50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Another pretty good week of training. One day of cross training, 2 days with weight training and 55.5 miles for the week, with some speed 2 of the days. Some runners try to get their miles to match the year, but I went a little over 2024 already. But with a January marathon coming up I need to get miles in.

Greetings!

This week was a hard and good one for me. As usual before New Year, my wife insisted to escape from endless parties and go to a warm sea area. So, we flew to Egypt a week ago and I switched from xc skiing to running. It was a kind of a stress because for 2 months I was doing easy and moderate miles only with HR way below LT. Just "breeding and feeding" mitohondria. Now it is time to check how good and fat they are :-). The first tempo run at LT HR was a failure, as I expected. The body started protesting and resisting after just 2 km, so I had to switch to an easy pace. But the next day it went much better and now every second day my usual run includes 4 k above LT and 4 k at subLT HR (plus 15-20 min w/u and 5-7 c/d). And then 40-45 on elliptical in the evening.

Thus, 9.5 hrs of the total traing time for the week including 44 miles, 8 of which are above LT and 10 at sub LT. Understand that it is too stressful but in 3 days wiil be over with return to cross-training.

Happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year to all!

pretty good week for me incl. 4 X 3:00 (2:00 jog) hard on thursday and 1:40 steady Saturday. Looking back at 2024, I had downs (DNF marathon in March with hamstring issue) and ups (39:43 10k april, 19:29 5k June, finished marathon in October 3:13)--I haven't run the age grading numbers or anything, but I think 1:26:08 half-marathon September probably best race.

Best of all, no protracted injury layoffs. Repeating that will be my top goal for 2025.

Happy and healthy new year!

Dave

Last week started well but then unraveled a bit. 32 miles for the week with a good 5x1k workout (2:00 rest, 4:32/k average) on Tuesday, but a sore calf Wednesday morning. My planned Thursday 8mi hill run workout turned into a slowing 4mi run plus 3mi walk with a very sore calf. I took Friday off and have done walk or walk plus 30 min stationary bike every other day since. My calf had only minor soreness this morning, so I will do walk plus bike for another day or two and then try running again. 2,152 miles for this year so far with a plan to walk 5mi tomorrow. This year's goal was to get back to pre-Covid shape and run well at Club XC. My effort and 2nd 75-79 result there fully met my goal. 2025's goals are still in progress but probably will include running a good half marathon and some good track times.

Happy new year to all!

Hello all - I want to tell everyone a story.

Around July, I signed up for a trail half marathon. Not a terribly difficult course, but not fast either. Small field, 60 people-ish. Two loops.

Gun went off, first mile was a little fast by about 10 seconds, pulled it back and settled in to my pace. Placed myself behind a guy and told myself not to pass him til the half way point. Got into cruise-mode and made myself not think or get too excited.

Guy I'm behind slows down at about 5 miles, so almost made it to half way with a pacer. Swung around him and started picking it up effort-wise just a little bit. Started to pick people off one by one. At 9 mile the guy I'm behind slows at an aid station. I take my gel, grab a water and swing around him. I've paced it well, and the next mile I'm springing up some small rolling hills on a two person trail through a canopy of trees and getting distance.

At 10 miles a volunteer tells me: "You're in 7th place and 6th is a minute up." I take a hairpin turn and on the only long straight of the course. I see 6th place, Mr. Green shirt, way, way the hell in the distance. I'm at the right pace for myself, no way am I suddenly cutting down my pace by 20 seconds a mile for the last three miles. Head down, focus and about 3/4 mile later we take a right on the fire road. I turn my head and see that Green shirt is less than half the distance he was before. And then he starts walking for a couple steps. I realize, I can get him. He's toast.

Half mile later I pass him, he tries to run with me for a bit, says, "good job" and has to walk again. I say the same thing to him and keep going. I'm pulling away on the last mile and half.

It finally hits me in the last half mile. Legs get heavy, I'm tired, but i"m in the home stretch. Finish in 6th place.

I'm telling you this, as I sit her not running with a foot injury, because the time is irrelevant to us old guys on this board. I was racing and enjoying the hell out of it, every minute of it. We have all been faster in our younger days, so why bother trying to keep running when our bodies has long been rebelling against all the years and miles?

Because its so damn fun to do it, even slower than I was as a high school runner. Its so damn fun. And the time isn't the point. Its simply relative to our age. The effort, the smarts to pace this half well, which so many of the other runners didn't do, that I still have.

The foot injury is healing, I got some great running for these 58 year old legs early in the year before this injury. I turn 59 next month and hope to start back up. This is the moral: we keep coming back to this sport because nothing else feels quite like it.

Happy new year all. Here is to a good 2025.

I had planned to begin my 49th year of training with a midnight run to give my Fixx/Jerome/Fitzgerald brand new running log a good start

Had the Fixx log when it was blue, Jerome’s red one, now a fellow named Fitzgerald thankfully continued it…

Im a rambling wreck but I ain’t from Georgia Tech. Non-stop training since 1977. Many surgeries more Cortisone shots than than most the NFL. I can still walk but it’s up for debate every morning.

Ran between 2600-3300 miles every year until around 2020. Love cracking open a new Fixx/Jerome/Fitzgerald log. No sweaty ink runs no coffee stains yet. When you turn the pages it makes that new running log creaking sound.

I always love that first entry . Gonna get it started at midnight……I can hardly keep my eyes open. It’s 7:11 pm

Greetings!

Good variety of activities this week. 4 days of running in sunny and warm (77F) weather in Egypt, then overnight switch to XC skiing at home at 20F. Also, a light 30-40 min recovery on an elliptical every second day in the evening.

The year 2024 was good for me. 336 hours of total training (incl. racing, of course). Most of it was cross-training: XC skiing until end of March plus elliptical and arc throughout the whole year. Only 1226 km of running (slightly less than 800 miles).

Like Dave/dhaaga I consider lack of injuries and consistent training throughout the year as the best achievement. As I was more focused on trail running that year (and this was successful), nothing really special to report as far as road race results are concerned. Ran 10K on road 3 times only, and two courses were very hilly and slow, could not break 40:00. The only really flat one with no tight U-turns was in early April (just after the XC ski season was over) and it resulted in 39:15 with a good negative split (19:58-19:17). WMA 2023 AG calculator returns 86+% for this result.

If everything goes well, will try to get my updated reference M67 numbers this year for 5k, 10k and maybe HM too.

Happy running to all!

OK on the year-end summary, Orient. Sounds like a good year with a nice variety of training.

I finished off the year and started the new year with a very good week--51 miles in six days of running, my highest mileage week since early in 2020. I did feel pretty trashed after my "long run" of 10 miles on Friday, and took yesterday off to recover.

For the year I ran about 1050 miles, about 2/3 of that in the second half of the year. It's a far cry from the 3000 or so I was running up until 2020, but after three years of almost zero running this is very encouraging. I haven't added up my swimming and cycling mileages which were also significant, although nothing compared to what real swimmers and cyclists do.

I'm still hoping to run a 10 K flat trail race in two weeks, but I won't enter until the last minute in case something goes wrong.

Happy New Year and good running to all!

Dang you all. I came on here to see how other older runners are doing since I am struggling, and I am out of m y league here. You all are amazing athletes. I am older, slower maybe this next year will be my last half marathon. I used to run a consistent 25 min 5K at age 55, now at 64 (almost) I can barely do a 31 min 5K. Anyhow, I am running 3-4x a week with a long run of 6-12 depending on if I am training for a half. I rarely do over 25 miles per week. I bought Brad Hudson's book and will follow the 5K for beginners plan omitting one run a week for 4 days of running only. Started doing a few hill sprints, very short. In Florida, we don't have a lot of hilly terrain but I live inland on the sandhills so I have a 5% grade hill to run up in my subdivisions. Anyone else just an old slow average runner or are you all elites. LOL (That was meant to be a compliment)

Don’t worry, there are plenty of us “normies” out here and many of us do not post often.

As such, this is my about-monthly check-in. I reached 30 minutes of trail running every other day. I’ve bumped the walking up a bit. I’m getting over 20 miles a week total walking + running. Once a week I’ve been running the road to build some road legs but my hips and ankle don’t like it if I press too hard.

I love road racing but I’m beginning to believe my body thrives on the trails. I’ve been a trail runner since 1976 so, who knows, I’m about to start bumping the trail running minutes and see where it goes. I’ve crewed a few people in ultra’s and love the ultra atmosphere. It won't take long to find out if this is a viable path.

Have a good one and Happy 2025 folks!

Yeah I just check in occasionally. I tried trail running but didn't like it. It is easier on the joints though. Good job.

I am a normy as well. Covid in autumn was aging boost. However, if running feels good, I am happy. No matter if the watch ticks quicker ;)

This week we got snow. So, no fancy running this week. Only easy runs and a recovery week.Today a steady run of 7.5 miles which is a tad slower than 8 min per mile. Afternoon will be pulling the sledge for the kids.

Have fun, stay healthy.

PS. @Charlie: I miss your experiments. Still here?

I certainly wouldn't call myself elite, but I have had some stretches of running well since I turned 60 fifteen years ago. Currently, I am experiencing the unpredictability of trying to run fast while old. After my excellent race at Club XC, I took a very easy week and entered a 1/2 marathon scheduled for next weekend. I started to pick up my training again and had about 10 days of good training until my calf got very sore after a hilly 8 mile run, and I knew I had mildly strained it. I took 3 days off and was ready ease back into running until I walked a block from my house to mail a letter and simply stepped off a curb and felt a burning pain in my calf and knew it was strained worse than I thought. A couple days after that I got a cold/flu that has taken more than a week to get through. So, in less than a month I have gone from top shape to injured, sick and not feeling like running yet. I expect that it will take at least 6-8 weeks of good training to get back near where I was on fitness in early December. This is pretty much the way things go for 50+ runners. Next week I will go pick up my nice long sleeve running shirt that I have paid $150 for and be a spectator while a few of my friends run the 1/2.

You had a great season oldguy2. I had a similar experience after having the flu, sat around too long over a five day period, and my hip acted up once I resumed running. The perils of running after 70.

Greetings!

Newbi, hope you had a lot of fun with kids on snow slopes!

It is opposite here around my place: a huge warm front from the Atlantic nearly killed all the snow making it melting for 5-6 consecutive days and nights. So, after some 25 cm we have 5 left and it is covered with dirt and stuff from the trees. So, skiing is on a long pause and all my activities were at the gym (treadmill, elliptical and arc). 8 hrs and 15 min for this week.

Happy running to all!

smart approach to the snow, Newbi. I'm coached by someone less smart (me) and got thru only about half of a modest speed workout today on bike path that was mostly good but still slush or patchy ice in spots from snow about a week ago [very cold all week by our standards, so melting has been slow]. Hamstring very tight and twinge-y. I think I need to forget my plan when it's cold and/or footing is not perfect and just stick to all-slow volume.

anyway, more importantly, good luck to anyone on the thread who's in LA area. Several I know there have had to evacuate but are so far ok and with homes still standing, so comparatively lucky

--Dave

OGII, too bad about the glitch in your training and having to miss the half-marathon, but as Iggy noted, you had an excellent season. I'm still 3.3 years away from 70 but I sure find that I don't recover from things like I used to. I had the flu the third week of December, took a full week completely off, and resumed running when I was about 95% well, while in the past I would have started at more like 75%. But I still have a slight cough that I can't seem to shake, a month after I first got sick.

Newbi and dhaaga, OK on the challenges of running in snowy/icy conditions. Where I live in inland central California we never have snow but it does get sort of cold in the winter. This morning it was officially 31 degrees and the whole upcoming week is forecast to be about the same. Footing isn't an issue--the only problem is keeping my very cold-sensitive hands warm enough.

I had a solid week with three longish runs (9-10.5 miles), three medium runs (6-8 miles), and one day almost off (2-mile jog), for 52 miles for the week. Next week I'll back off to prepare for a 10K race next Sunday.

I've been watching the news of the devastating LA fires in shock. A lot of those people were in areas they never guessed could burn down in a wildfire. I'm over 200 miles from the nearest fire and my immediate neighborhood doesn't seem to have enough fuel to support a big fire, but who knows? At least we've had some rain this season, although less than normal. I understand most of LA has had basically zero rain for months. My hearts go out to all of those people who have lost their homes.

Getting ready to run a 1500m followed by an 800m race for Masters only this Saturday at the Uof AZ track. We ran a short 5k 10 days ago and I ran 28:44 for 3 “Garmin “ miles for Seniors only (over 50). Hope to at least run sub 9 minute/mile pace for the 1500. My wife will run both also and she is running faster. Good health and good running to you all!