There’s something nice about being an old fogie runner; there isn’t any competition! Our town just had its annual Turkey Trot 5K race on November 24. Since I turned 80, I have been the only competitor in the “80 and up” age group. So, at age 83, I now have a collection of four trophies from this race. I’ll not get into what my times have been except to say that, at least in my opinion, they are terrible! I still have dreams of running a 5K at a 10 minute/mile pace and maybe even completing the race in a sub-30-minute time. I’ve already started a training program designed to enable me to achieve this objective. We’ll see how that works out…
I have an added incentive this time around. There was a “young” 79-year-old guy in the race this year whose time was roughly a minute and a half faster than mine. So, no more easy trophies for me. If I want to get another one, I’ll have to work for it. I DO think this possible, however. Again, I’ll have to see if the training program I’ve put together works or not.
Actually, my program is very simple. I try to run at a 10 minute/mile pace --- initially running for only 15 minutes (around 15 laps on the 1/10-mile track at our YMCA). Then, every week after that, for 20 weeks or so, I will add a minute that I also hope to be able to run at the same pace. Assuming I can do that, my mission will be accomplished --- and maybe I’ll win another trophy next year!
I have an added incentive this time around. There was a “young” 79-year-old guy in the race this year whose time was roughly a minute and a half faster than mine. So, no more easy trophies for me. If I want to get another one, I’ll have to work for it. I DO think this possible, however. Again, I’ll have to see if the training program I’ve put together works or not.
Actually, my program is very simple. I try to run at a 10 minute/mile pace --- initially running for only 15 minutes (around 15 laps on the 1/10-mile track at our YMCA). Then, every week after that, for 20 weeks or so, I will add a minute that I also hope to be able to run at the same pace. Assuming I can do that, my mission will be accomplished --- and maybe I’ll win another trophy next year!
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