Pine Belt Pacers Forum

Considering that I have run a total of 5 times over the course of the past 3 weeks, I feel very good about my time for today's 5K race. I had planned on doing volunteer duties, but they had enough people that I was able to jump in and do the race.

Today was our coldest day of Fall, with a race temperature of about 49. I did absolutely no WU, so I used the first mile for that. The first mile was about 10 minutes and I got progressively faster, finishing in a time of 28:52 which is about a 9:18 pace. I felt very strong (that's what all that hiking does for you), but I certainly wasn't as fast as I was a couple of months ago.

I am hoping that I can get back to solid training and my plan is to enter some Master's Track and Field or road race competitions. Right now, I'm just trying to learn more about the various organizations and events that are targeted for such elderly people.

This was a good week for me as I'm trying to get back into racing condition. I think that all the hiking I did has made me stronger and I also think that the yoga/Pilates, as well as specific stretches and weight training is helping to prevent my usual hamstring/piriformis problems.

Today's 5K time was very encouraging as I was about a minute faster than last week. I've still got a way to go to get back under 27 and I've decided to make the St Jude 5K my target race for that. I might be able to make the time before that, but I'll not set it as a goal. I intend to continue with Tuesday track and try to enter as many races as possible. I really have missed all aspects of racing and with a new AG looming, it's time to ramp it up while I'm the youngster in the group (but only if the AG is 5 years). Ten year AGs are OK with me, especially when the number of entries is so low. There's not much to brag about when you win an AG just because you are the only entry. I like competition!

Here's my training for the week:

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:45 pace
Monday - 3.25 miles @ 10:25 pace
Tuesday - 5 miles with 6 x 400 @ 8:48 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles on treadmill
Thursday - 2 miles @ 10:38
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 5 miles with 3.1 @ 8:58 pace

For the week, I ran 21:25 miles, walked 8.25 miles, lifted weights on 2 days, did Pilates 2 days and 1 day of yoga.

I'm into my third week of training and I'm getting faster and increasing the distance. Today was my 3rd 5K race in 3 weeks. I'm getting closer to breaking 27, with today's pace being 8:45. I really need to increase the distance of my long run, but it's so much more fun to race and socialize after the races, rather than doing a long run.

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:18 pace
Monday - 4 miles @ 10:20 pace
Tuesday - 5 miles including 6 x 400 @ 8:24 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles @ 10:30 pace
Thursday - 3 miles at Track on Tap
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 5 miles including 3.1 @ 8:45 pace

For the week, I ran 23 miles, walked 6.75, lifted weights on 3 days, did 2 Pilates and 1 yoga class

Last week was my third week of training, since returning from my Grand Canyon adventure. After three straight Saturday's of racing a 5K, it was nice to take the week off from racing and go to Clinton to watch the Oak Grove team race. Since I wasn't racing last week, I increased my long run to 6 miles. I'd like to get that up to 8 miles and alternate long run weeks with racing.
I also want to get my weekly mileage up to about 27-28. I think that is about all my body can tolerate, but it is good enough to be able to race up to a 10K. Here's the summary of last week's training:

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:23 pace
Monday - 4 miles on treadmill
Tuesday - 5 miles including 6 x 400 @ 8:28 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles @ 10:32 pace
Thursday - 6 miles @ 10:05 pace
Friday - 3 miles on treadmill
Saturday - Rest

For the week I ran 24 miles, walked 9.25 miles, attended 1 yoga and 1 Pilates class and lifted weights 1 day.

I'm slowly increasing the weekly distance and I'm getting a little faster. I was very pleased that on Saturday I was able to cover almost 7 miles in the 65 minutes. I had thought I'd be able to easily maintain a 10 minute pace for the 65 minutes, but I got caught up in the emotion of the event and started out way too fast. I was OK for 4.5 miles, but the last 2.5, I was hurting. Sunday and yesterday were walk run days and I will continue with that for this week.

My next goal is to run sub 27 for the 5K in Memphis on December 5. I'll also be doing the Virginia Highlands 5K in Atlanta on December 21. That is a very tough course and I'll just cover the distance.

For the week, I ran 25 miles, walked 7 miles and went to 2 Pilates' classes. I'm taking a couple of weeks off from weights.

Sunday - 3.5 miles @ 10:24 pace
Monday - 4 miles @ 10:00 pace
Tuesday - 5 miles with 2 x 1 mile 8:28 pace
Wednesday - 3.5 miles on Treadmill
Thursday - 2 miles
Friday - REST
Saturday - 7 miles @ 9:19 pace

I'm finally getting around to posting a summary of last week's workouts. I really felt like a had a very good run for the 65 minutes on the track, but it took most of last week to recover. I was very careful not to push myself and did not do any speed. I'll try to do track either tomorrow or Wednesday and start getting myself ready for the 5K in Memphis on December 5.

I have learned that I need to do the rehab weight and stretching routine that has kept my hamstrings/piriformis from attacking me. The past 2-3 weeks, I have not done the routine and I can tell that is a mistake. I feel so much better when I do hamstring curls and other lower leg weights as well as specific piriformis stretches.

Here's what I did last week to get a total of 24.25 miles running. I also walked 10-12 miles.

Sunday - Ran and walked until I got a total of 3 miles running
Monday - Ran and walked until I got a total of 4 miles running
Tuesday - 3 miles @ 10:29 pace
Wednesday - 4.25 miles on Treadmill
Thursday - REST
Friday - 5 miles @10:24 pace
Saturday - 5 miles @ 10:12 pace

We are spending this week at a beach house in Navarre Beach, FL. Today I had Hollie drive me toward Pensacola and I ran 6 miles and walked 1 mile along the Gulf Island National Seashore road. This is a beautiful area, with Santa Rosa sound on one side and the gulf on the other and 7 miles with nothing but beach or sound. We have really enjoyed this area and after spending 8 -9 of the last 10 Thanksgivings at Dauphin Island, AL, this was our first time here. Today was a very nice run. My plan was to start slowly and just go with how I felt. The running surface was newly paved (due to hurricane damage) and it was very soft and I had either a cross wind or a tail wind. My first mile was about 10:45 and I got progressively faster, with the last mile being about 9:45. The total time for the 6 mile run was exactly an hour for a 10:00 pace. After taking a week to recover from my 7 mile (9:19 pace) BD celebration run, this has been a good running week. It certainly helps that I've been in such a beautiful place, with wonderful family and the weather has been terrific. Life is good!

Since tomorrow is a planned rest day, I'll go ahead and post my training log for the past week. I ran a total of 25.25 miles. Anytime I can get 25 plus for a week, I am pleased. I also walked 9.75 miles. Next week, I need to get back to Pilates and weights.

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:15 pace
Monday - 4 miles @ 10:28 pace
Tuesday - 5.25 miles including 7 x 400
Wednesday - 4 miles @ 10:22 pace
Thursady 6 miles @ 10:00 pace
Friday - 3 miles @ 10:50 pace
Saturday - REST

I haven't posted any training logs for the past two weeks. This is a catch-up where I'll include two week's worth. I'm doing well with slowly increasing the mileage and I was very pleased with my time and place at the St Jude 5K on December 5 where I ran 27:07 and won the Senior Masters division. Then we went to Fayetteville, AR for 5 days where I had to do 3 of my 4 runs on the treadmill. Even after returning home, I had to do more treadmill runs because of the hard rains that we've had in Hattiesburg. My body does not like treadmill running and when combined with no yoga, weights or Pilates, it is getting "stove up" or really stiff and achy. I've also added a few pounds since Thanksgiving. All of this combined has made for a lack of focused training. That will probably last for awhile as we will be driving to Atlanta tomorrow and we'll be there until at least Sunday. I'm really looking forward to getting back into a routine that includes outside running, weights, yoga, Pilates and weight loss. That will probably not happen until late January because on Jan 12 I'm going to Northern NM where I will be doing a snowshoe 5K race for which I will need to train (snowshoe) for 4-5 days and will need to do my running on a treadmill. That will probably not happen until late January because on Jan 12 I'm going to Northern NM where I will be doing a snowshoe 5K race for which I will need to train (snowshoe) for 4-5 days and will need to do my running on a treadmill. Last year I participated in the 100 day running challenge and when I was in NM, I was more concerned with that than I was with training for the snowshoe event. After finishing dead last in the snowshoe 5K, this year I'm going to try to better prepare for the event. It is at 10,000-11,000 feet elevation so my plan is to do the snowshoe course 2-3 times prior to the race. I'll probably still finish last, but I hope to improve on the time and at least feel better. In the meantime, here is what I did the past two weeks.

Sunday - 5 miles @ 10:12 pace
Monday - 4.5 miles on treadmill
Tuesday - 5 miles on treadmill including 12 x 200 meters
Wednesday - 3 miles easy
Thursday - 2 miles easy
Friday -REST
Saturday - 4 miles including a 5K @ 8:45 pace

Total mileage for the week was 23.5

Sunday - 4.5 miles @ 10:45 pace
Monday - 4 miles on treadmill
Tuesday - 5 miles on treadmill
Wednesday - 4 miles on treadmill
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 5 miles @ 10:15 pace
Saturday - 4 miles on treadmill

Total mileage for the week was 26.5

We are in Atlanta and yesterday I ran 4 miles at the Chattachooche trail. I'll do 2-3 today, rest tomorrow and plan to do the Virginia Highlands 5K on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll be OK with that. I've had sore throat for the past 2-3 day and it is supposed to be very cold on Saturday. Tomorrow will be cold and rani---I'm glad it's a scheduled rest day.

I think there are very few of us who manage to avoid periodic illness. This past week I had the minor cold/crud. When I have it, I hope it will not stay long and when I'm over it I hope it won't come back for another year or so. There's really nothing that can be done except treat the symptoms and rest until it is past. I was supposed to race a 5K yesterday, but decided it best that I not do it. Since I had taken Friday as a rest day and also done a bit of a taper, I did not have a good week as far as mileage goes. I've been aiming to get up to about 28 miles a week and try to keep it there and I was doing OK until last week. Oh well! Here is the summary:

Sunday - 4 miles @ 10:19 pace
Monday - 6 miles including 10 x 300 @ 8:45 pace
Tuesday - 3 miles on treadmill
Wednesday - 4 @ 10:19 pace
Thursday - 2 miles easy
Friday - REST
Saturday - SICK

19 miles running and 5,.25 miles walking

I'm just getting over a respiratory infection which has really disrupted my sleep. I haven't felt too bad and I only took two days off from running. Last Friday was a planned rest day and then on Saturday I decided not to do the 5K race for which I'd done a bit of a taper. On Sunday I ran 6 miles on a treadmill and yesterday I ran 3 miles after we drove home from Atlanta. Today is my usual speed day and I thought I could handle it. I planned to to 4 x 600 @ 8:40 pace with a 400 jog recovery. After my usual half mile walk and one-mile run warmup, I took off on the first interval. Right away I knew it would be really difficult for me to do all 4 of the 600s. From the get go, I was having issues with my breathing and with my stride. Basically, I just felt very fatigued. When I finished the first 600 and saw that the pace was an 8:20 (don't know where that came from), I knew why I was feeling so bad. Ok well! I just figured I'd go for it and try to stay on that pace even though I was really hurting. I made it through three of the 600s and then I had to "save the workout" by doing 3 x 200 at the 8:20 pace. Including WU and CD, I ran 5 miles and walked 1.25. I'm beat!

Way to hang in there Boss. Not sure if that's a good thing or not because you do need to give your body extra down time when you're sick. I woke up with a very sore throat yesterday morning and stopped and bought some Zicam and extra strength Sucrets in Hammond on our way to Sugar Land. Got pretty stopped up as the day went on. Gonna keep taking the Zicam and hope for the best. Feel a little better today. Hope you feel better too. Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow is a planned rest day so I can go ahead and close out the week's training log. I've been trying to increase my mileage to the 26-28 mile a week range, but this week I went over that logging 30 miles. This is the biggest week that I've had in a very long time and it was mainly due to running 8 miles yesterday. My most recent long run had been the 7 miles that I did at my BD celebration on November 14. Since then I've done a couple of 6 milers. The only reason I did the 8 miles was to prove to myself that I could race the Steam Whistle 12K on January 1. Next week will be a taper for that event.

Here's the summary for the week:

Sunday - 6 miles on treadmill
Monday - 3 miles @ 9:58 pace
Tuesday - 5 miles including 3 x 600 and 3 x 200 @ 8:30 pace
Wednesday - 4 @ 10:19 pace
Thursday - 8 miles on treadmill
Friday - 4 miles @ 10:32 pace
Saturday - REST