Skuj, now I really remember this! I got outkicked (again :-) ) as we were coming down the home stretch. Wonderful memories! :-)
Skuj, now I really remember this! I got outkicked (again :-) ) as we were coming down the home stretch. Wonderful memories! :-)
Dick,( and I sincerely hope it's truly you)
Hearty greetings from a longtime fan, fellow "midwesta", and frequent runner of grandmas......including the '81 race where you and Bjorklund blew the doors off Marathon running in the State of Minnesota.
We've met briefly at a few awards presentations and I've caught your talks at Grandmas, Cellcom etc. Your energy, engaging motivational sessions, and athletic prowess have been an inspiration to me for decades.
Hope your knees work in and preparations for Boston come along nicely.
All the best from the wilds of the upper Midwest, Bushman
(It's Dick, except for the 2 obvious kicks at me. I think we'll still be doing this 10 years from now, and I'll still be wondering what My Troll has accomplished. We cannot let the terrorists win.)
I'll never forget that epic race, bs Al Sal. And I'm even more inspired by Dick's comeback of sorts. Countless people have been moved by his words. I live in Victoria too Dick, hope to see you back here sometime.
Oooops, vs AlSal not bs AlSal, haha.
Skuj wrote:
I'll never forget that epic race, bs Al Sal. And I'm even more inspired by Dick's comeback of sorts. Countless people have been moved by his words. I live in Victoria too Dick, hope to see you back here sometime.
Yes that epic race..which I never got to see up close & personal mainly because I was more than 3/4 hr. behind them :)..What an honour to have been running in that same race!!
Thanks Skuj. Bushman, and Victoria, BC for the kind words, I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend! :-)
Best wishes on your rehab/comback Dick. Your always an inspiration those of us who still like to blister once in a while. Great your training again. God Bless Sir...
Toivo wrote:
Re Nike Free: This is the ONLY shoe I have had problems with in the past few years... and I run in flats most days.
A) achilles problems
B) they pick up every rock you encounter on roads and trails (try running in Flagstaff where there are small cinders everywhere!)
Sorry for the delayed response to this. Achilles soreness is not unusual for new Free wearers. If you've been wearing more traditional trainers, your Achilles and calf muscles will have atrophied some due to the elevated heel. Moving to Frees and flats will help return those tissues to a more natural length. There is a period of soreness that one goes through while readapting to this natural state. For us 50+ runners, that period can take a little longer due to the obvious age-related components.
As for picking up rocks,etc. that's a function of the flexible sole. It's not a big problem as they don't detract from the improved functionality of the shoe and are easily removed post run.
I'd give the same advice to the recent thread poster(s) that I give with regards to running footwear....less is more. :)
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Week 22
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Sorry for the late start, just got back from Chicago. The funeral, while sad, was very lovely, and seeing many relatives was a real positive for the trip.
I'll be quick this week, as I've just not had time to digest the weekend. Ran 45 miles on 6 days. Mostly easy miles in the 7-8 range with a few sprinkled harder miles within those. I did manage to incorporate 4x800 into Wednesday's workout; still trying to work the kinks out, but managed 2:45, 2:41, 2:41, 2:44. Should have run them slower so that I could do more; I'll try that next time around. Missed running this Saturday on account of too many family matter going on.
I see we've had a rather well-known contributor to the thread starting this week, hope you can benefit from it as much as I'm sure we can benefit from your wisdom. Are there other 50+-aged runners out there that would like to join the fray? There's always room for more good discussion on racing and training, and coping with (combating?) the effects of aging.
Hope everyone's having a great week.
My week that was:
M, 45min easy.
T, 30min easy.
W, 15min jog + 4 strides + 8x400m starting every 2min + 10min jog. Cruisy runs of 85, 81, 80, 81, 80, 80, 81, 78. Very short recovery did become somewhat taxing.
T, 30min easy.
F, 50min easy. Starting to feel congested.
S, no running.
S, 15min jog + 4x100m strides + 800m + 5min jog. Congested and sleep deprived, planned a 2000m surge but stopped at 800m due issues, shockingly a very easy 2:42, thought I was doing 2:50ish pace. So, I think I'm fitter, but in need of sleep and recovery.
20 weeks to Bazan Bay 5k, goal sub 17:23. (Again, if this post goes in the next week I shall repost 100x if necessary. It's copied.). :)
Decided to recommit to 3k/5k events for 2012. A main goal will be sub 10 3k. 10k is too long and 1 Mile and down is too short. :)
Oooops, I mean 19 weeks until Bazan Bay 5k.
lucKY2b, I'm glad the funeral was healing and you were able to see a lot of relatives.
I had a good week, albeit with slightly fewer miles than I'd like. I raced last Friday and again this past Saturday and I was concerned about back-to-back xc races. I did a tempo workout on Tuesday and drills on Thursday and felt kind of achy and tired on Friday. Despite that, I had another very good race over 6k this time.
Does anyone else feel the WAVA age-grading is well, crap for women over 50? I ran my time through the 2006 calculator and it says that my time is the equivalent of my all-time best 6k, which is just crazy. I have barely started doing race effort workouts since my goal race is nearly 2 months away and I'm certainly not in great shape. Does that mean I've reached my limit? That just seemed idiotic. I think they are just really skewed as they don't have enough information for the pre-Title 9 women.
And how can, Stephanie Herbst-Lucke break the age 45 record held by Colleen DeRueck with a 16:37 5k and still end up only 4th in age-grading? Is Kathy Martin really a superior athlete to DeRueck (an Olympian even over 40) and Herbst-Lucke? It doesn't make sense. And although they do adjust it, they will never have the right comparisons for those now over 50 or 55. Just my .02.
IMHO, age grading must be taken with a huge grain of salt. It is a relatively new concept, in a grand state of flux, something to shed an angle on what we do. I'm content with knowing whatever it was I did at whatever age, age grading be damned. Yikes...W45 16:37, boggles my mind.
Another good week of 15 miles in 5 days. I’m thankful my knee allows me to run pain free now. As planned I had my first tentative track workout and it went well. The big change was moving to running at work for lunch. Previously I ran trails to heal the knee but with it getting dark after work I switched as I have no interest running the woods at night. I was surprised that, if anything, the knee responded well. Keeping the miles low but the tempo up seems to be the key. Essentially I warm up a mile, press a mile, and cruise/recover the last mile. I have no slow days. I have no idea what to expect from here as this is a total experiment. But I plan to increase the track duration on Sat and increase the middle-mile pace during the week.
Sorry for your loss lucKY2b.
On age grading, muddy girl, it seems that all-important “Age standard” value skews the results if there are not enough samples (such as a distance not frequently raced). Or, the opposite, it’s just like school where we are graded on a curve and there is always some smarty-pants that blows the curve for the whole class. In our M 50-54 group, thank you very much Mr. David Martin Rees for your 14:53 5K. That is amazingly awesome, though.
I don’t mind age grading, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to base awards on it. The 100 year old is gonna win every time!
I'll play. 60 miles for the week. Doubles on M/T/W/F, long hill repeats on W, 5 miles on Th/Sat and 15 miles on Sunday.
Sorry for your loss lucKY2b, but thank you for keeping this thread alive and helping to maintain a modicum of sanity on it.
muddy girl, good job on your back to back XC races. I also find WAVA to be loosening--like a waste band--with age.
Although 20 or 25 years past peak, I consistently can hit "PR level" or better in my 50s even with less than stellar training. For example, last week's XC age graded to 15:19 and that was after a rough six weeks with a twisted foot, two weeks of PF, and and average of about 25 or 30 mpw with two tempo runs and no speedwork. I only broke 15:20 twice as an open runner and those were on fast road courses in the middle of healthy/intense training, not to mention being 10-12 lbs lighter back then.
My week--
It snowed! So we're back on skis, fairly early even for here, and it's surpsisingly good so far.
classic ski: 2 sessions, 33km (2:40)
skate ski: 3 sessions, 47 km (3:30), include one 3X 8 min threshold workout, with 2 min recovery
Run: 19 mi (3 easy runs, 4 t 7.5 miles)
Weights: 2 times
I have missed a couple of weeks of posting. I have been trying to manage my way through the remainder of the XC season without taking a break to heal up my retrocalcaneal bursitis. My mileage is down in the 30-35mpw range with some complete rest days between workouts instead of easy running days. The heel is getting better slowly, but each time I race it sets the process back a bit. Two more races and then I can do the smart thing, rather than the fun thing, and take a little time to get it fully cleared up.
I also find that since age 50, either I am getting more talented, or the WAVA tables don't reflect the same relative levels of performance. I am pretty sure that the right answer is that I am getting more talented :>)
hi all -- it's been a long time since i posted, and i have to admit that i haven't been keeping up with the 50+ news here. my apologies. i had just become frustrated with being injured and having nothing much to contribute. apologies also for the long post -- just a bit of catching up to do.
it's been nine weeks since i started running again after last may's stress fracture, and, wouldn't you know it, on my fourth run i whacked a minor toe on a root and broke it. "no big deal," i hear you saying, and generally that would be correct, but it seems as though the break is in the joint and it still hurts like [fill in your favorite epithet here] with every walking step, although less so when running. so indeed i've been out on the trails, two weeks ago racking up well over 80 miles and last week a little under 70 as i begin my taper for a 50 miler in early november. we'll see how it all plays out (i just hope the day doesn't feature a steady, cold rain).
in the meantime, i have no speed and feel as though i might be anemic when i push hard (weird breathing, especially on hills), as i tried to do a month ago at a local xc meet, where i had lost a good minute over 3+ miles from where i would have been last year. being slow something i can deal with, but the problem is that running hard really whacked out both my toe and the stress fracture site, so i opted not to run the usatf 5k masters race this past weekend, even though it was in the neighborhood. kudos to joan b.s. who was second masters at age 54 and to any of you who ran, as well as a shout-out to local runner and teammate suzy m, who ran very well.
congrats to MG on good xc strength/speed and smart racing; condolences to you, L2B; enjoy the white stuff, AK-53; and what an astounding recent performance by ed whitlock!
i agree that the WAVA age-gradings are REALLY soft. you'd think as we age we need the kind of overly enthusiastic encouragement that school kids get these days, instead of letting us settle in with a bit of realism. in contrast, i find that that the usatf national-ranking tables are a bit more solid -- at least i found the 45-49F marks challenging but reachable; but, having pretty much put road running behind me, i haven't looked much at the 50-54 table. i much more enjoy spending time in the woods than pounding the pavement -- and it hurts less.
Hi all.
Maintaining 'maintenance' running. Battling a persistent cold as well as lingering foot/ankle problems. Finding that my new, somewhat inhibiting orthotics suit me better in my older, more flexible Adidas 'lightstrike' flats.
32 plus min. yesterday, 31 plus today.
Victoria, B.C., Canada, Runner wrote:
Hi all.
Maintaining 'maintenance' running. Battling a persistent cold as well as lingering foot/ankle problems. Finding that my new, somewhat inhibiting orthotics suit me better in my older, more flexible Adidas 'lightstrike' flats.
32 plus min. yesterday, 31 plus today.
(meant to add) my condolences to Lucky To Be this thread's instigator. Family passings are never easy, I know!