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Week 228
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Hail, 50+ers! Another week of 35-ish miles in the books. A little light on the speed work, but happy that I'm chugging along without any more niggles. Whatever back/hip issues I was suffering last week seem to have abated. Here's what the log reads:
Sun: 5.2 mostly easy w/~0.6 mile @sub-6 pace)
Mon: 4.2 mild progression (7:30 -> 6:40)
Tue: 6.0 'fartlek'y (6:53 avg running pace (there were breaks))
Wed: 5.0 easy (7:42 pace)
Thur: 4.1 easy (7:31 pace)
Fri: Off (for no good reason)
Sat: 10.3 in 2 easy runs (7.0@7:35 pace, 3.3@8:06 pace)
It seems to have become a pattern for the past few weeks to run a few hard things early in the week, and then back off for the remainder. The 'fartlek'y Tuesday was because the track was once again occupied by a football game. Went over to the park next door and started by accelerating until I couldn't go any longer (made it about 2 miles), then took a short breather and did 3 more pick-ups. The last 0.6 of that first acceleration was at about 6-flat pace, the remaining pickups were 0.45@5:43,0.37@6:14, and 0.34@6:08. There were hills involved, so not sure how the paces compare (last one was all on an steady upslope), efforts were all consistently hard.
I had been thinking of running a 5k this afternoon, but the weekend has gotten away from me, and I have too much to complete before Monday, so I doubt I'll race today. I'll probably just build in a hard 2-mile portion to this evening's Club run.....we'll see how the day pans out.
KP, that 2x3-miles is a solid tempo session there, and I think will suit you better than what you posted last week, if aerobic fitness is your end goal. I agree that Daniels' paces don't work down to 800m, even 1500m is a bit of a stretch. You really need a solid 5k race to establish an aerobic baseline. When I was 50, my 800/1500/5k times were 2:20/4:40/17:10, respectively (5k was road), so clearly, you've got a lot more top-end speed than I've ever had, but 9-second differential on 800, and only 6-second differential on the 1500 is telling. Not sure you want to give that up that speed, but if 10k XC is your goal, I don't think that you need to work on speed one bit, and just go for longer runs. Throw in some progressions so that you get used to running hard on heavy legs, but IMHO, it's all about mileage. You should maybe talk with Rich Burns, he should be able to give you some good advice.
I missed this last Month, but Amby Burfoot chimed in on the same study that I posted the other week about aging and speed.
http://www.runnersworld.com/speed/stay-fast-as-you-age
Also, for those interested, you all might want to join this Masters Track & Field Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/195415183871285/
OK, that's it for me; I hope everyone is having a solid week and whatever niggles, colds, etc. y'all have been suffering are seeing improvements! As always, eager to hear your weekly update, especially any race reports!
All the Best!