Jan 15-21
Mon: AM - 56 min incl 6X3 min at threshold; PM - 28 min easy
Tue: 45 min easy
Wed: 42 min easy
Thu: 42 min easy
Fri: 45 easy
Sat: 65 min easy
Sun: 46 min easy
Total: ~45 miles

This was one of the most challenging weather weeks I can remember in quite a while. The average run-time temp for me was 19 degrees, and with the wind chill, the "feels like" temp was significantly colder than that. Wed morning the actual temp was 2, and the next morning it tripled to 6. Throw in snow on a couple occasions, and it just wasn't fun. As a result, I was basically happy to just get out the door each day and didn't really worry about the length or quality of my runs from Tue on. In the end, I got in just over 45 miles in 8 runs with all but one of those outdoors.

My hamstring continues to bother me, so that's the first thing I need to address. This coming week I'm going to get back to the strength work I need for rehab/prehab on it and have a chiro visit scheduled as well. Since it seems to be holding up ok and is more annoying than anything else. I'm hoping I can still hit 2-3 workouts, but I'm not going to push anything.

At this point, it's looking like my first race of the season is likely to be Mar 9, which is basically 7 weeks away. Hopefully that's enough time to get fully healthy and build a little fitness, because right now I have a long way to go. Until next time, onward and upward!

Training Recap: Jan 8-14

Jan 8-14
Mon: 5 miles easy
Tue: 0 - unplanned day off due to work and weather
Wed: 3.5 miles easy
Thu: 4.25 miles easy
Fri: 5 miles easy
Sat: AM - 6.5 miles incl 3X5 min at threshold, PM - 3 miles easy
Sun: 5 miles easy
Total:  32+ miles

Ugh! This week did NOT go according to plan. It got off to a bad start on Monday when I was supposed to do a double with a workout only to have something go awry at work such that I was lucky to just be able to squeeze in 5 miles. Tuesday I knew was going to be a challenging day at work, and by the time I got to the end I was just wiped out and couldn't motivate myself to get out the door, especially in the rain. From there, things just went downhill and I struggled with energy and motivation through the end of the week. I got it back together by the weekend and had a decent day Sat followed by a normal recovery run on Sun.

So, long story short, I'm right back on the roller coaster, following up a 53 mile week last week with just 32 (almost 33) this week. I'm not sure how to turn things around, but building some consistency is task number one for the foreseeable future. Until I can regularly churn out 50'ish mile weeks, it's going to be difficult to get anywhere. It's really disappointing because I had hoped to be in Richmond this coming weekend for the Masters race at the USATF XC Championships, but I'm not even close to being fit enough to think about that. I also had the USATF Masters 5k Championships in Atlanta Feb 24 on my radar, but at just 6 weeks away, I don't see that happening either. I don't mind racing on less than fitness than I would like, but I'm not going to travel just to completely embarrass myself.

Looks like a challenging weather week ahead with wind chills in the single digits and some snow mixed in here and there as well. Training this time of year is just a drag, but you gotta gear up and go. Hopefully I can be consistent and hit 45-50 miles then gradually build from there. Have a great week, everyone!

Training Recap: Jan 1-7

Jan 1-7
Mon: 5,5 miles easy
Tue: AM - 7.25 miles with threshold (4X5 min w/ 90 sec), PM - 3.25 miles easy
Wed: 5.5 miles easy
Thu: AM - 6.25 miles steady, PM - 3.5 miles easy
Fri: AM - 8.25 miles steady, PM - 3.5 miles easy
Sat: 5 miles easy
Sun: 5.5 miles easy
Total:  53+ miles

Missed last week's recap, but that's no big deal because it was a similar week to the previous couple. I had a few good days, only to offset them with a few bad days, and the result was a meager 33 miles. This week I did a much better job of being consistent and it showed in the results, which is good, because this was Week 1 of the RunAbout Sports Roanoke EatSleepRunAbout2024 challenge.

 

That's the good. The bad is my left hip/hamstring bothered me all week. It wasn't bad, but it was always there and was annoying, enough so that a lot of runs weren't much fun and I decided no faster paced running after Tuesday's workout. I even had to dial back the effort on that workout just to err on the side of caution and not risk further aggravation. Such is the life of a 50 year old, I guess.

I did implement a lot of strength work this week, doing at least a little something every day. I focused on my hips, hamstrings, and glutes, with some core work added in. I was also diligent with stretching, foam rolling, and doing other mobility work to try to get my hamstring to settle down.

This coming week is going to be very difficult. I have some work events that I know are going to make it challenging to do what I need/want to do. Hopefully I can find a way to fit everything in because I'm just 7 weeks away from when I want to make my 2024 racing debut. 

At some point in time soon, I hope to have some time to go into more detail on my training philosophy and some other running-related posts to make this blog more interesting. If you have ideas for topics, feel free to drop them in the comments. Thanks for reading, and hope everyone has a great week!

Training Recap: Dec 18-24

Dec 18-24
Mon: 6.75 miles with Threshold B workout (3X5 min with 90 sec)
Tue: 5 miles easy
Wed: 7.5 miles with Threshold C workout (3X7 min with 90 sec shuffle)
Thu: 5.5 miles easy
Fri: 2.5 miles easy
Sat: 3.5 miles easy
Sun: 6.5 miles easy
Total: ~37 miles

"You have failed me for the last time" - Darth Vader

This post is going to be short and sweet. The past week was a carbon copy of the previous one, which is NOT a good thing. Everything went basically according to schedule through Thu, only for me to crash and burn come Fri. Without going into the details, it's time for me to make a few changes but also get back to the basics. In general, I'm looking to increase my volume while dialing back the intensity some. I feel like I'm lacking a solid of enough base to do what I want to do, so that's the place to start. Onward!

Training Recap: Dec 11-17

Dec 11-17

Mon: 7.5 miles with Threshold B workout (4X5 min with 60 sec shuffle)
Tue: 5.5 miles easy
Wed: AM - 6.75 miles with Threshold C workout (3X7 min with 90 sec shuffle; PM - 2.75 miles easy
Thu: 5.5 miles easy
Fri: Off (unplanned)
Sat: 4.25 miles easy
Sun: 4.75 miles easy
Total: 37 miles

Note: Strength training on Mon and Wed

This was the second week in a row that was sub-par and didn't go as planned. The first three days were basically according to schedule. I had to cut the warm-up and cool-down a little short on Wed due to needing to be at a work event that morning, so I figured I would double back with a few easy miles in the afternoon. That may have turned out to be a mistake because by Fri I was feeling wiped out again, and as with last week, needed to take an unplanned day off. Accordingly, I just ran easy on Sat and Sun to try to recover and regroup so I can get back on track this coming week.

What you see above has been all too common, not just recently, but really going back the past several years. I can put together very short stints of decent training but it seems I always cross the line and wind up feeling burned out, after which I need some lighter training in order to recover. As a result, training has looked like a roller coaster, which is not a good thing because consistency is key! When it comes to the effects of aging, this seems to be where I've been hit the hardest.

I've never been great at being conservative at anything. When I'm in, I'm all in! That's served me well in many aspects over the years, but it's not necessarily my friend when it comes to training these days. Going forward, I simply must do a better job at keeping the reins on things with the hope that if I do so I will make fitness gains and can also slowly, gradually increase both the quality and quantity of my training over time. I can't just jump in and will it to happen like I could 20 years ago!

Anyway, hopefully I can get back on track this coming week and have a decent week of training, although the week of Christmas and the week after always tend to be a bit crazy with all the Holiday activities. The goal will be 45 miles with 3 light workouts and a "long" run. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on how I plan on laying out my training as well as what I'm thinking in regards to racing in 2024. Thanks for reading, and have a great week, everyone!

It's Been a Minute, Blog!

He's baaaaack! Looks like my last post was a little over 3.5 years ago. I guess I could say time flies but some things never change. Back then I was attempting to get back into serious training with a goal of racing fast again, and I've pretty much spent all the time since then failing at that quest for one reason or another. On the good side, I've actually been able to stay fairly healthy in terms of the aches, pains, etc. that often seem to plague us Masters runners. On the downside, I haven't avoided the recovery issues that are the other bane of Masters. Essentially I'll have a good week or two then basically blow up, my overall energy level being the problem. While I haven't aggressively pursued a solution to that, I have tried some things to no avail. A recent blood test just a couple weeks ago did reveal that my red blood cell count was below normal and my hemoglobin and hematocrit on the very low end of normal. The doc didn't think that was an issue though, especially with all my other numbers and my overall health metrics being quite good. Guess that's one of the benefits of being a lifetime athlete! Anyway, this is more or less a short post to revive this blog. I fully plan on regular posts going forward. Many will be about my own training and racing (hopefully), but I also want to do some posts related to general training as well as the local and Masters running scenes. As a side note, I did have to update the title for the blog as I became a Grand Master earlier this year and it's now about seeing what I can do after 50. Man, I'm getting old! That's all for now but stay tuned for lots to come.

Catching Up

Having fallen off the blog scene for quite a while, I thought I would do a catch-up post. I’ve actually spent the better part of the past year injured and therefore without a lot to talk about when it comes to running. It started with some hip issues, which took me out for most all the first half of 2018, then, just when I started to get on top of that problem and make some progress with my fitness, a knee injury struck me in early August and I’ve been fighting that ever since.

I finally seem to be at a point where I’m ready to train again, and I’m excited to give it a go. Over the past four weeks, I’ve hit mileage totals of 48, 57, 62, and 31, with the 31 being a somewhat planned cutback week. I’ve learned a few things over the past couple years and even the past few weeks, and I think I’m ready to put that newfound knowledge to use.

My one race this past fall, the Salem 8k (4th OA, 1st Master)

That said, I’ve got a couple priorities I’ll be focusing on. First and foremost, I need to stay healthy. That’s going to involve doing some consistent strength work, mainly focused on my hips, hamstrings, and glutes, and also doing the little things right like stretching, massage, sleep, and nutrition/ hydration. Second, I need to become a runner again. For far too long I’ve been obsessed with hitting a certain mileage total, feeling like I wasn’t working hard enough if I didn’t. That’s out the window going forward. Instead, I need to focus on getting some speed back and learning to run fast again. Shuffling through a lot of miles might have its place occasionally, but when that’s all you do that’s all your body knows how to do. As my friend, mentor, and extremely fast runner, Steve Taylor, says, “If you wanna run fast, you gotta run fast!”

At this point I have no immediate race plans, although if things go well I’d like to do a rust buster or two in June then go from there. An ambitious goal would be to get fit enough to compete at the USATF Masters National 5k Championship in Atlanta in mid-August, but I don’t know if I can get fit enough by then to justify the trip. I’m not ruling it out, so we’ll see. I know I can’t force things, though, and have to let the fitness come to me rather than press too hard. As Masters superstar, Pete Magill, says, Masters running is a mistake free zone where there is basically no margin for error. It’s a challenge, but that’s something I’ve always been up for. Onward!