50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Nice racing, Lucky! And not even 100% either. That has to be a confidence-builder.

I had a brutal week, work-wise since it was the first week of the month and we have to close out the previous month's interim financials. I did not get even one lousy workout in from Monday to Friday and I was feeling pretty cranky about it. I made up for it on Saturday. Glorious weather and motivated workout partners made for a butt-kicking training session. I was doing the "cowboy walk" back to my car when it was all over and I needed an afternoon nap. I just finished lifting and stair running today. My legs were heavy from Saturday's efforts but I still had a good one; it just took more effort to muscle through it. I have already logged on to my work calendar and cleared my schedule from 4:30 onward on Tuesday and Thursday so I can get out of work at a decent hour and hit the track.

My husband and I just bought ourselves an early anniversary present: a NordicTrack treadmill. I forgot what the model was but it has a 3.8 horsepower motor and lots of bells and whistles so it should be fun. The weather here gets so gruesome during the winter --even driving to the gym can get dicey. Since I want to try the long hurdles next year I'm going to need to build up my speed endurance. Even a lazy sprinter like me can roll out of bed an extra 30 mins early and put in a few miles. Luckily I only need a few at a quick speed and small incline in order to accomplish my goal.

Hope everyone has a great week!

48 miles this week. 12.7 miler yesterday in 1:33ish. The temps were down and humidity lower this week so I started out quicker, 7:30 pace, then ran the 2nd half faster.

Looking forward to the fall, right around the corner. The best time of the year to race.

Happy running

Just 44 miles last week. Took yesterday off. The wife & I took a spur-of-the-moment road-trip to the Lake Shore Path in Chicago with the bikes. Fun day...

Usual week: One workout; one race. Did 8x400 Tuesday w/400 jog rest. Avg'd 76.7. Raced much better this week but ran a tad slower than last week . Went 16:52 (3.12) for a 90.56% AG. Hit 16:09 for 3mi (521,521,526) So I'm kinda happy about tightening up my splits but need to be a little tougher the last 4-600.

Next up will be another 5K on Sept 6, until then just solid training and stay healthy!

All the Best,

Dave

Ran first 5k ! 34:15. Not unhappy with that as it was my first! Ran / hiked some 35 miles of trails this week. Happy with progress all in all. 6 months since I started running in any meaningful way.

Lucky - thanks for the link to the 5K drills. Hope they help me this season!

Here's my last week - we had some heat advisory days, which took a toll.

Mon: Off

Tues: a.m. 8 mi with 4 mi HM pace (7:26, 7:19 (uphill); 7:00 (downhill); 7:04)

p.m. 4 mi easy

Wed: a.m. 6 mi workout with training group - with 16 x 30 sec on/ 30 sec off

Thurs: a.m. 8 mi easy

p.m. 4 mi with 21:51 at weekly 5K event

Fri: a.m. 4 mi easy

Sat: 13 mi easy

Sun; 3 mi easy

Total 50 mi

No tweaks, nothing hurts -- so in a good place to start marathon training this week.

Hope all others are non-tweaky this week. Happy running.

Last week was big for me, 43 miles, including a 14 miler early in the week, and 5 x 1/2 mile on the road late in week. I think my weight is starting to drop slightly, too, by about 2 pounds from a couple weeks ago, enough to feel thinner with my "pinch an inch" test (I am under one inch at the navel).

Very nice one page article in the newest RRCA magazine, Summer 2014 issue, on Ken Martin, congrats to that Ken, and thanks to RRCA for that, much needed.

Sad news on Robin Williams, my brother noted that he's what manic depression looked like on a grand scale. Same thing happened to a college friend. Hopefully, we can reach out to people when struggling with depression in better ways than just drugging them. Where did the hospital system and family/friends go off track with Robin?

Mike L, I was about to remark about the same article in the RRCA Issue.....some well-deserved exposure. How can we help spread the word about Ken's foundation?

Also got my latest RT and there is a nice multi-page feature on Grant Fisher, with a decent amount of space devoted to Mike Scannell's coaching methods with him (regarding Mike: "....an intense, wiry guy who doesn't appear to have lost any fitness...". You know that's true!). Good stuff!

@danken: Welcome to the thread. Hope you'll find some support and encouragement here. Persistence and patience are two words that best describe those that can keep at it--avoiding injury and improving over time.

Thanks, Spikez. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty gassed at the end, but I know there is more to be gotten, so yes, I'm encouraged. But building some strength is going to be the key, I believe.

@Dave: Once again, astounding race! I'll be happy when I can get just one mile under 5:30!

@Gretehund: In my mind, I keep wondering how fast a 5K you could run under ideal conditions. These Thursday evening races seem to be at the most inopportune time: Evening=hot, Thursday morning=8-miler, Wednesday=interval workout. I know that I wouldn't run that well....but then again, I'm don't put anywhere near the mileage you do, so you're probably conditioned to recover faster.

Cheers!

Did the AK Senior Games this past week. 1500 on Sunday, at a measured effort so as not to blow out my legs for the other races. 80s for a 4:59. 5K on Monday, and a bit warm for here at 80 F, on a flat out and back on bike paths. 17:59. Was hoping for 17:40 or faster but not happening. Was less than optimistic on going under 37 let alone 37:30 but got into a good rhythm after half way to finish in 36:56. So three age records. Considering National Games next year in Minnesota.

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Week 167

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Greetings 50+ers. Not a lot to report this week. It was a nice, solid week of running; nothing spectacular, but probably the most “workout” I’ve done in over a year. Total of 42 miles on 6 days of running. Log reads as such:

Sun: 5 easy

Mon: off

Tue: 6.5 w/2x1mile(6:07 each, ¾-mile slower pace between).

Wed: 6.2 w/12x400 (1/2 lap recovery, 70-71s) Reps started @~89.5s and finished @~86.0s.

Thur: 4.1 very easy

Fri: 5.0 easy

Sat: 15.2 w/3.8@6:41 pace and 3.4@6:32 pace. (a little sore for the rest of the day)

Tuesday, I just wanted to try a few harder miles to see how my abdomen would respond…it went fine. But after Wednesday’s track workout I was a little sore; the dead legs made Thursday’s run very tepid. Another easy day on Friday left my legs refreshed, and I was ready to add a couple of tempo sets into Saturday’s long run--basically ran it hard (3.8), easy (3.4), hard (3.4) easy (4.6). (Note: that first 3.8 section has a couple of nasty hills on it. According to my run logger, Saturday’s run included 1100 ft of elevation gains and losses.) Was pretty sore the rest of Saturday, with a couple of tight muscles in the groin area. Have been using a lot of foam roller the past 24 hours and am still experiencing some discomfort this morning. May or may not engage in our usual Sunday evening group run; we’ll see how the day unfolds.

Nice racing, AK-56! I would love to get back under 37! Probably not in the cards anytime soon, if ever. I recognize that I’m back to running with a very weak core---barring surgery, not really sure what I can do about that. Regardless, it’s really great to be out and running some hard/some easy…taking it one week at a time. You may not have noticed, but I’ve been sort of experimenting with harder week/easier week for the past couple of months, so this next week will be easier.

A couple of upcoming events:

-Masters Mile Championships in Flint, MI. Any notables?

-I have a friend flying out to particpate in the Hood-to-Coast relay this coming weekend, she's joining some local team out there; I believe that Muddy Girl is running it, too. Good luck to them; here's to having a great experience!

Quote for this week: "Know your limits and stay within them. Do what you think you can cope with." -Arthur Lydiard

Hope you all are doing well---be it training, racing, or rehabbing.

Cheers!

That was a good week lucKY. A whole lotta pace. AK, nice triple. That would be the top 1500 in the US in the USATF master's rankings for M55, 6th fastest 5K, and 2nd fastest 10K. Awesome!

My week was a forced cut back:

Mon = 60 min cemetery

Tue = 30 min cemetery

Wed = 36 min trail and road

Thr = 21 min cemetery

Fri = 33 min trail

Sat = 40 min trail

Sun = 50 min road, 25 pushing a toddler

Total = 270 minutes: 4 hrs and 30 minutes

The week before last we had so much rain I had to get off the trails. I developed a sore spot where the peroneus brevis inserts near the outside of my left ankle. Too much road and probably I was not quite ready to go 60 min every day. This week was spent trying to find the right rung on the ladder to jump back in and start climbing again. I'm just guessing that about 50 min will be my new starting point, but I have zero experience with this so I'll play it by ear.

Oops, AK, correction, 14th fastest 1500. Still awesome....

Definitely an impressive triple AK. I got my solid (at my current level) training week of 35 miles in. Tuesday was a good 2 miles of :30hard/:30 easy up a hill. My first XC race of the season is next Saturday. The coming week will all be easy, but about the same mileage. I think my best race prep plan for now is to do a few strides for quickness and have the legs as fresh as possible going into the race.

Awesome racing, AK-56. Very nice, indeed!

My goal for 2015 is to compete successfully at the WMA meet in Lyon (when I will be 55, hooray!) I need to train smarter which is not necessarily harder so I'm incorporating cross training into my season plan. I use the elliptical to Xtrain; the low impact is just what my tissue-paper Achilles tendons need as a break from hurdling and sprinting.

My goal this off-season is to build my speed endurance. Tuesday was 6x100 and 2x400. Thursday was lifting and stair running. Saturday I had a hurdle workout followed by 2x400 (ugh). Today I had lifting/stairs again. We just got our new treadmill delivered to our home. I'm going to give it a spin tomorrow morning before work.

Have a super-duper week!

Yep, nice going AK-56.

41 miles this week. Took a 2nd day off this week and treated it as a rest week for the most part. Went real slow on my 12.7 miler too.

Happy running

L2b: I've been thinking about getting one of those foam roller thingy's... What's your opinion on them?

Had a nice solid 58 mile training week with two workouts and a sort-of long run.

Tuesday did a 4 mile progressive Tempo-Threshold-whatever run going 6:01.6,5:55.4,5:50.5,5:38.5 = 23:26. Thursday tried something different doing a 2000-1000-500 w/400 rest ladder at 5K pace. Went 6:41,3:21,1:38... Got a 12 miler in Saturday. Everything else un-timed easy runs.

This week I'll do just a Wednesday workout and a Saturday long run. Found a nice, flat & fast certified 5K race for my Sept 6 goal race...Kind of thinking about getting a team together for the Masters 5K XC champs in November.

Have a good week all...

Dave

All, haven't posted in a while but all is well. I coach so the summer was busy and most of my college guys are now back with their teams. But if you get Running Times Magazine, my group made the cover :) Mainly due to Grant Fisher but what the heck, the boys all love it.

I managed to end the week running 1:13 for 12 miles with the guys before they left town. That's a solid effort for me considering the first few miles are slower. Besides that, I ran 4 miles steady on Tuesday at 5:30 pace. That pace is too aggressive for me these days as I age (not so gracefully).

I have heard about the Masters Mile in Flint but don't know the field yet. I think a few guys a driving in from around the state. I'll be in China for the event so I can't compete.

Happy week to all.

racerdb wrote:L2b: I've been thinking about getting one of those foam roller thingy's... What's your opinion on them?

I think a foam roller is great for rolling out quads, hammies, and for addressing IT issues, but I am finding that the cheap ones have a little too much give for my liking. I don't find them that effective for calves, and prefer a stick for those (stick is pretty good for IT, too). People use them for all other kinds of areas, but I find the standard ones too cumbersome for most other uses beyond what I've stated above. I am using one on my groin (adductor) area, but that is really awkward---I have to set the roller on a step stool to get it high enough so that I can maneuver it back and forth over the muscle....not sure if there is a better technique. I've also used it to address piriformis issues with some success, but a well-placed tennis ball is just about as effective for that. A couple year's ago I wrote a post for our club regarding foam-rollers. Here's what I wrote then:

Note: actually, I kinda went nuts and wrote a bunch of posts over the course of 1/3rd of a year or so...some are better than others. For seasoned veterans, most are pretty obvious, but I do provide a lot of links. You can scroll through them to see if any are relevant to you.

A 44 mile week after last week's 43, plus a 15 miler Sunday is how I capped it off. Was TOAST for today, so did 2 miles. But that is ok, it's a process. This 15 was 12 days after a 14. Hope that is not too soon for a 63 year old, with 37 years on the run. Might consider the next long run in 3 weeks instead of two, but depends on how I feel and recover.

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Week 168

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Salutations 50+ers. I had planned a down week after hitting 40+ miles last week. And while I value the long run (as Magill mentioned in his RT article last month), last week’s 15-miler (with two 3+ mile tempos) took a little more out of me than I had anticipated, so this week became even more of a down week than originally planned. Only made it 22 miles on 4 runs after taking Sunday through Tuesday off. Truthfully, it wasn’t all due to the long run; we did start back to the fall semester Monday, and my schedule is going to take a little better planning if I’m to squeeze runs in, especially at the start of the week. So the log reads as such:

Sun: off (just plain dead tired)

Mon: off (still a little tired, but should have gotten out)

Tue: off, but 3.5 miles brisk evening walk

Wed: 5.9 w/3.1 moderately hard (21:13)

Thur: 4.5 w/2K@6:02 pace

Fri: 4.6 very easy

Sat: 7.0 w/2K@5:59 pace

I should mention that it has been humid as all get out here this past week, which has also tempered my enthusiasm to get after it. So yes, Tuesday I could have gone for an evening run, but a long walk with my wife was a better option. I tried to instill a little pace into most my runs (as indicated), but kept a pretty easy pace during the rest of each run. Was planning to run 10 on Saturday, but the humidity level was near saturation, and I didn’t feel there was much to be gained by slogging through another 3 miles….especially during a down week.

I’ll rebound this week (fingers crossed) and try and hit 40+ again, and will continue with this harder week/easier week pattern for a while (but hopefully, the easy weeks won't be quite this easy.)

So what’s happening in your neck of the woods? Any races?

Cheers!