Coaches

A couple years ago I introduced you to my AI running coach, Agnes Ironfist (left). She tells me when to run, the type of run, how far to run, and how fast to run. She's helped this 69-year-old keep his 5K races under 30 minutes.

Today I'd like to introduce you to my push-up/pull-up coach, Rex Maddox (right). Back in June he straightened out my push-up form. (It was really messed up.) He's got me doing about 220 non-continuous push-ups a couple days a week and we're up to 53 continuous push-ups. Our goal is 69 continuous good-form push-ups by the end of the year. He also has me doing 69 non-continuous pull-ups a couple days a week.

Fourth place AGAIN!

Mid-sixties, sunny, a slight wind - almost a perfect day for a 5K. I always enjoy traveling to Bemidji in early October for the Blue Ox. The leaves are at their peak color, the cow bells are ringing. several old guys ready to prove they can still do it.

Jerry was there. Mike was there. Steve was running his first 5K. He was running with his daughter. What a fun day! Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a photo of all of us together...

Thankfully, we started at the traditional location - not last year's location where I lost about 30 seconds trying to run around people.

I started out a little slower than planned: 9'54" pace for the first mile. Second mile: 9'36". Third mile: 9'34". Glad for the negative splits. I'm not sure if I could've run faster. I battled the woman on the right for the last 5 minutes of the race. 

Thankfully, I was able to pass her at the end.

Will I ever be able to run under 29:00 again? I don't know, but I'm going to keep trying.

International Competition

There's a small town about an hour and a half north of us called Kleefeld. Yesterday it was the site of one of the most important 5K races in Manitoba. This race draws many elite runners from Winnipeg and the surrounding area.

About a month ago I was searching for a September race and luckily found this one. Thankfully, it didn't start before 10:00 because I had to cross the border to get there and the border crossing doesn't open till 8:00. 

It had been raining lightly most of the morning. The temperature was comfortable - about 60 degrees with no sun. The smell of a nearby pig farm was in the air... Thankfully, the rain stopped shortly before the race began, but the ground was still wet which made for some interesting reflections for photographs.

My plan was to start running at a 9:50 pace. The second mile would be about 9:40. Then, hopefully just pick up the speed and try to even get up to 9:00 pace. My actual splits were: 9:44, 9:32, and 9:30. That's pretty close to plan. If I would've stuck closer to plan, would I have done better? I don't know.

My final time was 29:49. I was shooting for 29:00, but anytime I can get under 30 I've got to be happy. (See details below.)

As I mentioned, this race had some elite runners. Simon Berube, a 29-year-old from Winnipeg, took first with a time of 14:19. That's an average pace of 4:36! There were two other men with times under 15:00. The fastest woman, Maia Idzikowski, finished in 18:20. These were all the fastest time in Manitoba this year.

Road to Health #12 - Pull-Ups

For several years, at the end of runs, I've headed over to the playground near our house to do pull-ups. Also, since we've started going to Florida in the winter, I bought a pull-up bar so I'm easily able to do pull-ups there.

Unfortunately, even though I've been doing pull-ups regularly, especially during the summer months, I've found it next to impossible to get passed a maximum of 12 reps.

It's only been during the last year that I decided to seriously increase volume. It seemed like a good idea to do my age in reps (non-continuously, of course). It took awhile to increase the volume to 68 (my age then), doing reps of 3, 4, or 5, but eventually I got there. Now, I'm doing reps of 6 and hoping to increase to 7 soon.

The good news: I've finally had a breakthrough. Today I'm able to do 16 reps!

Road to Health #11 - Push-Ups

I think it was about 20 years ago that someone put a thought in my brain - doing one's age in push-ups. What a great idea! And so I've been doing that.

It sounds overwhelming at first, but there's a cool web-site called Hundred Pushups which puts one on a program to achieve this goal (at least the goal of doing one's age) rather quickly. 

When I first started doing push-ups, I knew they were good for me, but I didn't know how good until I discovered this article: 'Push-up capacity linked with lower incidence of future cardiovascular disease events among men.'

Last year I thought it might be cool to do a video of myself doing my age in push-ups. Unfortunately, it was only then that I realized I was doing them incorrectly. I went through the program and got back up to my age in push-ups. So, around my birthday we did another video. Oh no!!! I was still doing them wrong! Okay. I know what the problem is now, so I'm back on the program. I'm now up to 50 correct push-ups. I should be back on track in a few weeks.

Road to Health #10 - Cancer Prevention

Ten years ago I was in the Twin Cities for a wedding. Since this forced me to miss a 5K I normally run, I decided to look for a race in the Cities that weekend. I discovered a beautiful location that ran all the way around a lake. The race was called Miles for Melanoma. 

I didn't actually do that well in the race, but afterward they were providing free screenings. What a great idea. I discovered that day that I needed to see a dermatologist as soon as possible. I had pre-cancerous skin lesions. I've been visiting my dermatologist religiously ever since.

Yellow Rose

The weather was perfect for the Yellow Rose today - sunny, low 60s, very little wind.

There were at least 200 runners today!

It was a good start. I didn't let my emotions get the best of me. I kept it to about a 10 min pace.

I pretty much ran exactly as planned: approx 10 min pace for the first mile, 9:45 for the second mile and 9:30 for the third mile. 

I waved at Phil and Marcia:

I'm getting close to the end:

Right near the end, a 71-year-old fellow from Roosevelt, Michael Palmquist, passed me! I couldn't let him beat me! I put it into another gear and probably beat him by a hundredth of a second.

I was happy to get back under 30 minutes. I was pleased with the negative splits. I don't think I could have done any better than I did - my max heart rate was 190! Unfortunately, I did not medal. I came in fourth place for the 60-69 men.

Make a Difference for ALS Walk/Run: Disappointment

Saturday was the 27th annual Make a Difference for ALS Walk/Run. It was hot and humid. Going into the run, I thought I was ready to take it up to the next level. I actually thought I could best my 8:31 time from Fergus Falls last month.

So I started out fast. The plan was to go with a 9:15 pace for the first mile and to speed up from there. As it turned out, I couldn't even hold the 9:15 pace for the whole first mile. I crashed and burned from there. I ended up with a time of 30:33.

On the bright side, I took 2nd place for the 50+ age group. And $38,000 was raised for patients and research.  

Year 15 Complete

I finished running every street on my birthday - my 69th birthday. So, of course, I ran 6.9 miles. I'd like to say I did it in 69 minutes, but I didn't even try. I knew I wasn't ready for that. It took me 80 minutes, 22 seconds. I was plenty tired even when trying to take it easy...

I also did 69 push-ups and 69 pull-ups. When reviewing the video of the push-ups, I realized I'm still not doing them correctly. My goal now is to do 69 "correct" push-ups by the end of the year.

Of course, the pull-ups were not continuous, but even so, they weren't exactly correct either. So, my goal is to do 69 "correct" pull-ups sometime in the near future.

Thanks once again for everyone who contributed to Running Every Street. At least I didn't cheat at that.

Road to Health #9 - Protein

Several years ago I began drinking a blueberry/protein smoothie after every run just because it seemed like the thing to do. Now, after listening to the experts, it sounds like I've done the right thing, especially as an aging runner.

What are the benefits of protein? Here's what they tell me:

1. Aids in recovery. Recovery becomes more and more important as one ages. This is huge.

2. Durability. Protein prevents injuries by strengthening connective tissue and reducing muscle breakdown.

3. Immune health. I do a number of things to support immune health. I almost never get sick anymore. Protein seems to be one of the things keeping me healthy.

Road to Health #8 - Tandem Bike

About 15 years ago, we made one of the smartest purchases of our life - a tandem bike. A tandem bike is a great way for a couple to be active together. We have used almost every day that the weather has allowed since we bought it. We have literally put thousands of miles on it. 

We've also brought it with us when camping at places like Itasca State Park and the Badlands of North Dakota. We even brought it down to Florida a few years ago.

Several years ago we discovered that they make baskets for small dogs that can be attached to the bicycle. This added a whole new dimension to the experience. While Ollie was still living, we would ride to the park together and then walk around the park together. Unlike some exercise equipment that is used for a few days and then set aside, this bike is still being used every day.

Lake Region Run

 

Yesterday was the Lake Region Run in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. What we did this time was arrive at Maplewood State Park, about 40 minutes north of Fergus Falls, on Friday afternoon, camp there overnight in our pop-up trailer, and then head over to the race early in the morning.

It was a beautiful day - maybe a little too beautiful - about 73 degrees and sunny at the start of the race. 

Here we are waiting for the starting gun. I'm back in the middle of the crowd. I didn't want to hinder faster runners by being up front.

The gun went off!

This is a hilly race. Most of the first half of the race is up-hill. I was a little concerned. My time didn't seem very good. Then I started to pick up some speed on the down-hill sections.

It was shortly before this photo, with about 2 minutes left in the race, that I realized I could end up with a pretty good time. That gave me a real boost.

I came in third place with my best time since 2014!

Update to post: I didn't notice until looking at statistics afterward that I just barely got third place. This gentleman, Jeff Legge, was just three seconds behind me! See video here.

LifeCare Walk/Run

This morning was the LifeCare Walk/Run. This run focuses on wellness and community.

This was right up there with one of the coldest 5Ks I remember running. It was about 40 degrees with 10 mph wind and a slight drizzle. I wish I would've dressed a little warmer with and extra shirt and gloves. Oh well - no over-heating concerns today.

I ran pretty much exactly as I was hoping to run: first mile 9:52 pace, second mile 9:43 pace, third mile 9:43 pace. Overall time: 29:36. I think my pacing was just about perfect. I don't think I could've finished any faster.

I was exhausted at the end. There weren't any age-rated medals today. I assume I was first for my age group. I will add to this post later with more information as I receive it. 

Update: I came in 47th place out of 114 runners/walkers. 26th place for the males. Unfortunately, there aren't ages on the numbers I'm looking at so I don't know how I did for my age group.

Year 15!

Year 15 of 'Running Every Street' has begun. I've actually been doing for a few weeks now. But with the cold weather, it hasn't been fun...

This year's shoe is the Brooks Adrenaline 24 GTS:

They're not 'super shoes', so I probably won't be running a sub 2 hour marathon anytime soon. If I can run a sub 29 minute 5K soon, I'll be happy.

A 3.3 mile run today...

Road to Health - #7 Man's Best Friend

Perhaps an unexpected entry near the top of a health plan is a dog. For me a dog is a great motivator. Dogs need walks every day. And walking is their favorite thing to do. They're not afraid to let you know it's time their walk.

This is my most difficult post so far. Our precious little dog, Ollie, our dear friend of fourteen years, just passed away a few months ago. I took him for walks twice a day since he was a pup. I miss him so much. 

And exercise is not the only benefit of having a dog. There's also the social component, the love, the companionship. Yes, having a big part of this list.

Road to Health - #6 V8

The first thing I listed on my Road to Health was how I stopped drinking pop. When that happened I needed to come up with an alternative beverage to drink with meals. Of course, just plain water is a fine alternative, and I often do drink water with meals - especially at restaurants. But, at some point I discovered V8.

Thankfully, unlike some people, I like the flavor of V8, so it has worked out well for me. 

Now, V8's marketing claims that each serving provides two servings of vegetables. Does that mean it's a perfect substitute for eating vegetables? Absolutely not. But, I do believe it is a healthy choice for people who may not be getting as many servings of vegetables in their meals as they should.

V8 is high in sodium. If that's a concern, drink the low sodium version. Another concern with any juiced product is that they're losing the fiber. For me - I drink the high fiber version. And, of course, I recognize it's still not as good as eating vegetables, but it sure beats drinking pop with my lunch.

Here's a link to a video listing 5 reasons V8 is healthy.

Road to Health - #5 Bulging Disc

Back in the early days, two issues nearly nipped my running career in the bud. One, I already talked about: plantar fasciitis. The other was a bulging disc. 

One day, after a very hard sprint, I developed serious pain in my lower back. Looking back, I suspect my mistake was not warming up properly. It was serious pain that ran down my leg. It persisted. 

I finally decided to go to a chiropractor for the first time in my life. I'm thankful that he was able to diagnose the problem as a bulging disc. Unfortunately, he didn't seem sure of what to do about the problem. He did suggest that, perhaps, an incline table might help. But he didn't have any exercises or physical therapy to recommend. I looked up info on incline tables, and it seemed that the jury was still out on them.

I was concerned that this might be the end of my running career and that I may be dealing with serious pain for the rest of my life. Fortunately, when discussing the issue with my friend Dwight, he recommended a book titled "Treat Your Own Back" by Robin McKenzie, a specialist in spinal disorders from New Zealand. 

The book provided me with some exercises I could do for a couple minutes every morning. Very soon I had relief. I still have the bulging disc, but 99% of the time it doesn't bother me. I still do the exercises every day and plan to for the rest of my life. And, thankfully, I am still running.

Road to Health - #4 Motivators

When one first begins running, it's really tough to get up off the couch and put on the miles. And then, if issues come up, like the plantar fasciitis I discussed earlier, the temptation is to just throw in the towel. I discovered early on, I need some external motivator.

The first motivator - the thing that got me started running in the first place - was a 5K race. And then I discovered other races, and as long as I had a race to look forward to, I had that motivation. 

And then I read an article about a couple running every single street of their town. What a great idea! I decided that was something I could do. So I did it. And then, to make it even more interesting, I decided to make it a fund raiser - get other people involved, create a blog, show my current run and mileage on a map every day. And, of course, that's what this blog is all about.

In the early years, I would finish running every street and the 5K season would end in northern Minnesota and I would just stop running for a few months. My new motivation is to achieve a personal best. I run as much as I can in colder weather, before there's snow on the ground, and then switch to a treadmill when it's accessible. 

Then, we started going to Florida for a couple months in the winter, so now I'm able to run pretty much year-round.