It’s not a good thing. When I say I’m “feeling like a master” I mean I feel old and every bit like I’m in the over 40 masters age group. Training always ebbs and flows but I’m feeling my age more than usual as I head into the final weeks before the Las Vegas Rock and Roll half marathon, which by the way, is still being held but the pre-race concert location will change as well as the start. No matter what, I was going to Las Vegas in November where I’m quite certain I will feel less like a master and more like a 21 year old girl. Maybe I should go now…
Feeling fine with this view in Ogunquit Maine last weekend…
WEEK OF OCTOBER 9, 2017
RUNNING
So basically the majority of my workouts are running since I’m training for a half marathon. I have to confess that I don’t like it very much and neither does my body. I always think training for a running race will be easier and make me feel better but, for the past two years that has not been the case. I’m afraid I have turned into a full fledged triathlete so obviously we need to move to Hawaii where I can race year round! < — yes, Hawaii is the only location where this happens. Just go with it!
My runs on the beach in Ogunquit, Maine last weekend were amazing! After that, things kind of went south until my big 14 miler at the end of the week. I changed my mindset and my body followed. Imagine that?
The view from our hotel showing the beach I got to run on every morning!
Sunday – easy 5 miler on the beach
Monday – rest and travel day
Tuesday – it was supposed to be an easy 5 miler before a swim but it was horrible from the start so it was a 3.4 miler
Wednesday – spadework on the trail | 6 miles
Friday – 14 miles | 8:09 average pace
Total = 28.4
CYCLING
I was only able to get out on my bike once this past week since it was a short one. The ride was just ok but the views were fantastic! Fall has arrived but it’s kind of hard to tell since the temps have been in the 70s and 80s and are just now dropping into the low 70s and 60s. I’ll take it!
I got one crappy picture of a half dead tree. I guess this is reflective of my mood…
Another weird thing has been happening on the bike – – I’ve been afraid. I feel like a car is going to dart out of every single side street I pass, I’m braking on hills I used to whip down and my head is basically up my ass. I couldn’t figure out why it was happening until it dawned on me that I haven’t been out on my bike as much as I usually am! I hate to think what will happen over the winter! But, once I made the realization, I instantly felt better and was stronger on the ride.
SWIMMING
I’m happy to report that my nose ring is clear after being submerged in the pool for the past two weeks. The water has been good to me lately and I had two good swims this past week. The weather is helping as I’m a huge wimp when it comes to getting into the water in colder temps. Yes, it’s inside but when you’re already cold, it’s not easy to then jump into water! Brrrr
Tuesday – swim after horrible run | 2,400 yards of bliss
Saturday – recovery swim after 14 miler on Friday | 2,000 yards
Total = 4,600 yards
FUEL
I haven’t talked food here in a while and for good reason – I hate to cook and I feel like I eat all of the same things all of the time. First, I have to say the blueberry pie in Maine was out of this world and I dream about it on my long runs. However, this is much less exciting than pie but oddly delicious.
I discovered a new bar in my StrideBox (a courtesy subscription box mailed to me with different runner goodies each month!) a new bar from Base Performance called Real Bars. They are real and they are spectacular…
The bars are too.
After eating just the one, I went to my friend Alexa (Amazon Echo) and ordered an entire box. They come in a variety of ingredients but I stuck with the one I got for now – – peanuts, almonds, honey. oats – – and will maybe try apples, dates, honey, quinoa, chia next. Exciting stuff here people!
THINGS I LOVE
Having a girls weekend in Maine with my family.
My aunts are basically my surrogate moms since they are my mom’s sisters and are the closet thing I have to her now. Usually my cousin joins us but she and her daughter got sick just before we were leaving and had to stay behind.
It was an eventful weekend to say the least. My one aunt lost her purse (with cash, credit cards and her phone in it!) and it was returned just a few hours after we reported it missing to the police! It had every single thing in it too. We are forever grateful for the honest person who turned it in!
We showed our gratitude by getting massages and pedicures at The Cliff House hotel spa. Life is good.
Walking along the Marginal Way!
My Aunt Carla will probably disown me for putting this picture up but she should get over it by next October. Plus, she’s so in love with my boys, she can’t stay mad at me for long.
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
This general feeling I’ve had about getting older and slower.
Most of the time I feel great and don’t care how old I am because I’m just happy to be alive but, then there are times when I think about what I used to be able to do in terms of fitness and it’s depressing as hell.
I know I can still do a lot and, I did run my marathon PR (3:28) at the age of 40, but still.
So, I was allowing myself to wallow until I read an article Happy Fit Mama posted in her High Five Friday:
Rich Roll on How to Sustain Peak Performance | Outside online | Brad Stulberg
You may be familiar with Rich Roll from his podcast or because he’s an incredible athlete. He’s 50 years old and still crushing his competitors! He just finished an adventure race that involves swimming and running though 26 islands and covering more than 46 miles! Nearly 20% of the field dropped out due to frigid temps and gusting winds but not the 50 year old who, with his teammate, finished in 10 hours and 44 minutes. WTF?
The man himself, Rich Roll getting it done at age 50. Source: Outside.com
His words from the article went straight to my heart and I instantly felt better and have ever since:
“As you age, you will get incrementally slower. That’s just the way it is. So, it’s not about measuring yourself against any other person or what you used to be. You’ve got to train where you’re at. Not where you think you could be, or where you used to be, but where you are right now. You need to be comfortable with that.”
I took those words and had an amazing 14 mile run, completely comfortable in my pace and my age.
READING
To be fair this is really a video but there’s an article attached to it so there.
As you may know, I write semi-regularly for RunnersConnect but this time they asked if I would do a video interview on being a master athlete. How could I resist hearing myself talk?
What Does It Mean to Become A Masters Athlete? | Tony Pallotta | RunnersConnect.com
The article is a great read for anyone (not just us old folks) and a great reminder that I’m not alone in my struggles, both mental and physical, and I need to be happy with where I am because that is a pretty damn good place to be.
TELEVISION
I will say this – – > The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu is so much better than the book. Sorry Margaret Atwood but that is the truth! Also, for those of you who are Hulu impaired as I was, you can buy the series for $20 with zero brain effort. You’re welcome.
Also hot this week:
Blackish is hitting it out of the park with the homage to Hamilton and why we should be celebrating Juneteenth (look it up or watch the episode) and also dealing with postpartum depression and dropping the f-bomb. If you’re not watching, you should start! Plus, it’s funny as hell.
RANDOM QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Pretty much every weekday morning in my house is loud and insane despite my herculean effort to have it quiet and functional. On a particularly trying morning, I stormed into the bedroom where my husband was and had this exchange:
Me: Jesus Christ! Whose idea was this?
My husband: The kids or the dog, because both were yours.
He’s still alive. Barely.
[Tweet “The Rundown is feeling like a #master in the worst and best possible way! Find your inner athelte and #train4life”]
How was your week?
Are you feeling like a master?
Eat any good bars lately?
I’m glad that article helped you. Even though I’m not technically a master yet. I’m feeling old. Things are falling apart. The more you go to he doctor, the more stuff falls apart. Sigh. Where’s the fountain of youth? I heard it’s in Hawaii. Let’s go!! I’ll even become a triathlete there!
Yes!!! Hawaii is the cure for everything that ales us. I’m sure of it.
I appreciated that article too! And at any age, it’s normal to have those weeks where you just feel “off” or “slow”- looks like a really speedy 14 miler to end your week!
Hope you have a few more confidence boost runs before race day.
Thanks for the vote of confidence Laura! The run was good but I definitely did not feel speedy. This week is already going better but it’s a cutback so… 🙂
It strangely gives me a lot of comfort to know that it’s been unseasonably warm where you live also. At least it’s not just South Carolina. I hope you start feeling back to your (young) self again soon! I’m definitely feeling old these days thanks to my shoulder.
Well I’m glad I could comfort you about the weather 🙂 Although I’m currently not looking forward to my 8:30am ride today because it will only be about 50 degrees. Brrrrrrr.
It’s so difficult to accept aging… especially when energy-wise, I have more energy than I’ve ever had, but then I feel like the numbers don’t reflect the energy I have or how I feel on the inside… we watched some kona iron man coverage…. I think you should move to Hawaii !
Kona coverage is dangerous because it makes me want to DO IT because it’s just so damn inspiring!! And yes, the lack of energy is the worst but not being able to hit splits that I could last year sucks too. Wah wah wah…
So I am also learning about this aging thing…I am learning to be gentler with my body while not getting PISSED at it for not doing what I need it to do. progress.
The black-ish episodes…..SO GOOD. wow.
I think you are a full fledged triathlete It’s a shame there isn’t a full body of water in Vegas….maybe jump in the Bellagio pool for a few laps?? 🙂
I am not feeling like a master at anything…but I still feel good so, I’m not knocking it!
You are very wise my friend. I do try to be gentle with myself because my body does SO much for me but…but…but…
And you my dear are the master of the blog conference!!!
That’s a really speedy 14 miler! I hope the good runs continue as race day approaches – at any age, you’re always ready to crush it out there.
I am still young but I love the advice from the Rich Roll article. I know my training will go through seasons in the next decade or so – surgeries and health stuff, maybe kids, and the inevitable ups and downs of life – and I really, really like his tips on training locally and pushing hard for what hard is now – all while keeping that joy!
And yes you should go to Hawaii! Island life would be such a great training life, right? All that sunshine!
Ah yes, you still have so much ahead of you! I can tell you that after I had the boys, at 34, my body came back better and stronger and faster than ever. It was a very good transition!
And Hawaii would be amazing but I would need to bring all of my family and friends…
Yes. Definitely feeling like a master. It’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes because there are those days when I can’t believe I’m 47. I’m all “what, I can still do that stuff like I could when I was in my 20s!” Um, yeah, NOPE. I appreciate that quote. I need to post that somewhere where I can see it regularly.
And yes, you should move to Hawaii. (Although, not me. I lived there for 6 years and that was 6 years too long for me. Maybe that was because I was still active duty and my husband deployed the last 3 years we were there and the girls were little and I don’t go in the water???) But yes, YOU should. 🙂
Yes! You can relate!! Sometimes I feel trapped in this body because my mind still thinks I’m 30. And having that quote up is something I need to do too!
And Hawaii sounds great in theory but I’m sure actually living there would have it’s downsides. *sigh*
I feel better and am healthier in my mid forties than I ever have been, and nailed my half and 20K PR in the past month, both by 13 minutes. Having said that, I love the quote of Roll. Fully agree. I am just happy my body is still doing pretty much what I ask it to.
Jealous of your weekend in Maine, my parents are near Augusta and we were there 3 weeks this past summer. LOVE it.
YES! Congratulations!!! I felt that way about my marathon PR at 40. It was such a boost!!
Maine was fantastic. So glad you were able to spend so much time there this summer.
oh so much good stuff here! i love Rich Roll and his zen like Buddha isms. i have been enjoying his podcasts off and on the past few years and sometimes i love him, and sometimes i am totally not picking up the macca/chia/seaweed he’s putting down. but i LOVE him. i respect him. i’m in awe of him. so yeah, i dig any nuggets of wisdom that he shares. i don’t quite believe he is actually a human being though, so i’m still a bit skeptical of his training. he blows my mind. i agree a thousand percent that we should train and live for our age and our ability. i’m not sure what that means for me but i’m happy to just do my best with what i’ve got and be ok with putting in the work, and be ok with making each day a suffer fest of training. it’s ok to workout easy, it’s ok to just log hte miles in sometimes. and it’s ok to enjoy it. it’s also ok to not enjoy and just get it done. i might need to get on my spin bike again. that’s what you reminded me of. i haven’t done that in a long while.
i’ve felt the same way cycling outdoors before and it’s freaky. i think that’s why i’m not cycling right now, well that and because i’m not keeping my tri bike and don’t have a road bike. i’m anti tri bike and therefore will not ride it. i’m also feeling panicky about riding on the road because drivers are freaking terrible and stupid, and cyclists are are too fragile. i was so fearless pre baby. what happened? i guess i care more 🙂
“It’s also ok to not enjoy and just get it done.” Yep. That.
And the fear definitely creeps in with the kids. You have to be there for another human now so it’s easy to make better choices…although sometimes less fun 🙂
Totally agree about Blackish – so good! And I’m still loving the Health Warrior chia bars you recommended.
I hear you about getting older – even though I’m not a runner, my major lower back issues have me worried that it’s all downhill from here. But I’m focusing on strengthening my core and lower body – making mobility and agility my focus so that I can age well and stay limber and healthy. It’s a change in the way I view exercise, but the new mindset is freeing.
That makes me happy about the chia bars. I eat one a day at least. They are the perfect snack for me!
The new mindset should be freeing!!! Good for you! Strength training is my weakness but I’m doing something about it. It’s so boring to me but so necessary, especially as I get older. Back issues are definitely the worst so take care of YOU!
I am fine getting slower, as long as I can still run. Which I can’t right now, but maybe one day…
I am right there with you with the feelings of slowing down. I feel like we are both kicking ass in our 40’s but sometimes I still want to be back in my 20’s. Wahhhh!!! Can’t wait to see how your half goes mama!!!
I want that “Yes, these are real” sign!!! Except it doesn’t apply. HAHAHA!
I love the notion of “train where you’re at.” With my janky knees, I needed to hear that.
P.S. I can’t believe your husband is still alive after that comment!!
LOL on the “realness!” And hell yes to training where you are at. It’s a tough mindset for sure but I have to embrace it.
P.S. He is barely clinging to life…