50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Howdy all. Nice to see the WI men dominate the Big 10 CC. Could be interesting at nationals. Average week here for me of running about 35 miles. Did a 5K Saturday in 20:40 which I was happy with. I constantly struggle with the weight issue but it's my own fault. To put it simply I eat and drink too much. I'm 57 years old, 6'0" and weigh in at 194. I can occassionally get down to 190 and would love to get to 185. I find I can drop a few pounds if I eat less from 5 PM onward. If I go to bed somewhat hungry and/or wake up in the middle of the night hungry that is a good thing for me. Easier said than done though. Have a good week all.

this was the first of a steep two-week taper for me. 50 trail miles this past week, and 21 of them happened in my last long run before the 50-miler this coming saturday (it was by far the fastest i had ever covered that route, most likely because i had company, so i'm feeling cautiously encouraged). this week i'll limit myself to 25-30 miles prerace.

i seem to be able to keep my weight within the reasonable range of 92-98 pounds without a great deal of struggle (i'm just shy of 5', so i'm hardly emaciated), and i feel best midrange, so no complaints. my husband, who will be attempting his first 50 miler this weekend, has had a more interesting time of it lately. he's just 46, and in the past two or three years put on about ten pounds without eating much more or running any less. i guess his metabolism is just catching up with him as the years begin to. he's been pleasantly surprised to see those ten pounds slip away the past six months as he diligently does long runs every weekend and adds a mile or two to his weekday runs when he finds the time. he's back down to 152 (5'7"). he has a football/baseball player's legs, which are a carryover from his high school days, and although i think they look awfully nice, they don't perform the way he'd like as a long-distance runner, and they end up being just a lot to schlep around.

so who here is running NYC? my running buddy will be among the slower cadre of early-start elite women. i'll have to look into streaming it, since we'll be driving 7 hours home on sunday. correction: I'LL be driving 7 hrs home on sunday as my husband alternately snoozes and groans ;-) wish us luck and happy legs!

Skuj wrote:

Impressive 5x800m L2B. As for weight, WHAT do you eat? I think the older we get the less we can get away with wrt bad foods...not saying you eat bad food, but I'm curious to know what the general quality of intake is given what you have told us.

Thanks Skuj, I was reasonably pleased with the workout, but I really should slow it down and increase the volume.

I think I could have started a 6th rep, but I don't think I could have finished it under 2:50, which tells me I did them too hard.

What do I eat? I'm not a health-food conscious person, but I don't think I'm a particularly unhealthy eater either. I usually have a bowl of whole-grain cereal w/ 1% milk and banana for breakfast. Some kind of lunchmeat or pb&j sandwich (again whole grain), yogurt, and fruit (sometimes carrot sticks) for lunch. I often have a Snickers bar (not the big ones) in the afternoon if I'm feeling lethargic, and especially on MW when I teach 5-7pm. For dinner, it's typically pretty lean meat, a vegetable, a starch (potato, rice, pasta)and a salad. We rarely eat fast food. The easiest and hardest thing to give up would be that last evening sweet treat, usually a cup of ice cream, that I would say I eat more often than not. If I have a non-water beverage, it's usually some diet soda. I could give up on a few things, but that just takes the enjoyment out of life.

Naturally, our real weekly menu is more varied than this (throw in some ethnic food or pizza now and again), but this is a typical day. Also, probably the only really "bad meal" I do is if I don't eat lunch and go home early, I might have some nachos and salsa in the mid-afternoon, instead my usual sandwich. That happens about once a week.

What I really need is portion control, and finding a way to not feel hungry all the time when I try to limit my meals. If I try to cut back on dinner, in particular, I usually have a fourth light meal, as I don't sleep well if I go to bed feeling hungry. That, I believe, is my biggest issue.

My latest dieting trick is to get a toothache. It started bugging me Friday, and by last night, it was pretty bad. Went to the dentist first thing this morning, and it turns out one of my molars had cracked and died, probably some weeks back. So the dentist pulled it this morning. That'll curb your appetite. I guess I'll get an implant sometime in a few months.

Winter is here! I had planned on a 10 mile Halloween fun run, dressed with Johnny Depp pirate head gear and some sort of flouncy shirt, but got roped into helping out at a ski clinic. I was bummed at first but it was actually a good trade off.

Got spend the weekend on the snow with 70 kids and the APU ski team. APU has several Olympians on the team and is the equivalent of Mammoth Lakes or Shumacher's group.

Running: 19 mi, 3 runs of 8, 7, and 4 all easy pace (2:35)

classic ski: 10 km

skate ski: 85 km

woot, 11 hr aerobic training for the week, and that's about the earliest I've done this much skiing.

Weights: 1 time

Weight, In my 20s and 30s I used to fuss a lot about weight, now I weigh myself as little as possible. Usually pretty stable at 152 to 155. I feel heavy at 155+ and will eat less/train more. I feel hungry at 150, even though I'd like to get down post college race weight of 140 to 142 again but that would probably sacrifice a lot of strength built from skiing. Or that's my excuse.

Winter is not here, and we go with the near perfect conditions of east-central Canada.

Unintentional cutback week, 35 miles and a difficult trail race to cap things off. November looks promising for 12 run a week schedule.

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

Week 24

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NYCM is just beginning; hope all goes well for those entered.

It's been an eventful few weeks, so having a tooth extracted last Monday was just par for the course around here. It kept me from running Sunday (pain), Monday (extraction), and Tuesday (still a bit of bleeding from the mouth), so I only ran 4 days this week, Wed.-Sat., for a total of 32-33 miles. I was probably due for a lighter week anyways. I also didn't eat much on those days, so I actually did lose a couple pounds...not my preferred method, but OK. I ran Wed. and Thur. mostly on grass; they included my standard grass 5 mile run, along with a couple added miles. It's mowed, but not golf-course smooth with plenty of uneven ground and a few short hills. For Wednesday's, I ran the loop easy (8-min pace), and Thursday's was moderately hard (not quite tempo hard, but 6:45 pace). Friday on the indoor track, I did 5x{.2 mi on (63-65s), .2 mi off (80-84s)} finishing the 2 miles in 12:05, followed those with 10 straightaway strides, focusing on knee lift and high leg kick on the follow through, there were easy wu/cd, and intervening laps, too. Saturday was an easy 12 miler. Like last week, the hip started tightening up after about 70 minutes.

I've got a turkey trot (we don't call it that) 5k on the Thanksgiving as the only race in which I plan to compete in the near future. I know that several of you are gearing up for Club Cross this December. I'd love to get back to Seattle, where we spent the '80's, but alas, it is just too far and pricey for me to go. Rumor has it that they may bring it back to Lexington next year, which would be pretty awesome.

OK, that's all I got. Hope everyone is training (and racing) well!

Hope everyone had a super week of training! My week went well and was fortunate to get in another 80 mile week. I was in Springfield, MO to speak at the Bass Pro Fitness Festival and was going to run the half marathon today but unfortunately my good friend Jerry Friesen from Grimsby, Ontario, Canada was out on a run Wednesday morning and at the young age of 51 died. I'm still in total shock! Jerry was in great shape and leaves behind his wife Jody and their 3 kids. My wife Jill and I are here now in Grimsby for his funeral tomorrow morning. We will be gathering tomorrow morning before the funeral at Jerry's house and run his favorite 8K route. We are so fortunate to do what we love doing and that's running but don't ever take it for granted! Take care all! :-)

Dick,

You amaze me with those 80 mile weeks. Sorry to hear of the unexpected passing of your friend. My condolences to you and his family.

My own week was marked with a similar tragedy as a fellow sugarmaker and business associate died of injuries sustained while working in his Sugar Bush out in Vermont. Jim was 53,leaves a son and wife.

My week in running was a no show. After resting Monday and doing a 30 mile bike ride Tuesday ,I did 2 cross training ses sions on Weds.

The work monkey combined with a strained right ankle kept me out of running shoes Thurs,Fri. Sat. The Bride and I got in 10 miles on the road bikes this PM. With the turkey trot fast approaching, I was hoping for a better week.

"We are so fortunate to do what we love doing" Carpe Diem.

Wow. How tragic. I send my thoughts and prayers to all his friends and family. The healing will be tough, no doubt. What a nice tribute to run his favorite route in his memory. Safe travels and God bless.

I saw that posted on the sportstats site. I didn't know h but recognized his name from some 5 peaks races I ran. We were the same age so it seems.

Nursing a sore right tendon resulting from a hard trail race last weekend but hasn't changed my runs. 2 hours of trail yesterday and 2 more today with 3 days of doubles and one missed.day due to work.

In a lighter vein the Bro-in-Law called with his first person account of NYCM from the ranks of 3:30's. Bill posted a 3:32, a scant 4 minutes off his PR. Conditions were near perfect weatherwise. In his opinion, course management was excellent and the crowds effusive as ever.

Hope to hear from Desert Rat and the other 50+s tackling the streets of the Big Apple today.

Speaking of tackling, how about those Packers(again).!!

Just one week with a clean win would be OK. Do the pundits in Vegas get to play call, just to keep the nail biting drama and TV ratings up??

Wow, what a NYCM, incredible eh?

My week:

M, 40min easy, felt absolutely amazing, could have run for 2hrs, but Halloween activities beckoned, haha.

T, 40min easy.

W, 17:30 jog + many surges, 50m to 600m ish, untimed, unmeasured, just a very free interval session, 10-12 surges in total + 5min jog. I just didn't feel like "structure" today.

T, 40min easy.

F, no running.

S, 40min on a very hilly trail....not my cup of tea. A mistake.

S, 15min jog + a few strides + 1600m in 5:31 + 8min jog. Wanted to do a third of 5k at 5k goal pace.....not hard but certainly not easy, lots of work to do, but, 4 months to do it in.

Another week in the books free of the runner’s knee that plagued me all year. My first week of lunch-time runs has gone well. The miles remain low, 16 in 5 days but the tempo is increasing for every run. I’ve worked from a hobbling 9:15 or so per mile to just over 8 since the start of Oct. I’m going to just keep pressing the pace and see where it takes me. Sat I hit the track for 5 tentative quarters and it’s clear I have some work to do. The low miles have benefitted my runner’s knee, a hip issue, and Achilles issues as they have all improved dramatically. However, the pes anserine bursitis flared up on the track. This is frustrating as it affects my stride length. At least I’m down to only one injury now :-)

Dick, my condolences to you and your friend's family. What a nice tribute the 8k sounds like. Your advice about not taking anything for granted is spot on. Keep your chin up.

Bushman, I also offer condolences to you and the family of your associate. Too many are tragically being taken too young. Good luck on your return to running soon. Congrats to your bro-in-law on his fine effort at NY.

lucKY2b, dental work can sometimes be problematic with regards to running. Sounds to me like you have made a fine recovery. Best of luck to you with your upcoming turkey trot.

VC, it doesn't sound like that tendon is affecting your training volume too much. My hopes for a quick recovery.

Rtype, similar hopes on a quick recovery from your knee woes. Though I know some who would love to be running your honest paces. :-)

My own training is slogging along. Like others here, I am dealing with the ubiquitous physical ailment(s). Comes with the territory I guess. Oh, we'll, c'est la vie. Have a good running week, everyone!

Howdy, long time no post. Having a consistent year, passed 2000 miles last week, no injuries. Training up for Club XC Nationals in Seattle on Dec. 10th. I'll be bringing ~20 of our Team Nebraska mates with. Good week with 3 X 1000 on Tuesday, 10 X 400 on Thursday, and a 4 mile XC race yesterday.

Giddyup!

Hello, still keeping it short but with a few pick ups to keep legs turning over & raise HR, etc.

Sat: 42 min. easy training

Sun. 23 3/4 min., easy for first 7 plus min. picked up pace to finish strongly AHR 137 MHR 151

Today; Over 26 min., included 3x 3.5 - 4 min. tempo pick ups, last to finish with. AHR 136 MHR 153.

Who saw the NYM yesterday? Thrilling & exciting are 2 words which don't describe it enough for me...That G. Mutai makes it look so easy tho' one can imagine how not easy it was to do the colossal amount of training & speed work those runners do.

What a nail biter it was to see that Mary Keitany go out so hard the way she did, I was sooo hoping she would hold on for the win, I could see the WR & CR were gone when she slowed after 1st. Ave., but what guts she had to respond when the two Kenyans caugt her. I thought she was rallying enough to pull away from them again..

Skuj wrote:

Wow, what a NYCM, incredible eh?

My week:

M, 40min easy, felt absolutely amazing, could have run for 2hrs, but Halloween activities beckoned, haha.

T, 40min easy.

W, 17:30 jog + many surges, 50m to 600m ish, untimed, unmeasured, just a very free interval session, 10-12 surges in total + 5min jog. I just didn't feel like "structure" today.

T, 40min easy.

F, no running.

S, 40min on a very hilly trail....not my cup of tea. A mistake.

S, 15min jog + a few strides + 1600m in 5:31 + 8min jog. Wanted to do a third of 5k at 5k goal pace.....not hard but certainly not easy, lots of work to do, but, 4 months to do it in.

Why do you consider the hilly run on sat to be a mistake?

Who saw the NYM yesterday? Thrilling & exciting are 2 words which don't describe it enough for me...That G. Mutai makes it look so easy tho' one can imagine how not easy it was to do the colossal amount of training & speed work those runners do.

What a nail biter it was to see that Mary Keitany go out so hard the way she did, I was sooo hoping she would hold on for the win, I could see the WR & CR were gone when she slowed after 1st. Ave., but what guts she had to respond when the two Kenyans caugt her. I thought she was rallying enough to pull away from them again..

[two Ethiopians]

Yes, it was a great race. I tracked it online on LR and then watched the 2 hr tape in the evening.

Had some mixed feelings, this was the first time I watched since the debacle of 2009 and seeing different parts on the course brought back memories:

Brooklyn through about 8 or 9 miles, feeling good, just a dull ache in my knee.

11-13 miles, uh oh this could be tough

15-16 miles, the knee went squish on Queensborough Bridge

17-18 miles excrutiating pain, but kept going

18 mile check point DNF, and could not take another step/wheeled off the course; fracture, surgery, recovery, re-injury, and 12 of the next 16 months off.

I now want to go back. Maybe next year.

For the week: 79 km xc skiing, including two threshold workouts, and a little speed. 16 miles easy running, 2 weight workouts.

Dick, mycondolences over the loss of your friend.