Masters Weekend Runs and Races

I have to say it was a great week for running. I've been biking so much lately I forgot how it felt to be a runner. This week, I ran 6 times and by Sat, I actually felt good.

I ran a typical Sat steady run of 6 miles and today, I ran long (13 miles) with the HS and College kids. Some of the college Fr busted out all their new team gear from their new schools.

I have to agree with you on the OR kid.....I'm a PAC10 guy through and through but was embarrased when I saw how that player acted.

Hi. Congrats to Teg. Did a 10K yesterday with the big hill by our local standards. Fairly steep, and at the 1 mile marker you are already in to the hill and the 2 mile marker is at the top so it's a good mile hill. My time was 44: 26 which OK with me. 4th in age group. GF has a conference in Phoenix next weekend so I'm going to tag along even though it's the wrong time of the year to go there. Going to drive up to Sedona, Flag and the canyon Friday and Saturday and I signed up for a 5K trail run in N.Phx on Sunday. I'm wondering about snakes if " Ghost " is out there. I remember staying in Scottsdale one late Easter and renting Mtn bikes for my sons and there were snakes all over the trails. I usually go to AZ in the winter so never had to worry about it before. Staying down by South Mtn this time which is an area I haven't explored extensively so that will be fun. Take care. TC

GREAT runs in Oregon this week...Bend's trails are amongst the best anywhere...early in the week ran 10 miles on Portland's famed Wildwood trail...saw a llama literally leaping in the air to pick apples off a tree while running on rolling rural roads of the Yamhill County pinot noir vineyards...beach runs at Cape Kiwanda including an absolutely monstrous sand dune by far the biggest I've ever "run" up...coming back down was hilarious free falling fun.

Planning a 2 1/2 trail hour run back here in NorCal tomorrow....why do you think they call it "Labor" Day?

Enjoy the long weekend...healthy training to all.

MF

great week for running in DC area. Cooled off by 10-15 degrees and less humid. It feels as if I removed ankle weights I'd been wearing for most of August.

65 miles incl. 20 with a late 5 at half-marathon effort (aiming for 30:00 but actual 30:24) Sunday and then yesterday a road 5k in 16:48 (14th overall, first master).

My son and I were first (of 22) in the father-son team category in the 5k, and it was my best time since 2006, 17 seconds faster than same race last year, 11 seconds slower than my PR (2002 in same race, though on slightly different course), so I was very happy with the race. good conditions -- somewhat humid, but only about 65 degrees and no wind to speak of.

I followed the lead pack of 3 women from about 0.5 to about 2.4 miles before one of them fell back and the other two pulled away from me. I think this helped with pacing -- at the risk of being rude to young guys, I find that men in their 20s who run the same speed I do are a mixed bag -- some very even but some going out like they're on fire, fading, surging at random, and finally outkicking me -- whereas women running 17+/- for 5k are almost always very steady and really know what they're doing, running tangents etc.

have a great week.

The roller coaster continues. Up and down/good and bad.

This was like the wave washing you under and hitting the sandy bottom. After seeking some counsel I opted to just take a few days off (I skipped the suggestion to eat lots of twinkies). Just can't get over how tired and depleted I can feel.

Will try again this week with some easy miles and see what happens. Hope everyone has a great week.

hello masters!

i am finally beginning to feel like i can train again after an 11-week uphill battle trying to get in shape after an 8-month layoff due to PF.

yesterday morning i ran a 2:30 improvement in my 5k (17:13) from 8 weeks ago and can finally cruise to my usual 7-minute training pace...it was nice to run with socalpete yesterday evening and actually be fit enough to be an active participant in a conversation with the guy...

looking forward to pumping up the mileage these next couple months in preparation for clubs!

happy trails!

TopCat,

About Phoenix.....no snakes this time of year. Early Spring is the worst. In the summer months, you may see one if you hit the trail around 5:30am but otherwise you will not. They are more scared of you than you are of them. And....even if it looks dead, it's not. Trust me.

South Mountain....Pima Canyon (48th Street/Guadalupe, just north - entrance) is the best starting point. I'm guessing that you're staying at the Pt South Mtn. The only two trails to run are 'National' and 'Mormon.'

If you send me your email address, I'll send you all the info on the trail and things to do. I lived there for 40 years - like one mile from there.

Hang in there mdw...

Had an ok week here. Started out real good with a pretty fast 10 miler on Tuesday that felt like a jog. Finished up with 6:02 mile and was barely breathing...But then I struggled with a tempo on Thursday, felt like crap and couldn't get under 6:08 pace. Took the last 3 days pretty easy to get my legs back. I've got a 15k tomorrow morning and then a 4 mile XC race Saturday against college guys. (you going to make it, skin?) So I probably won't do much this week but recover from Mondays race and then rest up for Saturdays...

Have a good one,

Dave

Good workouts this week.

Two great spinning classes

Two runs of 45 minutes each . Down 17 lbs since my workouts began again. The spinning has saved my running and brought me back to a point I thought I would never reach again. I hope by next year when I turn 50 to be able to race again. The plan right now is to continue training and God willing, be able to lace em up again and actually race. The more immediate goal is to run outside on a soft surface and do speed work.

My Terps got beat pretty good at Cal which was not a shock.

The BYU vs Oklahoma game was as great game with much drama.

Beautiful weather here in Wisco. Nights down to mid 50's and daytime highs consistent mid 70's. Dry, calm, and clear, with the full fragrance of the fall flowers packing the air.

Got in 43 miles on foot, plus a mix of 2 solid hours of X-training. (Swim, bike, and cat-ski)

The couple of quality sessions of the last 2 weeks are bearing fruit and I was rewarded with a 19:47 5K Friday night.

I feel a little guilty as I've opted to not help with our HS X-C team this fall. Time to catch up on some work on the farm and concentrate on training. Two other parents indicated an interest in stepping in to help, so the baton has been passed.

Love this time of year and it's subtle invigorating touch.

OMBTS; Happy to hear things are coming together.

maybe one of the best weeks I've ever had running. two really good workouts for me.

a 10k time trial in 34:44 and 20 miler in 2:02. the rest of the week was just easy 8 to 11 milers.

A solid week for me, 60 miles, all in singles. Ran some decent halves on Tuesday, a hard 6 1/2 on Friday with my last 5 1/2 at 6:08 pace average and today an easy 16 miler.

Looking forward to a 5 mile race on Friday night, I have to be about 1:30 faster than last year.

Wow ~ a nice two hour nap this afternoon and I feel great! The wonders of sleep!

We are getting a refreshing round of rains today (I love it) and the air is fresh. Great for training (or napping).

Was able to run an XC race with my son yesterday ~ what a treat. The first year they opened it up (Alumni & Time Trial for the HS team) to the masses as a fundraiser for the school. Not much of an extra turnout (rains) but they still received some nice donations to help out.

Their XC course never stops turning and changing terrain on its double figure eight thru the woods and ballparks. My son just sat on my shoulder and destroyed me the last kilometer with his speed. That was cool!! I like his tactics/confidence going into his Sr year.

About a 70 miles this week on six days of running.

Weds ~ 1,2,3,3,3,2,1 min fartlek on XC course

Sat ~ 5k ~ 16:45

Sun ~ 90 mins (middle 30 hard) on trails

College football may not be so bad for us up here this year. Even tho the Dawgs lost to LSU, they showed signs of life.

Cheers

driske, thanks for the good word. Those temps sound like prime running weather. I love Carolina winters but the summers can be humid. I think mixing my training has made the difference, I've read that for years but didn't think it applied to me. Many more pounds to go.

I spent the second half of the week at a conference in Toronto. Great city! With meetings all day and well into the evenings, my mileage was down well below what I had planned. I ran just over 80M for the week.

On the plus side, I had a superb long tempo run today. I found a nice track a little north of downtown, and planned to do 10-12 miles. Two weeks ago I did 10 miles averaging 6:20 pace. I figured that 6:12 was a bit ambitious but should be doable given the better conditions compared to Georgia.

My legs felt crappy to begin with, but to my stunned surprise my first mile ended up being 6:00. I ended up doing 20K averaging just below 5:55 pace.

That is so much better than I expected that I'm sort of worried it may not have been a 400-meter track. Is anyone familiar with the Upper Canada College track in Toronto? For now I'm hoping it is just an indication that my fitness is improving more than the Georgia heat and humidity have made it seem.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

(or at least everyone in the U.S.; the "real" Labour Day is of course May 1st)

Can only run about 5 miles per day still. Sacro-iliac injury just won't quit. Am able to bike a little, but mostly I lift these day, abotu 75 minutes per session. Have actually lost weight as I have gained muscle, and can bench 205 now.

Looking forward to regaining the use of my back!

So happy to have football season here again.

One week in to my fall XC season and I think I'm done. Two weeks ago I attempted 3x 1 mile on a day when it was about 95 degrees. I felt good for the first two and had no problem hitting my target pace. But on the third I just imploded in the heat. Since, I've not been able to carry a hard pace without having trouble taking in enough O2. Once that starts, I just run out of gas. This week I wasn't able to finish either track session.

So, it's just easy runs for the next several weeks. I'll still start the Tuesday workout with the guys, but plan to quit about halfway through.

Reno, sounds sort of like the depletion issues I had last spring/summer.

Coming off HTC and felt the least sore I ever have - running uphill was far easier on my legs than rolling or down hills. Still SO sleepy, though.

My hamstrings were super-sensitive on Monday, so I only gently ran 4-5 miles, but my training increased throughout the week. 10 miles or so on grass on Wed, but no speed work. Ran around watching my 16 year old run her first race of the year - a 3k. She went out WAY too slow (she told me afterwards that it was slower than her tempo pace -- and that she learned that it still hurts if you go out slow - so a good learning experience. She had an incredible kick, running down 4 runners the last 100m, just blowing them away. She doesn't get that from mom!! ;-) )

On Saturday, ran a hilly, wet and kind of muddy 7 miler with her - and she loved it. Her longest run yet - and she said her favorite long run ever! ;-D It was fun and i got to show her some parts of Forest Park she hadn't seen.

Today, I ran 18 (of 20) with a friend who is running her first marathon. We started really late (9:30 am) and missed most of the torrential downpours this morning, but still got wet. The trails were muddier and soft and felt great on my legs, so I got in close to 70 miles this week - the first time all year.

johnny, good luck with that injury. Five miles a day is still pretty good but I knbow its not near your former 100 mile weeks. As far as fitness you sound like you are there, running 5 , biking and lifting.