50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Allen'59 Damn god age 57 time...big congrats!!

Week 279: 2 hours 11 minutes in 4 runs Mon - 20 min easy Tue - 31 min easy Wed - 40 min easy Thu - 40 min easy (was aiming for 50) Fri - off Sat - off Sun - off

J. Bryan Dixon wrote:

Complete recovery of strength and flexibility should be achieved prior to return to pre-injury activity. Premature return may result in a prolonged recovery or incomplete return to pre-injury baseline.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2697334/

File this one under "When will they ever learn?". I read that one last Tuesday, but thought: "Nah, I'll be careful, nothing bad will happen."

Maybe I should not have returned to yoga on Wednesday night; although it seemed fine at the time. Or, maybe I should have run a little easier on Thursday morning. It was not fine, the calf tightened up at around the 35 min mark. At first I tried slowing down, then I walked. Perhaps I should not have ridden my bike to work on Thursday; although I "got away with it" every day since the initial calf strain. But I did not get away with it this time. After the ride home, I braked at the front porch, innocently put my right foot on the ground, and wrecked my calf. Grade-2 strain this time. I spent Thursday night and Friday on crutches, Saturday walking with a drag-shuffle (or backwards), and today walking almost normally. I'll probably end up going to the doctor for this one, to get return-to-running advice that's better than what I came up with on my own.

Here's another decent article on calf strains:

Thanks, Mike. Yeah, I was happy with the race. My age group was very competitive ... a bunch of guys WAY ahead of me ... 2:44 took the top spot!

My training plan was somewhat unconventional ... low overall mileage with emphasis on a few quality long runs, and lots of days off (usually four days a week with no running). Seems to have worked OK, but I'd like to see if I can remain (mostly) injury-free with only two rest days a week.

Allen'59: Congratulations on your race. Maybe we should all use your training method!

Alan B: Sorry to hear about your calf re-injury. I'm sending you sympathy and good thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Well done Al59. Inspired me to think about a return to the marathon.

My week.

Mon. 2 x 30 min fasr walks with 15 kgs. 1 hour windy session in the kayak on Lake Eppalock, now holding 110% of capacity. It was in the 20% range in August.

Tue. 1 h 43 m mtn bike ride in the forests. Also a late night 6 km/ hour hilly hike with 15 kg.

Wed. A rugged 14 km trail run with 2 big climbs. 1 h 32 m. 580 m of elevation gain.

Thu. 2 x 30 min fast walks with 15 kg. 51 min kayak on the Campaspe River. My usual river course takes me mid 30s. The river is rocking hard and fast and it took me 41 to get upstream to about 50 metres from my normal turn around. I was starting to go backwards in the current so swung around and got back in just 10 mins.

Also an evening 6.6 km jog/walk in 50 mins.

Fri. 1 h 44 min mtn bike with 2 efforts up Mt Ida firetower track.

Sat. 11.7 km run on flat trails 56 mins, after a km easy it was 1 min on 1 min off, just fast relaxed striding followed by easy running.

Sun. Planned 5 x up "Mt Ida the hard way" but pulled the pin at the bottom of the second one having twisted my foot. This terrain is very steep and rocky and a loose rock from above rolled into me on the descent causing me to stumble.

3.2 km total in 49 mins with 294 metres of elevation gain. The climb is 550 metres with 140 metres of elevation gain, pretty bloody steep.

The foot is feeling ok this morning but I will leave the 15 kg off my back when I walk into work this afternoon.

61 years old

Cancer

Colectomy

knee surgeries

6 epidurals

Been training since 1977

Mon: 5.1

Tue: 6.2

Wed: OFF

Thurs: 5.1 Tempo. 2.5 in 20:01 last upgrade mile 7:54

Fri: 6.2

Sat: 3

Sun: 10.2 1:30

Any quality work hurts..The long run the worst. Sure enough right knee slightly swollen. Oh well.

Good week for me. Vacation on the Oregon Coast crabbing, golfing and running.

Monday 5 easy

Tuesday 10 easy

Wednesday 6 easy

Thursday 8 at MP

Friday off, golfing

Saturday 10 easy

Sunday 20 with last 5 at 8:10, almost MP.

Total 59

After my 20 my wife says hurry up and shower we are going golfing. Even with a cart it was a tough 9 holes.

Alan1959 ... great work!

Congratulations, Allen. Great work--mission accomplished indeed!

Alan, sorry about your calf. Sounds like a good plan to let someone else advise you on recovery this time. It can be freeing to follow a prescribed plan sometimes and resist the temptation to come back too quickly.

Down week for me. After 11 miles and two hours of yardwork on 10/2, my knee started acting up on my Tuesday run. Put in five miles @ 8:20-ish with a ten minute walk in the middle to try ease the knee problem. If I put weight on my left knee when it's bent it will give out. I fist noticed this about nine years ago and it has flared up twice since then. Once a PCP told me I had "no ACL" left. MRI proved him wrong and it was diagnosed as an edema. More recently it bothered me enough for me to wear a brace playing hockey but I didn't slow down activity then, although wasn't running much.

The knee hurts going up and down stairs--a small, sharp pain. Normal walking I don't notice it at all. Thursday I jogged 1.5 miles and stretched. Really not sure what I'm going to do this week. I'll be on the starting line 10/16 for the half marathon. Thinking maybe I'll job three miles Thursday and if it's okay, I'll jog and do some strides Saturday. Or I'll just skip running the entire week and hope for the best. Sunday may end up a training run rather than a sub-1:40 attempt.

Happy running.

AndyB

Meniscus probably. Same thing with my wife. She refuses to do the operation which is supposed to be relatively minor with a high percent of success. But, I'm not one to talk about avoiding surgeries.

Good Luck next week.

I myself have been feeling heavy legged and sluggish the last week or so. Going to take it easy coming into a 5K test this weekend.

C0l0rado wrote:

I'll look for a spring marathon to register for (suggestions welcome) in upcoming weeks and get back to it.

I know this is far away from where you live, but I liked Illinois Marathon (Champaign) I ran in April. The course is very flat, and you can get a fast time if the weather cooperates. Other spring marathons I have run are Go! St, Louis (I don't recommend this: it's a very hilly course) and Boston.

My week.

M: swimming 1000m.

T: 4 miles / 7 miles.

W: 11 miles. (5th-10th miles @ 7:53-7:47-7:41-7:35-7:30-7:30)

R: 4 miles / 7 miles.

F: 9 miles.

SA: 7 miles.

SU: 18.9 miles.

I felt a little tightness on my left hamstring toward the end of my long run. So I decided to slow down, instead of picking up the pace. I did some e-stimulation afterwards, and hopefully this is nothing serious.

I'll start us off early this week with a race report.

My lead up to the race was absolutely miserable. For the last 10 days I've been struggling to complete a run of any length. I've had 3 or 4, 4-mile days and only 2 runs of more than 6 miles. This week I took every other day off as a way to combat the sluggishness, soreness, and mental weakness I've been feeling.

So, I was pretty nervous going into the race. 2 weeks ago my confidence was sky high after some awesome workouts, but now, I thought I'd be happy with 7:30s.

It was a tough course. Rolling hills. Downhill (mostly) on pavement for the first mile. Rolling hills on a cross country ski trail for the second mile which turned out to also be rather soft. And back uphill (mostly) on the third mile.

Splits were: 7:07, 7:29, 7:02, + for a 22:30. 22 seconds short of my PR set last year. Second place of 29 in 50-59 age group. Yo'Yo'd pace throughout the race as I was over threshold at several points due to the hills. Strava says at times I was running 6:30 and at other times 7:50.

Overall. I was very pleased. I held it together mentally over the last 1.3 when I hit max heart rate and needed to manage myself over the duration.

Incredibly, a 9 year old girl ran 21:47 to win the women's race. And a 10 year old boy out sprinted me for 13th overall. But, I totally dusted his two 10 year old buddies in the last mile. Seriously, very humbling.

Wife took 1st in 40-49 category with 23:45.

We know, pretty low on the competition scale. But still fun to get a placement medal.

Ken

Ken, your colorful race description has inspired me to consider racing some local 5Ks or XC again. Hope your energy level stays high all week! Congrats to your spouse, also. I met my lovely wife in the local running club back in 1997 ... always nice when ones partner shares the passion! She lived in San Francisco for many years, and convinced me to run Big Sur Marathon with her in 2001. Gorgeous! We married in 2004.

Marathon Recovery Week:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Bike 19.4 miles @ 19.9 mph

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Off

Friday: Bike 10.2 miles @ 20.0 mph

Saturday: 4.6 miles @ 7:27 avg; steady acceleration from first mile (7:56) to final (6:38)

Sunday: Off

I did have one issue during last Sunday's race, and I would appreciate any insight folks may have:

I was hoping to "kick in" the last two or three miles, but when I tried to pick up the pace, my heart started to "flutter" ... felt like it was racing and/or beating irregularly, and I got a bit light-headed.

I slowed down, and felt OK, but the sensation repeated EVERY time I tried to accelerate during the last couple miles. My legs were fatigued, but I still felt like I could pick up the pace, apart from the heart thing.

Psychosomatic? A normal response to fatigue? Something to be concerned about?

Happy trails,

Allen

Thanks Allen, my wife got me off the couch after nearly 30 years of mostly not running; although I've played a lot of hockey throughout.

3 years ago I couldn't run a mile without stopping and it took me at least a month before I could run 3. She runs seven days a week and definitely inspires me to at least get out the door most days.

It is a pleasure to be able to keep up with her but most days she runs too hard for me.

No ideas on your issue.

Best wishes

Ken

Thanks Allen, my wife got me off the couch after nearly 30 years of mostly not running; although I've played a lot of hockey throughout.

3 years ago I couldn't run a mile without stopping and it took me at least a month before I could run 3. She runs seven days a week and definitely inspires me to at least get out the door most days.

It is a pleasure to be able to keep up with her but most days she runs too hard for me.

No ideas on your issue.

Best wishes

Ken

Mon. 50 mins kayak session.

Tue. 1 h 13 min mtn bike ride and 2 km hill run to test bruised foot.

Wed. 13.5 km run on Mt Ida. 3 x up the "Hard way" and 1 x up the firetower track. Kms 2, 3, 4 took me 45 mins. Kms 10, 11, 12 took me 12.30. Total time 1.43. 550 metres of elevation gain. Killer session.

Thu. 1 h 10 m kayak session.

Fri. 1 h 32 m mtn bike ride finishing at work. A quick 4 km ride back to the car at 10.30 pm.

Sat. 6 slogging hours of lawn mowing.

12.7 km run on Mt Ida. Up the hard way then down the firetower track and back up then down the hard way and back up before smacking out some sub 4 min downhill kms and finishing off wih min on min offs.

1 h 24 mins 430 metres elevation gain.

Sun. Easy 10 km run mostly along railtrail.

51 mins. I did try to pick up the pace a bit but legs were feeling quite weary.

Pleased with the 2 hill sessions. 2 weeks out from 4 Peaks. I have no idea whether I am in good or average shape. I will figure that out over the 4 days.

The tough Ida climbs should help a bit with day one on Mystic's soul and quad crushing climbs and descents. After that I have no idea.

wow those are some remarkable hill repeats. good luck with your upcoming race.....

M 12 miles (double)

Tu 16 with track 10,000 meter tempo (40:03)

W 8

Th 11

F 8 incl. 10 X 1/2 mile on slightly rolling bike path with equal recovery time (average 2:51.3)

Sa 9

Su 11

right shin overtaking left foot PF and left calf and right hamstring in the ongoing competition for most worrisome proto-injury, but manageable so far.

have a great week,

Dave

*************************

Week 280

*************************

Hi, 50+ers! Thanks for getting the ball rolling and congrats on some good race results from a whole slew of y'all!

My week devolved once again as I got mired in a litany of other activities/obligations. Only ran three times this week after missing last Sunday AND this Saturday! A grand total of 14.6 miles of running was achieved.

Sun: off

Mon: 4.1 miles w/2nd&3rd in 6:50, 6:24 + trail hike

Tue: 5.5 w/4x400 (85,80,80,82) trying to work on "speed"

Wed: off

Thur: 5.0 easy (7:57 pace) + 4-mile walk

Fri: off

Sat: off

The only saving grace is that I did get a lot of walking in on Monday and Thursday when I added about 4-miles of walking each of those days. I was in 5 meetings on Friday, had no interest in running when I got home. On Saturday, I needed to rebuild a new garage door that had disintegrated and this was the first chance I'd had to get to it. I thought it would be a 4-hour project (maybe for Dave it would be), but it ended up taking me until dusk to get it built and hung; needless to say, I didn't get a run in.

OK, carry on folks! Good stuff already!

All the Best!

Allen1959 wrote:

I was hoping to "kick in" the last two or three miles, but when I tried to pick up the pace, my heart started to "flutter" ... felt like it was racing and/or beating irregularly, and I got a bit light-headed.

I slowed down, and felt OK, but the sensation repeated EVERY time I tried to accelerate during the last couple miles. My legs were fatigued, but I still felt like I could pick up the pace, apart from the heart thing.

Psychosomatic? A normal response to fatigue? Something to be concerned about?

Happy trails,

Allen

Had this happen at XC ski masters nationals a couple years ago and I think it's just a sign of being at your limit. But wise to take heed and ease up. If you haven't had a check-up in a while, visit your physician and get a treadmill stress test.

Hey, back running, but still on rehab. No lifting yet, and still another month for range of motion exercises. Ran 10 treadmill miles this week (4 days), walked about 13, and and did another 3.5 hours on the elliptical or exercise bike.