Re: Post your daily exercise routine

As far back as Thursday I decided to to walk a bit further on Sunday with a five mile jaunt round the paths, lanes and woods of my local area. With progress definitely going in the right direction I was looking forward to it. Sunday just isn't Sunday without at least an eight mile run, but I will have to be content with a five mile walk instead.

So with the temperature hovering around freezing and my buttocks and back surprisingly painful, I set off....With the help of Mrs Fox I had spent most of Saturday evening moving a three piece suite out of a friends house, and another one back in....It seems that my lower back has objected big style and made this morning's walk a labour of love.

At the three and a half mile mark I wished that I hadn't set off on this fools errand, and not only did I have to carry on, but this stretch of lane had been assaulted by miscellaneous pieces of oversized farm machinery and looked like the Somme.

I arrived home and found that I was almost unable to stoop down low enough to remove my boots. I do hope Surfermom has a better experience than me when she lines up with the entire running population of Florida, and doesn't forget her disabled Limey cousin...

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

It's a fairly known fact that airplanes and runners perform better in the cold than in the heat. When the race leaders announced on Friday that there would be record high temperatures on race day, the collective groan across cyberspace was audible. However, Mother Nature, in her usual humorous and fickled mood, had begun the day in glorious sunshine before changing her mind sending a wall of fog rolling off the gulf. By the time I arrived at the starting line with my daughter and one of her friends, it was so dense that the local airport had closed. This was going to be an interesting competition.

The first quarter mile is always difficult for me as my heart and lungs go to war with my brain, so I stayed away from the amassing crowd to stretch and gently run a half mile just before the starting gun. I felt nervous but good.

Because this was only a 3 and 6K charity run, a very diverse crowd participated. There are always the pros, who look like sinewy Roman gods stepping out of mythology books, groups of teen girls looking like lithe ponies, the high school track team, friendly snowbirds there to earn a t-shirt with a been there done that attitude, and a host if others in between. There were about four hundred people there by my counts, and the printed tables showed that there were 23 people in my age category.

With our numbers pinned, shoes tied with timing chips, and squinting into the gray shrouding the path in front of us, we gathered ourselves in a tightly-packed lump at the start. With a few butterflies and nervous energy, I stepped side to side chatting with the runner next to me, and in what seemed like a week, the gun fired. The super-competitive launched like rockets from the front, the regular runners ran en masse with frustated and slow steps in their pack, and the rest of us fell behind. Deciding that I would rather pass people than do the pack run, I took off near the back.

Determined not to sprint too quickly at first, I focused on dodging the walkers and runners in the back, and started picking out the familiar magnolias, river oaks, benches, and nests shrouded in the pea soup. Water was already condensing in my hair and making the running surface slick, but In a half mile I settled in to a steady but decidedly faster place then usual, and put my brain and feet into cruise control.

Mostly keeping my eyes ahead for the ghost-like figures in front of me, I would set my eyes on a particular runner with the goal of passing while, likewise, others did the same with me. I passed my share, and was likewise passed. The fastest runners were far in the distance by now unseen, not because of the fog but because of their speed and distance.

Familiar with the route, I didn't have to depend on the guides pointing and shouting out turns or look to hard for the directional signs, and when I reached the last bridge a mile out, I tucked down my head,and sprinted with all I had. Huffing puffing, drenched, and elated to have finished, I looked up to see the finish and my time. Not bad.

The after party was at a local restaurant on the beach. Because this is a fairly small down, there were many familiar faces and the runners enjoyed a full lunch (which I can never eat) and laughter while the results were tallied. A nice acoustic band played familiar Jack Johnson tunes until the organizers handed out the awards. Over the happy din, they began with the door prizes and transitioned into the awards.

Lost in a conversation with a fellow runner just outside the restaurant, I was taken aback when a friend ran up, grabbed me by the arm, and urgently said, "They are calling your name!"

Confused and expecting that I might had won a door prizes, I reached out expecting an envelope and was thoroughly surprised when they called out my pace of 8:29 and handed me a medal that read "First Place" for my ancient, fossilized age group.

Blushing and self-conscious, I moved away quickly and took the steps gingerly off of the stage, determined not to fall and break a hip in front of the entire gulf coast. I guess I’m not dead yet, but there are rumors floating about about my racing retirement .

Now I can’t wait to eat all the curry I want and get back to my solitary soulful running. I am too old for this stuff

(I am having trouble posting a race pic and will give it another go later, so I have briefly substituted a pre-run photo in my album. It's a bit odd, but I thought it better to crop my daughter's friends out of it).

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Surfermom, that js absolutely fantastic! You must be so proud as I'm sure your daughter is of you too. Well done!
I'm sure you'll be tempted to do this again soon, even though you say you'd rather not. We all say "never again" after a gruelling task like that but the day comes to sign up and there we go.
Nice pic too

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

You'll do Surfermom...
Seriously though, brilliant, I never doubted you for one minute....Will you still converse with an old 'Has Been' like me now your famous?
And what about the photo that Floydy was on about....???

Well done.....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Surfermom thats brilliant, well done you!!

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Yep, found the photo of your Daughter Surfermom...
If that is you, why don't we see more of you? Something to brighten up the forum......My bit of it anyway.....
Nice shoes by the way.....how are you getting on with your Asics?

Enough Flirting, now down to business.....
I've just returned from an exceptional three mile walk. Pouring down with rain but warm enough for shorts....Legs are more waterproof than bottoms....I mean trousers......Not posteriors!
What a difference since yesterday. My back seems to have made much progress after a good nights sleep, and I felt so good when I arose, there was no way that I wasn't going out for some exercise this morning.

I found some stretching and strengthening exercises on youtube, specifically for the Piriformis, and early indications are favourable. Three miles seems like my maximum distance just now though because by back did begin to stiffen up over the last half a mile. The advice on youtube reckons that it will take five or six weeks for the Piriformis to repair, but after a yard or two of gentle jogging this morning I feel I could have strung a mile together, but will continue to err on the side of caution.....

You might have woke up stiff this morning Surfermom, races always bring out that little bit of extra effort, so take it easy for a day or two....But you know that already don't you.....I'm just off to attach your photo to the bedroom wall above my bed next to Ruthio's picture and adjacent to Mrs Foxes photo of Matt Damon....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

You all are so encouraging, thank you! .This thread and your motivating contributions definitely seeded the idea to try a race. The importance of trying new things as we get older is one of the secrets to staying mobile and happy as we go along...

OGF, it sounds promising that you stoically took on the rain and clouds to put in three miles. That healing time frame sounds about right. My piriformis muscle inflammation comes and goes, so I will look around youtube and see what you found.

My kids are forever walking through the kitchen and finding me with my head down on leg crossed ankle to knee, doing my favorite piriformis stretch, and asking me if I am about to faint or have a heart attack. Lest you think they are kind and caring children, they barely look my way on their way to the fridge.

And speaking of moving right through, I do alternate between Asics and New Balance. I am actually wearing New Balance right now, but opted for a lightly worn tried and true pair for the race because the NB's are too new. The last thing I needed to think about while all those young runners were passing me at the speed of light was my shoes .

BTW, If you keep printing and installing the photos of the forum on your ceiling you might start having shoulder problems too - so you might just want to limit that hobby to helping Mrs. Fox with photos of you and Daniel Craig . I'm glad you liked the photo, but thank heavens that the sun was behind me to obscure those lines and wrinkles (no lie)

Now off for a run and what looks like a well-needed sandwich or twelve...

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Surfermom can post as many photos as she likes in my opinion. Brightens up my day immensely
Not much time today as my granddaughter is coming straight from school and will be bombastically bounding up the stairs to my PC demanding to be on it immediately. Plus, I’ve got a quick album chart write-up to do, so I gotta get cracking.

Nice and straightforward legs session today which only takes me half an hour but it does make my pins work hard and I definitely feel I’ve had a pretty brutal session at the end of it.
As I mentioned last time, I now set myself a reasonably difficult target to reach based on my previous number of reps. If they become too many, I’ll add weight in denominations of 5kg. I fulfilled my goals today nicely feeling like my effort was well deserved.


Monday, 19 Feb 18

Legs:

Incline press, 160kg:
45/40/35
*Weight upped by 10kg

Seated ham curls, 40kg:
45/35/25

Sled press, 150kg:
35/30/25

Adductor (in’s), 60kg:
35/25/18

Abductor (out’s), 60kg:
30/25/20
*Both the above are lifting the full stack.

Ab crunch, 40kg:
30x40, 30x40, 30x40

All weights and reps will be evaluated and amended for next time.


I’ll look at your write-up later on folks

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Hi

Doing anything at the moment is a challenge.

I am on my third lot of antibiotics for my ear infection

The pain is such that I am morphine and have lost my balance.

I am still persevering.

My smart watch is set, so every 40 minutes I get a reminder to move.

I do so, but very difficult.

My temperature is 40.1, a slight improvement.

Still very difficult to do much though.

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Holy cow, that's high! I hope you have someone there, Swimmy between the possible confusion, pain, and imbalance, you really need to have someone there to help you steer the ship.

It's admirable you are getting up and around, but please be careful.