So how many miles a week are you running now?

[Rambler]

I was never a runner, just started a few months back and now to the point that I can jog 3.5 miles without petering out for a cool-down/breather walk. I am tryiing to run 3-4 miles about 5x a week, but just probably averaging about 4.5 days a week, so maybe 15 total. I want to get to the point that I can run 6 miles without a breather, then add cycling and swimming such that I could do a triathlon (like Nation's that Leatherneck is starting to train for...another thread). I'm finding I enjoy it much more than I thought I would, but the enjoyment comes in how good I feel when I am done, and the achievement (couldn't run a lap around a track when I started...). I don't particularly enjoy the monotony of the run, and all I have is a treadmill...nowhere around here to run without stoplights, pedestrians, and mad motorcycles.
R

[Lsbcal]

MB, congratulations on your race results. Haven't done any races in a few years. Now it's just between me and that overweight guy on the bike who's just trying to get up the grade I start on. Sometimes I pass the bikers but they always get me later on the flat. Then there are those jack rabbits that just stare until you come up to them and then they sometimes run straight on the path with you until they figure out they can just ver off into the brush.

Went on a one month vacation with no running -- just hiking. So it's taken me awhile to get back to my 20mi per week. Right now I'm at 16 mpw. The weather here is Northern Ca. is ideal now for morning runs and the soft light at this time of the year makes everything glow.

Good luck to all you runners and runners to be.

P.S. So what happened to Newguy?

[bbbamI]

Wow, what a descriptive post and thoughtful analogy MB....congrats on your success!

[TromboneAl]

Congrats, MB.

I'm pretty sure that I'm about the fittest I can be for my age, but I'm never going to win any races. I'm just not that fast. My conclusion is that I just didn't inherit a fast body.

[mb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambler I was never a runner, just started a few months back and now to the point that I can jog 3.5 miles without petering out for a cool-down/breather walk. I am tryiing to run 3-4 miles about 5x a week, but just probably averaging about 4.5 days a week, so maybe 15 total. I want to get to the point that I can run 6 miles without a breather, then add cycling and swimming such that I could do a triathlon (like Nation's that Leatherneck is starting to train for...another thread). I'm finding I enjoy it much more than I thought I would, but the enjoyment comes in how good I feel when I am done, and the achievement (couldn't run a lap around a track when I started...). I don't particularly enjoy the monotony of the run, and all I have is a treadmill...nowhere around here to run without stoplights, pedestrians, and mad motorcycles. R

Be careful about doing to much to fast. Endurance tends to increase at a faster rate than tendons and ligaments can adapt and that leads to injury.

At our age injury prevention is alot more important than a couple of extra miles.

One thing that many coaches recommend is to cut back your mileage by half every fourth week so if you are doing 15 miles a week reduce it to 7 for one week and then go back to your normal distance the next week. The "short week" is also a good time to introduce something new like a day of swimming or biking in a way that minimizes stress.

I have found that I can do a respectable sprint distance tri with one day of swimming and one day of biking a week in addition to 4-5 days of running.

Good luck,

MB

[mb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal MB, congratulations on your race results. Went on a one month vacation with no running -- just hiking. So it's taken me awhile to get back to my 20mi per week. Right now I'm at 16 mpw. The weather here is Northern Ca. is ideal now for morning runs and the soft light at this time of the year makes everything glow. P.S. So what happened to Newguy?

Thanks,

I'm in San Jose. I love the weather here. But after living elsewhere, January and July are the times that I particularly appreciate it.

I was wondering if Newguy was banned?

[Rambler]

Thanks mb...sounds like good advice. So far this week I've only gotten in 7 miles...had to take a day trip for business, stayed home for a holiday, and they were closed this morning. Fly to the states tomorrow, so maybe I'll get in a good walk but won't make it to the gym. I think you are right though, because when I have done 15 miles in a week, my calves (sides of calves) ache for a couple days. Will keep at it but try your advice, and other exercises to fill in the gaps.

R

[1924F4mandolin]

Ahhh, running. After years of not running, my knees were finally cooperating enough to let me run again (after 2 P Tendon surgeries on each knee). Slowly worked up to 8 miles every other day...started racing again.......AND THEN I WANTED MORE!!! It has been 2.5 weeks since I last ran. Looks like I am back on my bike for a month or two. The recumbent bike has saved me though....best thing I have done in a long time. But...after being able to run 5 min pace for 6 miles or more......there is still an undercurrent of.....if I just get some weight off....or if I start taking some other pills......doesn't this sound an awful lot like the stock market to me??..........

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1924F4mandolin Ahhh, running. After years of not running, my knees were finally cooperating enough to let me run again (after 2 P Tendon surgeries on each knee). Slowly worked up to 8 miles every other day...started racing again.......AND THEN I WANTED MORE!!! .......

Mandolin, yikes sounds like a running junky to me . Of course, you know your body's capabilities best. I'm 60 and find that I do not know exactly where the straining point is. I've decided that running by myself in our hilly state park is pleasureable enough that I did not need those races and the corresponding push on my body. When another runner is coming up on me (it does happen occasionally) it's an effort to avoid upping my pace but I give myself a mental pat on the back for letting him/her pass. I do sometimes pass horses and cyclists going up steep grades.

I try to do 4 runs per week with only 2 back-to-back. Also I have not gone to the track in a few years so only guess at my pace but who cares. When I talk to other people and mention running nobody asks me my pace anyway.

Hope you have many more miles of pleasureable running. BTW, what kind of terrain do you experience in Harrogate?

[1924F4mandolin]

Running here depends on where you live. In town...here in Harrogate, it is rolling and not that hilly. If you live outside town to the north/northwest you get into the Dales...it becomes hilly. Look up the Nidderdale on the internet(think "all creatures great and small"...same area). The most beautiful area I have ever lived in....but the weather sucks. I grew up in W Washington....this is worse by far. But, I would live here if I could afford it. Good people....great countryside...but, I am not smart with the training. Even though I have spent my career as a PE teacher....just not able to hold myself in check. Bit of a addictive personality I am afraid. I play classical mandolin and I keep hoping it will carry over like it did when I played violin (and had to give up with back problems)....not yet anyway.

[mb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1924F4mandolin But...after being able to run 5 min pace for 6 miles or more......there is still an undercurrent of.....if I just get some weight off....or if I start taking some other pills......doesn't this sound an awful lot like the stock market to me??..........

I kind of have the same problem. I want to think that the 20 extra years will not make any difference if only I can get back in shape and get my weekly mileage back up.

But in reality I think that Isbcal has it right.

I'm 51 and still like to race and run hard when I can but the most important thing is still being able to run tomorrow and next year and 10 years from now and I have to practice a little more moderation now in order to do that.

Hope you recover and are able to get back on the roads and/or trails soon,

MB

[catdance62]

I ran for years until I had a serious bicycling accident that did something to my knee that made it get progressively worse. I laid off running and went to walking for about a year, now I am trying to run again. I've noticed that I dont' tolerate running in cold weather as well as I used to so today I partook of Black Friday and bought a treadmill! It has a cross-training feature for working your arms like an elliptical trainer. I think it's great!
Exercise and proper nutrition is the most important preventative medicine!!

[nugeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb Thanks, I'm in San Jose. I love the weather here. But after living elsewhere, January and July are the times that I particularly appreciate it. I was wondering if Newguy was banned?

Yep, I was, been running now 70+ miles a week. Hope I do not get banned again.

[mb]

It's been almost two years since the last post in this thread so perhaps there is some new running news that is worth sharing?

A couple of months ago: DW and I are both entered in a small, local 5k road race. I look around at the start and notice that the demographics seem to be skewed more towards the weekend warrior and the do the event for the charity type than the competitive runner. There is nothing wrong with that of course but what I'm really doing is scouting the competition. I don't see anyone that I know that can beat me and there are only a few really skinny guys in 6 oz. racing flats and they look younger so I figure that I have a chance to place in my age group.

I put my self in the second row of runners at the start. After about 3/4 mile everyone has settled into a comfortable place and it looks like I'm 7th overall. It is both a 5k and 10k on an out-and-back course so the 5k runners runners will turn around after 1.55 miles and I'll see all of the 5k runners in front of me as they run back to the finish while the 10k runners will continue. It turns out the I'm 4th at the turn around. Two guys are battling it out in front. I don't have a chance to catch either of them. Another guy is a considerable distance back and I'm maybe 100 yards behind him. I'll catch him if he fades but he looks strong and I'm starting to feel it. Shortly after I go through the turn around and head back to the finish I see DW coming the other direction. Crap she's practically right behind me! She's running really well. If I fade she might catch me! Everyone holds their position to the end and I increase the gap between me and DW a little but can't close on the 3rd place guy.

So what was new about this? For the first time in 30 years of road racing DW and I sweep our age group! She takes 1st in her age group and I win my age group! The previous best was a race where I was first and she was second.

A couple of months before that: I'm with DS and his high school cross country team running in a park in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. There is a drinking fountain a little less than a mile from the starting/finishing point and everyone stops there for a drink.

Shortly before I get to the drinking fountain on the way back to the start I see DS and his group turn on to the main trail from a side trail and stop at the drinking fountain. It has been a couple of months since we have raced (see post #215 in this thread) and he has been getting faster and I have sensed that my opportunities for beating him are fading away.

I lead the slow group on these runs and it is a pretty slow pace for me so I'm still fresh. On the other hand DS runs with the fast group. They do more miles and a lot more hills at a much faster pace than the slow group. They usually run pretty hard and I figure that DS is tired. I sense an opportunity!

I pick up my pace and go by DS while he is waiting at the drinking fountain. I give myself as much of a head start as possible and then yell back to him that I'll race him to the parking lot. I don't know if he hears because I don't look back! The rule is that you never ever look back. For quite a while I don't hear anything and then with about 1/2 mile to go I hear him pull in behind me. He runs behind me for quite a while. Is he tired or just playing me? I'm red-lining it but he appears to be working hard to stay with me. Maybe I still have a chance? Then we hit a small bridge with a slight up hill and a sharp right turn and he goes by me in a flash. I try to go with him but I just don't have anything left.

At the finish my hands are numb and I have to control myself to keep from getting the dry heaves (Don't know how to spell it but you know what I mean.) He's very casual, playing it cool as if he doesn't notice me finishing. (Of course he is a teen-ager.)

A minute or so later a guy about my age comes up to me. He noticed that we were racing. He tells me that, "I thought that you had him and then I blinked and he was 10 yards in front of you!" I tell him that is difference between 52 year old legs and 16 year old legs.

But I haven't given up on beating DS yet! I just need to find a better way to cheat

Any new running news?

[RunningBum]

Nice! I took my age group in a small 5K earlier this summer, finishing 4th overall, but two guys ahead of me would have also been in the 40-49 group had they not been 1-2 overall. I had the homefield advantage on my mountain; I watched a dozen or so people go out too fast before the first of two big hills and had fun picking them off. A couple guys I passed said they couldn't let go on the pretty steep downhills like I did.

I'm running a 50K near home in 2 weeks, and the New York City marathon on Nov 1.

[Lsbcal]

MB: nice race stories! I think you should give your DW a handicap though. Take her personal best and yours and subtract the times for her handicap. Then challenge her to a duel to the finish .

RunningBum: you've got to do something about that testosterone .

--------------------

I've just been keeping up my 20 miles per week. Beat the pants off a jack rabbit the other day though running in the state park. Also got a yellowjacket sting on my right foot which put me out of action for the week. Note to self: in September avoid the lake area after 10am.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb Any new running news?

I ran 5k yesterday and didn't throw up

I'd love to be able to run in a race where I thought I might actually place in the top 10. I tip my hat to you over 50 runners

[IndependentlyPoor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan I tip my hat to you over 50 runners

Ditto that. My running days are over, and I miss it. Running was sort of like meditation for me... enhanced by endorphins.

Back in my salad days (20s and 30s) I ran 9 miles a week, a lap around Austin's Town Lake three times a week.

I was a sprinter in high school: the 100 and 220 yard dashes and sprint relay. (I could run a 9.7 second hundred on a good day.) Our standard workout was to run a 330 (longer than a 220, because the ability to run flat out for the full distance is critical for the 220) then walk the remaining 110 and repeat... 15 times. We had to run the 330 in less than 35 or 36 seconds (memory fails here) or coach made us run it over. Somewhere around number 9 or 10 you generally stepped off the track and barfed, then trotted to catch up with the rest of the gang before the start of the next 330. Then there was a leisurely 880 cool down.

I can't believe we were so dedicated.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndependentlyPoor I was a sprinter in high school: the 100 and 220 yard dashes and sprint relay. (I could run a 9.7 second hundred on a good day.)

I think you may be mistaken with that number. Only a couple people in history have ever ran a 9.7 100m. This isn't a current table but it shows the all-time best 100m thru 1996.

Table 1: Men's Top 20 fastest legal 100m times, ranked according to increasing tail-wind speed (for equal time runs) Rank tw w Athlete Location Date 1 9.84 +0.7 Donovan Bailey CAN Atlanta, GA 27 Jul 1996 2 9.85 +1.2 Leroy Burrell USA Lausanne, SWI 06 Jul 1994 3 9.86 -0.4 Frank Fredericks NAM Lausanne, SWI 03 Jul 1996 4 9.86 +1.2 Carl Lewis USA Tokyo, JAP 25 Aug 1991 5 9.87 +0.3 Linford Christie GBR Stuttgart, GER 15 Aug 1993 6 9.87 +1.9 Fredricks NAM Helsinki, FIN 25 Jun 1996 7 9.88 +1.2 Burrell USA Tokyo, JAP 25 Aug 1991 8 9.89 +0.7 Fredericks NAM Atlanta, GA 27 Jul 1996 9 9.90 +0.7 Ato Boldon TRI Atlanta, GA 27 Jul 1996 10 9.90 +1.9 Burrell USA New York, NY 14 Jun 1991 11 9.91 +1.3 Bailey CAN Montr\'{e}al, PQ 15 Jul 1995 12 9.91 +1.5 Dennis Mitchell USA Milan, ITY 07 Sep 1996 13 9.91 +1.9 Christie GBR Victoria, BC 23 Aug 1994 14 9.92 +0.3 Andre Cason USA Stuttgart, GER 15 Aug 1993 15 9.92 +0.8 Boldon TRI Eugene, OR 01 Jun 1996 16 9.92 +1.1 Lewis USA Seoul, SK 24 Sep 1988 17 9.92 +1.1 Mitchell USA Atlanta, GA 16 Jun 1996 18 9.92 +1.2 Christie GBR Tokyo, JAP 25 Aug 1991 19 9.93 -0.6 Mike Marsh USA Walnut, CA 18 Apr 1992 20 9.93 -0.6 Boldon TRI Atlanta, GA 27 Jul 1996

[IndependentlyPoor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I think you may be mistaken with that number. Only a couple people in history have ever ran a 9.7 100m. This isn't a current table but it shows the all-time best 100m thru 1996.

I'm not mistaken, just sloppy in posting. Back in the dark ages, track in the U.S. was all in yards, not meters, and the difference is significant.