50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

old guy II wrote:

My soleus damaged in the race last weekend seems to be healing reasonably quickly. After the race last Saturday I could barley walk on it the rest of the day. Sunday I could walk with a significant limp. By Tuesday I could walk without limping. Wednesday I walked 1/2 mile with no problem. Thursday, a mile. Friday and Saturday 2 miles each day, and this morning 4 miles. I will walk 6 miles M,T,W next week and then try some running in the 6 miles after that.

I know how you feel. During xcountry nationals both calves started cramping at about the 4mile. I was doing pretty good until then passing a bunch of runners and getting comfortable running on the soft stuff. I was in fourth place in my age group 55-59 until about 300m to go with a lot left but every time I try and get on my toe and open up my calves would start to seize up. So instead of not finishing I just maintain and 2 55 runners pass me with nothing I could do which I wind up finishing 6th in AG. After finishing racing the calf cramps clear up fairly quickly. I believe it`s bc of not racing on soft stuff more and using spike after not using them in 11/2 years. But I live to race another day.

Took an easy week but top it off with 15 mile run at avg. 900/pace.

Merry Christmas

Jeff D

Dardee wrote:

I was in fourth place in my age group 55-59 until about 300m to go with a lot left but every time I try and get on my toe and open up my calves would start to seize up. So instead of not finishing I just maintain and 2 55 runners pass me with nothing I could do which I wind up finishing 6th in AG.

Took an easy week but top it off with 15 mile run at avg. 900/pace.

Merry Christmas

Jeff D

Good to see you posting here, Jeff. I was one of the 55 guys that passed you on the track. You had a nice run going... I was sure there was no way I was going to get you. But I finally woke up and my last 600 or so turned out to be 'pretty good'....

Took a big -zero- this week. 8 days off. Think I'll try to start moving again tomorrow...

Forgot to mention last week we, Playmakers Elite/New Balance, won the 50's title of the USATF Grand Prix Series. It came down to a head-to-head tie breaker with GVH (who was so generous to give my wife and I a ride back to our hotel after being stranded at the course). It makes all the travel and racing worth it!

Have a good Christmas everyone!

Dave

Still plugging away at 30 mile weeks, and did 4 x 800 in windy conditions with my wife this week. I feel like I have still something like a 1% virus still remaining in my sinuses, well over one month on now. But not so bad as to stop running. Just a little over 5 months till that new age group, so really would like to consider what goals are most important. That said, we do have a new "Grand Prix"-like series coming in 2016, put on by KC Track Club (KCTC) and our KC Corporate Challenge always has tough comp in the 1/2 marathon, 5 km, and track 1 mile.

Happy, healthy, peace-loving Holidays to all!

Congratulations on The 50+ Team victory.

And yea I saw when you went by just couldn`t shift to that last gear.

Be Safe and Happy Holidays

170 - (years over 50) = 220 - (age)

Are we talking about the same thing?

Great Weekend

Hockey game on Saturday and volunteered and ran a race 10 minutes from the arena on Sunday.

Just turned 60 so even though I unload the trucks, help set up the finish line and registration area, I try to give a little extra in the race itself.

Won my age group and got a great upper body workout lifting tables, sand bags, chairs..

After my race and waiting for the last finishers to finish so I could tear down, I noticed a little kid out in the parking lot, riding a bicycle around the cars in the lot.

He would stop and take pictures of license plates.

Finally, I walked towards him and his mother ran out and got him away from there....

She may have been a lookout and why would anybody go around taking pictures of peoples license plates?

I called the park ranger and he thought it odd, but saids he couldn't imagine what criminal activity that could entail..oh well.

Great two days anyway.

Northwest Master wrote:

...a week of easy hour runs (8+) & 3 solid wt sessions to recover from a long season of XC training. 4 straight months of 300+ miles takes a toll on my old(er) body..

I will push it some in December, but only if I feel like it. Refreshing

Cheers & Go Seahawks

.ynot

Northwest Master, where are you from? Puyallup WA here.

Two more weeks of this dreaded boot! For those of you who have had leg injuries, how long of a road do I have to get back to my old slow self? I know I have to go slow and be smarter this time. I'm thinking 4 weeks of run/walk but not sure what to do after that. My goal still is to qualify for Boston but I'm thinking that will be 2017. I'm going to do a local mountain bike racing series, so bike riding will be incorporated into the mix.

Hi paul061! I am now in my "transition out of the boot" stage for the next week and a half. I have to decrease the number of "boot hours" and increase the number of "shoe hours" each day. I should be 100% out by the mid next week.

Right now I am supposed to walk and do the elliptical without my boot. I have started off with 15 minutes of elliptical and I can increase it by a couple of minutes each time I do it.

What was your injury again? I am currently mixing in PT work with my rehab and can start the run/walk once I'm out of the boot. My doc recommended that I keep doing my toe scrunches, toe raises, calf drops, and working on a slant board for ankle mobility once I start running.

I had PT this morning, and I just finished 45 minutes of pool running and a one mile walk, emphasizing pushing off from the forefoot in order to strengthen it.

paul061 wrote:

For those of you who have had leg injuries, how long of a road do I have to get back to my old slow self?

This, of course, depends on many factors: how much time you took off, what the nature of injury was, how completely you have recovered, etc. Even for the same injury, I have had different time span for recovery. (Usually, it takes longer as we age.) So I would take one day at a time, instead of having some predetermined schedule.

My second week of post-marathon recovery.

M: off.

T: 6 miles.

W: swimming (1000m).

R: 6 miles.

F: 6 miles.

SA: off.

SU: 8.8 miles.

I took the Saturday off, instead of a cross training session, as we had the commencement, and I was expected (though not required) to attend. Sunday's 8.8 was on the same bike trail I did on the Thanksgiving day. It took me seven extra minutes. I tried to pick up the pace at the end, and only managed 4:50/km.

The next week should be 5 days of running, but since I will be traveling, I don't know if I can keep up with the schedule. I am planning to start my build-up for the next race on Jan. 5. Until then, just random easy running.

Been following this thread forever but not posting because I have not been running.

So after a 2 year "hiatus" I am back to running.

Ran a 3 minutes hill 2 times after 40 minutes of hiking the same hill.

Felt good hitting 186 HR.

Just a nice gradual return to running with no concrete plans to race. However I will at least entertain myself with the goals of a sub 5 mile and a sub 60 400 after turning 60 later this year.

DiscoGary wrote:

170 - (years over 50) = 220 - (age)

Are we talking about the same thing?

That's it. I was just wondering about your use of the phrase "recommended max rate" instead of the traditional phrase "estimated max (heart) rate"? Threw me a bit. As a rule of thumb, 220-age is reasonable. But as a guide to training, it's not useful.

Spikez, I had Achilles tendon debridement surgery and shaved a bone spur on my heal. The PT guys says I'm healing really well and fast and have almost full movement. Hopefully the doc says I can ditch the boot. I have been cheating a bit and walking without the boot, very cautiously. When I get back to jogging I will have been 4 months without running. A couple of years ago I broke up my shoulder and ribs pretty bad and was out for 8 weeks. It took about a month to get back. I've set a goal to do a half marathon in July. Not anything fast but just to do it.

hnb wrote:

I called the park ranger and he thought it odd, but saids he couldn't imagine what criminal activity that could entail..

I can think of what. But if I post it here it would not prevent anything, and might just give a new idea to a potential criminal. BTW, using a juvenile is a bad sign. For future reference, if you had tried to take a picture of "mom's" license plate, you would have met "pop". My recommendation is to not enter any local races for a while.

paul061 wrote:

I've set a goal to do a half marathon in July. Not anything fast but just to do it.

Probably not a good idea. IIRC, this is not your first Achilles surgery. You have demonstrated you can really push yourself. Now you need to show you can hold yourself back.

I agree with RF reader, first see how your body responds to the running. If BQ 2017 is your goal, make everything else secondary. Don't do a half too soon "just to do it". Only if it helps you reach your goal should you do it.

If it were my recovery, I would do this:

Spring 2016 - "just run", build up gradually

Fall 2016 - easy half marathon

Spring 2017 - high mileage with hard half marathon

Fall 2017 - BQ attempt

If things go well, goal achieved. If things don't go well, then they would not have gone better by pushing harder.

paul061 wrote:

I've set a goal to do a half marathon in July. Not anything fast but just to do it.

Alan Bennet wrote:

Probably not a good idea. IIRC, this is not your first Achilles surgery. You have demonstrated you can really push yourself. Now you need to show you can hold yourself back.

That's what I was thinking. If it were me I would scale it back just bit like maybe, running a decent 5K!

Dave

racerdb wrote:

paul061 wrote:

I've set a goal to do a half marathon in July. Not anything fast but just to do it.

Alan Bennet wrote:

Probably not a good idea. IIRC, this is not your first Achilles surgery. You have demonstrated you can really push yourself. Now you need to show you can hold yourself back.

That's what I was thinking. If it were me I would scale it back just bit like maybe, running a decent 5K!

Dave

Thanks guys, holding back is difficult for me. I want it all and I want it now damn it :-)

I have the same "holding back is difficult" gene in me, though I have become better at listening to others. I was up to running 3 non-stop miles when my wife and I were at Boston, and I was picking up my race shirt. Fortunately, I was told I could delay my BQ by one year or I'd have started the race! That was after being in a walking boot for I don't know how long!

I'd suggest that you find a temporary alternative passion, whether helping out a track team, cleaning up a basement, whatever, something to plunge your energy into. By stepping back, you can also take time to seriously assess and analyze what and where your goals/plans are and not be a victim of our ego's desires for "now". Just my thoughts, best wishes.

Charlie wrote:

Just a nice gradual return to running with no concrete plans to race. However I will at least entertain myself with the goals of a sub 5 mile and a sub 60 400 after turning 60 later this year.

This post caught my attention...

I'm not too familiar with the top times of 60+ runners but those would both be solid times in the 50's... Without disclosing too much info what have you done in the past? And why aren't you injured like everyone else on this tread?:>)

I am also thinking of dropping down to the mile next summer to see what I have in me...

Interested in hearing your thoughts on training.

Dave