50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Checking in.

I ran every day throughout ablation (wiping out my stem cells) starting April 9th. The transplant of my brother's stem cells was April 16th. I've been walking 30 min a day since then feeling relatively good in spite of low blood counts - RBCs 3.15, Hemoglobin 10.1 today.

I figure those low counts are like being at fairly high altitude ~ 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) or higher. Mike Lundgren, any speculation on that?

My blood counts, particulatprly whites & platelets, are dragging bottom right now, which is typical until my brother's stem cells start producing my new blood cells. Later this week we should be watching my counts rise each day.

Two weeks done, looking forward to getting out of here and going home!

WOC wrote:

Checking in.

I ran every day throughout ablation (wiping out my stem cells) starting April 9th. The transplant of my brother's stem cells was April 16th. I've been walking 30 min a day since then feeling relatively good in spite of low blood counts - RBCs 3.15, Hemoglobin 10.1 today.

I figure those low counts are like being at fairly high altitude ~ 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) or higher. Mike Lundgren, any speculation on that?

My blood counts, particulatprly whites & platelets, are dragging bottom right now, which is typical until my brother's stem cells start producing my new blood cells. Later this week we should be watching my counts rise each day.

Two weeks done, looking forward to getting out of here and going home!

Good to hear from you Ken. Sounds like all green lights. My only knowledge of altitude comes from the series “Everest, Beyond the Limit”….which is super excellent BTW; and my understanding is altitude will increase RBC’s and hemoglobin. EPO and other hormones increase too. But do they make you weaker first? Have no idea.

this is a great forum, I'm excited to see so many people my age running really well. I'm 51 and was a decent runner in my youth, but I got slower in my late 20's and started bicycle racing instead and just puttered with running.

I have been running consistently the last few months, trying to to get my mileage up and reducing my cycling. I got over 50 last week for the first time in maybe 15 years, so far so good.

I have no real goals at this point, I just want to improve. So far I feel decent but not speedy. I have been doing a daniels rep pace workout on tuesdays and a tempo session on fridays or a race.

I'm straining through 400's at my former marathon pace, but we have to start somewhere. Plus reading through the posts in this group, many of you are faster than I ever was.

I like your Tuesday-Friday structure. Just be patient, before you know it your current 400m pace will become your tempo pace, then half-marathon pace, then marathon pace once again. If you are like me it might take a few years, if you are like alf it might take six months. What did your 50-mile week look like?

Alan Bennet wrote:

I like your Tuesday-Friday structure. Just be patient, before you know it your current 400m pace will become your tempo pace, then half-marathon pace, then marathon pace once again. If you are like me it might take a few years, if you are like alf it might take six months. What did your 50-mile week look like?

I'm happy to bore you with my week:

Sun, Apr 21, 4.65 - plus an hour MTB ride in the woods

Sat, Apr 20, 14.10 - 20k trail race-long run for me just ran steady but went off course, so kind of a mess.

Fri, Apr 19, 4.34

Thu, Apr 18, 8.01

Wed, Apr 17, 10.00

Tue, Apr 16, 8 x 200, half on grass half on blacktop, about 6mm pace 7 mi

Mon, Apr 15, 8.01

Late in posting last week's schedule:

Mon - a.m. 10 mi easy; p.m. 4 mi easy

Tues - a.m. 8 mi steady; p.m. 6 x 400 track at 1:30 to 1:28, 400 recovery.

Wed - off

Thurs - 8 mi steady

Fri - 4 mi easy

Sat - 10 mi at 8:30

Sun - 22 mi at 8:40.

70 mi week.

Have only been averaging 6 to 7 hours of sleep (or less) per night and it is starting to take its toll. In a moment of sleep-deprivation the other evening, my husband managed to get me to consent to running my first 50K in June in Tyler State Park - Tyler, TX. No problem, right? Thank goodness I have done some 20 milers this spring in anticipation of running something long in June.

Rushing off to register for NYC marathon - feel free to join me!

Wishing all a great week.

nice to read woc report looks like you are going forward.

Going to start track work next week should I buy spikes or just stick with running flats? would a like a bit of feed back on this.

By the way my weight is down to 154 lbs,thats over 30lb from 18 months ago.Still 18 lb over my race weight from the 80s,but I will just let it drop off by itself now as my aim was to hit 154 by spring.Hope you all have had agood week keep on running.

Ken, I can imagine that you are working a bit harder with an Hb of 10.1, just as at altitude. Guess that that would be a real balancing act to not "overdo" your exercise and get run down when your WBC's are very low. Hope those are on the rise by now. Any possible timeline for your discharge at this point?

Grand Blue Mile results, I ran 7:04.77 for 7th of 47 in the 60+ (though 6th place was a 72 year old!). Felt good, the day was cold! Crosswinds and about 35 degrees, had tights on to the very last minute, so almost missed the start! I'll be age 62 next month.

My younger wife, age 55, ran a 6:50.3 to win her a.g.

Now we have our Trolley Run this Sunday, a net downhill 4 miler. Last year I ran 29:21. Would like to get under 29 this time.

alf tupper wrote:

nice to read woc report looks like you are going forward.

Going to start track work next week should I buy spikes or just stick with running flats? would a like a bit of feed back on this.

By the way my weight is down to 154 lbs,thats over 30lb from 18 months ago.Still 18 lb over my race weight from the 80s,but I will just let it drop off by itself now as my aim was to hit 154 by spring.Hope you all have had agood week keep on running.

Race in spikes then prepare by using gradual transition:

Train in spikes cautiously use a conservative progression as to volume and quality

My experience as a novice master mid 40s one year of running 1500s(10 in 16 weeks 4:36 down to 4:13) ended up with calf muscles having the firmness of concrete, the beginning of the end.

As a 56 year old I still have a couple of sweet pairs;) this time round I if I decide to drop down to mid distance and I very well may the process will be much more gradual with a slow transition to spikes in training

I would second what Charlie said about spikes, and add that you really need to listen to your body on this one. If spikes feel good then go with them. If things don't feel quite right before or after a race in spikes, don't let ego get in the way, put them back in the bag. Also, for 1500 and up, I usually run the first race or two of the season in my spike shoes, but with all the spikes out. If everything goes OK, then the spikes go back into the shoes.

Thought I'd stop by and say hi. I dont visit or read this thread often but once in awhile I swing by. Glad to see most of you are doing well. I'm 54 now. My 2nd year back from a near full year injury. I'm feeling better injury wise and my legs are starting to come back. I've taken it slowly not to relapse (chronic groin issues). But now I'm up to 40-50 miles weekly and closing in on sub-20 5k speed. At least that's this years goal. Broke 19:30 for 4800 time trial on the track recently (19:17) and have a 6k coming up next week that I hope to get around 6:30ish pace. I'm not as fast on the roads as the track and this course has a few hills which I suck at. Still a long way to where I was 3 years ago (6 flat pace). Anyway glad all you old-timers are kicking asss.

Stay healthy and run fast.

BHRR1

A lot of great stuff again this week! I've been following along, but I haven't caught a break to respond appropriately. So here's a little catching up.

First off, the bad news:

Edgewood, thanks for the good wishes, but I'm afraid there will be no recovery. We've moved on to hospice stage as the cancer has spread from the pancreas to the liver and lymph nodes, and he has no interest in prolonging his life by the few unpleasant months that the doctors feel they could buy him through treatment. It's sad news, to be sure, but I fully understand and support his decision.

On to more pleasant things:

BHRR1!!! Hello, Hello! So good to hear from you. Glad that you are back in the saddle after that long injury. Feel free to chime in any time!

Alf T, I don't have a strong opinion about the spikes. Maybe you should ask yourself what goal you are trying to accomplish, and whether the use of spikes in training will aid in accomplishing that goal. If the answer leads to a "yes", then proceed with aforementioned caution.

jroden, welcome to the thread. Nice solid week of training that you posted. Your attitude sounds like a healthy one.

Gretehund. I've not been getting enough sleep, either. These allergies have really messed up my entire month of April. Thankfully, I'm finally coming out of it....knock on wood. Nice week of training, BTW. 50K???? That's too far for me! Good luck with that, and with your training towards NYCM!

racerdb, congrats to your daughter! I know how special it is when your daughter engages in something that means so much to you. I think that my daughter is now just starting to see what a running way of life is; she's not quite there, but it's growing on her.

Continued positive results for Ken; very thankful that this bone marrow transfer is progressing so smoothly. In the words of that pseudo-latin phrase coined during WWII: "Illegitimi non Carborundum!"

And finally, this almost seems like something out of the "News of the Weird", but it is real. In the small town of South Point, OH, across the river from Huntington, WV, the local high school will hold an Arthur Lydiard Track and Field Classic Meet next Friday (May 3rd). The evening before (Thursday, May 2nd), they will host a free event entitled "Legends in Black", in which current New Zealand star Nick Willis will join former Kiwi standouts Barry Magee and Bill Baillie along with US legend Bob Schul, to speak, show video clips, answer questions, etc. about distance training and racing. Alan B, you seem to live the closest....if I could make it, I would, but I have a previous commitment that I can't get out of.

Here's a link from the Cincinnati Running Club:

http://cincinnatirunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/legends-in-black-may-2.html

and a blog post on T&F News:

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=50381&p=823189

I'll post up my usual weekly contribution tomorrow.

Cheers!

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Week 99

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Greetings 50+ers for this last weekend in April. Glad to be posting on the upswing from what has been a terrible month for allergies. Yesterday was the first morning where I’d gotten a full night’s sleep and wasn’t hacking and wheezing by daybreak. Did some lawn work and went for a long run Saturday, and did have a cough attack in the middle of the night last night, so I’m not quit out of the woods, but getting there. With the persistent congestion and all the other turmoil that has gone on, I’ve not felt much like racing, but I did finally get a decent week of training in. Managed about 47 miles on eight runs; the log reads as such:

Sun: 5.2 w/3 on grass @6:40 pace (in Memphis on Mud Island)

Mon: 10.0 (4.1 am, 5.9 pm); mostly easy, but a couple in the mid-6’s + post-run.

Tue: 5.3 easy + upper

Wed: 5.4 w/8x(1 lap, ½ lap recovery) & 4x½ lap

Thur: 8.2 easy w/5.6 on grass + post-run

Fri: 4.3 w/3 tempo@18:32

Sat: 8.4 moderate (1 hour even) + post-run

With the reduction in phlegm over the week, the 3 miles on Friday felt easier than the 3 miles on Sunday. While Sunday’s was on grass, it was very flat with good footing, so it should have been pretty fast, but I was awfully congested. Wednesday’s workout was about the same as last week. Saturday was a good run, started out in the mid-7’s and work my way down to the 6:4x range for a few miles before easing up at the end. I did start to cramp up a bit after mile 6, though. I probably should have run easier, given Friday’s tempo, but it felt so good not to be congested.

I know that I’ve slacked off terribly over the past month with the ancillary work. When I do a stretch like this,

http://www.freestylefootbag.com/lateral.jpg

, I can really feel it in the hip where I’ve been experiencing problems. I really need to get my back to loosen up; I’m sure it comes back to sitting posture when I’m not running; I confess that I am a lazy sitter….this has gotta change.

In other random (old) news:

I guess I had read it briefly, but didn’t really internalize the 1:11:32 time. How other-worldly was Martin Rees’ demolition of 60+ half-marathon WR?

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Martin-Rees-world-record-run-encapsulates-Bath/story-18325260-detail/story.html#axzz2RljBHQJt

Also, I was cajoled into visiting beermile.com and noticed that Tony Young and some of his training mates up in the Northwest had run a pretty remarkable beer mile last fall,

http://www.beermile.com/display/event_5695

. I think Tony’s been holding out on us, as I didn’t see any mention of it back in October on the MWRR thread. ;-) If you click on the “official race site”, it’ll take you to a video of the whole event. I guess it’s not listed as an official record….what were the cited violations?

Cavorty, I meant to mention that those are some pretty rugged training weeks. I think that I’d be hard-pressed to duplicate those efforts (and I do mean efforts, not times. The times would be out of the question. And especially without a training partner.) When McMillan sent you plans was there an interview process? How did they select this set of workouts? Was age factored in? Did they discuss gauging your recovery? Just curious.

OK, so progress this week, but still not where I thought I’d be. Hope you’ve had a great week!

Sorry about the bad news. DNF never feels good.

lucKY2b wrote:

And finally, this almost seems like something out of the "News of the Weird", but it is real. In the small town of South Point, OH, across the river from Huntington, WV, the local high school will hold an Arthur Lydiard Track and Field Classic Meet next Friday (May 3rd). The evening before (Thursday, May 2nd), they will host a free event entitled "Legends in Black", in which current New Zealand star Nick Willis will join former Kiwi standouts Barry Magee and Bill Baillie along with US legend Bob Schul, to speak, show video clips, answer questions, etc. about distance training and racing. Alan B, you seem to live the closest....if I could make it, I would, but I have a previous commitment that I can't get out of.

So close and yet so far. I can't go. I have to go! Must try to reschedule a conflicting meeting. If I do go, I hope all the inspiration doesn't mess with my race.

Been a while since I posted. Spent the last two weeks in China slogging around in a daze. Slept poorly and ran in the pollution most days; very slowly. Like 10:00 per mile slowly.

Back in the US now. Getting rested and trained all week. Nothing special to report for workouts but at least I ran daily. I managed 6 X 800 at 2:40 Sat and I'm happy with it based on the last few weeks.

WOC - Keep up the fight :)

Mon = 3, easy, road

Tue = 3, trails and grass

Wed = 3, trails and road

Thu = 0

Fri = 0

Sat = 3, trail/mountain/hard

Sun = 3, trail/mountain/hard

Total Miles = 15

Granddaughter number three was born on Thursday to my oldest son and his wife. They are all doing well. I’m very thankful.

It was a good week of running and I felt good enough to run hard on my trail runs Sat and Sun. This morning’s run on the mountain was in 40 degrees with a bit of sleet, rain, and wind. Not a single leaf is out yet. Just like winter; and no pollen. There's your answer lucKY! But sooner or later it'll get ya anyway.

The winter that won't let go! It's 10 or 12F now, with high only expected 20s this weekend. High school track is all but frozen out, all the meets have been cancelled and they've only been doing unofficial practice meets.

Despite that the build-up continues with 52 miles, including 2 X 10 min threshold on Tuesday and an 8.5 mile progression run on Thursday. On that I attempted to finish at 5K pace for a km or so but blew up so for that last K I surged at 5K effort for a minute or two and backed down.

Non-eventful week. 50 miles. Two (or maybe just one) workouts and a race.

SUN: 8.5

MON: 6.7

TUE: 6.0, 12x200

WED: am 5.7

WED: pm 5.0

THR: 12.1

FRI: off

SAT: 5K in 19:31

The goal for the repeats on Tuesday was to stay smooth and fluid with a focus on stride length. They felt comfortable and were all :45.x with a 200 jog. Thursdays long run included a 3 mile section of 7:10 down to 6:54 miles with the group of 40-something mom's I oft run with. The 5K on Saturday was windy. I sat behind a guy from 1 to 1.5 miles because of the wind, got gapped and ran the rest alone.

I purchased one of the posture devices that AlSal has Mary Cain wearing. I'll give feedback after I've worn it for a few weeks.

http://www.shouldersback.net/

Lucky- we lost my wife's dad a few years ago so I know what you are going thru. Be strong for the family.

MikeL- marathon training in the summer heat...you are a beast!

jroden- Welcome to the thread

AK-55- our HS state meet is next weekend at the beach!

WOC- keep sending good news

Keep the legs moving y'all!

Edgewood