50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

OGII, good to see you're making progress and thanks for getting us back on the first page.

I had yet another solid week with 54 miles total, with longest runs of 9.4 and 9.9 miles. Still on track for a HM next Saturday. Today it was barely above freezing and Monday and Tuesday mornings are forecast to be colder, followed by three days of cold rain. I may use the upcoming race as an excuse to dial way back on my running during the lousy weather. I never used to change my training for bad weather but I just don't have the cold tolerance I used to have. I guess that's why old people move to Florida. You'd have to pay me an awful lot to get me to move to Florida, but I wouldn't be keen on moving back to someplace where it snows, either!

I guess I'm rooting for the Eagles today because the Chiefs knocked my Bills out of the SB. I really don't care, though. I just hope it's a good game.

Greetings to all!

happy Super Sunday! best news for me this week came via x-ray saturday -- no broken hand. fell 10 days ago and landed on right hand, not much better since so had it checked out. 1 week in splint that allows only hunt-peck typing. Hope I come out of it ambidexterous

have a great week,

Dave

Nice to see running is going pretty well again for you. Things did not look too good for your running for a while there. And some of you others seem to be getting along pretty well again also. Sometimes us older runners have an injury or other issue and never really get back into it.

I took a couple of easy weeks after my last marathon. But back up to 45.3 miles for the week, and 2 days at Planet Fitness doing other cardio. I always try to get there at least once a week, but I'm planning a little less running and a little more other working out for a couple of months and see how it goes.

First time poster in this thread. I just turned 65 and I've been gradually retiring and have a lot more time on my hands and I'm getting serious about returning to my prime running days, adjusted for age. I was a mediocre college runner and have been running steadily since then but never all in. My injury history has been typical except I now have an ankle that limits my long runs.

I feel my biggest impediment is that I have put on 20 lbs since College. I read the Joe Friel book fast after 50 and the chapter about insulin resistance seemed to describe me perfectly. I think that if I can get the weight down and stay healthy and motivated, I can achieve my goals.

With the wealth of knowledge following this thread, is there anyone out there that has already accomplished my goal of returning to my peak form that has good advice to share!

M66 here. IMDiesel: Welcome to the thread. It’s so hard to give advice to anyone because we are all so different. As we age those differences increase. We do not all share the same goals. In reading the thread you’ll see many different ways people have approached training. It’s been said we are all an experiment of one. This thread is so massive you can follow people’s whole training blocks to see what worked and what did not and how people adjusted and recovered. So, this sounds like a cop out, but there are hundreds of hours of advice embedded in this thread if you want to mine it. So, dig in, experiment, and see what works for you.

I can report that when I retired in ‘22, I immediately over-trained and injured myself. It’s taken a couple years to get over that. So….don’t be like me!

By way of my occasional check-in, I’m just plugging along, feeling good, mixing walking and running, and weights.

Have a good one!

I ran my half-marathon yesterday, my first race over 10K in 5 years. It was a flat course on a mostly unpaved pedestrian path right alongside San Francisco Bay. Great views and the weather was excellent, low 40s to low 50s with almost no wind. The path has been hammered by rain and surf from storms over the past few years and isn't in the best of shape--uneven, areas of loose lossy gravel, some small water-filled potholes, small areas of mud. Not bad for an off-road course but not like running on a smooth paved road.

I had figured 2:10 was a reasonable goal and I started off with a 2:10 pace group. But almost immediately I felt like I was working way too hard. I think it was mostly the mental effort to stay with the pacer, avoid colliding with other runners on the rather narrow path, and watch carefully where I was putting my feet. I felt exhausted within three miles, and at the 4-mile mark I told myself forget it, I can't run 2:10, I need to back off and try to find a pace that feels comfortable. Remarkably, as soon as I quit trying to stay with the pacer, I relaxed and started to flow ahead of the pacer. I told myself this was perhaps a bad idea but decided to just go with the flow. So I built up a pretty good time cushion in the middle parts of the race, but I started to pay for it by 8-9 miles. I was already thinking about stopping to walk by 10 miles but kept it going until the final mile, when my calves started to cramp. I ended up taking several walking breaks in the last mile but still finished in 2:08:09 (9:47/mile). Sadly, I lost my age group to a woman who passed me with a quarter-mile to go. So I'm happy with my time, but it sure was ugly. I have another HM on my schedule in 5 weeks and I'm not sure what lessons to take away from this one, except that 2:08-ish is a reasonable goal.

I felt very tired the rest of the day. Today I have surprisingly almost no muscle soreness but it usually takes a little longer to develop, so I just jogged 2 miles this morning and will do an easy bike ride this afternoon after it warms up.

Happy and healthy running to all!

Good race amkelley.

I second that "good race" from Igy. We all have reached the age where it's as much, or more, about the process, as it is about the final result. I'm sure your next one will be smoother and faster.

Progress continues for me with a little less mileage and a little more intensity this past week. 38 miles and three 30min bike sessions for me-

M - 30min bike, 4mi run/walk

T- 7.5mi of 2.5mi w.u., 5x1k (5:09 ave) with 2min rest, 2mi w.d.

W- 30min bike, 4mi run/walk

Th- 5mi run/walk

F- 30min bike, 5.5mi run/walk

S- 5mi hilly road run 9:26/mi

Su- 7mi run/walk

Good running to all!

congratulations! Great milestone in your comeback

Until today a mostly enjoyable week for me incl.

Monday 1:10 with 5 X 4:00 (3:00 jog) at 5k effort

Thurs. 1:30 with 3 X 10:00 (2:00 jog) at half-marathon effort

but today I couldn't manage a marathon-pace segment and cut longer run slightly short (2:15 instead of 2:30) b/c hamstring tightness. I think I'll pass on 10-mile race I'd planned for next weekend and just take it easier for a bit. Spring can't come soon enough -- miserable chilly/windy/driving rain this morning -- my timing was off, as it's turned into a mild sunny day

have a great week,

Dave

I hope for a miracle but not expecting it. Something odd is wrong with my legs. My training has been uninterrupted since 1977, and I don’t see a comeback but we will keep trying

Runs are now 13 minute pace.

Mon: 1 mile walk/6 mile run

Tue: 3 mile walk/3 mile run

Wed: 7 mile “ run”

Thu: off

Fri: 1 mile walk/1 mile run/1.5 mile run

Sat: 4 mile ( cough, cough) “ run”

Sun: 2 mile runs/1 mile walk / 30 minutes weights

The goal is to figure out a way back! No complaints

Proud you run.
Impressed you stay with it.
Not running is less than ideal.
You know that.
PS - have full blood draw done, including thyroid, hemoglobin, testosterone, A1C.
And, high five the next veteran runner you see.

I felt quite tired the day after my half-marathon last weekend but bounced back pretty well. I logged 52 miles for the week with a long run of 12.1 miles yesterday. That felt quite good--about 20 sec/mile slower than my race 7 days before, and I finished feeling rather weary but not wiped out, and running well through the end. The fitness is very slowly creeping back and my RA seems to be very nearly in remission. I've taken a grand total of two naproxens since the start of 2025, both prophylactically the night before races, and the hips complain a little from time to time but aren't stopping me from doing anything.

If you'd told me two years ago that I'd run a 2:08 HM and be happy about it I would have thought you were crazy, as I couldn't run at all. If you'd told me that five years ago I also would have said you were crazy, as I could not imagine ever being that slow. It's all relative!

Next weekend is one of our long-established local races put on by my local running club. I've done it many times, and last year I shuffled through the 2-mile option, but this year I'd like to do the 10-mile race. However, I just discovered that this year's race will be "cupless", i.e. you have to carry your own bottle or cup for water and fill it at the aid stations. I am opposed to this on principle except perhaps for trail races, where access to the aid stations is difficult and chasing down loose cups on a rugged trail or in a dense forest may be problematic. This race is on quiet, open country roads, and can see no reason for requiring people to provide their own cups and stop to fill them. If the weather is cool I probably don't need to drink during a 10-mile race, but I'd like to have that option. So I may vote with my feet, and either stay home or run a 10K which is a much longer drive. Has the "cupless" trend reached your areas for regular road races?

Happy and healthy running to all!

31 miles. 23 running, 8 walking

Started finding ways that I can continue to train.

4 minutes walk/3 minutes run, half mile walk/1 mile run

long run being 5 miles./2 miles crippled tempo 11:12 pace.

Got off Strava. The social part was great but pride made me get off. That’s not me anymore

300 miles for the year/11,000 miles since 2018

started taking “ movewell” again. Probably won’t help but can’t hurt

interesting. No, I've not heard of cupless races in DC area. All for cutting down on waste, but that does seem very inconvenient in a road race

Ok-ish week for me nursing hamstring along. Only days faster than slow jog were

Weds: 1:30 with 5 X 5:00 (3:00 jog) picking up the pace (maybe half-marathon?)

Sun: 2:20 with 30:00 at marathon pace (7:21/mile on the measured stretch of 3 miles)

Expecting milder weather this week, which will be welcome. Every year I get wimpier about being cold. Compared to when I was a young adult, my felt sense must be 10-15 degrees different (i.e., 32 now feels like 20 did then)

have a great week,

Dave

Winter weather made for less than ideal running, but I did get 48 miles in for the week. I also got in a good amount of cross training and weight lifting. I pretty much do the same workouts with the weights, but going at it a little harder lately for a little more upper body strength.

I like to mix it up on the machines, partly so I don't get too bored, but also to hit different muscles. So it might be some elliptical, some rowing, exercise bike, and something else.

I'm planning an April marathon, still looking at other later marathons, not sure what ones yet.

I boycotted the 10 mile race I'd originally planned for this weekend because of their BYO water bottle policy, and replaced it with a near race effort 13-miler yesterday, just 10 sec/mile slower than my half-marathon race two weeks ago. It felt hard at the end. A reasonable person might say my boycott was silly because my long run also had no water on the course, but I didn't pay any money to do it! And I started my run earlier in the morning when it was cooler than the race would have been.

All in all, a good solid training week with 53 miles of total running. My next race should be a half-marathon in three weeks, then (knock on wood) another HM 13 days after that. So far, so good.

Happy and healthy running to all!

wow, half-marathon on your own at race pace + 10 sec/mile is quite a workout!

I didn't do anything close to that but had a good week, highlights being.....

1:15 with 6 X 3:00 moderately hard uphills wednesday

2:45 with 5 miles in the middle a little faster than marathon pace (35:19)

Looking forward to seeing the start of the Oscars show tonight. Conan O'Brien is a friend of a friend from when we were young -- probably the most famous person with whom I've had a meal. Matter of taste whether you like his act/monologue of course, but I can say for sure that he's funny and a nice guy in regular life.

have a great week,

Dave