Originally Posted by
Ravenwing
Apologies up front for what will probably be a somewhat long and rambling post. I'm at a point in training where I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, or which way to go.
A little background: Like the title said, I'm 61 years old, a former (40+years) smoker, and I'm in my third year of cycling after a few years of little activity. This year, I also took up running again (my first love from years ago). Currently, my schedule looks like this: Sunday, Tuesday, Friday; ride 20 to 35 miles. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday; run 6 miles. Thursday I take off, since I have to work a split shift that day.
I am not fast, and I have no plans to ever enter a race, either cycling or running. I just want to attain/maintain the best level of fitness possible, given my age and history. My running pace averages 6:03, and I average 14 mph on the bike. Its hilly country around here, with flats few and far between, and short when you find 'em.
It sort of feels like I'm stuck. I guess I'm afraid to push much harder, since my knees and hips are currently doing really well, and I don't want to jeopardize that. That, and I find that my wind is somewhat lacking, no doubt because of so many years of smoking. It seems like if I push any harder on the bike, I'll be asking for knee trouble, and if I push any harder running.........well, I feel like I'm pretty well maxed out there as it is. My rides are typically majority zone 2 to 3, runs are zone 4 to 5.
I guess I'm not really at all sure what I'm asking. Perhaps looking for ideas on whether I should be doing more, or am I approaching over-training? Should I expect that I can do better, or should I be happy with what I've got?
I guess I'm missing something. You're running 6 miles, 3x a week and you're running at a 6:03 pace? The world record for the over 60 10K is something like 32-33 minutes.
I'm not far from you in age and I also cross train - I find it easier to recover by not constantly working the same muscles. I vary my bike rides and use my weekends to ride 40-50 miles on Saturday and Sunday when I can spend 2.5-3 hours on the road. Week night rides are shorter as I prefer to ride only in daylight.
I also try to vary my runs by distance and terrain. I run trails a couple evenings a week and run 3 to 5 miles depending on the loop I choose.
Varying the workouts, routes and pace keeps me from obsessing about times, personal bests, and aging. I now measure exercise success by the amount of time I exercise.
Keep up the good work.