I’m over 50, female, 5’4”, 135 lbs. I’ve been active my whole life. Struggling with consistency more now, and I’m hoping logging will help keep me going when progress slows or things start going in the wrong direction.
I run/hike and lift but have been off the trails and out of the gym for awhile.
Sunday: squat: 135x3; 95x12
Monday: 3 mile run/ walk
Tuesday: MP 70x3; 55x9; pull-ups 5 sets of 2
Have at it and go after your goals.
“Over 50”? I guess I’m in that genre but I haven’t used that phrase yet.
Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, I don’t want to give too much power to my age—a number I can’t change. Unfortunately, it feels relevant right now. I’m hoping to change that.
Training:
Wed: 3 miles on the road mostly running. First run back after a mild sprain.
35:31; 11:29 pace; 150 average HR. Happy to be moving again.
Thursday: DL 135x3 First time DLing in a year maybe two? I stopped because of sciatic pain. I used to do high rep touch and go DL sets. I’m going to avoid that for now and hopefully avoid sciatica.
BW bulgarian split squats 3 sets of 10. I hate single leg work and have always not done it. But I have no ego anymore, so I am doing this humbling demoralizing shit!
Hanging leg raises (HLR) 3 sets of 8
Pullups 3 sets of 3.
Friday: Bench 85x3; 95x1* This was supposed to be a triple but I wasn’t sure of it and decided not to push. 65x20 drop set. Happy surprise!
Accessories:
dumbbell row 20lb x 25 reps x 1 set
Vups 8 reps x 3 sets
Back extension 15 reps x 3 sets
Pushups 3x3. Ha! wow I suck at these.
I felt good this week, and I am happy to be lifting again.
Saturday: 5 mile run; average pace 11:11; average heart rate 161. Ankle is feeling good.
Sunday: 2mile hike; 600 feet elevation gain; average pace 24:20; average heart rate 82. Good to get outside.
balance work/ PT for my feet
Feet together eyes closed —60 seconds
Single leg eyes open—60 seconds
Single leg eyes closed three attempts on each side and I managed maybe 10 seconds.
Single leg eyes open on tippy toes —even worse—used bar for support
I know what I need to work on.
Squats: work up to 145x3;
Drop set 95x 20.
Jump squats—did two sets of 8; Need to work on being more explosive. Will reduce number of reps next time.
…
I’m feeling good. Really happy with where my ankle is.
How long have you been lifting? Are you following any program or training by feel? Are running and lifting of equal priority?
Though I’m a bit younger than you, my weight and height are very similar to yours.
Hi Bagsy,
I started lifting at 37. I was pretty serious about it until my mid 40s and competed in two powerlifting meets. I used 5-3-1 then.
Right now, I am training by feel, but I am guided by what I learned using 5-3-1. I think training at a weight where I can hit a challenging 12+ rep set is a sweet spot for me in terms of gaining strength. Rather than hitting that as an AMRAP top set, I do it as a drop set. The weight feels much lighter after hitting a heavier triple, and I get to hit a heavier triple. 
I probably will go back to 5-3-1 when I get my feet under me again.
I’m not sure of my priorities right now–probably running, but I really need the lifting to help with my body composition and I like being strong and physically capable. Ha! I want it all of course.
I have found your log and I am enjoying it! Thanks for stopping by.
Monday: MP 70x3; 55x11
Pullups: 8 sets of 2
YTLs and TKEs
Tuesday ankle rehab and hip and quad activation junk.
2 mile run.
Ankle PT before running did not work out for me. I could feel that it was a bit swollen and rubbing against my shoe while I was running. It probably would have been fine to keep going, but I didn’t push it.
Ankle seems fine now. I’m limiting my runs to 3x a week to try to stay healthy. I’ll try again on Thursday.
The desire to run and train feels good. Wish I could do more, but it’s not a bad place to be.
**Wednesday: ****
DL 135x5; 145x3
Bulgarian split squat BW x 15 x 3
HLR 8x 3
Thursday
Bench 65x5; 85, 90, 95x3; 75x17
Dumbbell row 20lbs x 30 reps x 1 set
Pullups maxish rep set 6
V-ups 12x3
Pushups 4x3
Run: 4.27 miles; 42:58; 10:04 pace; average hr 161
Saturday
4.85 miles; 10:25 pace; average hr 158
No squats. Going backpacking tomorrow with my adultish children. Between the mud, the elevation Change , and the weight of the pack I thought it best to delay that training.
I like hiking and am willing to hike all day. But my kids like the challenge of backpacking. This is our first go in the winter. No rain in the forecast and the temperature will be above freezing. I’m not afraid of the physical challenge. I am a bit afraid of the dark and with the daylight hours vastly limited it’s going to be a long night!
First winter backpacking trip is in the books! It was a great challenge and I feel empowered by it.
8 miles day 1; 4 miles day 2. Total elevation gained and loss 2690 feet.
Looks nice. Assuming you’re in the US, is this on the west coast?
@Bagsy–yes.
Training: Cycle 1, week 3
Wed:
Squats: 95, 115, 135x5; 145 x3, 150x3;
Heavy singles: 155, 160, 165x1
Drop set 105x20
MP 55, 60, 65, 70x3
drop set 55x12
HLRs 3 sets of 10.
****I was happy with squats today. Warmup weight felt heavy, but I felt better as the session went on.
I missed a lifting session earlier this week so I added MP in an effort to catch up. MP is a pretty stable lift for me. I don’t gain or lose strength particularly quickly there, and I don’t have any emotion about that lift.
Incredibly jealous. Christmas Day 2019 I flew out to Bay Area for the second time in my life to visit my friend who lives there. We drove down to Pinnacles National Park. It was only my first time at a national park. I imagine it’s especially nice to have those hiking opportunities during the pandemic.
Hi @omats! Just stopping by to welcome you. As an age-peer and fellow runner, I sympathize with your efforts to stay injury-free enough to enjoy it. I often liken my treadmill to a bad boyfriend; it keeps hurting me, but I keep coming back because there’s something there I can’t resist.
Same thing with the weights, really, but running is my siren’s call.
Anyway, welcome!
@Bagsy Yes, I live in a great area of the country for outdoor recreation and much hiking was done this summer!
@EmilyQ Thanks for the welcome. Ha! I love the image of your treadmill as an irresistible bad BF. I can relate. Running is one activity that I have been consistent with throughout my life. I don’t know why. I am not particularly good at it, and I get injured a lot. I guess its just part of my identity. And I am, quite frankly, a much better person when I am running. 
Edited to add: 4 mile run Thursday. 11 min mile pace. Ugh.
Happy New Year! Staying in the game is the goal this year–avoid injury and show the fuck up .
Bench: 65, 85, 95x3; 105x1 (very rushed, no pause); 100x3 (3 rep went up unevenly and if I had a spotter they would have taken the bar from me). 80x12.
*Starting the year off not honoring my stated goals. I don’t even care about benching so why I choose to flirt with failure I cannot say. I’m greedy and impatient.
Dumbbell row: 20lbs x30 reps x 1 set
Vup 12 reps x 3sets
Pushups 5 reps x 3 sets
Some yoga-ish stuff
Do you run races as well? Or not your thing? I dabbled in cross country a bit in high school and did a few half marathons and such in my early college years. I haven’t run over a mile at a time in a while though.
Relatable.
Oh yeah, I Am an incredibly goal oriented person. I like training for events.
I ran four years of xc and track in HS.
5 marathons between 1996-2014; lots of half-marathons; 10ks; and 5ks.
I swore off Traditional marathons After my 2014 race and transitioned to trail running, which is so much more fun and easier on the body. I want to run where cars can’t drive!
4 trail runs 2017-2019. I was supposed to run my first 50k in 2020, but that didn’t work out because of Covid. I think 50k is too far and I’m not overly excited about the distance, but I want more races to be accessible to me. All the really cool trail runs are 50k or farther!
This year though I am supposed to train for a late spring marathon. My soon to be 18 year old son wants to run one with me. I think this is not a good goal for him and I have tried to talk him out of it, but there is value in doing a hard thing—even a stupid hard thing. I blame David Goggins. He read his book.
Before I finished reading your post, David Goggins immediately came to my mind. His book is so awesome that I might have to reread it this year.
Saturdays are going to be my long run for marathon training.
Started today with 6 miles. Carried water, walked early and often–every two miles or so. It rained the whole time.
I don’t mind running in the rain if I am out there for an hour or so, much more than that is kinda un-fun. All but one of my previous marathons have been in the fall, I think that makes training easier.
On a positive note, I have never failed at the marathon distance. To be sure, I have never achieved my time goal, but every marathon I have signed up for I have successfully finished. I don’t intend to fail now.
Both my kids are now in. My daughter fears missing out. She has more running experience than my son–she ran XC in HS for two seasons, but she hated it. She is a swimmer.
I questioned both of them, probably more than I should have, about whether they really wanted to do this and whether they were really up for it. I’m shutting up now. They can do it. Of course, they can do it. And that’s all I’m going to say from here on out.
