Terrible revelations this past month. The knowledge has been there for a few years abut I finally dragged it all out of the dark corners where I’d hidden it, put the pieces together and confronted it head on.

It was not good.

We could say I started running in 1970. I’d played some Opti-League basketball. Some summer softball. And I’d been running since shorlty after I could walk of course. But Junior High football can be marked as my first efforts at actual physical training for athletic competition. That was 53 years ago. I discovered track and distance running in 1973. Fifty years ago. And that has shaped my life. I have called myself a runner ever since. I had coaches and trainers for most of the next decade and I placed my organism in their usually capable hands. And I learned. So when my collegiate career was over roughly 40 years ago I became “self coached.”

I realized I’d never scale the heights I had in college. Missed being an All-American 0.2 seconds in the 400m. But I could still be good. There were road races where I could still be competitive and the occasional all-comers meet. Those filled up my running in the 80’s. And then I turned 30. Most athletes hang up their shoes after high school. I didn’t. Of those who don’t the vast majority hang it up after college. The pros didn’t beckon, nor did the Olympics but I could still enjoy the mental health running provided.

When I hit my 40’s I discovered Masters Track. And age-grading. The interwebs connected those of us who still wanted to toe the line. I could compare my times against runners of all ages and genders. I could also see where I stood globally. Scoring in the 90’s meant world class. The 80’s were “national class” except in the US where leisure time and capitalism allowed more of us to pursue racing more seriously longer. Scoring in the 70’s meant “regionally competitive and the 60’s meant you could medal at the state level. Except for Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and California. All of those states (and their regions) were essentially a step higher. Which was fine. I was consistently in the top two in Ohio to a guy from Cincinnati. And there was a guy from NE Ohio I’d been running against since our respective college days. Meets were like reunions. Somebody might take a season or two off but when they came back we all picked up right where we had been. I did eventually win a state title and a midwestern one. Was quite a season. I also raced in Tennessee, Arizona and California. Broke the meet records at all three – and finished second at all three.

Then came my 50’s. And it all started to get harder. I used be be able to do my base-building over a month to six weeks and then jump into my speed work. But no more. Took 2-3 months to lay down the base. I couldn’t double my mileage every week or so anymore. Hell, I couldn’t even run more tham a mile on back-to-back days. But I adapted. I tailored my workout schedule to accommodate my changing physiology. I still managed to keep my scores in the high 70’s and low 80’s. But then I took a year more or less off. And getting it back has been awful.

I’m now in my 60’s. In my 20’s and 30’s I was building and improving on the edge. In my 40’s and 50’s it was about maintaining. STILL being competitive. Still toeing the line. But the 60’s are different. It’s not about maintaining. It’s about staving off the inevitable decline. The loss. The slowing. I has taken me almost three months to build my base from three miles a week to a mere six. And my splits are not getting much better. I’m able to go just a tad farther, but not any faster. It’s crushing. And I’m not dealing with it well.

As a self-coached runner I like to be crunchy and system driven. So a decade or so ago I turned to the Cooper test to measure my status and progress. I’ve set up a spreadsheet to do the calculations and I’ve kept records. Short version is that there’s a target number I need to hit, based on my age, before I’ll start doing speed work again. It’s based on my age, and my times in the mile, the 12 minute run, and the two-mile run. It’s a chartable data point. And I’ve been JUST below it for most of the last three months. And while I’ve improved my weekly distance I’ve not been able to improve my time. That tells me I’m not improving. I’m staving off the decline. And while that’s a noble task in and off itself, it is depressing. Better maybe to chuck it? To reclaim and repurpose that 3-5 hours per week? Or to take arms against a sea of trouble and, by opposing, end them?

I may be able to get some access to indoor facilities this winter. Ideally I need to be ready to start speed work no later than October if I want to start racing next season. In the past I’ve started earlier in the fall, progressed as far as weather would allow, done maintenance work through the winter, then polished in the spring. So perhaps I’ll continue as I have been. Slogging through the neighborhood. Trying to meet the Cooper Test numbers. Maybe even throwing in a set of time-trials in September to try to hit them.

In May of 2015 I ran a 14.6 100m, a sub 30 200m and a 1:24 quarter. Those times scored a 79, 79 and a 62. NEXT year those scores will require times of 15.3, 31.4 and 1:26.9. We’ll see if my hammies can hold up to that 100m, if I can EVER get a decent 400m again, and if my mechanics have stayed true to my 200m.

Or perhaps I’ll just hang up the spikes.

About five or six years ago I realized I couldn’t do back-to back workouts anymore. I didn’t mean killers. I meant that if I did what qualifies as a workout (be it LSD, full weights, or speed work) I couldn’t do another “qualifying” workout the next day. So I adapted.

Then about three summers ago I realized that I was gonna hafta rethink my approach to running in the heat. Back in the 80’s I’d had a mild heat stroke. That’ll happen doing a 14 miler in 90+ degree weather. Ever since then I’d set a heat/humidity index ceiling of 100 and would cut way back or stay indoors when that magic number hit. That’s not working anymore. Body can’t take that stress. So my number is now 90. And I don’t like that at all. Oh, I’ll still go for a walk to burn some calories, or workout inside if need be but it’s an accommodation this cranky old man doesn’t like.

And this winter? It’s been pretty mild here in Ohio but I NEVER liked running in the cold. Takes too long to get dressed. Sometimes longer than the run itself it seemed. So here’s what I did. I set a wind chill factor of 32 as the floor until after Thanksgiving. Then I’d lower it one degree a day through December until it got to 0. Hold it there through January, then raise it one every day through February back up to 32 in March. And NEVER run if the wind’s over 15 mph. HATE running in the wind. HATE it. Although my only (Masters) state title came on a damned windy day just off of Lake Erie. This year? I didn’t have the heart. Between the lockdown, the election, the general ennui I just didn’t wanna DO it. So I didn’t. New rule? Thirty two WCF is the limit which means I’ll be taking most winters off or working indoors.

Maybe if I can get the weight down AND put together about six good months of work so I can start thinking about racing again …. then MAYBE I’ll get back to it in the winter. But currently I’m a 1 on the 1-10 scale from “normal” to “world class for an old guy.” We’ll see if I EVER get back.

Edit to add: My alma mater maintains a list for its school athletic records. Almost ALL of the T&F records have been established in the last 20 years although there are a FEW that persist from the 90’s and even back to my era – mostly in events that are no longer contested (like my 600m.) They ALSO maintain a “top 10 by class” in each event. Sadly many athletes have GREAT freshman/sophomore seasons only to fade/vanish by Junior/Senior season. But I’m STILL ON THE LIST! 8th for senior 400m outdoors!

A little physical evaluation. Going to the doc in 10 days to do the evaluation that I DIDN’T get last fall because I coughed in the waiting room. Running went by the wayside right after Halloween. My body doesn’t handle the cold like it used to. “Back in the day” I’d run in chill factors down to 32 until December, then I’d lower that baseline 1 degree a day to 0 for January, then raise it again 1 degree a day starting in February back up to 32. That helped me ease into the Ohio winter without being silly. But my 60+ bod doesn’t handle the cold as well and since I’m doing it for “health” right now, not competition, I’ve set 32 as my threshold.

Weight started up about the same time. Went from 209 in September to 219 on Halloween. Have held steady at 219-222 ever since. Of course Thanksgiving, Christmas, butter cookies and football all make it difficult to “watch weight” from Halloween to mid-January anyway. But I’m back to walking 2 miles every other day or so. Won’t run until I notch a week under 220 as a favor to my knees. Gonna start mixing the Dare Bee Foundation work in as well. A little stretching and flexibility. Back to Hello Fresh as well after about a month off.

March will see a relocation back to Brice. Hopefully I’ll get my Soloflex back and reinstalled in “The Boiler Room” of my basement. Have a nice (if dated) treadmill I need to move from moms as well. Those three changes should eliminate a lot of the excuses and get me back under 215 by March. That means my running should be back to meaningful in the spring.

Way too much stationary time in the classroom. Dare Bee and paying attention to my “step alarm” should fix that. Resting BPM was 52 this time last year. It’s jumped to 54 this season. Hasn’t been 52 since July. I’m blaming not taking my AmLodipine. Solely my fault. Remedy that next week. Haven’t had a weekly sleep score of 90 since mid-September (start of school.) Been 88 and 89 since the holidays which portends a return to normalcy or what passes for same in these parts. And I’m getting 7 1/2 to 8 hours per night so that’s fine.

Next three months? Continued dietary prudence (sweet consumption is dropping, alcohol consumption monitored,) incremental increase in exercise frequency, duration and difficulty. Good to go by 63rd birthday?

Haven’t updated the running thing in a while, so lets. Weight down to 207-212 range. In the last month I’ve done my first three mile run since September ’15 and my fastest since July of that year. That was also the last year I raced. Fastest everything else since August ’16. Running fell apart for a while then. Haven’t been able to hit my Astrand tempo runs so I’ll spend the rest of October doing 2-3 mile runs and an occasional tempo workout. Maybe after Halloween I can start hitting the track more often. If NOT it’s goona be a long winter of distance slogs with some core work mixed in on the off days. And in reality, that would be the best way to prep the organism for my first spring of speed work in years.

Finally down to 210 for the first time in a decade. And then the mind starts playing tricks. Upper body is STILL a dad bod, but it looks a little better with 15 pounds of surface adipose missing. The definition of my legs is returning. VERY happy about that.

And then I decided to go to the track for a tempo runs. The LSD has been fine. I’ve been making steady, gradual progress but I realize that the progress gets harder to come by after a nice start. Something about the oval that screws with my head. I over-do it. I had a set pace in mind and I pushed it. WAY too much. Because that’s what I do, to my detriment.

Survived the workout and got back on track. Still a month or so away from actual speed work. Hopefully I’ll kick the distance up in July. And after the 4th I’ll probably do a time trial (600/300/100) just for the benchmark.