50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Had a nice weekend in Spokane for the RRCA induction and Bloomsday, thanks for the congratulations. Anne should have been in there years ago but they didn't realize she was a US citizen (since 1993?). Unfortunately, I did not run the race - too cold for my finger neuropathy, and the day before I could only jog 1 mile before pain started acting up. I see the oncologists tomorrow to try to sort out the remaining 15% of the issue, whatever it is.

Increasing the prednisone to 60 mgs has helped, I'm eating like a horse again and hope to get my 15 lbs back, I'd like it to be muscle so at least I'll walk. I was cautioned against weight lifting due to increased tear risk from the steroid. Being able to run the leg of the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon is in doubt unless they get things right tomorrow.

None the less, it looks like I bottomed out two weeks ago, so I'm looking forward to getting back and enjoying warm weather.

Have a good week all, best of health and improvements with the injuries!

*************************

Week 153

*************************

Greetings 50+ers. My "bump" is going to be a little brief this week. First off, Happy Mothers Day to the moms of the group and also to the wives and mothers of all the others. I, in particular, wish to thank them for tolerating, even supporting, this obsession of competitive running.

It was finals week, and that had me busy tying up a lot of end-of-semester loose ends. Unfortunately, I seemed to have strained my back a little in the process, which put a damper on the end of the week, but it's starting to feel better today. As such, I ended up short this week, only getting in about 22 miles on 4 days. The log read as such:

Sun: 5 easyish

Mon: off (5 miles walking)

Tues: 7.1 w/.8,.7,.6 mile pickups (6:20-6:30 pace on the pickups)

Wed: 5.5 w/6x(1 lap on, 1.2 lap rec) 86s average for the "on" laps (about 6:10 pace)

Thur: off (strained back)

Fri: 4.1 easy (tried to loosen up back....still tight)

Sat: off (rainy, but also back was tight, did a lot of exercises to loosen it up)

The back thing also extends down to the right-side piriformis that has given me issues for the past many years. I'm sure they are related somehow. I've got a few elastic band exercises that are helping, along with some stretches. Back tightness and hip inflexibility are two areas that I acknowledge really need fixing. I keep talking about improved ergonomics during the rest of the day, but I've done little about it. They're making me change offices next week, it'll be a good time to swap out chairs for something more ergonomic.

OK. Pretty meager week here; I hope that you all have fared better. I'm off from teaching until summer session starts in mid-June, so it should be a good opportunity to get in a few solid weeks of training.

@Muddy Girl: sounds like your PT is taking a very sensible approach and just tweaking things a bit---glad it's working out.

Best Wishes, everyone.

Congrats, KEN! Hope you are feeling stronger now.

After running an awful 4 miler with the Trolley Run (downhill in 31:18), at least it must have sparked some increase in my anaerobic threshold, so the next weekend (1 week ago) I was able to run 23:25 (7:32 pace) on a loop, mildly (for KC) hilly course. It was a 7th place of 60 in the 60-64. Next day ran another 5 km in 24:24, which was my first ever race titled Cinco de Mayo. Given that it was/is my birthday on Cinco de Mayo (I'm now 63), I had to do it, right? Won my age group in it, too, by 2 seconds.

I'm feeling more confident now for this coming Saturday's KC Corp Challenge 1/2 marathon. It's certified, but hilly, which makes it tougher for me. It'll be interesting, we've been having some warming weather, but the rains this weekend might cool down next week. Two years ago I ran the race in 1:49, but I sure don't see that time happening, so anything under 2 hours will be a success, and being in the top 10 (KCCC races are probably the toughest races of the year to place well in). Should be fun. These 30 mile weeks and no track work have added a couple extra pounds on me, too. My wife's adrenal fatigue that has her laying off almost all running, and she's running every other day for only minutes at a time. Coupled with my birthday, I'm mostly training at the table with chocolate being my coach and guide :)

34 miles this week and the strained calf is about 90% healed after 2 weeks. Off to breakfast now with my lovely wife of 42 years before our boys check in with their Mother's Day calls.

Amen to the "Happy Mother's Day" to all who put up with us running fools & to the Mom's who have to find time to be a Mother AND a runner.

Keep the faith Mike. I'm sure your next races will get better.

I was lucky to begin some post-op real running workouts this past week. Only a 5x 1 min on 2 min off session but went thru 2 miles in 12:44 on The Hollister Trail. Damn it was tough but will take it. Ankle still not like the other one but I'm hoping most of that is just scar tissue stuff to work through.

All the best to everyone.

KP

Echoing the sentiment and wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there.

Tue = 4, with 7 X 1 minute accelerations maxing out at 4:57 per mile pace

Thr = 3 easy

Sat = 4, 5K Race @ 21:20

Sun = 5 easy

Tot = 16

Week 9 of training:

It was another good week and I managed to avoid re-injuring myself in my first race in 2 years. Last week I reported the McMillan race-time predictor predicted a 21:21 based on my mile time, and boy was it close. I had a 21:20. I have my work cut out for me to get fit again.

I debated on whether to bother trying to wear racing flats and really go after it but finally settled on playing it safe and going with my trainers. I mean what’s a 10 or 15 seconds when I’m already, um, kinda slow. Job one is to stay healthy.

The only drama was the weather, with thunderstorms all around. It rained hard all day and broke clear about an hour before race time at 5pm. I set my Garmin for two fields, Ave pace, and time. I just plodded along trying to hang onto 6:45 pace. Splits were 6:46, 6:49, and 7:06. My lack of endurance really showed in that last mile. I finished 21st out of 382 and won the M55 age group.

Pretty meager by the standards on this fast forum but I gotta start somewhere. This was by far my hardest workout in 2 years. So, from a training standpoint, it was good.

Well done, off by a second!

A decent week again with some killer desert runs. The cactus are in various states of bloom so quite visual. Good run on the track yesterday.

A week in LA coming up so mostly treadmill unless I can find a track, with access, near the Torrance area.

Pretty cool to see the FloTrack folks sponsoring a Beer Mile. I am not entering but am a veteran of several that I hosted.

Have a great week!

Week 153: 4 hours 12 minutes in 4 runs. No actual workouts, but Tuesday 1 hr 1 min marathon pace "tempo" run, and Saturday 1 hr 40 mins long *slow* group run.

Recovery is better and better. BP, RHR, and the swelling in my hip are all incrementally down. The body has really appreciated having some days completely off each week, so I will keep some of those.

I recently caught part of a radio program where they were discussing determinism, and chaos was mentioned. "Every human being is a complicated non-linear system." I have to quibble. It's not surprising that a complicated non-linear system can be unpredictable. The surprising thing about chaos theory is that even a simple non-linear system can have an unexpected response to a slight change in initial conditions. This is an important idea. I particularly liked "The Butterfly Effect" chapter (see pages 9-31) in James Gleick, Chaos (Viking Penguin, 1987). I think this idea that a small deviation in input can lead to a seemingly random deviation in output might explain some otherwise puzzling results in race training. Scenario A: I did x and ran y, then I did a little more than x and ran a lot slower than y. Scenario B: My training was going great when suddenly the wheels fell off. It would not be a knock on training to say that it is chaotic. After all, chaotic systems are still deterministic. It just means that you can't oversimplify the expectations resulting from any change of training. And an amusing corrolary is, you can't even expect the same results from the same training, because the runner has changed in the meantime, so the initial conditions have changed.

*corollary*

Just a quick note, since I have to do some work today (which sucks, but I'll feel better if I just get it over with).

I hardly got in the pool this week because I had a trial on Wednesday (which was ONLY a misdemeanor, but the prosecutor's actions made things miserable -- although in the end my client benefitted and was happy). I did run every day for at least 5 miles (about 37 miles this week) Moved up to 6-7 min. on/1 min. off and really don't feel I need to walk, so I'll be phasing that out.

I had my second and third PT appointment this week. I am able to do the exercises better, but he added some new things which will be difficult to duplicate at home. (He tried having me stand on one foot on an upside down botsu ball -- hahahahaha, yeah, right. I couldn't do that even for a half a second and he had to modify it to standing on one foot on some squishy foam blocks instead).

I didn't lose any weight this week - still 7 lbs to go - I think the lack of pool running didn't help as they boost the caloric expenditure - but I am feeling better running. If the PT work eliminates my "weebly/wobbly" running form, I'll be very pleased. I can see that it would make me faster (especially after I reviewed the video from the 3k I did two years ago in Eugene. Yikes.)

Happy mother's day to spikez and GreteHund and any other moms out there. My kids think it's normal for mom to go out and run on Mother's day instead of breakfast in bed. ;)

Watched Max King from Bend break the record at the Ice Age Trail 50M in WI. It was fun. I did the Half. Got too hot for me by 10 am and struggled the last 5 miles.

This week I got in a full 3 mile run without having to stop. Two other jog/walk runs, I hope the corner has been turned.

Happy Mother's Day to you moms and families.

WOC wrote:

This week I got in a full 3 mile run without having to stop. Two other jog/walk runs, I hope the corner has been turned.

Happy Mother's Day to you moms and families.

You are an inspiration, Ken. I too, hope you have turned the corner.

Mon. 25 km mtn bike ride in 1.27.

Tue. 12.4 km run on hilly dirt road in 1.05.

Wed. 40 min kayak.

Thu. 18 km hilly run in 1.40.

Fri. 15 km spin on mtb on flat trails 50 mins.

Sat. 3.5 km warmup, hilly 6.5 km trail race in a disappointing 28.40, right hammy started to tighten noticeably between 4 and 5. Too tight to run the warm down so just walked the course in reverse.

Sun. Hammy still too tight for running. Threw on the weighted vest and a back pack, grabbed my poles and hiked the hills. 7.4 km 280 m elev. 1.35.

Not sure what is going on with the hamstring, it has been tightening up on and off for a few weeks. No real sudden pull or tear just a gradual tightening up limiting my stride. No issue except when running.

Good to see you racing Rtype. Probably not much between us at the moment.

Feel like I'm starting to turn the corner on my way to feeling good again. Managed 49 miles last week taking everything nice & easy. Saturday did 11 with my daughter. Her running is far exceeding anything she, or I, could have imagined just a year ago. Her goal HM race is 3 weeks away so the last run will be a 12 miler next weekend. I'll be running the race with her, one week after my Spring goal HM, which has turned into huge flop...

A bright spot and a little hope though is my training partner. He still thinks I could go 1:18'ish. Doesn't seem possible to me but he seems to know my running better than I know my running. He went 1:18:40 in his HM last week on minimal training. Amazingly, only TWO of his total miles this year were run at his race pace of 6:00/mile. And a whole lot at 8:00-9:00 pace with his wife... Still trying to grasp how that works?....

Let's get healthy everyone!

Dave

Had a good week running and even better weekend. Feel like I am pretty much fully recovered from my ankle turn. Been concentrating on strengthening the left quad/glute that may have lead to my injury. Since my work transitioned to home a few weeks ago, been using my stand-up desk a lot more. I hope it helps with the strengthening.

Mon: 8 mi easy

Tues: 8 mi

Wed: 6 mi

Thurs: 8 mi

Fri: 6 mi

Sat: 11 mi with friends - a little faster than comfortable for me right now. Rode in a 50 mi bike event with my hubby - the rally was held on a new Texas turnpike that was not opened yet. Strong headwinds going out so speeds were 8 to 10 mph. Flew on the way back! Got so sunburned it still hurts like crazy to put on a sports bra!

Sun: 4 mi easy. Hubby made excellent breakfast and helped clean garage. Plus nice call from my Colorado kid. No better mom's day (or dad's day) gift than a healthy, happy kiddo.

So last week was a 50 mi week with no lingering ankle problems. Will try a speed session this week and see how it goes. Also trying to shed a few LBs (6 lbs to be exact @muddy!). I don't enjoy trying to lose weight -- just seems to get harder as I get older.

Hope all have a good week and training continues to ramp up for everyone -- just in time for the summer sweltering temps!

*************************

Week 154

*************************

Hello 50+ers. Another brief bump. The week didn't turn out as planned, so it was pretty sub-par once more. Only made it 16 miles on three runs.

Sun: off, but 3 miles fast walking

Mon: off, but 4 miles fast walking

Tue: 4.2 easy-to-moderate

Wed: 5.6 w/8x(1 lap "on, 1/2 lap "off") "on" avg 83 s, "off" avg 61 s

Thur: a bust (moving office, finishing up admin duties, travel)

Fri: a bust (travel)

Sat: 6.2 moderate (7:24 pace)

I missed Sunday and Monday when I restrained my back on Sunday lifting some 50-lbs concrete mix sacks that were being used to keep the church from flooding (bad move). I did power walk 3 miles Sunday and 4 miles Monday, but I could tell that running would be a bad idea. Tuesday, I took the back out for a 4.2 mile test drive. Felt fine, so I did the Wednesday track workout which also went pretty well. Took the rests a little easier, but the ons were as fast as I've done them in quite some time. Thursday and Friday were a bust due to other commitments and travel. I probably could have gotten some miles in Thursday or Friday morning, but I learned my lesson about running followed by long car rides....they don't work out well for me. We'll be heading back to KY from Iowa today, so I doubt I'll be getting any miles in today. But the rest of the week should be better (knock on wood).

OK, gotta hit the road, so I'll catch up with you after we get back to Lexington.

Cheers!

As predicted, most runs were on the treadmill in LA for the week. Streak alive and well. Friday was a 7 hour drive back to Phoenix, normally a 5 1/2 hour task. Took 2 hours to drive 39 miles from Torrance to Corona, murderous.

Happened to drive past LAX on Thursday evening. Saw the Nike jet in the corporate section near Sepulveda Blvd. Must have brought Rupp and crew down for OXY. The Swoosh was on the tail.

Off to Louisville Monday for the week, once again on treadmill schedule.

Have a great week!

A tough time for training. The week previous to last: I was feeling off and and out of sorts on Monday. I attempted a sprint interval workout but had to stop midway as I was feeling dizzy. That night I was in and out of the bathroom with a stomach virus. So no work on Tuesday; I slept most of the day. Wednesday I went back to work but was still feeling weak so no workout, and Thursday I simply walked on the treadmill. The virus took a lot out of me. I did manage a decent workout on Saturday, then Sunday was Mothers Day (I managed to get in an early morning weight lifting session).

This week was crazy since my step daughter's wedding is today. We flew out to AL (wedding is in Mobile) on Thursday morning. I did run on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday but I've also been overindulging in food and cocktails. I'm dreading next week's moment of truth with the scale.

Planning on an all-comers 5/28 as my first meet. Will be very low key, which is good. Have a great meet!