Fitness 2020 Thread

[mongers]

Had ambitions today to go 50-60 miles on the bike, but given I've typically only  done 10-15 miles most days and only twice more than 20 miles , good sense prevailed and I did a modest 32 miles.

Still nice to stretch the legs, but that's the furthest I've been since September, due to a bad Winter and the lock-down.

So a long way to go before I can recover some of my former fitness. 

[saskganesh]

Six miles today, Cherry Beach return. Few about, but the wind and sail surfers were out. Beautiful to see them skittering across the lake.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Sunday should have been the MCM Historic Half, but thanks to the pandemic, it was cancelled and instead they did a virtual run where you run and upload your results in order to get your swag. I went out and did the 13.1 miles. Weather was good and my route wasn't bad - one hill at the beginning and relatively even afterwards - but I still fell just barely short of my goal: 2 hours and 5 minutes, so just over five minutes too slow. I knew it wasn't going to happen by mile 4, and I have only my lack of training to blame.

Still, it was my fastest half so far. I feel like I'm on track to at least break 5 hours in the marathon in the fall, as long as I actually put in regular miles each week.

[crazy canuck]

Doing workouts with my son that he is getting from a trainer friend of his.  Yesterday was doing deadlifts, lunges and pushups (amongst other things) with a .... towel.  OH MY GOD it was hard.  Did wind sprints at 65% to finish it off.  Thankfully no towel used for that. 

Towel deadlifts really punish poor form.  No cheating with that 

[celedhring]

Yeah, I've been doing towel deadlifts too. They look like a joke but they're quite hard 

There's actually a lot you can do with bodyweight/hoseware exercises. That said, I do miss lifting weights 

[fromtia]

I've been riding my bike more frequently and possibly a tiny bit faster. I don't use any of these techno gadgets to measure any of the metrics involved in bike riding, preferring to just ride the bike and do it all on feel. I think I'm going a bit faster though.

I am so loving riding my bike, even in this Florida heat. I'm back at work, but only 3 or 4 days a week, so still easy to get plenty of rides in.

I do find myself completely unable to sleep after a 2 hour ride with efforts the same day though. That's a phenomenon I remember from my racing days only after the most intense competition. I am quite a bit older, and I haven't ridden much for a long time, so I think I'll just have to be patient and get fitter and It will pass.

[Maladict]

Did a bunch of 40k walks over the last few weeks, I think I've seen every trail and field within walking distance from my home. Trains are coming back in June, not a moment too soon.

[fromtia]

Did a bunch of 40k walks over the last few weeks, I think I've seen every trail and field within walking distance from my home. Trains are coming back in June, not a moment too soon.

Nature is healing. The trains are coming back.

[mongers]

I've been riding my bike more frequently and possibly a tiny bit faster. I don't use any of these techno gadgets to measure any of the metrics involved in bike riding, preferring to just ride the bike and do it all on feel. I think I'm going a bit faster though.

I am so loving riding my bike, even in this Florida heat. I'm back at work, but only 3 or 4 days a week, so still easy to get plenty of rides in.

I do find myself completely unable to sleep after a 2 hour ride with efforts the same day though. That's a phenomenon I remember from my racing days only after the most intense competition. I am quite a bit older, and I haven't ridden much for a long time, so I think I'll just have to be patient and get fitter and It will pass.

I had that last night, did 40+ miles in evening, got home late like 9.45 and was alert as anything for the next 8-9 hours, couldn't have gone to sleep if I'd tried.

[mongers]

Did a bunch of 40k walks over the last few weeks, I think I've seen every trail and field within walking distance from my home. Trains are coming back in June, not a moment too soon.

Yeah, not a moment too soon, I've really missed taking the bike on trains; but I still won't be able to use them because of my domestic situation and need to isolate them from possible contact risks I take. 

[saskganesh]

Sunday should have been the MCM Historic Half, but thanks to the pandemic, it was cancelled and instead they did a virtual run where you run and upload your results in order to get your swag. I went out and did the 13.1 miles. Weather was good and my route wasn't bad - one hill at the beginning and relatively even afterwards - but I still fell just barely short of my goal: 2 hours and 5 minutes, so just over five minutes too slow. I knew it wasn't going to happen by mile 4, and I have only my lack of training to blame.

Still, it was my fastest half so far. I feel like I'm on track to at least break 5 hours in the marathon in the fall, as long as I actually put in regular miles each week.

Based on experience, you run about 5% faster in a real race given competitors/pacers/adrenaline, so you should be there man. (My race times are almost always better than my training times). Good work.

My marathoner friends say the real race starts at 30K. IT'S HARD. Good luck.

[Maladict]

Did a bunch of 40k walks over the last few weeks, I think I've seen every trail and field within walking distance from my home. Trains are coming back in June, not a moment too soon.

Yeah, not a moment too soon, I've really missed taking the bike on trains; but I still won't be able to use them because of my domestic situation and need to isolate them from possible contact risks I take. 

Well yeah, that is a concern. I'm thinking about taking the earliest possible train out somewhere (on the weekend, should be deserted) and then walking back.

[crazy canuck]

As part of our workout yesterday, my son introduced me to tempo squats - 4 seconds down, hold for 2 seconds at the bottom, one second up - rinse and repeat mixed in with an upper body superset.  By the third superset I was wiped out.  Those things are hard!

[HisMajestyBOB]

Sunday should have been the MCM Historic Half, but thanks to the pandemic, it was cancelled and instead they did a virtual run where you run and upload your results in order to get your swag. I went out and did the 13.1 miles. Weather was good and my route wasn't bad - one hill at the beginning and relatively even afterwards - but I still fell just barely short of my goal: 2 hours and 5 minutes, so just over five minutes too slow. I knew it wasn't going to happen by mile 4, and I have only my lack of training to blame.

Still, it was my fastest half so far. I feel like I'm on track to at least break 5 hours in the marathon in the fall, as long as I actually put in regular miles each week.

Based on experience, you run about 5% faster in a real race given competitors/pacers/adrenaline, so you should be there man. (My race times are almost always better than my training times). Good work.

My marathoner friends say the real race starts at 30K. IT'S HARD. Good luck.

Thanks!
That does make sense. Last year I only did a marathon, so I don't have any shorter races to compare against (well, I did a 5k, but I had a stroller and was pacing my wife, so it's not really compartive). My regular runs are already better than the 10 miler and half-marathon I did two years ago. The problem is that while competitors and the race environment is motivating, it also causes me to push myself too hard and I end up burning out around mile 18 or so.

Hopefully the MCM will go ahead in October, presumably with some social distancing restrictions. If it doesn't, I'll defer to next year rather than try to run a full marathon on my own.

[HisMajestyBOB]

As part of our workout yesterday, my son introduced me to tempo squats - 4 seconds down, hold for 2 seconds at the bottom, one second up - rinse and repeat mixed in with an upper body superset.  By the third superset I was wiped out.  Those things are hard!

That sounds exhausting!