Me too.

I find that weighted squats plus planks give me the most bang for the time and effort. What are other thoughts for most effective weight work?

Good for you, keep it up. I did the same for 12 months, walking 3 miles a day and finally came back to regular running. Little by little. Keep it going, consistency will give you a good outcome.

Great, please keep us posted on your progress. We aging runners are all in it together.

I usually run 6 or five days a week. Normally run 3 and then one off but I will probably walk on the day off.

I would be interested in what Herb says on this. He has done lots of extreme events and training. When I feel tired, I still run but if after a mile or so may cut my run short, unless I start to feel better as the minutes click by. If I did cut the run short, the day after, I will likely, try to run again. Almost always, just by backing off the day prior is enough. In recent years at around 78-81 years old, when trying for extreme weekly milage near or over 50, I was tired all the time. But my race performance was excfellent and even set the all-time Washington State 5k record of 24:01 at 80. So Im not sure being tired is necessarily a red flag but maybe just part of pushing to the maximum. One thing, when really tired, a rest day or two before race day seems to bring rocket fuel to the event.