50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I wish, Bend is one of the nicest locations out west. If you can go, do it, even if you don't run!

Enjoy, & say hi to skin n bones for me! Probably Mike Blackmore too. Good beer at Deschutes Brewery as well.

Thanks to old guy and alan bennet on the kayak wheel tips.

My 2014 goal is to have my workout schedule more closely emulate mo'pak's!

Ed Q and A

http://community.runnersworld.com/topic/ed-whitlock

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Week 127

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Hello 50+ers.

First off, I wanted to thank you all for your support and especially AlanB for his comments regarding my likely current state-of-being and his personal experiences with it. His remarks are pretty spot-on, but I didn't want to respond to them until after I'd seen the sports medicine doctor (this past Friday) who specializes in running-related injuries. I had thought that I would be doing this runners clinic that involves gait analysis and so forth, but the doc really just wanted to talk about my feet and my abdomen.

Regarding the feet: really not much to do. So long as they don't hurt, continue what I'm doing. Even if I start experiencing pain, he said that it might be enough to simply strategically place pads under my insoles to relieve pressure off the ball of my feet. He didn't think that I needed a full-length stiffening orthotic at this point. But stiffer shoes will be in the forecast further down the road.

Regarding the abdomen: while he didn't come right out and say it, he's pretty certain that I've torn something. He also said that it won't heal by itself, so, as AlanB says, it'll be a long road via PT. The Doc says that he wouldn't recommend surgery until we've exhausted the PT option, which will probably take another 6 months or so. He also indicated that we're on the right track regarding the PT and the running I'm doing. He also indicated that I'm working with the best PT guy they have for this sort of stuff, which is reassuring. He said at that point, we'd have to discuss what I want to do. It's really just a pain issue, and if the PT allows me to strengthen other muscles in the region to compensate for the damaged one, then I'll be able to return to full activity. If the pain doesn't abate through PT, then the options are a) run with pain...the damage is already done, b) have surgery to repair the damage, or c) quit running. OK, c) is not really an option to me. What caused the problem in the first place is still an open question, but the feeling is that the PT progression that we are currently on will be best suited to address possible sources for this injury.

What can I say? I'm a mess....but we're working on it. Such is life.

Won't Bend, OR be great? Wish I could go; I even have a nephew that lives there, so we entertained (remotely) the possibility last winter. But that was before my wife got into a technical program at the college, and my current physical state pretty much put the kibosh on any ideas. For those that go, have fun and then please report back so we can enjoy your experience.

A bit of discussion here on current state of Masters Records:

http://masterstrack.com/2013/11/26448/

Our club is gearing up for our annual Thoroughbred Classic Race on Thanksgiving. I suspect there'll be a few Turkey Trotters amongst y'all. Any races to report?

Cheers!

Oh, and with all that, I forgot to mention that, yes, I did get in three roughly equal length runs for a total of around 14 miles. I probably ran too hard on Saturday, but it felt good to "tempo" three @6:37 pace.

Standing over regular table (OSHA would say it's too low for standing work) for 5 hours afterwards to prepare race packets left me pretty cramped, though. It'll take me much of today to undo that!

Post 'em up!

lucKY, I know you’d much rather be sharing racing stories than injury stories but I very much appreciate hearing about them and how you deal with them. We’re all learning here. I’ve found my biggest obstacle is lack of patience. I would like to think/hope/pray that I am now on the path to recovery. It just took a little longer than I thought. My mantra has been “Keep trying new things and never give up”.

With that, my week was:

Mon = (25 push-ups/crunches + 20 reps with 15 lb dumbbells on 9 different exercises) X 2

Tue = 3 miles slow but felt hard, lingering cold symptoms

Wed = (25 push-ups/crunches + 20 reps with 15 lb dumbbells on 9 different exercises) X 2

Thr = 3 miles Mountain climb, 670 feet in 1.5 miles. Hard.

Fri = (25 push-ups/crunches + 20 reps with 15 lb dumbbells on 9 different exercises) X 2

Sat = 3@8:25 pace, track. (9:13, 8:15, 7:49)

Sun = (25 push-ups/crunches + 20 reps with 15 lb dumbbells on 9 different exercises) X 2

9 miles running

Another good week where I saw my fitness continue to improve. Six weeks ago I struggled to make a single mile in 12:04, two weeks ago I improved to 3 miles in 9:43, 8:46, and 8:18, and this week going 9:13, 8:15, and 7:49. I’m still afraid to press very hard for fear of re-injuring my left heel so I’m trying to run under control and keep my stride length short. I’m painfully aware of how slow I remain but I know I’d better be patient if I want to stay healthy.

I bumped the dumbbell reps up from 15 to 20. I’m noticing my arms are helping more on my runs.

Lucky, thanks for the Masters Track link, it's fuel for the fire.

This week I'm almost back to my incremental goal of hitting 30 mile weeks.

The highlight was digging into a local course in the hills that arches up towards the 6000 foot mark called "The Meatgrinder", I did a version of it that was about 14 - 15K, felt good and had to hold on tight for that last mile.

Felt compelled to blog on it, and the subject of naming favorite courses:

http://www.thegrumpyrunner.blogspot.mx/2013/11/welcome-to-meatgrinder.html

Thanks, Rtype. It sucks, but we'll get through it.....eventually. My hope is always that reporting on it might be of some use to somebody.

@Horst-enjoyed your blog post. Around here, we have a 15-miler we affectionately refer to as "Pit Bull". It ain't flat!

@Charlie-thanks for linking to Ed's Q&A. Insightful stuff. Certainly reinforces the LSD approach.

Cheers!

L2B really am sad that you are hurting. Sounds like you are doing everything you can do . Knew a guy about our age who had a Sports hernia . He did not do the surgery but it took over a year before he could run hard without pain. I would see if there is an orthotics guru who makes em for does the U of K. See what he thinks about your toe.

Horst Nice blog , lifestyle, very nice art. Two guys came to mind Escher and Crumb.

As Yogi Berra might say my easy week was easy.

Lots of easy 2 hour walk days, one 2 hour Gorge hike and one day doing a hard sprint workout.

Here is an interesting 400 training plan

I might do some of this stuff. The energy breakdowns with the speeds and distances were interesting.

http://www.trackandfieldcoach.ca/advanced%20training%20for%20400%20metres.pdf

The sprint workout was crazy and left me super pumped up. Must have been hard because the soreness and fatigue did not set in for 2 days.This continued for 2 more days. Finally feeling really good today but took off anyways.

Feel really good.

I had easyish week in terms of intensity. There was a 17:31 tempo on Wednesday which felt better than the previous week's 17:36 on the same course. But today's 3k was a low key 11:38 tempo (11:06 previous week). For all of these efforts I'm gradually inching towards longer warmups: 30min jog is not unusual now. I think I will settle on the following "efforts" over the week:

M-100m

T-400m

W-1500m

T-no running.

F-200m

S-800m

S-3000m

This type of "training" is admittedly strange, and I'll never argue with anyone who suggests I could run faster by doing X or Y. But I simply ENJOY this weekly running. It speaks to me, and I think I can attack my modest goals with this.

I'm sorry you are having these troubles Val. Keep the faith. It may take a while, and much frustration may be ahead, but where there is a will......

Grete, sorry I've been absent and am therefore late on my congrats for your marathon. I know it fell short of what you had trained for, but the marathon is tricky and all sorts of weird (non-training related) stuff can happen. But remember, all that good training did not go to waste and you grew and learned from the process! Some day, maybe you can switch to xc and I'll get to meet you!

Only a month until Bend nationals. Our masters women's teams are falling apart - two of my teammates aren't even running (only cross training) and our defending champions 40s have only two people. Crazy. And now there is a rule that you can add a person per age group to your team who is not a member of your USATF association (I call it the "Mark Cleary" rule, even though I'm not positive he was behind it -- but it is certainly something he has long lobbied for). A few teams are using it to fill out their rosters, but I don't think my club will use it.

I'm trying to find some speed and have incorporated some faster running into my training. My god, I really hate that stuff - my 5k pace is pretty much as fast as I can go and it doesn't seem possible to run 200s faster than that. Of course, I still get to do tempo paced stuff and feel like I'm getting a good workout there. I just feel tired from the speed stuff.

I am hoping the Bend course will be as tough and challenging as promised (and therefore slow), I'll do best on a course that rewards strength and determination rather than a flat grass "track". We will see.

Good week:

Brother's cells 70% now, docs like that, but I developed some mild Graft Vs Host Disease, taking small dose of Prednesone for it.

Was to do a 1 year follow-up VO2max test but had a lot of muscle cramps in feet and calves (GVHD?) the night before so I postponed it to this Friday.

Did a 5:39 mile on the treadmill feeling good. It is nice to have no racing agenda, just train as I feel and walk when tired without the old guilt of bagging a workout.

Nothing on wrist yet, I forgot to get the follow-up x-ray.

Have a good week!

Hi folks,

First time posting my training. Somewhat typical week for me...approximately 50mi of running...a bit less than 2hrs of incline walking on treadmill at 15% grade...and a bunch of resistance and circuit training. Day to day performance seems more erratic as I get older.

I'm 57 years old...nearing 40 years of running. I post my training in the "training" section of my blog...if you happen to have any interest. It's located here:

http://www.capecodcoaching.com

Good health and strength to all here...

Paul

Greetings and salutations to regulars and newcomers alike.

The right foot has finally forgotten the insults suffered in the last couple years, so I'm moved to embark on a new training cycle.

Got in 3 hours of workout time last week, 8 miles of running @9min/mile pace included. Elliptical, catskiis, and freeweights comprised the rest.Moved a small mountain of firewood to boot.

Goals are 3-4 marathon ski races in Wi. Mi. area over the next 3 months. And a turkey trot in Green Bay next week.

Val, make haste slowly. It will come back.

HI PTF

Nice to see your post.

I get to the Cape once or twice a year to visit my 87 year old parents.

Do you know of any racing opportunities locally the weekend of Dec 20-21-22?

A quick peek at your link didn't reveal anything (I'm probably not digging deep enough.)

Best,

Steve (aka Horst Girth)

muddy girl wrote:

I'm trying to find some speed and have incorporated some faster running into my training. My god, I really hate that stuff

You certainly gave a good imitation of a sprinter at the 2010 national meet in Sacto! Ok, ok, just send the speed work my way....

Not much to post since I was on vacation and squeezed (squoze?) very little working out into my schedule. I'll post something decent next week!

Still recovering from NYC so only ran 3 times this week - all easy, not wearing my Garmin.

Tues: 6 mi easy

Thurs: 6 mi easy

Sat: 8 mi easy

Felt sore in my hips and knees at the end of every run, so still recovering. Lots of long walks with the dogs on the trails seemed to feel better than running. Hopefully this week I can do a little more running - still at that same easy pace.

Comment on "@Lucky2B" post - "My hope is always that reporting on it [injuries] might be of some use to somebody." - Before I became a poster, I lurked on the 50+ board to see how the posters dealt with various issues including injuries. Gotten some great rehab strategies and (even more importantly) preventative strategies from posters.

Thanks @muddy for the congrats on NYC! Will be fun to hear about your XC reports from Bend in the near future! Good luck to muddy, Kevin Paulk and all others training for these events!

Hi Steve,

The Cape Cod Athletic Club has a Winter Grand Prix series...and it looks like they have a race that weekend in Orleans.

Here's info:

http://www.capecodathleticclub.org/blog/ccac-winter-grand-prix-3/

The Grand Prix races are a bit informal...no prizes or anything...but they are fun and fairly well-attended.

There's also a weekly 5mi run in Falmouth every Friday evening.

Let me know if you have any other questions. You can always contact me through my website. Just comment on any of the blog posts.

If you want to do a long run or something...just let me know. I'll go with you...or at least rustle you up some company.

All the best,

Paul

Club Nats in Bend will be awesome. Check out the USATF site and the link showing what Max King is doing for all the harriers..

Who's "IN" for a 10k XC preview down on the flatlands of Blue Lake Park just outside Portland OR this Sat? Sure we BAC Masters 50+ will see some good competition with our Club NW rivals from Seattle.

As for me I got semi-clearance to toe the line from a foot check-up yesterday. Seems I have 6 things wrong with it from this year's MRI vs 2 years ago MRI. 'Course they didn't scan my brain...

Blue Lake & Bend will tell me more than that expensive film whether or not I'll be scheduling surgery to 'scope' my lateral talar dome / navicular issue. not a bone spur nor fracture but plenty of issues with chronic osteochondral defect.

Meanwhile that's me out there aiming to go the distance with a club-foot. Bad Foot Good Foot... I still lore anything longer than One Roman Mile.

KP