50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Good luck, Big Red! I'd say start out with the 4:00 pace group, although I would probably fail to take my own advice if I were running...

Let us know how it goes!

Thanks much for the insights, it resonates. I'll start with the 4:00 pace group. This is my 3rd marathon, and I ran negative splits previously, taking off at 21 miles, and 23 miles in the first two runs.

I appreciate the comment on pacing groups too; I'll check in on my Garmin to be sure we're on the money.

Not running New York, but a local medium small race on a flat course. Very excited to do this.

Thank you AM for the well wishes.
Scobie Two, I've been there! I'll be at great pains to not go out quick. I've done that in too many races in my life. I think of a half marathon back a few years where I croaked at 10 miles and ran "backwards" for the last 3. Horrible.

hope it went (or goes) well. pretty easy week on my end leading into 10k today that i'll probably make last race of 2023

M 1:10 with 8 + 6 + 4 + 2 mins. hard (2:00 jog recoveries) 8 was track 2K in 8:07, which turns out to be just about 10k pace

Tu 1:05 + 1:00 x-t

W 2:25

Th 1:25 double with drills/strides

F 40:00

Sa 20:00

Su 1:00 with rolling 10k in 40:24 (14th OA, 1st AG). Evenly paced (6:30 at first mile, and handy pace chart tells me 6:30/mile = 40:23 for 10k. Wasn't quite that even, as predominantly downhill/uphill miles maybe would go 10-15 sec faster/slower, but overall pleased with how I ran it).

I ran this race in mid-34's when I was in my mid-40's, and past 3 years have been 38:xx, 39:xx, 40:xx. Not sure I love the trend line, but at least calf and hamstring held up ok.

have a great week,

Dave

Greetings, fellow 50+ers and Happy November!

This was a week of getting back to the new normal. I have no real issues to speak of and am hopeful that continues. I ended up a tick short of 55 miles for October which is similar to the previous two months. And that pattern continued with 12+ actual running miles for this past week. Life is good!

Sun: off

Mon: 49’ CR

Tue-Wed: off

Thu: 47’ running (3); body wt ex

Fri: off

Sat: 46’ CR; body wt ex + free wts

All the best!

Hubris got the best of me today! Ran the Two Cities Marathon in Clovis/Fresno Ca. I'd planned to run with the 4:00 pace group, hoping to dip under four hours with a pick-up in pace over the last few miles. But it turns out there was a 3:55 and a 4:05 group, but no 4:00.

Ran with the 3:55 bunch through 21 miles, then let go and slowed to 9:15, 9:30 and 10:30. Two miles to go, I thought "I can still get under 4:00" -- but I fell of a cliff, with 11:57 and 14:38, to finish at 4:10:15.

Having run two previous marathons with negative splits, you'd think I'd know better? All in all, it was a great experience, I was delighted to return (healthy-no injuries) to the marathon after almost 4 years. From here, I'll look to increase volume gradually and run a spring marathon.

Nice 10K Dave, you're doing fantastic for your age group. We're the same group, I haven't run that fast since I was a lad of 50.
Olde farte, nice work. You're at the volume I am aspiring to just now (after a short post-marathon break, of course.)
Have a great week one and all.

last week 50km

Today 4km at track synthetic (including 5x100m flying 20m runup 3m rest last 4 freelap timed 15.35, 15.13, 15.27 and 14.67)

Off to gym 1m rest between all sets, 3x6e steps 20 inches (50cm) box 2x5kg dumbells, 3x8e walking lunges 2x5kg dumbells, 3x10e walking RDLs 2x5kg, 4 sets of 20m forward sled, 3x12 reps hyperextensions 5kg behind neck.

4km on treadmill easy warmdown and some abs and calf work tonite.

Big Red, glad to hear you're healthy enough to run a marathon. Too bad about the crash--live to fight another day! 60 miles northwest of Fresno, I was watching the NYC marathon on TV and then riding my bike, thinking what a nice day it was for Two Cities.

I made some progress last week. Last Monday I jogged two one-mile stretches with a one-mile walk in between. On Thursday I jogged 2.1 miles continuously, then walked out the rest of my 7-mile loop. This morning I jogged the first 2.5 continuous miles of my 7-mile loop.

Jogging no longer feels pathological--the completely messed up gait I had for so long with my runner's dystonia, if that's what it was, has pretty much resolved. Now I just feel like a jogger who is totally out of shape. Which is a big improvement.

Hoping to keep this momentum going, I've signed up for the 2-mile run/walk option in my local Turkey Trot in 13 days. My right knee still gets sore every time I jog, so I probably need to limit it to maybe two days per week, with walking/cycling/swimming the rest of the time. It will be nice to get out and see all the old running crowd, however slow I may be.

Greetings!

dhaaga, congrats, Dave, on a great performance! Looks like if the course was not hilly you could break 40. Anyway, 1st place in your AG matters more. Win is a win!

Olde Farte, good to hear that you have no issues at the moment. Hope I could write these words here too, sometime.

Big Red, congrats on completing the marathon after hitting a wall, great will! Coincidentally, a young guy I am working with recently reported quite a similar accident. He was running perfectly at an even pace until 39-40 km with 2:55 as a forecast at finish (his goal was to break 3:00) but then hit the wall so rapidly and "loudly", that nearly lost conscious. A volunteer noticed it, pulled him aside to the lawn, then medical staff checked his blood pressure and HR but did not find anything serious (he probably just recovered quickly). After that he walked and jogged slowly to the finish and completed the race at 3:17. So, the goal is re-set for the next year.

My previous two weeks were quite similar. Logged 6 hr 35 min and 6 hr 40 min of total training, respectively. 2:1 elliptical/treadmill. Still have issues with muscles/tendons that heal not so quick as I hoped for.

Happy and injury free racing and training to all!

Advice needed:
I am 63, got to 50 k two weeks ago, 36 k last week, haven't competed since 1977 and was a heavy smoker until a few years ago. I used to run 800 m (2:05 at 15 y old) and was always half fast, but train now with a group that try and reach their half and full marathon goals. I can run at 20 k/hour on the treadmill for a minute (=72 sec 400), so I am still on the faster side, and getting very tired running anything more than 10 k. So my question is, should I try and explore my natural talents with the injury risks that provides an old man or stick with the longer distance training group?

The obvious answer to me is leaning toward shorter distances at your age makes more sense. Then again, you are the only one that will be impacted by the choice.

too wet to do grass training today sadly.

treadmill 8.2km 3m 15.5kmh, 500m 18.1kmh, 200m 19.3kmh)

About 5m rest between while jogging

Congrats on quitting smoking. That's one of my research interests, and I know it's far from easy. I have a strong tendency to get injured doing any sort of speedwork, but I'm not sure that's universal. There are people on this thread who concentrate on track and don't seem any more injury-prone than the distance types are.

Just to cover my bases so that no matter what you do I can say you followed my advice......being tired when you go over 10k could mean you need more time to adapt to the distance, rather than that it's not for you. That training group may be an awkward fit for now, until you've gradually added mileage.

Good luck in whatever way you go.

On my end, mostly easy week after racing last weekend. Likely to just stay steady till about Christmas and then start training for a spring marathon. 0 for 2 this year (DNS Boston April, DNS Harrisburg November), but 2024 will be better!

Have a great week,

Dave

I had my best running week in three years (the bar is now really, really low!). For some unknown reason my RA symptoms have eased up and suddenly my hips are functional for running again. My week:
M: 2.5 mile jog/4.5 mile walk, 1300 m swim
T: 3.0 mile jog/4.1 mile walk, 1300 m swim
W: 7..0 mile walk
R: 3.3 mile jog/3.8 mile walk, 1300 m swim
F: 3.4 mile jog with several hills including one steep one, 24 mile bike ride
Sat: 1300 m swim, 32 mile bike ride
Sun: 3.6 mile jog, 24 mile bike ride
The jogging is slow, around 11 min/mile, and going uphill leaves me really gassed. I just have no fitness now. But for the first time in three years, I can run a little! It feels wonderful.
I've signed up for the 2-mile option in my local Turkey Trot next Sunday, and am looking at a 5K three weeks later. I have no idea how long this will last, but I'm going to ride it for as long as I can.

Greetings!

amkelley, what a great news, congratulations! Hope it is just a beginning of your total recovery, and best of luck to you in your upcoming 2M and 5K races!

On my side, this period is very much like dhaaga described it: stay consistent without hard workouts until New Year and then start training for the spring block of races. So, logged 6 hrs 25 min this week on an elliptical and treadmill mostly (only 5 miles of real running).

Happy and injury-free running and training to all!

amkelly, it's good to hear that you are progressing on your efforts to get back to running again.

Today we had our local XC series championship race. 70+ men ran 6k. I had a pretty good race and won the age group and the 70+ series championship. This year I ran 7:06/mi pace, compared to running 7:03/mi pace last year. Last year I was chasing my team mate as hard as I could, but this year he had just returned from a 3 week vacation cruise a week ago and was not quite ready for his usual race effort. I was alone in a big gap for about the last 4k of the race, so I didn't push it quite as hard as I might have if there had been someone close to me.

Now I have 4 weeks before USATF Club XC to work on a little better endurance, but mostly stay healthy and rested until then.

Good running and happy upcoming holidays to all!

Five weeks post-marathon, still in recovery stage I think. Probably against better judgment I did a 4K xc race two weeks ago and 5K this weekend. The 4K was a disaster, it was cold and snowy (treacherous drive to the race with cars off the road and all), and I just wasn't ready for faster running. I went out conservatively (more like 10K effort) but my HR spiked at 96% after just 1K, so by 1.5 or 2K I had to back off. That seems to have been an anomaly, I have worn the chest strap almost every day since and have been fine. Yesterday's 5K was better, no strange spike in heart rate but I have no leg speed right now. Did win AG for state USATF xc and was top 5 in age grading, so it wasn't a complete disaster. Highlight was getting my medal autographed by Olympic Gold Medalist Constantina Dita.

Past two weeks had 52 and 59 miles, so building up my base. I'm the type that needs 60+ to feel half decent. The rationale for doing the XC races was to get ready for a 10K road race on Thanksgiving, so hopefully that pays off. And then I'm just doing volume through the rest of the year, pick up some racing (on skis or on foot) in January.

Greetings, fellow 50+ers. A belated Happy Veterans Day to our vets. Thank you for your service.

This week, my mileage ticked up a smidge to 13+ actual running miles. That slight increase was thanks to one run that was more like my “old normal”. Hopes are that I can reproduce that effort this week.

On the medical front, I finally got to a spine specialist to learn about an issue that was revealed by imaging that was part of my cancer diagnosis. I had an idea of what to expect and, sure enough, the ortho confirmed grade 3 Spondylolisthesis. This explains the right leg wonkiness I had experienced for several months earlier this year. The good news is that the right leg has recovered to an estimated 90% of its normal functionality and there is no painful sciatica. More good news is that there is no need for any treatment at this time given that I am currently able to be reasonably active without limitations. Of course, things may change down the road, so this bears watching. Hopefully it won’t get worse anytime soon.

Sun: off

Mon: 57’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (5 x 1 on / 3 off); body wt ex + free wts

Tue-Wed: off

Thu: 47’ running (3); 16 oz curls

Fri: off

Sat: 47’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

All the best!

This is my first time posting my weekly training since my 50th birthday last month. Be kind!

Mon - 65 min. Easy shuffle before a flight from BOI to SJC.

Tue - 82 min. Enjoyed running on the Coyote Creek Trail before a day of meetings. 5x15” strides and 5x15” hill sprints up the canal bank.

Wed - OFF. I hate days off, but the flight home was delayed pretty late and I had a big day at work so I opted to sleep in.

Thu AM - 63 min. Car was in the shop so I had a backpack commute jog into the office.

Thu PM - 81 min. The stars aligned perfectly so I was able to get in a version of the workout I missed on Wednesday. My two “go to” tracks are under construction right now so I did a hill fartlek (poor man’s 400s) on a steep dirt-road hill. 15x reps of hard uphill for 90”, flip, easy jog down for 60”, flip, etc. Did 15x 30”/30” once I got back to flat ground.

Fri AM - 51 min. VERY easy jog to pick up aforementioned car.

Fri PM - 35 min. Drove one of my daughters out to the Nike XC Regionals Course for a super fun preview jog.

Sat - 103 min. The first 30 was spent running all over the XC course cheering for friends in the citizens race (serious FOMO - I should have signed up) and my daughter in her race. Then an easy 9 miles around the outside of the park.

Sun - 140 min. A good friend who is half my age was in town with his athletes for NXR so we met up for a long trail run in the Boise Foothills. I felt very, very guilty for getting in my tempo on gorgeous, leaf covered trails while my regular crew did their final CIM prep in town.

Total - 621 minutes, 75 miles, almost 5k of vert. A solid week. In the “do the training to do the training to do the training” system I am near the end of the first one.

Wishing everyone health and good running this week!