50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

63 wrote:

I am about ready to tell people to slim down as a comeback. Is there anyone here that have been told that they are too skinny? Do you have a comeback? By the way I am lean but far from anorexic.

We go out to dinner with friends often. As the other couple, who are perpetually on a 'diet' share a meal, I'll say something like 'I'm a few pounds lite today' as I eat my meal and about half of my wifes! Others we go out with have just a salad or appetizers, and they're still fat! I think they're jealous because I can eat a whole pizza and not gain an ounce... Sometimes I'll order dessert just to rub it in!

Of course they always say something stupid like 'Well, you're just skinny because you run 10 miles a day or 100 miles a week or whatever...Which are both far, far from the truth. Discipline with the diet all day long, along with my daily workout,

allows me to have a decent dinner and eat whatever I want on weekends.

Dave...6'2", 162#

6’-0.75” 184 lbs. No whole pizza for me. ? ? ?

5'10.75" and 150#. I lost 20 pounds when I started running 41.5 years ago, and have kept it off, partly from working out 6+ days/week, and from eating healthfully 90% of the time. I still love my chocolates, so 'save' some kcals for that. I'm not bragging, but without "re-discovering" running, I'd never have found that a regular exercise routine was going to be part of my ongoing lifestyle, and am committed to maintaining a decent level of fitness to this day.

In a way, the folks who come into our stores are very representative of the population, over 1/2 of them walk only for exercise, many are stop/starters with fitness/running/"cardio" and one of our stores is in a mall, so many just stroll in to see what we have. Probably almost 1/3 of our customers are senior citizens, so I guess we are more than a "running" store. Still, if we don't welcome and encourage those that might catch the bug, how do we get our sport to catch on more? A spoonful of sugar or something bitter?

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

6’-0.75” 184 lbs. No whole pizza for me. ? ? ?

Lol.

What bugs the heck out of me are the people who say "I wish I were slim like you. You're so lucky to have a fast metabolism!" To which I reply "Yes, I keep my metabolism fast by running or cycling for at least 90 minutes every day", which usually shuts them up. I can and do eat a lot more than a typical sedentary late-middle-aged woman, but I also work hard to burn those calories off.

5'5", 115 pounds. Raced best at 103-105, but weighed as much as 135-140 when I paid no attention to my diet and hadn't yet gotten serious about running.

Well, I must say I don't see much wrong with most of these comments from non-running folks that I'm reading here.

I mean, until I started running 2 years ago I was clueless about how one loses weight. Whenever the scale started to veer above normal BMI I would try lifestyle adjustments (because I was "smart enough" to avoid fads like Atkins or paleo), like carb reduction or caloric restriction (which are essentially fad diets). As for exercise, well, I did a lot of walking with my wife and am generally a twitchy fellow which science has shown is good for cardio health. Also, after years of not having my leukemia under control, it was a relief to be in remission. The doctor said I was in great shape and I know he meant it.

Then I started running and 20 pounds instantly fell off. Then I read "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald, who has a calc to determine your ideal running weight:

http://racingweight.com/rwe/index.html#/

and within another three months I was at that weight. Not because I wanted to be that weight, but because I wanted to run faster. Am I healthier than I was 2 years ago? Probably, but I don't think my health changed as much as my looks did.

I think it's asking a lot of non-running friends/strangers to fully appreciate how radical a change this level of fitness has on the body. Unless you're really interested in the science, you have to live it to get it. Likewise I wouldn't expect anyone to understand what effects chronic disease can have on a person unless they've been through it. I realize that one is voluntary and the other is not, but as someone who's lost 40 pounds both ways, I've found it hard to explain the change to others in a way that doesn't sound like showing off.

So when someone points out, as a complete stranger did at church on Sunday, how "fit and trim" I look, I don't get mad, I actually get kind of embarrassed. I think the best reaction is just be gracious and take the compliment.

As a psych nurse I am subjected to every imaginable insult on a regular basis.

Once you have done a few all day specials with manic bipolars at the top of their game you get a pretty thick hide.

Last night I was described by a patient as a skinny putrid mangey dog with a head like a baboon's arse. Moment's later the same sweet pea urinated on me and tossed a handful of faeces at me.

Not surprisingly I really don't get too stressed by the gen.pop's opinions of my physical appearance.

If you are happy in your own skin then just let it slide.

KC Geezer,

I believe you said your treatment was similar to my R-CHOP. How many months until you began to feel stronger again? Two months post chemo I am still napping in the afternoons, though quite a bit less than earlier.

Igy

I try to nap every day. I consider it part of a healthy lifestyle.

Yes I should qualify that statement. The afternoon nap has been a very deep sleep sometimes approaching two hours but seems to be less deep and half as long lately.

Igy

Just settling down for an afternoon snooze myself.

I was in a clinical trial that combined R with bendamustine, a traditional chemo and not widely used, but chemically it pairs nicely with the mab. It's actually a pretty weak chemo (which explains it not being used much) and so other than a mild case of constipation during therapy it didn't have long last effects. I had a rapid recovery and to my surprise, am in CR 6 years later.

They use it in some of the lymphomas now, more I believe for relapsed cases. My type of follicular lymphoma has better results with the aggressive R-CHOP. I see a radiation oncologist tomorrow for the next protocol.

Igy

Hum. A nap. After a 14 mile run this morning, followed by 2 hours of cutting wood, followed by an hour of cutting grass, yea, a nap sounds good.

That makes me tired just reading your post...are you sure you're not 33 instead of 63? Lol.

The last time I did a 14 mile LR was in my mid-30s and I had lots of energy afterwards like you have now. But 23 years later and an assortment of chronic injuries & osteoarthritis initiating right after age 50, has left this stiff running on barrowed time.

My weekly LR is now a 6 miler (only one of 3 run days per wk) with hours of rehab & icing afterwards - I wouldn't be able to cut wood or grass if my life depended on it. ?. The desire & motivation is there to run more & longer but the lower extremities keep giving me the finger. ?

Question: Since you're running a 14 m mile LR (?) at 63, what was your LR in your prime and would the 14 miler now be the normal age-related decline for you?

In my earlier days I ran some marathons so my long run was 20+ miles. In recent years though it has been 15 miles. I can remember in my younger days running a little under six minute pace for a long 15+ mile run. Now it is closer to 6:35-6:45 for a long run. I do a weekly long run but only hammer hard every three weeks or so. Though I am running slower than my younger days the effort feels the same which is the beauty of our sport. As we age we will get slower but because we can keep the same effort we get the same satisfaction.

63 wrote:

In my earlier days I ran some marathons so my long run was 20+ miles. In recent years though it has been 15 miles. I can remember in my younger days running a little under six minute pace for a long 15+ mile run. Now it is closer to 6:35-6:45 for a long run. I do a weekly long run but only hammer hard every three weeks or so. Though I am running slower than my younger days the effort feels the same which is the beauty of our sport. As we age we will get slower but because we can keep the same effort we get the same satisfaction.

"6:35-6:45" pace for a 15 mile long run at 63? Wow!...that's mind blowing! I'm 4 yrs younger than you and I can't even run a 6:45 all out mile! Lol. In fact, it's been about 3 yrs since I last broke 7 minutes (decades ago I could run low 5s at all-comers meets).

Man...you've got some wheels at your age!

Just Amazed wrote:

"6:35-6:45" pace for a 15 mile long run at 63? Wow!...that's mind blowing! I'm 4 yrs younger than you and I can't even run a 6:45 all out mile! ... Man...you've got some wheels at your age!

Yes, amazing! I'm also four years younger, and can barely imagine cruising along at that pace for a training run. But, we're comparing ourselves to a world-class athlete. It was just as unimaginable in my 20s to contemplate the 5-flat-pace the elites would run.

Currently for me, at 59, 6:35-6:45 is threshold pace. That makes me locally competitive (age group), and I'm pretty happy with that. But I sure would like to see 6:45-6:50 as marathon pace next year!

A real benefit of this thread is seeing others extending their limits. I may see someone doing X and think “well no but I know I can do Y + 1.” That really helps one improve; of course one must take that mental first step,

Igy

63 wrote:

......Now it is closer to 6:35-6:45 for a long run....

With all due respect... And we all have our different training principles but... Doesn't that seem a bit fast based on your 5k times? Only a minute slower than 5k pace? Most charts (I use Tinmans) show that to be closer to threshold / tempo'ish pace where as long run pace should be closer to 7:45-8:00 pace.

Just an observation... Not slamming.

Dave