Over-50 runners doing >50MPW?

Only 3 minor injuries? You are SO lucky.

Based on what I saw at the Vermont City Marathon, that is NOT slow. There were kids out there 1/2 your age who would have been PROUD to bag a 3:20.

www.vcm.org

I'll second that. A 3:20 would have gotten you into the top 200 OVERALL out of around 2600 or so if I recall.

Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Hill!

Dave,

One last question. When you do your "sessions," (e.g., 6x 4 mins with 30 secs recovery, followed by 5x 1 min with 45 secs recovery), at what pace/effort are you running these?

Thanks.

I'm not especially scientific about pace these days. I do my workouts on the road and do not use a measured route, so I run by 'feel', but I would say that the 4 min efforts are little faster that 10km race pace. The 1 min efforts are quicker - faster than 5km race pace.

I try not to obsess too much about it. For me, the perceived effort on a particular day is the important thing, rather than actual distance covered.....

Glad things have improved for you.

Dave, thanks, I'll do my best to get there. and likewise, feel free to send me an e-mail if you are ever in the Boston area (or just want to chat off-line) through the Somerville Road Runners website (www.srr.org). I coach the club and my e-mail can be found off of the Track sidebar. we hold a couple of organized runs every week and you're welcome to attend them if you are ever in the area.

dnixon, i'll throw my 2 cent in also regarding schedule of a typical 100 mile week.

before my best marathon i did 5 weeks of 100+, 2 weeksof 96, and 1 week of 92. i also cut back 2 months before the marathon and did a month of 75mile weeks with more intensity.

first off, i am not married to 100 miles, just close to it, if it ends up being 96 miles, so be it, i don't try and make up the miles in any way. conversely if it ends up being 102 or 104 that's fine also. i keep it pretty simple and then improvise a little as the weeks unfolds.

Mon: AM-8 easy. PM-8 easy with 10 x 20 sec. strides in the middle of the run

Tues: AM-8 easy PM-8-10 including some sort of track workout, anwyhere from 12 x 400 to 3 x 2 miles depending on where i am in my schedule

Weds: AM-8 easy PM-8 easy maybe with a few pickup miles at the end depending on how i am feeling. closer to the marathon i will do a 12-16 miler on Weds, usually shortening the morning run or dropping it altogether

Thurs: AM-8 easy PM-8-10 with some sort of tempo run of 2-4 miles generally

Fri: day off-for some reason i like taking a complete day off without thinking about running

Sat: Long run of 20-24 miles easy early on in the training. adding harder components as the program progresses, such as last 6-10 miles at goal MP. i will also take cutback weeks on mileage where i only do a 14-16 mile long run with possibly 4-6 hard in the middle or end of the run, close to 1/2 marathon pace. the hardest long run i have done is a modified Khalid Khannouchi run where i do 3 miles gradual warmup, 7 miles at goal MP plus 15 seconds a mile, 10 miles at goal MP, then 2 miles on the track to finish at LT (tempo) pace, about 30 seconds faster per mile than goal MP. boy, did that one kick my butt. usually do it 4 weeks before the marathon to get a good recovery after it.

Sun: 12 very easy

i usually do incorporate cutback weeks, usually around some goal races with in the program. cut back to about 60% mileage for those weeks. for some not so important races i train through them. nothing like a 10K race on Sunday after a 100 mile week abd a 20 miler on Saturday!

knee, i've done a few track races. we are lucky in the Boston area to have a number of open indoor track meets during the winter months. i did a series of 4 races on consecutive weeks with the goal of a decent mile time at the end. started off with an over-distance 3K the first week, an under-distance 800 the 2nd week, part of a 4 x1600 relay the 3rd week and then the target mile the last week, a lot of fun, nice to do something different and mix it up every once in awhile.

Hey Steve,

I'd like to run Boston one day - maybe next year if TCM goes ok. I haven't done a marathon since 1996, so I'll see how it goes before planning further, but if we come to Boston, we'll certainly get in touch with.

Best of luck

Thanks, Steve. Yours and Dave's post are just the detail i'm looking for as i think about slowly boosting my mileage. One of the immediately obvious points of difference between your training and Hill's is that you cut it up pretty evenly mileage-wise between your a.m. and p.m. workouts whereas he does the bulk of his mileage — about 3/4 of it — during the morning run.

The main reason why I structure my mileage the way I do is the climate. In Tucson, it's just too hot in the summer to run longer late in the day, so I get my main run completed by about 6am. If we were in a different location, then we might do it a little differently......

Having said that, maybe the fact that I have to divide my days up into a longer run followed by a relatively short run might help in terms of marathon preparation. We'll see whether it works out that way, in due course....

Now I'm doing

Last week

10 miles

5 am/10pm

10

2 mile warm up 5 x 100 strides 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile 5 minute float between each warm down 2.5 miles (18:23) 12:45, 6:20...felt rough other than the first 3 miles

5 am/10pm

off

16 miles

include pickups 1',1',1',1',1',5', enroute every 10 minutes

10 miles 5am/10pm

10 miles relaxed

warm up 2 miles 5 100 strides 2x2k, 2 miles, 2x2k.. averaged 6:15's felt fat and slow, first high humidity day...

7 miles

20 miles 1',1',12',1',2',6;', enroute every 10 minutes. (tomorrow)

I'm 52 and when things are going well I hit right around 50 mpw. I've run non-stop for 38 years and now run less track work, but still do 2 quality sessions per week with the club I coach. I like to do a long, mostly off-road run once a week if I'm not racing (which I do a lot of).

Of course. I completely forgot about where you run; and having run several times in Phoenix during the summer months, i don't see how it could be otherwise, especially at this time of the year.

Patti, thanks for your current training schedule. I was a little confused by the layout, however, and was hoping you could clear it up for me. Am i reading this right? . . .

Day 1

a.m. 10 miles

p.m. 10 miles

Day 2

am. (2mile warmup, 5x 100 strides, 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile, etc.)

Day 3

16 miles (including pickups)

Day 4

a.m. 10 miles

p.m. 10 miles

Day 5

a.m. (warmup 2 miles, 5x100 strides, 2x2k, 2 miles, 2x2k, etc.)

p.m. 7 miles

Day 6

scheduled 20 miler

__________________

Whatever the configuration, it looks like you're putting in a ton of mileage! And you you do some of these runs at 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.? If you begin a 10 miler at 10 p.m., i couldn't see getting to bed any earlier than 1 a.m. by the time you finish, cool down, shower, grab a little to eat, wind down, and then actually fall asleep. But that would only give you 4 hours sleep if you're up again at 5 a.m. So when do you sleep?

Dazed and Confused

… don't tell me you don't remember Led Zeppelin! ;-)

54,

Wow, that's really somethin': going for "another" sub-3 marathon. Very, very impressive. Alas, I'm way out of your class and am "only" 45 but am trying to claw my way back to decent mileage. I haven't had an 80 mile week in years and am finding the long run increasingly difficult. However, I ain't givin' up yet. Your post is an inspiration. Good luck with you goals.

Patti.....Great to see you back going for it again.I was a course oficial in nyc 1981 standing in middle of course 200 yards from finish line taking the bandits off the course when you and salazar went right by me.I to quit a two pack a day in 1978 and still hiting hard.enjoy the ride.

the best

john

www.rentacoachinternational.com