Tired of the rowing so I did a stairmaster session last night at the gym. Knee was ok, occasional slight pain but very minor. Was able to complete a 16 min hill session on level 15 which is usually as high as I go. The most important thing is no swelling or pain afterward or the next morning.
Stairmaster - hill program, level 15 - 16 min
Max HR - 169
Avg HR - 152
Ham curls and leg extension - light weight
Looking back, and forward.
Looking back, 10 yrs ago today I raced Marvin Bracy, 2nd fastest man in the world (2022) in a 60m race. He's a 9.85 sprinter. To my right in that race was Adrian Griffith from the Bahamas, a 10.1 sprinter and national record holder. It truly was a privilege to be doing this at age 55. Looking at the video, I got out pretty well. Was a full second behind Bracy but, hey.... 7.7 to his 6.7. Great memory. Takes me back to what was a great year. I had just won my first outdoor national title the previous summer, and was running in a bunch of college meets that year to get ready for indoor nationals, where I had one of my greatest meets, winning the 400m in 55.22 unchallenged, and an indoor PR of 24.65 in the 200m. We also set a WR in the 4x200m relay. That summer, went on to win my third consecutive 400m title in Grand Rapids, MI.
I guess I mention all this because it's a continuous adjustment to not be going to Indoor Nationals and possibly retiring from competition, although no firm decision on that. In those semi-conscious moments when drifting off to sleep in the hot tub, I sometimes go back to that mindset, where I'm thinking about what workout I'm going to do, how much wind is there, how am I going to dress, the smell of the track, the training shoes and equipment bag, etc... It's a transition to a different realm, then and now.
Reminds me of a few Olympian friends of mine, David - 400m hurdler and Kamari - long track speed skater. I corresponded with both of them about their retirement from elite athletics, and they retired late 20s / early 30s. Major transition. I also used to follow the youtube channel of Olympian Natasha H., 400m sprinter who retired 2 yrs ago. She had thousands of views on her channel and then, suddenly ... it ended. No new posts. Same thing with Derval O's blog, an Irish Olympic hurdler I was following. One day her blog was all about training. Then it was gone. (She did come back to post later about motherhood and recipes). Now she's trying to sell workout plans as a 'fitness influencer.' I don't want that to happen with this blog, whether I continue to compete or not. I will continue to post here and keep up a wellness and fitness blog, even if I can't sprint forever.
Looking forward, I haven't given up the idea of competing totally. I could certainly compete relatively untrained and run slow, but that's not me. It all comes down to how much and how quickly I can recover from a running workout. I could probably be competitive even if I could do just 2x week, but that would be a minimum. Maybe I'll set my goals for that. I had really achieved quite a decent foundation by late Nov, running a 62 but all or most of that is lost now and I'll have to start from scratch.
Almost 3 weeks since I've tried any running and maybe I'll give it another week. Busy week and a performance coming up and so is warmer weather. I'll probably wait til next week to give it a go. Trying some new knee strengthening exercises.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.075579
ReplyDeleteThe point here is that they are unraveling the mystery as to why kidney disease accelerates or causes heart disease. They found extra cellular vesicles transport cardiac toxins which damage the hearts contractile RNA which can lead to HF, and some other mechanisms that accelerate calcification. So when you say your mom seems OK with CKD under the hood it is harming the heart. Take it easy on the protein, keep oxalate low, and stay away from supplements.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of dropping the 400 and sticking to the shorter sprints. For someone who concentrates on training for longer sprints your turnover and times are pretty good. The volume of running is lower. Masters 60/100/200 can be successful on 2 or maybe 3 running sessions per week. The benfits of weights is proportionally greater.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing but another alternative is to move up in distance. You have already had success at 800 m so becoming a 800/1500 meter guy is not too big a stretch. There would be more mileage required but probably less stress on the knees.
DeleteDefinitely a viable option. Doing shorts sprints would be going back to my roots. And the training would be far more survivable than 400m training. I will never run or train for an 800m again. Ridiculous idea, but thanks.
DeleteYou are national / international level at 60 100 200. What standard would you be with your most recent 800 times ? There are close correlations between the above with running 400, but less so with the 800. Even more problematic with a 1500 performance. You would probably need to run 4x per week to run middle distance well. You would need to go interval based not mileage aerobic based. Lower impact per stride but more strides.
ReplyDeleteI haven't run an 800m in 4 yrs, but yes, I was successful. Two National Silver medals ('21 and '22) but I will never race it again. The slowest 800m of 5 I ever ran was 2:22. 2:18.74 PR. Very bad idea to train for this race at this point.
DeleteShort answer is very few sprinters step up to 800m - ever.
ReplyDeleteAlberto Juantorena, 1976 Gold Medal winner, 400m and 800m
DeleteFemke Bol is now breaking records in her debut at 800m after being excelling in the 400m hurdles and flat 400m. You must be thinking of the 60m/100m specialists. Kids in high school are always moving up.
DeleteN=2 proves nothing. Huge numbers double at or move between 100/200. less at 200/400. Very few at 400/800. 60s are for indoor events and dominated by fast starters (60/100 athletes). Kids moving up is a totally different beast. Physical characteristics, maturity, personal preferences, mentality.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for not providing an N=10k study. I provided two examples at the highest competitive level. Bill himself is another. He moved up to the 800 to run in the exhibition 800 at Hayward field. All you have provided is your opinion . With a 1:42 needed to qualify for national teams the 800 is becoming more of a speed event than it was last century. The days when a slow 400M runner would move up to the 800 to be competitive are over. You better be a very competitive 400M runner to have success at the 800. See Cooper Lutkenhaus, who ran a 46.3 to finish 2nd at the Texas State meet. (btw, N=4 now). 😁
ReplyDelete