50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Happy New Racing Year to you too Rtype.

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting fit again. A long way to go but happy trying. I only wish my 52 year-old body felt more flexible than a 2x4 just getting out of bed each day.

You mentioned diet... what works specifically for you? Just less consumption? Or less of this food vs that food?

KP

Kevin Paulk wrote:

Happy New Racing Year to you too Rtype.

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting fit again. A long way to go but happy trying. I only wish my 52 year-old body felt more flexible than a 2x4 just getting out of bed each day.

You mentioned diet... what works specifically for you? Just less consumption? Or less of this food vs that food?

KP

Consistency could be the key. For running that is.

Today (the 1st.) for 41:42, generally easy pace though HR was higher than expected..coffee shortly before starting and having only just gotten up? AHR 141 MHR 155 surged last 1/2 km.

First posting here since the summner of 2010. On Labor Day weekend 2010 I blew out a hamstring and could not bring myself to post as I wondered if I would ever make it back. Briefly, it happened on the warmdown after a timed fartlek workout on a trail. It didn't hurt when it happened, but the muscle suddenly just felt like mush. I didn't get back to running until the late Spring of 2011 but was able to slowly ramp the training back up to normal levels this fall. Here are my resolutions based on the injury.

1. Since I was starting from zero, I worked hard on my form to be more efficient. I was working this before the injury, but I've been much more serious about it now.

2. Sticking with tempo runs and hills, avoiding the STRONG temptation to do any kind of intervals.

3. In my hard workouts, I am focusing on maintaining my form and not straining to hit a time. I will let the faster pace come to me, and hopefully avoid injury that way.

My typical routine is 4-5 easy weekday mornings with 8 mile tempo on Saturday and 8 miles with 5 long hills on Sunday. I hope to get a low key race in soon to get a measure of my fitness as I think it is close to my pre-injury level. Despite the trolling, this thread was inspirational as I was coming back.

What diet works for me? As for weight loss or just general overall feeling good and training well? I always feel best on a high protein diet. I eat lots of lean protein, lots of fruits and veg (hence high fiber as well), and drink lots of water. If I want to lose weight (like right now!) I will shun all sauces, gravies, dresssings, etc. My food will be as simple as possible. I don't count calories, I just eliminate as much fat as I can. And I also cut out alcohol --yes, pretty hard, but it's empty calories to those who want to shed pounds. Fiber is your friend. Combined with lots of water it makes you feel full and cleans you out (you know what I mean).

Diet? I agree with everything in Spikez post. My downfall is weekends. I'm very disciplined during the week but really over-eat/over-drink on the weekends. I just really like pizza and beer on a Friday night! I can sometimes be 4-5 lbs heavy on Monday morning. But it always comes off during the week. During the summer there are times I feel too light. I'm 6'2"; ideally I race at 158-159. I don't feel right if I get below 157'ish and then pig out to adjust. I was 167 Saturday night after my vacation in SC...The BBQ is so good!

Good to see the lurkers coming out to post...

Dave

Kevin Paulk wrote:

Happy New Racing Year to you too Rtype.

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting fit again. A long way to go but happy trying. I only wish my 52 year-old body felt more flexible than a 2x4 just getting out of bed each day.

You mentioned diet... what works specifically for you? Just less consumption? Or less of this food vs that food?

KP

Here is a nice link to an interview with Nolan Shaheed. He's quite an inspiration. He's extremely disciplined with his diet and I think everyone is aware of his credentials. I borrow a small portion of that diet in that I have coffee in the morning and nothing the rest of the day until dinner. But, uh, I lose all discipline at supper and do not always eat healthy food. But, its still working. Also, I too cut out all alcohol as it seems to increase my hunger.

Hello all,

I missed posting my training from two weeks ago, due to emergency surgery of, and eventually the passing away of a family member last week. Needless to say, not the happiest of holiday seasons for me this year. :(

Week of 12/25 - 12/31

Sun, 12/25: In Las Vegas visiting my aunt in the hospital. Got in 11 miles solo in the Summerlin area. Beautiful sunny weather and actually a nice area to run in Vegas!

Mon, 12/26: typical day off running

Tue, 12/27: In Las Vegas - 2 mile warmup, 6 x 1/2 mile uphills in 3:08-3:10 with 1/2 mile back down in 4:00, 2 mile cooldown. Total = 10 miles.

My aunt passed away at 5:15pm that day. :(

Wed, 12/28: In Las Vegas - 6.3 miles easy recovery (untimed) in The Lakes neighborhood.

Thu, 12/29: Back in PDX - 8 miles easy recovery

Fri, 12/30: Paced training buddy to a new 5k PR (on the track). 3 mile warmup, 5k in 18:52, 1 mile cooldown. Total = 7 miles.

My buddy's previous 5k PR was 19:33, so we chopped ~40 seconds off that. I set the pace for 12 laps, then pulled wide for him to sprint ahead if he felt good. It was great to help him out.

Sat, 12/31: 6.5 miles easy recovery at Lacamas Heritage trail (untimed).

Weekly total = ~49 miles.

Only able to hit the weights on Thurs. Ended up straining my lower back/SI joint area during. Still hurts somewhat, but seems to be getting better. Everything from there down is really tight now. GRRR.

Two weeks to the Houston Half Marathon. Hope you all have a great 2012!

Thanks for the info folks... love NOLAN. Have enjoyed racing this phenom.

Sorry to hear of your loss, imarunr. I too lost a family member during the holiday season. No fun.

I can identify somewhat with those here watching their weight. This time of year always seems to be a challenge due to the high caloric intake associated with the holidays. Running can only get it down so far. So salads become meals and the starches are nearly eliminated. Being confined temporarily to the running sidelines means even more emphasis on eating right.

I'm also happy to welcome back some of our missed brothers and sisters. Maybe someday soon our other lost soles (pun!) will return. The air has freshened dramatically in the last couple of weeks. Happy New Year to all. May this be your best year yet.

Jim A., Maryland. Male Age 51. Runner since 1976. Doing very well now at 5'7" 130 lbs. Sept, Oct, Nov averaged 70-80 mpw via 3-5 miles a.m., 7-11 miles p.m. Weekly pattern 3 long days, 1 short day, 2 or 3 long days. 95% run on grass or soft trails. I focus on momentum technique, tempo, heart rate, and calories/mile @ 150-160 bpm HR . No shoes, just sandals (with wool socks), a flat pair and a slightly heeled pair. Speed is grass 440s 880s and 1Ks when it feels natural, some road reps to prep for a race. I do super easy 2-3 hour weekend runs with ultra friends. Diet is bean soups w/some meat, fresh green veggie-fruit juice, whole veggies & fruits, whole grains and regular yogurt, and of course water. That's enough for one post!

Happy New Year all! As far as diet, when I'm hungry I eat when I'm not hungry I don't eat, its pretty simple but it works for me. I let me body dictate what it wants. Some days it says steak or fish, other days perhaps pasta or rice. I haven't weighed myself in 30 years but did have a physical a couple of months ago and the nurse told me 134, same weight as 30 years ago. I guess I have a pretty high metabolism which is good because I have a wicked sweet tooth! Had a good week of training and was able to hit 85 miles.

If any of you are running the Disney Marathon or Half Marathon this coming weekend stop by and say hi! I will be speaking at the expo this Thursday at 3PM and Friday at 4PM. Have a great week everyone!

Dick :-)

First time posting on this very good thread in a very long time, usually over on the MWRR thread.

Certainly a diet change coming my way. The Mrs. has a thyroid issue - Hashimoto's - which has been acting up and one of her programs is to go gluten free. As a consequence, I am sure my bread intake will come down as we adjust to her requirements. We generally eat rather balanced with lots of vegetables and fruits, lots of chicken and pork.

Have a great year everyone! Hope to race some of you during the year - Hayward Classic is one. Back to a 2-day meet! Such a well organized meet and just a joy to run on the U of O track - this coming from an OSU Beaver.

Matt

Wow. Lot of great posts already this week. Nice to see a couple people come out of the woodwork to join/rejoin in the discussion. Nice also that a couple of you that have had some injury issues have gotten back to running with renewed enthusiasm and enlightened (maybe?) training methodologies.Diet? Me? Not sure I want to go there. You guys all sound so good. Certainly way better than I am at staying away from the "bad stuff". I think this is my New Year's resolve, to cut back on a lot of non-essential Calorie intake....it would help if my wife didn't make such awesome desserts (who can resist a good carrot cake?)Recalling from just prior to Christmas where:

MikeF wrote:

Generally uplifting news for us geezers in this NY Times post..

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/for-older-runners-good-news-and-bad/

It's been since reported in multiple news outlets. Just wanted to follow-up on this article. It was based on this medical study:

This is just the abstract. The key things I get out of this is to remain vigilant about maintaining flexibility/range of motion and working on upper-body strength. Both are areas where I definitely under-perform. I found another series of discussions on this here:

All good stuff.

Cheers.

Check out this site.

http://anatabloc.com/

Could be a solution for your wife's thyroid issue. There is also a facebook page for this product which has many positive posts from people using it.

It may be useful for all us old guys trying to run that have arthritic knees. I haven't personally tried this yet but it suppose to help with inflammation which is the root issue to knee pain.

Track Nut wrote:

Check out this site.

http://anatabloc.com/

Could be a solution for your wife's thyroid issue. There is also a facebook page for this product which has many positive posts from people using it.

It may be useful for all us old guys trying to run that have arthritic knees. I haven't personally tried this yet but it suppose to help with inflammation which is the root issue to knee pain.

I wonder if this is any better than GLS with Chondritin, or MSN. I will give this some attention, thanks for introducing this..

Jan. 02 A short burn for 20:12 min. Very slowly for first km or so, then picked up pace & made it a fairly good w-out. MHR 159

Jan. 03 (today) For 23:33 min., slowly as like yesterday. Then a progressive pick up rest of run. Running strongly for 6 - 7 min. AHR 138 MHR 155 (Still in low mileage mode).

Yes LTB in answer to your post a few weeks ago, I still haven't any definite plans to race..rather taking it day by day, week by week....

imarunr wrote:I missed posting my training from two weeks ago, due to emergency surgery of, and eventually the passing away of a family member last week. Needless to say, not the happiest of holiday seasons for me this year. :(

Sorry for your loss, imarunr. Should have been first and foremost in my response this week, especially considering we'd also recently lost a close relative. Please accept my belated condolences.

Food? I'm hungry again. Back in my 30's I raced at about 152 (5'11.5"), now at 62 I seem to hover at about 165. Runing +-50mpw but always hungry. Eat a good lunch and then again a dinner. Seem to snack all the time. Not sure what I would look like if I didn't run. Oh yeah, I guess I do. I quit for a few years and ended up at 205lbs. Quite the doughboy. Anyway, at my age it just seems like I will have to live with it a enjoy life. Only problem is, everyone beating me in races is 10-20 lbs. lighter, or more if they are shorter.

Hey Matt, good to have you post here. Hopefully your wife will be better off. You may have an easier time getting to your racing weight as well.

KP- Glad you are on the way back. I know you've had a tougher time these last couple years.

Had a group hangover run to bring in the new year. Brought the week total to 9 1/2 miles. Have been a few miles higher in some past weeks, but don't think I'll be doing anything much under 8 minute pace for some time.

Luckily I don't have problems keeping the weight down. Have pretty much avoided white flower and white rice products for the last 15 years, and that seems to have helped.

Good training to all!

Rich

Anyhow.....from a tag line out of the movie, "Ordinary People" often used when there is a feeling of uneasiness....

Jan. 4th., no run.

Jan. 5th., A 26 1/4 min. burn in the driving wind & rain, not pleasant especially after a morning's worth of much the same while on deliveries.