50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Sorry to hear of all the injury woes. I've decided to run trails as much as possible during the summer and not worry about pace. 4 of my 5 runs were on trails with Saturday being my longest run of the year and weekly total above 30 miles. Good luck to all this week.

Mon - off

Tue - 6.4 miles trails in 69 min

Wed - 4.6 miles with 3 mile tempo in 23:22

Thu - 4.2 miles trails in 44 min

Fri - off

Sat - 10.2 miles trails in 105 min

Sun - 4.7 miles trails in 51 min

@dhaaga your monday workout looks pretty cool thanks for sharing it.

@amKelly glad the hike went ok with all the vertical this has to be good. IMO hiking up and down hills not running up and down hills but relaxed hiking up and down the hill is really therapeutic for the lower legs.

The nice lady asked me if I was done. What a great question. Am I done? I replied that I was not sure. I could have kept going but decided I was done for the day. I feel like I am at the end of the beginning of my latest come back. So I am done with round one.

Round two begins like round one. No set workout schedules just try and do workouts as I feel when I feel ready. Keep my eye on the goal. The goal is to run under 5 for the mile at 61. SEVENTY FOUR SECONDS PER 400. First thing is working on getting my relaxed pace for 400 faster. I need to be able to run 68 seconds for a 400 without pushing it. Right now this is 75 or 76 but I just got a nice drop the last few weeks. Old farts need to work on their speed more than young farts. You know those 40 somethings who think they are old. Now that my toe is feeling no pain I plan on ramping up the speed while keeping what is working so well. As usual just playing it by ear.

Sunday June 18 Pace 3 x 100 on track 19 18 20 last 2 in spikes calfs tightened so will need to gradually work into these. I was going to do more but still tired from the 2 mile hard run that I did on the 15th .

Monday June 19 Pace 4 x 100 19 18 18 18 plus 2 x 200 36 36 full recovery feeling better but still not completely recovered from the 2 miles in 12 on Thursday so more pace work.

Tuesday June 20th Easy Tempo tread mill 2 miles 6:52 pace with 3 minutes at 3 percent grade and 3 minutes at 6 percent grade. 143.8 ouch!

Friday June 23rd Vo2short 3:26 1 hill: 148th entry to Powell butte 3:26 2:23(switchback trail) + 1:03(steep straight up )

Saturday June 24th Weight 144.8 Vo2easy: 600/2:00 (guess), 400/77, 600/1:58 with 200 walks. Total of 1600 meters in 5:16.

Skipped the 1500 Race as temp was predicted to be 89 at start time of 1:30pm. Who schedules these race times? My simple mind would order races run in the summer from longest to shortest with an early start time say 7am. Oh well it still worked out as I was on my favorite track ready to run a time trial at 7:12am.

The time trial Ooops.

I decided to shoot for a 5:20 1600 time trial cause the math is easy 1:20,2:40,4:00 and 5:20 and I like to die trying. Who am I kidding but I just wanted to see what how far I would make it before slowing down. Did a nice 4x100 warmup, 24 21 19 19 felt good. First lap was 80 felt fast so I knew I was going to slow down. Positive splits in practice are good training. Sounds crazy but it works for me. So as I said I was going to keep at 80 for as long as possible. This felt fun.I had a feeling of excited determination that usually leads to a fast time . At 500 a squint at the stopwatch registered 20 so this was a lift. I was surprised because I felt like the last 100 had slowed down a bit. At 600 I took a closer look and saw the MISTAKE 1:20 OOOPS. I hit STOP instead of LAP at 400. Now the old Charlie would have been really annoyed. The older Charlie just started walking with consideration. What should be next? A do over was just not in the cards however I liked that 600. That was the first 600 I have ever done and it was fun. By now I had walked the full 200 meters back to the start. I decided to run a 400 to let off some steam,77. A couple of minutes later I did another 600 with the new goal of breaking 2:00. Like the old dog I am I started with the wind to my back another advantage of the 600 tailwind twice. A nice lady said something encouraging as I was about to start these kind words and a slight tailwind boosted me down the track into the promised land a 17 something for the first 100. Anyhow I hit 400 in 79 flat and 600 in 1:58. I felt really good. The nice lady asked me if I was done. What a great question.

had another cortisone shot in my uncooperative foot on Tuesday which relegated me to 3 days of 20 minute 'runs' at 14 minute pace...on day 4,

I knocked out a 25 minute 5K with Bob Hodge (think 2:10 marathoner) while in Sacramento to watch the USATFs

good week to all

your pal,

MF

Thanks everyone for the input on mile workouts. I'll be sure to use them in my rotation the next 8 weeks.

Any opinions on a few questions...

* Full recovery? 2,3,5 minutes? Walking/jogging/standing?

* Pace? I'm coming from many years of tempo/threshold/CV and recently VO2max reps. I'm kind of getting the feeling mile workouts are run much faster than that!

* Mileage? One thing that stands out following the milers on the Facebook Masters Milers page is, they really don't put in many miles. A lot of days are only 3-6 miles with no long runs. I'd kind of like to keep the miles up around 50 just to stay in decent 5K shape.

* Charlie: Looking forward to following your 5:00 chase at 61! Maybe come to Flint on Aug 25 to do it on the roads?

Banged out another solid week of just running. About 69 miles with no workouts. I'll keep the miles up this week then a Saturday travel day to SC for 5 days in the upState. May run a 4th of July 5K at Furman U in Greenville.

M: am: 4.74 Miles pm: 6 Miles in 46:15 [7:42 per mile]

T: am: 9.69 Miles in 1:11:45 [7:24 per mile]

W: am: 6.33 Miles pm: 4.65 Miles in 33:47 [7:15 per mile]

T: am: 10 Miles in 1:15:11 [7:31 per mile]

F: am: 5 Miles in 42:46 [8:33 per mile] pm: 5.1 Miles in 38:30 [7:32 per mile]

S: am: 11.02 Miles in 1:23:10 [7:32 per mile]

S: 6.4 Miles

Should probably think about getting some stridework in this week too!

Have a good week,

Dave

Back under the radar for me. I took it easy, with a long overnight flight the day after barely sleeping while coming down from the night race last weekend. So I was pretty gassed for the first half of the week.

0 - jet lag and 3 hours of sleep on the plane

6 easy (8:10)

6.6 easy (8:04)

6.2 easy (8:00 - see the pattern?)

8 easy on hilly route (7:59)

9.2 with 5K tempo at 6:28 (about 8 sec/mile slower than a few weeks ago on mostly same route, so still feeling it, and maybe some lag in altitude after 10 days at sea level? Not sure, but felt limited by cardio not speed).

14 @8300' to 9000' and back (7:34average --that was tough! But I went with the herd).

Goal is sub 1:20 half here in late summer.

It’s been a bit since I last posted but its taken a bit to get my sore right heel mostly healed and actually do some training. I had the identical problem with my left heel in 2013 and because I was stubborn it took much longer to get better. I have 86 days of solid running under my belt and the last 5 or so weeks I’ve averaged 20+ miles, 22 the last 2 weeks. 95% of my runs are on fairly rocky, fairly steep trails.

Given my moniker I do not come by trails naturally and historically I have assiduously avoided them. But every single time I’ve been injured trails have helped me heal. And, of course, I then immediately hit the track to begin a new injury merry-go-round. Should’a listened to muddy girl years ago.

My advice to Paul061 is please get a second or even third opinion before having surgery. And, if you have access to trails give ‘em a try by mixing in a few a week.

I plan to stay on the trails as I kinda-sorta like ‘em now and my next races will be trail races.

Have a great week folks!

Dave,

Flint looks like fun but I will not be ready to try plus I hate to fly. My timeline is more like early spring then early summer then Aug 2nd at USATF Masters Nationals in Spokane. Thanks for the interest.

On mile training. If you want to keep your mileage up and run the fast stuff harder try running the recovery miles slower . My experience of training for the 5 then running a mile is limited. At 43 I ran 15:58 off 40mpw with weekly quality of 5 mile hard tempo 5:40 pace and 6 x 3 minutes with 3 recovery of Vo2. Shortly after I ran my first 1500 in a disappointing 4:32 but I kept at it and raced my way down to 4:13 over 9 weeks and 6 races. So for me the faster stuff helped a lot.

Third race in 15 days today, which is a heavy load for me. Glad to come thru it relatively intact.

4 runs totaling 25 miles including race

3 swims totaling 4 miles and one spin for 35 min

Ran Boston 10k 8 days after My Washington. Just a few seconds under 6 min/mile pace, second 5k only 6 seconds slower on basically an out and back flat course. 2nd in age group. The brutality of the previous race pushed the suffering threshold of today's race further than it might have been!

Moving my daughter into her apartment the day before provided a partial performance offset.

Hi everyone! Last I checked in I think I was heading to Florida for the NCAA meet. Our Jav thrower got 12th 2nd team all american and this past week if finished 3rd at Junior Nationals with a throw of 214-8.

Any ways didn't run much in florida but got it going the last 3 weeks

Biking in the 120=140 per week range and in the mid 30's running.

This past week I was in Shackamack State Park running and biking. I stole some guys KOM for a 6 mile TT and then Michelle did the same for the women.

I am 9 weeks out now from Worlds and just got all my gear - which was cool. I'll put up pics on facebook.Lots of training to come!

Mike

Good evening, friends.

No workouts in this calendar week as I continue with my "9-day-cycle" adaptation of Pfitzinger's 18-week marathon plan. Wednesday's long run was a solid effort, although slower than 8 minutes per mile. I attempted a few middle miles at marathon pace, but it wasn't happening that day.

Saturday, I actually averaged 6:59 per mile for the last nine miles of my 12-mile "secondary long run." That's just about goal marathon pace, as this week I am revising my "official marathon goal" from 3:15 to 3:05. Perhaps overly optimistic, but not outlandish if I can maintain decent overall mileage. My knees remain problematic, so that's a big question mark.

I may run a 15K race in August which will help evaluate my fitness and goals.

My training week:

JUNE 19-25, 2017:

Easy: 7.0 miles @ 8:42/mi

Easy: 10.4 miles @ 8:51/mi

LR: 18.5 miles @ 8:02/mi

Easy: Bike 18.5 @ 18.1 mph

Easy: 6.0 miles @ 8:29/mi

LR2: 12.0 miles @ 7:07/mi

Easy: Bike 18.5 miles @ 17.9 mph

WEEK TOTAL: 53.9 MILES

2017 Race Goals

5K: 6:13/mi (19:20) -- Achieved April 2nd @ 6:06/mi (18:57)

Half Marathon: 6:50/mi (1:29:30) -- Achieved April 30th @ 6:46/mi (1:28:41)

Marathon: 7:03/mi (3:05:00) -- Target race October 1st

-Allen

Really enjoyed reading all of the Sunday posts. Great story-telling Charlie. particularly when they are true! I can just feel what you are describing.

OK crazy crazy crazy week for me... maybe you'll scan my stories.

1) Been super stressed and sleepless with a lot of Nike workforce reduction I am involved in. Not done until the Fat Lady sings so wish me no blindside early retirement after 25 years at the big swoosh.

2) I ran the first ever solo 800 Wed night. no lie... no one but me in the last race of the day. What the hell is happening with our attendance rates? A friend called my splits at 200/600 and OMG was this an ugly one! 31-34-35-40! Yes I did make a call to just run a hard 600 and see what happens. In the home stretch headwind i though my arms would fall off and that I might DNF!

3) Saw the great John Prine Friday night and had tears running down my face as his legendary story-telling got me good. Oh BTW that Culmination IPA was so..... cool and tasty in this heat wave.

4) Dodged the 1500 race Charlie spoke of Saturday as not only was if 89F at the start but included a gusty hot furnace-like wind. Screw that!

5) 10,000 plus naked people rode by my house in a 7-mile parade that took 2hrs to pass by. The Naked Bike Ride is what Keeps Portland Wierd.

6) I did show up to Day 2 of Portland Masters Track Classic this afternoon where once again it was 95-100F with a hot dry wind. and you guessed it... another 800 with zero competition. That goes for all 7 of us in the mixed age race as very few show up these days. No. I did not go out in 31 this time. Never got splits but it felt fantastic for all 4 200s especially the last one. Tied seasonal best 2:18. 57 in a few weeks so not horrible but friends, like you, I want to race it again but with fellow competitors. It's the only way to run fast AND really enjoy it.

Have a cool week. Keep the day by day running & racing faith alive.

KP

I've got to admit that, after my last post, this was one of the most entertaining groups of weekly reports I've ever read. You folks are not only inspirational with your training and racing, but you accompany all of that with some great takes on the human interest side. Thanks for keeping up my faith in this thread. Best of luck to all with your training and other challenges.

Mon. 3 km slow jog to test hamstring. Restricted but not painful.

We went away for a few days so did no training Tuesday Wednesday.

Thursday. An hour of mountain biking.

Friday. 36 min kayak on the river.

Sat. An hour walking with weight vest.

Sun. Very steep rough terrain hike with weight vest for 1 hr 24 mins.

Walk 4.5 km into work with weight vest.

3.5 km walk back at night (10.30)

Planning on giving the hamstring some time.

I've got the same target in mind - 5 min 1500m at 60.

Tried my first session of 200s in about 4 years last week.

Was aiming for 12x with 90 sec jog.

Did 10 in 37/38 with one in 36 and change, but calves were getting upset on last one, so stopped there.

Ran home about 10 mins OK afterwards, but next day wasn't pretty.

I have done recently done 24 x 100m with 100m jog, but just timing the whole session, and got down to 19:30 for 3 miles (or to be more accurate 4800m), but I was shocked at the difference between 100s in 18/19 and 200s at a similar pace.

I haven't dared to any kind of time trial yet.

Haven't posted in a very long time. Finally back at with a great month so far, mostly easy running, quite a few double days, run/hike in the desert in the very early morning hours, followed by an afternoon treadmill run. Easy pace. This is 4 times a week. Other days are single effort days either desert runs or treadmill. Just a few days off as well.

Had run some 5K's with my 8 year old daughter in the spring which was fun, especially since she clobbered me.

Have a great week!

phoenix rising wrote:

I also have a small tale of woe. I think it's still small and I need advice how to keep it from becoming large. I mentioned tweaking my back last week. My back is better but now I have an issue with my hip. I have a deep glute ache, possibly piriformis. When I lie in bed on my back and have toes facing the ceiling and I point and stretch, no problem. I angle my toes inward, point and stretch, no problem. But when I angle my toes outward point and flex, I can feel a pain and a bit of a tingle up my leg and into my glute. I have tried the pigeon pose in yoga in an attempt to open up the hip. Perhaps all stretching should be stopped? Any advice?

Without knowing more specifics, I cannot tell whether you should stop all stretching. But you should definitely stop any stretching that causes pain. I think it was Jay Dicharry who wrote "injured tendons do not want to be stretched" or something to that effect. For glute ache, I will try stretching hip flexor. (Assuming that does not hurt.) Stretching the side of hip may also help if that does not cause any pain.

My week.

M: 3 miles.

T: 3 miles.

W: off. (Driving all day.)

R: 6 miles.

F: 7 miles.

SA: 6 miles.

SU: 10 miles. (Last mile @ 7:49)

There is not much to write about the previous week. I was traveling, and only running 3 miles easy first thing in the morning. I felt like crap all week after driving 12+ hours on Wednesday. So I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to pick up the pace at the end of my 10 mile run on Sunday, in spite of 80+ degrees. I guess I can run okay in heat as long as the humidity is low.

Cavorty wrote:

I've got the same target in mind - 5 min 1500m at 60.

I haven't dared to any kind of time trial yet.

Right now I am probably at 5:06 in a good race and 5:10 TT.

The all comers in Eugene are interesting:

Here is an interesting related plan for 5/1500

Time Trial kinda sorta

1200 meter time trials work for me. You just ran goal pace without worrying about the last lap. Psychologically this allows you to train for the hardest part of the 4 lap race the dreaded 3rd lap. Roger Bannister used this;)

Keep us posted!

Charlie,

Thanks for posting the Stiller article. I am inclined to believe the author's years of endurance training had some influence on the plan's success. When I started my comeback the accumulated excess weight and general physical decline was something that had to be addressed. For my constitution a balance of tempo, interval, repetition and cross training for recovery days seems the best mix. I have dropped 20 lbs since I first posted on this thread (spring 2016) weighing in today at 164. So that leaves me another 12 lbs to optimize my weight. The workout paces are dropping naturally, but at age 66 I am one training mistake from the injured reserve list. The key at this point will be not to get greedy, and avoid three toos (too much, too fast and too soon.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Charlie,

The key at this point will be not to get greedy, and avoid three toos (too much, too fast and too soon.

Igy

Hi Igy,

Greed is Good! I am going for WORLD DOMINATION!

Seriously good advice and congratulations on the come back.

Charlie