STrooper Member

Age 61, with a fitness level of 28. (Well, I do say I'm not 27 any longer). That is due to my high measured maximum heart rate, my low resting heart rate, and the ratio of height to waist size. Now a few years ago...not so much. When I plug the data in from seven years ago (when I was 54 and at my heaviest and least…

Don't be discouraged. You have to make that assessment in the moment and if it was serious enough that you couldn't walk it off, then stopping to save yourself for a later date is where the smart money is. I know after all the training that you feel, as you put it, gutted. But know that you can recover (and hopefully you…

She should have sent them as slutty brownies.

Again, I think the point is there is a built-in time limit to the glycogen stores and how efficiently you utilize the energy. Someone like me, who is going to run a half-marathon in two hours or so, is just not going to need it. Someone who runs the half-marathon in three hours, maybe or even probably needs some…

It says that I should be around 162 as my ideal weight (currently 170). I've read both his Racing Weight and his 80/20 books. His point is that if you have haul something around, it should be muscle and skeletal tissue that will help get you from point A to point B the fastest. The trick is to lose fat and not muscle mass.…

Don: I'm kinda in the same place as you, but finally felt the physical wear and tear get to me. I should have just gotten out of the training cycle and gone to a reasonable maintenance level between mid-February and early April. Call it a lesson learned. I'm in my second week of a hiatus from running. I won't resume until…

A half marathon is a distance where you probably can go the distance without any supplemental nourishment. I've done them both ways. And really the only reason I used any during a half is to test out my body response at the faster pace in prepping for a full marathon. I have settled in on a fueling plan for full marathons…

Running with the pacers to start will help with the temptation to run too fast because it feels good to run in that race environment. The half-marathon is just long enough that going out too fast can cost you at the end. All the other advice above is good. It boils down to trust your training and never do something new on…

A couple of things. Yes, it really can take that long to get to the starting line. The worst part can be that last drink you took just before you left for the corral. Too late to stand in line for the porta' jons. My last drink (small one at that) is two hours before race start. Stay hydrated, yes; How to dress? You may…

I have never tried this test though I certainly have been doing heart rate training. And I've gotten pretty good at relating my heart rate zones to pace and training to that combination of pace and heart rate. My maximum tested heart rate is 199 beats per minute and that was clearly a maximal output, anaerobic output. One…

I've discovered the hip stress (unexpectedly) and that is what I'm recovering from.

Well, time is an indicator for people who race. And certainly there is evidence to suggest that recovery time from the sort of damage that training imposes increases with age and maybe with lifetime mileage. But it could also be earlier experience (damage) that ends up showing up over and over again (like stepping wrongly…

Let me add my concurrence with Carson on hills. Unless I run entirely on a track or treadmill, I have no choice but to run hills where I live and they are interspersed throughout both short (5-6 miles) and long runs. Consequently, I don't have the complaints about hills that so many seem to protest. I agree that hills are…

At a personal level, I can say that there was a long break between running for the purpose of training to some goal and it wasn't just racing. They were shorter races, too. But in my 20's and early 30's, the ability to run sub-6 minute miles seemed so easy. And the ability to run a 10K at a 6:00 pace was also doable. Now,…

Outstanding!

Well, when I look at your profile, you are losing and it shows up in inches not pounds. I spent an entire year at the same weight (190 pounds), but I lost 4 inches each off my chest, waist, and hips. So, even though I was hauling around the same mass, the proportion of muscle and fat completely changed. It is hard to train…

I started my marathoning/half marathoning run/walking (aka Galloway's method). Did my first marathon in 5:10, did my second one in 5:12 (which was in the cold rain and included an 8 minute stop at a medical tent). My third was 4:57. All six of my HM's have been done run/walking and those times have dropped from 2:13 to…

Welcome. And we all started somewhere. My first three races were all 10Ks. Mind you, they were in 1978, 1985, and 2013. Leapt into full marathons in 2013.

As other state above, you probably want your first marathon to be a good experience. I made the leap from a 10K race (at age 59, that I didn't train for) to a full marathon at age 60. Although I clearly wanted to finish, my declared time goal was around 5:00. It took me six months to train up to running the marathon (used…

I like this. Maybe my approach to R'n'R Raleigh.

Does that make it a Schrodinger half-marathon? ;)

You forgot the part about the sadist who chose all those hills in the course.

Well, given the mileage you are already putting in, and with a bit more structure so that you are getting the progression of long, slow runs in for the distance endurance for the marathon, and if you don't go out too fast, completing it within the time cut off should not be a problem. OTOH, people who run 6-7 miles per…

I, too, am using Fitzgerald's Level 2 plan. But right after this next marathon (11 days), I'm dropping back on training to 3 days per week (Tuesday, Thursday, and one weekend day) allowing me between 25-45 miles per week.

Sometimes these are pleasant surprises. Congratulations!

If you are running just to run AND there aren't any particular injuries or wear and tear that you are ignoring or overlooking, then there isn't really a problem running everyday. However, there is a reason for the rest days on most plans. First, most plans are a plan for a specific running goal with varying loads and…

Endomondo might be a good app for you for the Polar HRM and/or the Garmin ANT. A little tough to get indoor readings unless your phone can get both GPS and GLONASS navigation satellites. I think Runtastic requires the PRO version for HRMs. I cannot remember what Runkeeper requires.

Thanks for sharing this. I can run intentionally fast paces at or near this 180 step per minute turnover rate and as I've gotten better at it, I have gotten faster. However, I haven't tried to run easier runs at this turnover rate which calls for really short strides. Instead, it has been this slower turnover pace as…

It was the weirdest thing, too. Made a turn onto a greenway with a slight downhill just beyond mile-14 and when I stepped on it (just in front of the heel bone), the thing rolled forward so that rather than making good contact with the ground, the foot slid forward before making a full heel strike. It put my foot a little…

I've been relatively lucky. Recovered fully from a minor tear of the Achilles tendon (stepped on a sweet gum seed pod while running a marathon). And I had a slight meniscus problem in my knee from a misstep several years prior to my return to running. However, as I have gradually pressed for speed at the longer marathon…