50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Thanks Ray..."KiwisCan Fly" is supposed to be a great read re: Peter Snell...it must be "out of print" because when I tried to purchase it eecently, most on line offerings were between $100 and $300... Eventually found an olf library copy for sale for $55 on Alibris.com and is being shpped from one of those vegemite places down under.

MF

Your welcome Mike

Haven't seen you in awhile.

As I round into shape at 60 I hope to contribute on this thread a little more.

Alan Bennet wrote:

Only three?

1. Best all-in-one running book: Claire Kowalchick, The Complete Book of Running for Women (1999), 432 pages

2. Best marathon training book: Gordon Bakoulis Bloch, How to Train For and Run Your Best Marathon (1993)

3. Best biography: Kathrine Switzer, Marathon Woman (2007)

Honorable mentions: Jack Daniels, Daniels Running Formula (1998, 2005); Gail Waesche Kislevitz, First Marathons (1998), Bernd Heinrich, Why We Run (2001) - also published as Racing the Antelope.

Moore's book would also be at the top of my list, but for the sake of variety I left it off. Livingstone's book has good information but for my taste it rambles too much.

mo'pak: Email me and I will send you a copy of Moore's book. Merry Christmas.

Very kind of you Alan.

My week was not so good, we lost my father on wednesday evening. The funeral is tomorrow the 24th, not the way we hoped to be spending our Christmas. He was 89, at 86 he had to give up playing badminton, mowing lawns and driving due to Parkinsons Disease. The last 2 years had been very difficult for a man previously so active and social. Fortunately he passed peacefully after a short period of rapid physical deterioration.

My training week.

Monday - A fairly lively 65 minute mountain bike ride and straight into the kyak for a sharp 40 minutes on the water.

Tuesday - Ran 4 progressive laps of a 3.2k trail loop, I ran 16.20, 15.02, 14.05, 13.12. Hot day (36 deg.C), strong winds.

Wednesday - Similar to monday, except about 75 mins on the mountain bike, hot and windy. Then 40 minutes in the kyak.

Thursday - A difficult day, an early 120km drive to my parents home, funeral arrangements, contacting friends and family and spending lots of time with mum. Very proud of my two wonderful daughters who did a great job supporting their Nanna and doing so much work to organise things. Late in the evening I headed out for a 10ish km run. Many thoughts and memories bouncing around, I can barely recall anything of the run itself.

Friday - Another hectic and emotional day. A 60 minute run in the evening left me feeling far more at peace with the world.

Saturday - Life goes on for those left behind. My wife was up @ 5am to go to work, I got up and headed out on the bike for ride up Mt Ida, all up about 100 minutes of riding. My body was lethargic, my concentration poor, but I was pleased to stretch myself on something challenging. Back to work for me too, a night shift 9pm -8am.

Sunday - Slept until 12 noon. my longest sleep since tuesday night. A 40 deg C day so I shelved the plans of a long afternoon run. Headed off for a 14k run in the shadiest of the local forests, very slow, 80+ minutes. Drove to the lake and spent 340 minutes paddling the shallows, weaving through dead trees, admiring the many water birds.

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Week 81

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Hello All. I’ll start by offering my deepest condolences to mo’pak. I’m very sorry about the loss of your father. I imagine it was difficult to watch Parkinson’s progress over the past few years. I’m thankful that his passing was a peaceful one. God bless you and your family.

We’ve traveled north to Wisconsin late during the week, which completely scuttled what had started with such promise. I only managed about 28 or so miles as a result. The log looks as such:

Sun: 8.1 mostly easy, with one @~6-min pace.

Mon: 5.1 w/first four accel: 6:51,6:29,6:22,6:13

Tue: 8 easy (4 late am, 4 early pm)

Wed: 6.5 w/8xBraemer hill loop. Times up: 119,113,111,109,106,99,95,89

Thur: 1 treadmill mile and 10 minutes on recumbent bike

Fri: 0

Sat: 0, but shoveled snow/ice for 3 hours.

Notes:

-I was happy with the hill loops as we did them progressively, finishing with a real burner that left my legs feeling a bit jelly-like….but satisfied.

-On Thursday, I didn’t run before the trip after learning my lesson about running before long drives. We traveled half way to Wisconsin on the day that a blizzard (winter storm Draco) was pummeling Iowa and Southern Wisconsin. We made it just to the edge of the blizzard at nightfall. The hotel we were to stay at had lost power before we arrived. We waited in the lobby with the emergency generator that provided just enough power for that section. No lights in their gym, but the machines were powered, so I snuck in there and did the bike for a bit; then I did a run on the treadmill for a bit; then they told us they wouldn’t have power and recommended we find another place to stay; so much for training this day. The Next day, we drive to Madison, and there was really no point in trying to run when we got there, not with 18” of heavy snow that had fallen the previous night.

-Saturday, I shoveled out my mother’s driveway and corner of the walkway, the ends of all were piled high where the street plows had piled 4-5 feet worth of compacted snow and ice. Chopping through and removing all the ice took me about 3 hours. I’ll call that cross-training, haha.

I’m feeling pretty sore in the back and shoulders this morning as I write this. I hope I can make it out for a short run later. We’ll be celebrating Christmas today, as we’ll need to leave Christmas Day back to Lexington. Happy to be back in the motherland, but it certainly has put a kink in the training plans. Good that I’m not training for any specific purpose at this point of the year, so it’s really no big deal. And maybe the shoveling even goes along with my sense that I need to do some more general conditioning.

OK. I hope that you all can spend this holiday time with your families, and cherish the memories spent with loved ones.

Best Wishes to All.

Condolences mo'pak. When my dad passed away I was consumed with guilt. Even though there wasn't anything I could have done, I somehow thought I ought to have done more. Actually I still think that. And your best sleep was under 4 hours? That's one tough week.

The book offer stays open indefinitely. Take your time, now is for remembering. The email is under my name at 12/18/2012 7:16AM.

Week 81: 10 hours 19 minutes in 9 runs, three of them workouts. Same structure as last week:

Tuesday - 4x hill (compare to week 80 - 3x hill)

Friday - 4.58 km tempo in 21:59, pace 4:48, 40kph HEADWIND with gusts to 80kph, average HR 154 (compare to week 80 - 4.57 km tempo in 20:58, pace 4:35, in mild conditions, average HR 158)

Saturday - long run 26.1 km in 2:48, pace 6:25, like so: 18.2 km in 2:06, pace 6:55, with a group; then 7.9 km in 0:42, pace 5:18, by myself (HR data messed up due to the cold and the fact that I didn't break a sweat in the first two hours)

I started wearing the Garmin and heart monitor on some runs, in case the new coach has any detailed questions for me. (Official plan kickoff is Jan 5th, but I haven't seen it yet.) He advocates training by effort so not sure if it's necessary. After training by time and feel all summer, I find it very easy to just ignore the Garmin and look up the numbers after the run.

Bit of a rough week for me battling the flu. Monday PM I skipped my second run and the weights session, Wednesday I took a half-day at work went home to bed for an extra three hours sleep, today I am getting a jump on my fallback week by staying sedentary all day, box of tissue handy. I'll have to wait until next cycle to test Charlie's extra intensity before the fallback.

On the plus side, I finished all my runs this week, workouts included, feeling really "fresh". Most of this year was a fiasco, but after two consecutive months of solid base I can report no dings and just feeling very ready to train. I think one key is that I have gotten back to more running on grass. I just decided to not pay any attention to how sloppy the ground is sometimes, and how wet the shoes get. Maybe 15% on the treadmill, a little more than 10% on grass, the remainder on pavement.

Stay healthy, everybody.

My condolences, mo'pak, to you and your family. I lost my dad at this same time last year, so I know how tough this can beat this time of year. You and your family can rely on each other to get through this.

My condolences to you Mopak and your family on the loss of your father. Mine passed in 1995.

This was week number two of receiving Active Release Therapy. After week one the global heel pain I was having shrunk to a spot directly on the bottom of my heel, and after this week it mostly went away.

He's given me some exercises to do and some stretches. The thing that has helped the most is simply standing on one foot periodically. It improves balance and is strengthening my feet, which, apparently, had become pretty weak. I know this because my foot muscles are sore.

He released me to begin some running as I can tolerate. I had the treatment Wednesday and it took two days to recover.

So yesterday was my first “run”. I'm starting WAY down the effort ladder just like a beginner runner. One mile alternating walking a minute with running a minute. I'll do this a week then bump it up to two minutes. Yep, sounds pretty basic but the alternative is NO RUNNING. It's a little frustrating holding myself back but getting well is job one. The plan, assuming all goes well, is to get back on my Sat – Wed training plan, never running on Thr or Fri. I'm still doing 50 pushups and 50 crunches daily and I've gained 7 pounds during this lull.

Looking at my logs its pretty clear that the break occurred after a few weeks of changing my routine and running every day. Additionally, I was pressing the pace every day, never resting. It was an experiment....I have successfully ruled out running moderately hard every day as a viable training methodology...unless the goal is to break your bones..... Live and learn.

Condolences mo'pak. Thankfully, as time passes all the good memories remain and the sense of loss fades.

Another steady week for me. 51 miles in 7 runs with a workout added this week. Tuesday I ran 18x:30 hard/:30 easy up a 2 mile hill that gains 800' at a fairly steady slope. I plan to continue with this one workout per week until the end of January and then see how I am feeling about adding a second weekly workout.When I was really fit the last couple of years I get this workout down to 16x:30/:30 over the same distance. My goal is to get it down to 15x:30/:30 by May of this coming year. Happy holidays and good running to all!

Sorry to hear about your father Mopak like old guy 11 said as time passes all the good memories remain he his so right.

Upped the training this week and felt it.

Mon 10:04 miles cruise/tempo intervals (7 mile)@ level 3+4

6:51/6:24/7:02/6:29/7:06/6:28/7:04

tues 7:10 miles easy

weds 8 mile Hills 6x3min @ level 4+5

thurs 5 mile Stuffed legs heavy

fri 8:07 Tempo 3 miles @ level 4 6:21/6:25/6:23=19:09min

sat 9 mile easy

sun 13 mile 1hr 37min still slow!!!!!!!,but over 1350ft of climbing

weeks total 60:21 miles

keep on running have a great christmas,you all take care

Condolences Mopak.

Some gains this week then a set-back today, need to keep with the athletic trainer, he has been good. I need to get full range of motion back to legs before attempting strides again, even if referred pain is not present. I think we need to address specific strengthening for the gluts, et al this week too. Anyone ever had cupping done on muscles? Very interesting, felt like massage from inside out, I was surprised at the reaction the problematic muscles had to it.

Happy Holidays to all!

Week of 12/17

Mon AT, 5 mile run, felt better, light stretching, exercises.

Tue 5 mile run opposite direction indoors, light stretching, AT, exercise, light weights. Felt better.

Wed AT, massage, 5 mile run on treadmill @ 2.5%, down to sub 6:00 pace, felt more normal. Light stretching.

Thur AT, 5 mile run on treadmill @ 2.5%, down to 5:24 pace, felt good. Stretching, exercises.

Fri 4 mile run on treadmill @ 2.5%, down to low 6:00 pace, felt a little stiff. AT, massage.

Sat rest

Sun 2 mile warm-up opposite direction indoors, light stretching, 6x100m strides, 2x200m in 33, 31.5, third one when hamstring acted up, stopped. 2 steps forward 2 steps back …..

Procrastinating my morning constitutional on this cold and rainy Christmas morning...all kinds body parts I forgot I ever even had are talking to me all at once this morning after them hill sprints I tagged on to the end of yesterday's session...a regular muscular cacophony of sorts...mostly screaming "Hey old man, who the hell do you think you are? Percy Friggin' Cerutty or something??"

Would make for a good Geritol commercial.

Enjoy this special day of peace and reflection.

long may you run,

MF

mo'pak... Sorry for your loss, keep the memories alive.

alf... I have always had 3/1 a weekly cycle with the recovery every 4th week.

MikeF... The 3 favorite on my shelf

Jogging, Bill Bowerman

Better Training for Distance Runners, Martin and Coe

Best Efforts, Moore

Ended last week with 3 runs total with one of those on the treadmill. Had a nice easy run in a drizzle this morning. Nothing special but it felt good to run. I just with the pirifomis would settle down. Headed to PT and massage later in the week.

And a Merry Christmas to you MikeF & Masters Friends.

It's 38, raining sideways, with a few flakes, and a forecast of rain monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday, here in Portland. We shall not procrastinate if we intend to toe-the-line with you and enjoy another great year of running and racing in 2013.

I'm off in 3 mins to freeze my butt off; hopefully beer gut too.

KP

Mo'pak sorry for your loss.

KP I just finished up on this blustery day in pdx. I have a nice spot with lots of trees natural umbrella and the leeward side of a hill that takes care of the wind. Got in a comfortable 4 miles in 30 minutes.

Alf , looks like you had a GREAT week. I read your workouts pretty carefully and use some of what you are doing Thanks.

My week:

Monday Dec 17th long run at 148 hr 3 loops of glendoveer 15:37,15:35,15:40 same effort just a bit tired on last 5 minutes halsey bench up the long hill and into the parking lot area.

Tuesday Dec 18th easy

Wednesday Dec 19th 1 loop at 148 1600 flat then easy for 15 minutes probably still a bit tired but it was rainy and I was wearing my yellow showers pass jacket

Thursday Dec 20th 5 mile walk . A very rainy windy cold day warmup at john luby park for 6 minutes with striders felt really really strong so decided to do short hills with some protection from the wind and rain. I did the short drive over to the glendoveer short hill on 148th and halsey ran 6 times up the hill hard but not all out around 50 flat just past the bench 2nd set of trees jog down in 90 breathing hard near the top did one in 48. Then I ran the short 400 west in 75 flat nice as I was shooting for 80 working hard but not all out by any means. I checked my hr pretty sure it was over 180 maybe close to 190 hard to measure because it drops down during the count. jogged back then walked for 15 minutes up and down the hill barefoot feeling GREAT.

Monday Dec 24th well the hill workout took 3 days recovery ez to steady running about 4 miles each day . Today did something different. Started with 9 minutes of warmup but really the last 6 minutes were pretty fast then did the long hill probably 700 meters running 2:45 down and 2:30 up. The down effort was about 75% and the up effort started at 85% progressing to about 5k effort over the last minute. The third one I was working pretty hard hr was over 180(counted 30 beats in ten seconds). Then I finished with a 1:20 out and 55 back then 60 out and 45 back.

GoRuns when the hump under the arch starts to wear out my pf's let me know. Broke out a new pair today with immediate relief. Measured the thickness under the arch with the new pair being 1/8th of an inch thicker. Oh what a difference for such a small amount of shoe.

OnWard

Hey Charlie... the rain is getting old but i know that Glendoveer loop you do. It's got one nasty uphill but it's a super 2miler loop isnt it? Say how mushy is it these days?

You said it re having a thick foam arch to avoid PF flare ups. I still use an EVA version made for me when I lived in Holland 15+ years ago. It's high density foam. If only they'd make one less mushy for over the counter purchase.

KP

Kevin Paulk wrote:

Hey Charlie... the rain is getting old but i know that Glendoveer loop you do. It's got one nasty uphill but it's a super 2miler loop isnt it? Say how mushy is it these days?

You said it re having a thick foam arch to avoid PF flare ups. I still use an EVA version made for me when I lived in Holland 15+ years ago. It's high density foam. If only they'd make one less mushy for over the counter purchase.

KP

Hey Kevin ,

Glendoveer is in great shape. They put down several inches of large wood chips which has its pluses and minuses. Works ok except traction is not the best. It is just a bit more than 2 miles....I hope.

Yep there is a need for a better pf specific foam insert maybe it is waffle iron time.

btw do you remember a 1500 at Mt Hood CC about 12 years ago? You beat me by a couple of steps 4:16 - 4:17?

Charlie

Of course I remember that 1500 Charlie. You were a tough competitor. Wouldnt it be great to run those splits these days?

You gonna give masters track a run this new year?

Been a runner since 1970. In the late 70's after college, ramped up to 100- 120/week. Ran 2:18 mar/49:47 10mile. By late 80's was running recreationally. Ramped up again as masters runner at age 40-50, 35miles/week - quality but some long runds. Now 55, I have basically quit due to cronic fatigue, cramping and joint pain. Easy runs of 2-3 miles make me walk like a marathoner the next day. Have read some about mitochondria blow out but that wouldnt cause pain? I do stretch but dont do massage or ice baths. Eliptical training/walking now. Any similar experiences and treatments? How do Rodgers/Spence/Benoit (other than superior genes) do it?