrated here. There is always lots of good advice available and my favorite is "We are each an experiment of one", in other words look to the things that work for you personally.
I like Holly's schedule of weekly long runs, but I would express them in terms of time rather than distance, so from about 2 hours to 3 hours duration.
I usually did weekend doubles of the long run on Saturday followed by a 1.5 to 2 hour trail run on Sunday, but my only other runs would be about 45 minutes easy on Tuesday morning and a 1-hour tempo on Thursday morning. Adjust the runs as necessary to minimize chance of injury - just because the plan says you need to run a particular time/distance/pace isn't as important as getting to the start line safely.
Started running at age 60.
AG 60-64 PR - 5K 25:45, 10K 53:28, HM 1:57:39, Marathon 4:32:09
AG 65-69 PR - 5K 26:11, HM 2:02:39, Marathon 5:04:47
Upcoming race: Contraband 5 miler 5/4/24
I life at the base of a local hill, which is also a 1200 acre park, which is where I do most of my runs. Meaning, as soon as I go out the door I'm doing hills. I think in previous training rotations I paid too much attention to "distance". If the plan says 20 miles, and I'm on the trails, that may be 4-1/2 hours, when 3-1/2 would have been sufficient.