MASTERS WEEKEND RUNS AND RACES

Happy Mother's Day to all,

Body was happy with me all week. Had a good effort yesterday (4 miles steady at 5:19 avg). Calf muscle that really bothered me just one week ago did fine.

Today is filled with hitting baseballs to my wife (really) and hitting the pool (she likes when the whole family swims a workout together) - no running.

Still a bit sore from Tues nite all comers meet at Emory U in ATL. Ran the 400m in 59.8 Did 1500m about 25-20min later in 4:34. Then decide to run the 3000m but only did 1mile in 5:29 figure thats enough of a hard workout. Quads and hamstrings have been sore for days. Ran 7.5 miles yesterday on flat grass and did 8miles this morning at around 7:35pace. Good Running and Happy Mothers Day to the Ladies.

I'd like to introduce everyone to Sam:

Height: 21 inches

Weight: 8 pounds, 3 ounces

Age 3 days

VO2 max: unknown

Personal bests: Ahead of him

We're happy and healthy, but tired. Headed home from the hospital today.

Cheers to all!

Congrats Single Speed with Sam!! How cool is that! Glad everyone is healthy and going home. Any sleep for you or your wife yet?

Did you watch Sam arrive? How do you feel?

A solid week here with several runs that informed me that I might just be on the right road back. The kind of runs that may not be fast, but just feel really, really good. Saturday I ran a 400 followed by an 800 and just enjoyed them both - times were better than I hoped and I know there were a few seconds to be had for both. This was not a designated race, just out on the track by myself. Thursday was an hour in Chesebro Canyon just before sunset and it was truly a beautiful run with the spring flowers and shading in the canyon with the declining sun.

We had Olivia's 2 month check-up and she is now a whopping 10 pounds. She is in the proper growth ranges for all measurements now she is on a very healthy road. Can't believe all the shots the doc wants to give her. Unrelated - I never knew a baby could evacuate so much matter!

I was fortunate enough to see several pictures of Sam, Single Speed and Mrs. Single Speed, all look great and happy. Mrs. Single Speed looked refreshed for having just given birth. Congratulations again.

Sam and Olivia can be on the same Olympic team!

Congrats, Single Speed! What a wonderful adventure you and Sam have begun!! We'll all look forward to hearing about Sam's progression over the next ... oh ... how long are we going to be doing this thread again? - right, the next 50 years!

Another tough week for me. But revamping my training routine three weeks ago (as a response to diminishing returns - and dead legs - from my previous training routine) is starting to pay dividends. My legs finally felt good again in a 1500 yesterday. And though the time was virtually identical to what I ran last week, last week I felt crappy from the gun to the finish line, and this week the race felt smooth and easy the whole way (I just ran on the leaders until the last 100, then beat them in a kick to the finish). More importantly, I felt that undefinable "thing" we all feel when we can tell our legs are on the upswing - and we know that we've got faster races ahead of us.

You know, I think one of the most important things I've learned as a masters athlete is to be flexible. It's always tough to leave behind a training routine that's brought success, but our bodies don't stay the same - so neither can the routines. Of course, next week I'll probably be writing that my new routine has left me so injured that I can't walk ... but that's next week!

Okay, hope y'all have great weeks!

Good to hear from y'all again this week. Nice work on back to back 1500s Pete. Man how I'd love to have a few under my belt now. Patience. Right old timers?

I had a slight set back this week... typical NW allergy induced sinusitis. Put my big training week off a bit. Hope to feel stronger next week. Will be a tell tale for Cerritos or not.

Keep the inspiration going vets.

KP

Greetings and Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there,

Another good solid week of training. I hit 70 miles with a one track session of 4 X400, 2X1000 and then another 4X400 and a 2 hour long run this morning.

A couple of questions for those of you have been at this awhile:

First, I just started running seriously again after a 7 year lay-off. After 3 months of running I've been able to get the weekly mileage up to 70 without any major problems other than normal soreness, but I am a little concerned with what to do next. The speed is not coming around as quickly. I seem to be stuck at 80-83 for 400s and 85-88 for 800-mile in work-outs. My major goal is to run sub 33 10k in the late fall. So, should I focus on increasing my mileage and worry about the speed of work-outs in the fall or should I start to switch up some work-outs to focus on dropping the work-out times?

Also, I have noticed I need to take a complete day off of running each week and a day of just 5. Is this a reality of being over 40?

Thanks for any input.

Welp, my last race as a 47 year old exceeded everything I could possibly imagine...Needless to say; My 25K went extremely well. I was hoping for a PR at best, maybe run right at 1:32 or under. I ended up running 1:29:23, 5th in the Masters, 2nd to Dennis Simonaitis (though quite far back) in the 45-49, a PR at 13.1, and most importantly, running strong the entire race, never feeling stressed and never hurting. All without a taper and my goal race is still two weeks away...

On the down side though, somewhere between my drive home after the race and late afternoon yesterday, I picked up a nasty sore throat. I made it thru this mornings 10 in the rain hoping to sweat it out. I need to get rid of this fast!!!

See you on the roads,

Dave

Congrats to the new parents and all the moms today. I hope the group consciousness shared here this week is the renewal of spring, with life getting more vigorous and energetic. The vibe thus far seems to support that. The vision of running through a vineyard country road at dawn... very nice!

Still trying out the sprinter thing, physically and mentally a big adjustment, but very very fun. With so few steps taken, how could I get injured, right? Yea, sure. Anyway so far so good.

Tuesday: 8x50 on the fly, hit low 6s.

Wed: plyos and strength work.

Friday: 4x300, solid.

Saturday: deadlifts and lots of core work.

Today: very nice 6 miles.

The focus for this past week was a Masters Mile at a brand new track. My goal was sub-5, and I made it by 1.07 seconds. I haven't been doing much speed stuff so I'm very happy with it. The weird thing is that if you plug 4:59 into RunWorks, it gives the HM equivalent of 1:18:33, which is exactly my HM time in February.

Actually, that was the case last year (with a 1500), although not as exact. By comparison, my 5K time is much slower than the calculator says it should be. Perhaps I can push for 4 laps but not quite so much for 12.5.

Today was up at the Rockies. Beautiful spring day, with the trees having filled in. Problem was the hills. The downhills. I was pretty dead, but then my IT Band (or so I think it is) started to hurt. So I stopped at 1:22 at just under 12. I've never had this before, so I'll see how it goes. But then I managed to get lost in the trails and it took quite a while to get back to my car.

Finally, happy Mother's Day to everyone, and as to Sam it's not too early to start thinking: Daniels or Lydiard?

Joe

45 miles this week. Nothing hard just easy runs. Legs and lower back are pissed at me for running 2 races after Boston on consecutive weekends.

3 under your belt this season.

When do you hit 47, July?

Single age 1500 46: 4:01.64

47: 4:04.47

You will get it, bring that paperwork with you

3000 Age 47 8:42.6

Happy Mother's Day and congrats to all, especially Single Speed.

ok week for me incl. hills on treadmill weds. and 8 X 800 (200 jog) this morning at 5k pace [times about 2 to 4 seconds slower than goal, but I think it may just be realistic right-now 5k pace rather than goal] before church and going out to lunch and then the zoo with my family.

SSU grad, I'm no training expert but I did come back starting in late 30's after an approx. 10-year period of very easy running, cross-training, pickup basketball, nothing systematic. For what it's worth, I'm amazed how quickly you've been able to ramp up the mileage and hit some good interval workouts.

besides the possible directions you mention [upping mileage, dropping workout times], I would consider as another possibility maintaining or even cutting back a bit on mileage while adding hills and tempo runs. In a month or so you might return to the track and see if that's helped. Plenty of time till late fall.

Regardless of what you make of that suggestion, yes, I think lots of people find that more recovery time is needed as a master. Good luck with it; you've got an ambitious goal but you're off to a great start in chasing it.

What's in the water making these Masters have children in the 2nd half of their lives?!! Happy birthday Sam!

Still cutting my mileage and running occaisionally quicker workouts. Legs are really coming around and the feel of speed is returning (love that!), but I am battling one of the worst Springs of allergies that I have ever had. Cannot believe how much congestion is coming out of my head (nose, mouth, eyes) every day.

About 55 miles for the week with two quicker workouts and a planned 1500 but the congestion made me think to wait a week or two. Tough to read about SoCal tearing it up without being able to post something yet. Soon.

Monday 8 x 200 hard/:30 sec rest

Weds 200, 400, 200, 300, 600, 300, 200, 400, 200 (@ mile pace or faster, with 2:00 rest).

Soph son made it through his Conference, now off to District, then State? He ran two tactically sound races (heats too!) for 2nd in both (4:21 & 1:57 - both PR's). Really fun to watch.

Happy Mothers Day!!

tOnY

Tony - Don't worry, you'll be ready to fly in no time. And the 1500 times I'm running are nothing to get antsy about. I figure I'm still a couple weeks away (if things go well) from sub-4 1500 shape, just in time for the Clingan Mile, so we should have a fun go of it there!

Skate, John Hinton has already run 3:58.13 at age 46, so Tony and I will be chasing that mark. Oh, and I turn 47 on June 19, but I intend to take the last three weeks of June completely off, so any age 47 times will have to wait until the 2009 season (have to rest these old legs if they're gonna give me anything for the fall x-country season!).

Greetings, this time from Palo Alto. I missed hooking up with MF's buddy Brian this morning, so I ran the mountain trails by myself and then ran another 30 minutes with a mother celebrating her day. Mike - tell Brian I ran with Elizabeth who also lives in Ross.

I think I got close to 45 miles this week in spite of a 2 day field trip to DC with my 11 year old's class and flying to the West Coast yesterday. Most runs were maintenance at ~7 minute mile pace, but I did have a nice track workout on Wednesday - 4x1600m with 400m recoveries, all under 5:30 in spite of a 15 MPH wind. The average time was 5 seconds faster than I ran for this workout last August just before my 5k PR, so I hope that bodes well (knock on wood).

Haaga,

Thanks for the advice. I have been fortunate in that I have always seemed to handle higher mileage, but I have not been blessed with much leg speed. I have always been a strength type runner. I had not even considered doing hill repeats. Mainly because I live in a very flat part of California, but I do have a decent place within a 20 min drive to get in some hills.

The rest thing has taken me by surprise the most. I feel great for three days, then it hits me hard and I have to take a day off and the most I muster up the next day is a 5 mile run. Then I feel fine again. I have always taken my easy days easy, but that does not seem to work as well anymore, I still need a compete day of rest with no running. I am hoping this is only a temporary getting back in shape problem, but I don't know. At least I'm out there and improving each week, so I guess I can't really complain about it. Thanks again.

Happy Mothers Day to Mrs. Single Speed and to the entire SS family. Go Sam! (maybe he'll be a sprinter?)

I had a week of either highs or lows. My father's health has been declining and he had a few worrisome moments; although he's still in the hospital his strength is coming back and we think he'll stay with us awhile longer. Considering he's 90, every day we have him with us is a gift.

So with my dad's situation on my mind, Tuesday practice out and out stunk. I had no lightness on my feet or in my heart, and I was a total plodder. I gave myself a break on Wednesday and then Thursday practice was 100% improvement, both physically and mentally. I was out of town this weekend to see my middle step-daughter graduate from college (and YES! She has a job!!) so I just got back home a couple of hours ago. This was a very light week for me but I'm ready to go at it strong next week.

My sons took me out for ice cream tonight for Mother's Day. A hot fudge sundae is the way to their mother's heart.

Have a great week everyone!

Just a week of rest after my spring marathon. The swelling went down in my knee finally so I went for a short run today.

I will rest some more and then jump right back into it. I will be running a hilly trail marathon in August.

Is it spring yet?