50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Thank you for the explanation.

Qurious,

Sure you are welcome. Did similar sessions under Igloi as a young man used same format as coach and masters athlete.

Igy

WTF a win?

Did a suburban 5K this morning, expecting maybe a 5th but won the damn race. 18:13, 87.6 age grade, 5500 ft elevation. Didn't feel good throughout.

Coyote Montane wrote:

WTF a win?

Did a suburban 5K this morning, expecting maybe a 5th but won the damn race. 18:13, 87.6 age grade, 5500 ft elevation. Didn't feel good throughout.

Wow, congratulations! Hopefully you felt better as you crossed the finish line in first place...

That's doggone fast. My 5K PR as a young person was 18:10!

Coyote Montane wrote:

WTF a win?

Did a suburban 5K this morning, expecting maybe a 5th but won the damn race. 18:13, 87.6 age grade, 5500 ft elevation. Didn't feel good throughout.

Where were all the young bucks at?

*Week 361*

Greetings, 50+ers! Happy Mother's Day to the Mother's on the thread (and those that may peek in from time to time.) Speaking of mothers, Mother Nature has flipped the switch and we've gone straight from an unusually cool spring for March and April into summer-type weather this week. I was able to get a bit more running in and reached a 25+ miles total. With 5-1/2 runs on 5 days, the weekly log reads as such:

Sun: Off (graduation and grading)

Mon: 3.0 (7:47/mi avg) middle mile @7:09

Tue: 6.0 with 2.0am easy trail (9:55/mi) + 4.0pm steady (7:47/mi)

Wed: Off

Thu: 4.1 easyish (7:59/mi)

Fri: 3.5 easy (8:38/mi)

Sat: 9.0 Very Easy 1st half (8:36/mi avg) 7:40 last mile

No workouts this week, and really only that one 7:09 mile on Monday counts as effort, the rest was pretty low-key. Just happy to log a few more miles and try to start getting heat acclimated. I logged the super easy 2-mile trail jaunt with my daughter (home for the week) as only half a run (hence the 5-1/2 runs.) Saturday's run was the longest since last May, Ran the 1st 5 miles super-easy at about 9/mi pace, then ramped up the last 4 with the last two at 8:03 and 7:40 respectively. Did not feel tapped out aftewards, so that was good, but I wish I could say that the feet and knees felt fine; the arthritis has ached a bit since even still this morning, but I'm avoiding taking any NSAIDs.

Props to KP and Charlie on some fine track racing; hope that your strain has healed up after that 60.9s 400, KP. Enjoyed the videos, too. Nice 10K, SCgal, glad to see you getting stronger since the foot injury. Kudos, too, to amkelly on your Half-marathon. Really nice 5k, KCgeezer. Welcome BigMango! Those are some really fantastic 50+ times you've posted, especially in those conditions. Will be interested to read about your training regimen. Oh, and congrats on this weekend's W, Coyote! That's a fine time, especially at 5500 ft. You're on a roll this year, that's for sure.

OK, that's it from the Bluegrass. It's been great to have our daughter around this week. We'll head out for a nice Mother's Day brunch and listen to some excellent jazz performed by a good friend of ours. Encouraged to read a lot of good racing and training reports from this past week. Hope this week was equally good. Any more races to report?

All the Best!

i wouldn't presume to answer for CM re his area, but in the DC area the answer would be that the young bucks are at other races. any given weekend morning in spring or fall there are many options. A masters friend of mine ran 18:32 road 5k yesterday and won by 2 minutes. Some of the rest of us were at an x-c 5k in same county same morning, others at the parkrun 5k starting an hour later a cooldown jog away......... .............on an unrelated note, happy Mothers' Day! chiming in before American U commencement M 1:50 double Tu 1:45 with hill repeats [not on treadmill as i usually do to control recovery period and grade -- such a beautiful day i had to go outside and do them a little more randomly on hilly streets] W 1:00 Th 1:10 F 30:00 + 30:00 elliptical Sa 1:00 incl. x-c 5k hilly/muggy, good footing -- 20:37 for 11th OA and 2nd AG + 1:00 x-t Su 50:00 race was a lot slower than my best time on this course 18:46 ten years ago, but felt like a good steady effort. Placing about normal -- behind those i usually lose to and ahead of those i usually am ahead of. Felt good about it, more so than road 10k a couple weeks ago. have a great week, Dave

Just Amazed wrote:

Coyote Montane wrote:

WTF a win?

Did a suburban 5K this morning, expecting maybe a 5th but won the damn race. 18:13, 87.6 age grade, 5500 ft elevation. Didn't feel good throughout.

Where were all the young bucks at?

They closed the onsite registration for the Marathon on the 27th but the half is still open. It's only an hour flight so might just do it. Took it easy this week because of a couple minor irritations. My ankle is the acting up but it is just a pinched nerve and will disappear as it always does.

Date When Activity Duration AvgHR/Max Workout WO Duration Note

05-07 13:46 Run Incline TM 00:23 118/122 None 00:00

05-07 18:43 Run 00:27 135/140 None 00:00

05-08 11:46 Run Treadmill 00:30 126/141 None 00:00

05-08 17:47 Run Incline TM 00:15 126/133 None 00:00

05-08 17:47 Run Incline TM 01:15 118/125 None 00:00

05-09 11:41 Run Treadmill 00:40 135/167 C-Int&TH 00:33 13 min of ints at 11.8 mph

05-09 11:45 Run Incline TM 01:20 135/143 None 00:00

05-10 10:12 Run Treadmill 00:15 116/133 None 00:00

05-10 11:13 Walk Incline TM 00:47 116/124 None 00:00

05-10 17:19 Elliptical 00:33 108/ None 00:00

05-11 17:06 Run 00:40 129/139 None 00:00

05-11 17:06 Elliptical 01:10 112/117 None 00:00

05-12 11:51 Run Treadmill 00:31 123/130 None 00:00

05-12 17:43 Run 00:40 125/138 None 00:00

05-13 16:29 Run Treadmill 00:30 158/166 Threshold 00:21 21 mind at 11 mph

05-13 16:31 Walk Incline TM 00:55 107/115 None 00:00

05-13 10:33 Walk Incline TM 00:20 108/119 None 00:00

Cheers!

Next up 1500 at USATF Masters Championships in Cheney Wa at EWU on Sunday July 29th

Goals have fun race hard run my best give 100 percent yada yada yada

Fantasy Goal is to Win that is my goal so there. I wanna be the dark horse the guy who comes out of nowhere the guy who finally puts it all together. Oh what fun!

The Plan:

Overall will average 34 minutes per week on 2 workouts 1. 20 minutes LT 2. 12 minutes Vo2Max plus striders faster than mile race pace

If/When I feel strong I will add a hard mtn bike ride no more than 1 per week. The rest is 2 to 3 hours a day of hiking.

First 4 weeks focus on LT

Week 1 May 6 40 minutes 3 runs

1. May 6th 8 minute Vo2: 1 mile race 5:47 2 minutes warmup

2. May 9th 21 minute LT: 6:40

3. May 12 11 minutes Vo2 R2 walking: -1-(5:53)HR 145,-4-(5:53)HR169 140,-4-(5:53)171 140,-2:15-(5:36) HR 174 139

Week 2 May 13 LT focus 6:30 3 miles plus striders .. Vo2 3x4 minutes R2 by feel first one feeling fairly easy next two at 2/2 breathing on last 2 of 4 minutes cut short as needed

Week 3 May 20 LT focus 6:25 3 miles "" .. ""

Week 4 May 27 LT focus 6:20 3 miles "" .. ""

Next 2 weeks Rest week then Time Trial week

Week 5 June 3 easy sharpen LT 2 x 1 mile cruise int Vo2 6 x 80 seconds fast with 40 seconds Recovery

Week 6 June 10 1200 meter time trial go out at 82 shooting for something in the range of 4:06 to 4:09 82-83 seconds 400

Next 4 weeks focus on Vo2 and buffering hydrogen ion;)s using the time trial pace

Week 7 June 17 Vo2 focus 3x4 minutes at time trial pace + 10 seconds per mile R as needed LT 3 miles by feel adjust based on recovery saving effort for vo2

Week 8 June 24 Vo2 focus 2x4 minutes at time trial pace short Recovery

Week 9 July 1 Vo2 focus 6 x 400 R1 time trial pace-10 seconds per mile

Week 10 July 8 Vo2 focus 2 mile time trial 11:30 - 11:50 shoot for 84 seconds per 400

Next 2 weeks Rest week then Time Trial week

Week 11 July 15 easy sharpen LT 2 x 1 mile cruise int Vo2 6 x 80 seconds fast with 40 seconds Recovery

Week 12 July 22 1200 meter time trial go out at 77 shooting for something between 3:50 and 4:00 use this pace - 1 second per 400 as goal race pace

Week July 29 RACE

M58 -- 5'11" 166 lbs

Goal -- Defend M55-59 title in 15K (August)

Training -- 9-day cycle with Long Run, VO2max and LT workouts

May 7 - 13, 2018

Easy - 8.2 miles @ 7:57/mi

Easy - 5.0 miles @ 8:33/mi w/6x100m strides

VO2 -- 2-mi warmup; 6 x 1/2-mile w/2:30 jog recoveries @ 3:07, 3:05, 3:02, 3:02, 3:00, 2:56; 2-mi cooldown

Easy - 7.0 miles @ 8:45/mi

LR -- 18.0 miles @ 8:47/mi

Easy - 10.0 miles @ 7:48/mi

Off

WEEK TOTAL: 55.7 MILES

I felt sluggish and beat-up all week. but the 55-plus miles was the second highest weekly total in probably 14 years. I am taking today off, coasting into a planned step-back week that will include a mini taper before a Saturday 5K.

when work gets in the way of running...

managed 37 miles regardless, with a pair of progression runs (5 miles and 6 miles) on the track

upcoming travel week shall challenge the now 530 days running streak

BIG congrats to Charlie for that wonderful mile race...way to go Kevin P too

hoping to attend Pre meet in 2 weeks (we could see a sub 8:00 2 mile) and DEF attending NCAAs

2 weeks thereafter...hope to see you at Wild Duck for a post-meet pint

stay well

your pal,

MF

dhaaga wrote:

... in the DC area the answer would be that the young bucks are at other races. any given weekend morning in spring or fall there are many options. A masters friend of mine ran 18:32 road 5k yesterday and won by 2 minutes.

Lots of races here, too, and it really waters down the competition. Glancing through last weekend's results, I see many M50-54 dominating the overall results. Also young women finishing in the top three overall, which is kinda cool. But where are the young studs?

dhaaga - congrats on some fine XC racing.

Coyote - congratulations on the OA win and a great AG score. This Saturday, I will be very happy to be within a minute of your time.

Congrats Coyote! As you well know, you just never know who’s going to show up. Humorously, I’ll bet more than a few 50 and 60+’ers silently curse when they toe the line and see YOU are there. We’ve all done it, no matter what the level.

Tue: 45 min rocky trail, pushed hard: 607 feet climbing

Thurs: 45 min medium road and trail, 231 feet climbing

Sat: 45 min, steep rocky trail, 795 feet climbing

Sun: 45 min, medium trail, 200 feet climbing

Another good week. On Tue I really pushed the run as sort of a test to see if my feet can handle it. My feet felt solid. I found, however, that it’s really dangerous to run fast on rocky trails, especially trying to pass people. I had been thinking I may enter some trail races later in the year but I’ve decided against it. Training on trails is one thing, trying to race fast with a bunch of people blocking the view of the ground is quite another. NOPE.

The trails have been great, but, in truth, I’m still a track guy. The trails are a treatment methodology. I am SO craving working on some speedwork and racing. But, I’m trying to be patient and understand that I’m building stronger legs.

I dragged out my logs from 1977 recently. I had forgotten that on quite a few Sunday’s I ran a super-rugged stretch of power-lines across a mountain or a local landmark here, McAfee’s knob (the most photographed site on the Appalachian Trail). But at THAT time, there were few trails and I only ran them in the Winter because of fear of snakes, ticks, etc. Now, I have a ton of trails to run on and they get lots of traffic which makes them safer. Here’s hoping I can translate some of that trail strength to speed!

Have a good week everyone.

Good week of volume for me, three weeks out from Ann Arbor.

38 miles over 5 runs with a 14 miler in 7:08 yesterday

6 miles swimming over 4 sessions with a 2 miler today in 61:30.

1 60 min spin

2 lifting sessions

Congrats to the fine racing. Have a great week all.

My foot is getting better - I'm cautiously optimistic! This past week I did an hour of pool jogging which is one of the most boring things in the world, 2 lifting workouts, a 2 mile jog on the treadmill punctuated by 15 second bursts of quicker intensity, and 45 minutes on the stair mill machine. No pain in the foot so I'm going to say this was a good week. My weight, which had stalled due to my reduced activity from my injury, is starting to inch downward again. I started this year wanting to lose 15 lbs. I've lost 8. Whatever happened to the days when we could skip dinner and wake up 3 lbs lighter??

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms! I sent my mom flowers this past week and called her this morning. She was so incredibly pleased! It's the little things that make us smile.

I took a really easy week after my mile race last Sunday beat me up more than I expected. My resting HR normally sits around 44 bpm. From Monday to Thursday my resting HR was 52-54 bpm. I took Monday and Tuesday off, then walked 3 mi on Wednesday, and my HR walking was about 30 BPM higher than normal. Thursday I walked 4 mi and HR still was about 20 bpm above average. Friday my resting HR dropped back down to its usual 44 and I took another rest day. Yesterday I ran 4 mi, but running HR still was about 20 above average. This morning I walked 4 mi and both resting HR and walking HR were back to their usual levels. I expect to get back to my regular training mileage tomorrow.

Congratulations to all the racers and I hope everyone is getting healthier and fitter.

Good afternoon. Not much to report but this date next month I will be finished with chemo. Started the week with what they call “chemo brain” which is best described as a foggy listless state. It passed by Wednesday, Thursday ran the Alter G at 75% for 5 miles clocking 37:10 or 7:20 pace with best at 6:18. The rest of the week walking about 25 miles and some good physical labor around the house.

Have a good week.

Igy

Thanks amkelley, LucKY2b, Allen, and Rtype, and good racing dhagga, & and again Charlie, &KP for last week's stellar efforts.

Amazed--yeah 18 isn't so good to win a race and I felt like what the heck, because I'm effing old and not all that swift unless you're my age or so.

as dhagga and a couple others mentioned, there are a lot of races here every week. Probably a dozen with an hour drive. And the faster blokes and women will pick and chose their efforts to prize money races or ones with prestige. The had a fairly big marathon/half last week and Colfax/Denver is next week and that have prize money at a couple distances. This race was smaller, but fit into my schedule a little better, and didn't cost an arm and leg to enter. I did get a $50 gift certificate and 2 post-race Breckenridge beers. The Bolder Boulder 10K is in 2 weeks and an equivalent effort there would only net a 300th to 400th place most years.

My week was pretty good, soreness is going away although I felt it today over the last 3 or so on a 13 miler this morning. I got in 63 miles and did a mid-week tempo fartlek (about 3K threshold followed by some 20 to 50 sec pick ups at roughly 1500-3K effort. I have a combined membership with 2 clubs and joined up with the younger sect today--mostly millenials and some very fast ones among them. Ended up getting dropped like a rock, because the main group was going 6:00-6:30 pace, and ran with 4-5 younger women for 10 of 13 miles, and even then we were doing a lot of 7:10s to 7:30s (averaged just over 7:30). Probably need to just stick with the old guys and drop this club.

finally some downtime to report:

congrats on your win CM--winning is always more fun than losing, no matter the time or competition. it's cool seeing dudes like KP on the track--i get on the track so seldom, but i'm inspired by the work you guys do. that in mind, i'll be on the track this friday evening for an all-comers with my h.s. team. i'll likely try to pace two heats of 1600s to see if we can get one of my girls and one of my guys under 5 minutes for the first time--the girl has run 5:05 and 10:41 this season already, and the guy has run a few races between 5:00 and 5:03, agonizingly close. then, taking KP's cue, i'll run a 400 on a distance medley relay between a couple of calcoast teams for fun, but i doubt the last 100 or so will qualify as fun.

that will likely conclude my track season. there was hope for another masters exhibition (supposedly for 50+ runners) at usatf nationals in iowa--a mile race is still on the schedule--but i got an email from joy upshaw who heads these masters exhibitions saying it wasn't going to happen. would've been fun.

i don't take any forced time off, but will likely do some easy running other than tuesday night sessions for a few weeks before ramping up summer training for x-c. do any of you take forced time off? i've always found risk of injury goes up when i take time off, not down. not sure if it's scar tissue forming, or "use it or lose it" happens...

however, i've also been dealing with some bad news as my 76 year old father had been diagnosed with prostate cancer back in january, and now it's metastasized to the bones and liver--we just found out all this on tuesday. i'm actually typing this from his home in boulder, co (actually longmont). prognosis looks bad, but no real timeline--the chemo-brain igy referenced is now a daily reality for my dad. my daughter (soon to be a ucla grad this june) and i were picked up late wednesday night at the denver airport by fellow masters todd straka--quite a favor and help to me, and a testament to the mutual support offered in our small masters running community. i'll be flying out monday evening to finish up the school year while a few of my siblings will arrive tuesday to help out here in boulder.

i will likely be back here, though, for bolder boulder--i've always wanted to do it since my dad moved out here, but it's never fit into racing/work schedule; however, this year my h.s. school academic year is effectively over may 24th, and i didn't have any kids qualify past yesterday's post-season prelims. so, i hope to see CM on the line...

carpe crepusculem,

cush