Smoove - Doctors hand out testosterone gel and shots like candy these days. If you are over 40 and say " doc just not feeling like I used to.. I can't ya know raise the flag as effectively .. low energy yada yada yada " and you get Test. That is just the easy legal ways to get it not including the ease of buying it on the street.
That being said I am sure there are a lot of masters runners out there using test replacement from doctors on a daily basis and using more that prescribed doses.
Seeing this takes the joy out of racing for me some. My doc asks me similar questions every year at my physical. I tell him "I have three kids under 10 and have been married for over a decade, so of course I'm worn out and not feeing the same as I used to; but no, I'm not going to test for low t. Because even if I test low I'm not going on hormone replacement and thus causing my body to stop producing its own."
Runn3rgirl, I was absolutely crushed on the 800s. Given the weather, they were definitely too fast. Not quite 3k pace, but faster than I could've run a 5k that night for sure.
Smoove, very true. My buddy went on test for Low T in early thirties and tried to get off but couldn't cause the natural production Shut down.
It's sad because most American men have low Testosterone because they eat processed garbage that is insanely meat heavy, do not exercise, and are generally obese. But hey! We got a pill errrrrr gel for that.
My dad is a master's tennis player & every year since he turned 50 his doctor has offered him a testosterone scrip. In addition to shutting down your natural testosterone production there are also some concerning cardiovascular affects.
I'm glad that I'm young enough that this isn't an issue for me, because what motivates me to race more than a fast time is getting to compete against others.
"However, treating normal aging with testosterone therapy is not currently advisable.
Your doctor will also likely suggest natural ways to boost testosterone, such as losing weight and increasing muscle mass through resistance exercise."
Culturally, I think medicine and the general population are too dependent on a pill for every ill, but then there also isn't great empirical support for diet & exercise.
Getting slower is all part of aging. If you "pill it all away" then your really not playing the same game as everyone else. It's like Semenaya running the women's 800, but worse as Semanaya didn't choose (and apparently maybe didn't even originally know of) her condition. I think some of these guys just decide that it's okay because it was prescribed. Or they just don't care because they can feel like they did in their 20s and 30s and the risks are just worth it.
A lot of this comes down to diet, no matter the philosophy of what to eat I think we can all agree that Americans eat way to much Shit. Fast food, processed food.. not eating enough fruits and veggies, everything has HFCS in it. . Not cooking at home and having home cooked meals from real ingredients.
RRR - Could not agree more. Bad food, no exercise, obesity. You are preaching to the choir
Runn3rgirl - Nice 5k race! Fast time, especially in summer.
Thanks Darko - I've been modelling it after something John Kellogg (of LetsRun fame) advocates for. Basically, after a workout of strides, you include a "time trial" of 2-7 minutes at ~90-95% effort. This gets the heart rate up close to max, and is almost like a primer for harder VO2 max-type workouts later in the season. The key is to not tie up (which is why I cut it off a little early). So far so good though.
What are your plans for your next season?
By the way, way to come back with a solid 5k Runn3rgirl.
Laughlin wrote:
Thanks Darko - I've been modelling it after something John Kellogg (of LetsRun fame) advocates for. Basically, after a workout of strides, you include a "time trial" of 2-7 minutes at ~90-95% effort. This gets the heart rate up close to max, and is almost like a primer for harder VO2 max-type workouts later in the season. The key is to not tie up (which is why I cut it off a little early). So far so good though.
What are your plans for your next season?
I haven't read too much if his stuff, but it sounds like a similar concept to what I do to prime up for Vo2 stuff as well. I usually throw a hard interval from 600-1600m at the beginning of a workout, and then go right into my normal fartlek or tempo + some 200s or 300s at the end. Just a little add on to get used to the hard stuff.
Not sure about specifics yet, but I want to go back to basics for a couple months and then target some 5k-HM races in the fall.
Darko - When base building what type of mileage do you do per week?
I went back and looked at my training before I ran 36:11 in MArch and it def was nothing special.. 3-4 short doubles a week. 2-3 10-14 milers and one tempo per week or so. Everything else was just Easy or progression if felt good. Def think I can run a ton faster w some legit speed work.
Holy cow we have had some solid races and workouts this week! Darko, great 5k and 3k workout. Slo, that 22 was tough man, I'd be pumped to run that one. I finished up my third week of training since taking a week off and am officially done with my recovery phase of training. Mileage was still low this week, but got in two sessions this week that got the wheels moving.
M: Off, ran 7 days straight and had worrisome plantar pain flare in one of my feet, so I took the day off.
T: WU+20min of 1on/1off+CD, 9.6mi Total
Have a couple new guys join the training group. One just won the NCAA Div1 steeple chase and the other is a 2:23 marathoner. So we picked up a speedster and an Aerobic monster. The group did 40 minutes total, but as I was still in recovery mode until Thursday I settled for 20min. Hard minutes were run between 4:35-4:45 pace, thanks mostly to our new steeple champion who left us marathoners in his wake after the first few reps. Felt good overall.
W: Easy 10, 1:07:42
T: AM: 9.5, 1:03:56, PM: 5, 35:20
Afternoon run was brutally hot, 91 but the humidity made it feel 100+, not sure how you people further south handle this weather day in day out.
F: WU+4mile Tempo+CD, 8.3mi Total
Splits: 5:11,5:01,5:11,5:12 (20:36)
Goal was to run 5:00-5:15, so right in there with a 5:09 average. Felt really good. New marathon guy held on strong for 5.25 at 5:20 average.
S: Plantar issues again plus 8 hrs at work, no running.
S: 14.5, 1:34:32. The summer brings all the college runners home to Louisville so there's usually a group long run on Sunday morning. Solid group of guys today with maybe 12 to start, most going anywhere from 13 to 20.
Week Total: 57
Wife just got an away rotation in Denver for august. So I'm going with for some altitude training. Will be there from the 29th of July through the 25th of august. Never been to Denver so I'm pumped to get the chance.
Darko- WOW, I would love to run sub 15 some day.
I'm jealous of the rest of you guys. Not being able to run really sucks and causes me to be kinda down. I tried to run yesterday but 30 steps in, it was still painful. Stopped and biked instead.
Biking =/= running
Jeremy- It's hard not to feel down when training isn't going well. However, take solace in that you'll feel equally awesome as soon as you're back at it!
Darko & Laughlin - I love the John Kellogg stuff. This (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_zzkn1-wR0dRFNLT0tXTVlUN3FyZGpiVWRBNld0dw/view) is my favorite resource. A lot of training wisdom, plus I love his style. Reminds me of my HS coach.
My weak was a planned down week, however the weekend ended up being even lower than planned due to being out of town.
M - 10.5 w/ 5mi cutdown 624,614,604,554,544
T - off
W - 6/8+strides
Th - 8
F - 6.5 w/ progressive tempo 554,544,526
Sa - 6
Su - 6.5
Total: 51.5
Monday's workout was very hot and humid. I wanted to do another mile or two, but stomach was in total knots. Friday's workout was totally unplanned. Went out for an easy run but felt great and by the third mile was really cruising. Likely my final sub-16 attempt for a while is tonight!
Jeremy - hang in there. It will get better! That was me 6 weeks ago and it blows. Stay positive and don't push it to soon.
Hey everybody, I've been an admirer of this thread for a while, wanted to go ahead and join in if that's cool.
Currently training for the Nebraska State Fair Marathon on 8/26, hoping to have a big July.
Sun-Off
Mon-11mi
Tues-5mi
Wed-7mi
Thu-Off
Fri-7mi
Sat-13.1
Total- 43
Hoping to increase mileage by 5-10 mpw over the next 4 weeks before tapering.
Smoove - I assume the fair majority of any masters athlete is on TRT. It is everywhere and they don't care about it at all.
Darko - wow, crushed that 5k. Freaking solid!
Smoove - another solid week and great quality
Slow- yeah, that 22...can't wait for October
RRR - good week and nice miles
Chunk - welcome
M - am 3, pm 4
T - am 3, pm 9 w/ 4 mile Tempo progression
W - am 5, pm 5
T - 7.5 w/ 2k vert
F - 9 w/ last 7 M pace tempo
S - 5
S - 7 w/ 3k
Week started off pretty solid but the weekend derailed things. Left late Friday to get up to Silverton for cooler weather and support some friends running HardRock 100. Made it into Ouray at 2am Saturday morning. Slept until 8am and then went to the finish to wait for our friends. Saw the first few come across in the morning, went for a run, and then back to the finish line. With the looming 9+ hour drive on Sunday to get home there just wasn't time to run very long, especially considering everything in the area involves massive climbing. Awesome weekend though and really cool to hand around HardRock and take it in.
Sorry you are feeling down, Jeremy. You will be back soon. Also, the days you are missing are among the worst of the year...so, don't sweat it. :-)
All the best to you...
I hope everyone is enjoying the heat. It was a blistering 55 degF for my run this morning.
As a controversial discussion point, I'm a few pounds over the weight I'd like to race at this fall and my diet plan is basically to stop drinking alcohol & pop because I'd much rather have dessert than a beer or glass of wine.
pewow wrote:
I hope everyone is enjoying the heat. It was a blistering 55 degF for my run this morning.
As a controversial discussion point, I'm a few pounds over the weight I'd like to race at this fall and my diet plan is basically to stop drinking alcohol & pop because I'd much rather have dessert than a beer or glass of wine.
WHATTTTTT haha.. I am the opposite I never crave sweets.. just beer and salty food (esp in summer). I did cut out the 3-4 cokes i was drinking per week. All I drink is Coffee-Water-Beer.. every so often a cup of Almond milk
Birdwatcher - man, I'm a bit jealous - I wish I had a training group to train with! Edwin Kibichiy - wow.
Darko - that sounds like a good plan. I feel like you could make some noise at the half marathon.