@1214mom some weeks are busier than others retired or not! You’ll do what you can and do more when time allows!
@sushiritto my son who runs for exercise may run anywhere from 3-9 miles. He probably does an 8-9 mile run once a week. I was telling him this weekend that he should sign up for a half because if he can run 9 miles without a lot of build up he could probably add on the few extra miles without too much trouble!
I want to throw another plug for the YouTube videos of Joanna Soh. Joanna Soh Official - YouTube
I like her variety of choices and I have continued since winter to do her “steps” videos once a week for variety and a combo of cardio/core workout and often I add weights to the video for a little extra.
@abasket That’s kinda what I’ve done in the past when I’ve run long obstacle or running-only races. If I could get stretched out to maybe 10 miles, then just I’ll just hang on and “leak oil” for the last 5K.
My two problems are that I get bored, really bored, when running longer distances and then preparing and running longer runs puts you at a disadvantage when you’re trying, especially when you get older, to improve or even PR various lifts.
On Saturdays, I’m in the gym at the same time as some really nice young men and women, who are preparing for the same USPA Powerlifting meet (they persuaded me), and these guys do about 10-15 minutes of cardio (stairclimbing, air bike) at the end of their workouts and that’s it.
The gym was packed last night with about 15 people. That’s approaching maximum capacity in my view. Lots of new members. Most Covid restrictions are now gone in CA.
I ran two miles on the tm, my first tm run in more than a year. It felt great. Not just the run, but also the air conditioning! I’ve been running outside and it is getting so hot in South Texas I wanted something cooler. Wasn’t sure how it would be to run indoors but it was fine.
I’m still here doing my thing. I did day 71 (I think) of 80 Day Obsession. Leg day. It went well, but what was better is that I rode the exercise bike for 60 minutes at level 9! That’s the level I used to do for 1:30 intervals with 1:20 recoveries. And it wasn’t that hard. It was much harder mentally vs physically. That must mean it’s time to bump it up.
Re: long runs and racing. FWIW - The last 10 years of my serious marathoning, I wouldn’t run more than 15-17 miles - usually 15-16. I hated the super long runs. 2 hours was it for me. But, I did do them every week, and they weren’t as slow as some schedules suggested. And they were not special days either. No extra rest before/after, etc. It was just a normal day. Business as usual. It worked well for me.
In the West, we’re going through a heat wave. I arrived at the gym yesterday afternoon/evening and the temp was somewhere between 95-99 degrees outside. In the gym, w/o AC, who knows.
For strength, I bench pressed to a heavy double and then my HIIT was 1/2 of a Murph. So, 10 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats and a 1-mile run, with the weight vest. Under 30 minutes with lots of water intake.
We’ve had record high temps in Colorado… high 90s, sometimes over 100 (but dry, so not as oppressive as 90 in NY where I grew up). Got up before 6am to have temps “low” (under 65) for my run today. But mostly I’ve been doing other things, especially gardening and yesterday a bike ride.
I finished phase 3 today - day 74 booty. Had a strong stairmonster session beforehand. Next week is peak week, and then on to something else. I think I’ve selected the second half (4 weeks) of Hammer and Chisel. 4 weeks gets me to vacation week. I actually quit this program the first time 3 years ago. I like both trainers. But it seemed to be all body workouts every day and it all seemed the same. But maybe I’ll like it better this time. And if not, it’s only 4 weeks. I can do that.
I enjoy watching sports now that my sports watching buddy is back! I am watching much of the NBA playoffs and now soccer. Soccer is mesmerizing to me. But I was getting a chuckle out of rooting for Hungary. “Go Hungary” is an odd chant
In other relief news. Younger S’ local scholarship renewal letter came today. Always a relief. His volunteer hours were pretty lame this year, so I was a tad worried. But he even got a slight bump up. Yay!
Today is Day One of almost three weeks out of town. I don’t have a lot of hope for building fitness but will try not to lose too much ground. At 10:30 p.m., I am six calories from closing that ring and am hoping that tossing and turning for the next hour will get me there.
Yesterday I decided to break up my Sunday treadmill run into two parts. I ran a 5K first, then got off and benched pressed to a heavy single, practicing pausing at the bottom for the October meet. After bench pressing, I got back on the treadmill for another 5K. Finally, I got on the GHD and did 40 weighted sit-ups.
Today, I finally bought some new road running shoes. I may sign up for a trail half in September, so I may have to buy some trail running shoes later. I’ve been a fan of the Topo line and I’m sticking with them.
Well, surprise for me. I ended up getting a great workout this morning cleaning out the scrap metal from my mom’s yard and taking it to the seller. Turned on my Apple watch in the “other” setting and worked out for 68 minutes.
“will try not to lose too much ground” - Sometimes you have to do that on vacation.
I was pleased after 3 week road trip in May to only have gained 2 pounds. Oops… eventually remembered that my logged weight is With Clothes (since the first few years were taken at the scale at work). That’s OK. I’ll work it all off over the summer.
@ClassicMom98 - I am keeping up with the training although I was traveling for 13 days and just returned last night (that’s too long for me but off topic). Got all of my training runs in except one short one.
I have interval training starting tonight. Woo hoo! Not my favorite running but it’s necessary for me right now. At least the weather is not too hot and not humid. Will get back to my regular yoga tomorrow and I think my body is calling for it.
Last week I missed a couple of days - just busy. This week I’m doing better. In addition to walking/elliptical or biking, and rowing at least a couple of times a week, I’m trying to remember to do more stretching and light weights. Now that the cicadas appear to be leaving, I can’t wait to get back to biking outside.
@FallGirl Yep, not a fan of interval training either, but it’s important for a runner. That’s kind of why I ran a treadmill 5K and then bench pressed for about 20-30 minutes, cooled down, and then ran another 5K last weekend. It’s good to train the muscles differently than what they’re used to.
So, I signed up for the power lifting (squat, bench and deadlift) meet, which is being held in October. So, I’m training for a 1/2 AND a powerlifting meet. One thing I’m going to hate is that, according to the rules, I have to wear a singlet during the meet. Oooofa!
The other thing I’m not liking is getting to used to using weights calibrated in kg’s and not lb’s. There are so many rules!
Yesterday, I squatted to a 2.5 lb PR, while making sure that I get to proper squat depth (for the meet), which as you know gets more difficult as we age. I then bench pressed. The HIIT was pull-ups, inverted presses, rope climbs and dumbbell snatches. I finished with glute ham raises.
Today will be mainly cardio and core. Running, air biking, sit-ups and single arm farmers carries. Maybe some high volume light deadlifts, since I deadlifted to a heavy a couple days ago.
Yay… got up early to go for a 5k run at 6:15am, when it was mid-60s temp. I’d prefer cooler, but hard to do this time of year even though retired with lots of schedule flexiblity. Happily there was a lot of cloud cover, which is a different (and welcomed!) comfort level than the usual blaring Colorado sunshine. So after walking a bit I ran another 2k, at a slower pace. The cloud cover stayed, so I got a few hours of yardwork done. I’ll count my weedmat / mulch chores for today’s stretching.
I’m at the beach this weekend. Younger S went away with friends and I knew H and I would be bored and depressed. And seeing how yesterday was our 27th anniversary, I thought maybe we should get away. A few weeks ago I checked and was surprised that there were still rooms at the motel where H grew up vacationing as a child. He loves this place. (Think Schitt’s Creek motel but two floors and brightly colored.) he is giddy and I’m glad.
I went for a “short” and easy 5 mile run this morning. My runs haven’t been great lately, but I remind myself there was a time when 5 miles would have been great. Today is technically day 80 for my program. Since I’m away, I swapped around days and made today the cardio and core day. The run was my cardio and I do plenty of core.
I haven’t felt amazing about myself lately, but I am proud of my flying pigeon. Arm balances are my thing, but anything that requires flexibility is not. Getting my foot to hook on my tricep took forever. And then extending my leg straight is another issue. What I think is straight is most definitely not. Hence why I video myself from time to time. Ive gotten it down pretty good now. It’s taken a long time. (Notice the near empty gym on a weekend morning. This was last weekend)
