50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Thank you Foofoo founder,

I listened to one of your talks. Your advice was so good that I practically noted every word. My favorite piece of advice was how you held your employees accountable. You didn't really manage them. You lead them. They set their own goals and reported what they accomplished weekly. It was brilliant advice I will always remember.

Hoo Friend-

Thank you for your example on the importance of giving a damn. I needed to hear it because I have all these ideas that could pull me in different directions. The right path is the one I give a damn about. That made a huge difference in my life. Thanks.

Thank you Read,

It's hard to be a founder. Founders get turned down all the time by investors. It can be disheartening. You're so busy and you make it seem effortless to make time for others. You are one of the kindest guys in Silicon Valley. Thank you.

Lillee

I admire how you put family first. You live such a full life because you have your priorities straight. That's an example to every workaholic in Silicon Valley.

ReMARCable-

Thousands of people mark down every word you write. I've always felt like you've been my biggest fan of every word I write.

I hate to brag but ReMARCable follows me on Twitter. Obviously, I'm awesome.

Taking a break. It's okay if you delete it after they see it.

lucKY2b wrote:

Paul061, doesn't surprise me at all that you're still feeling a bit "hungover" from the Marathon. It took me a full 3 months before I started to feel like myself again after Chicago, and even then, I could tell that I'd lost a few steps. Patience with easy runs will get you back. The good news is that by 6-months, I was back on PR pace.

Hang in there!

I quit drinking because of long hangovers :-)

I have been taking some pain pills for an old shoulder injury. I quite those a couple of days ago and am feeling a little better. Wonder if that was part of the issue?

Hey Gang, mind another member? I'm Steve from Michigan's U.P. Hopefully this will get to the correct group because the last one showed up in another forum here. Just turned 55 at the end of May, still trying to push it. Last 4 weeks my mileage totals were 62, 50, 55, 63. Ran 1:38:47 for a half marathon last month in Green Bay--awful time for me due to the humidity. I was 1:30:21 there last year. Still trying to bump the mileage up to give myself a better base. Speedwork last Sunday was recommended by "RacerDB"(Thanks Dave!) 400-800-1200-1600-400. One lap rest(walk/jog). Splits were 93, 3:07, 4:14, 6:24 and 88.

Looking forward to reading and see what works for the rest of you 50+ runners...

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6579817#ixzz3dvAAkfga

Welcome Steve! This is the right place for encouragement, advice, and training tips for mature runners. I'm a part-time Yooper with a cabin in Munising and am missing the cooler weather up there right now. Looks like you're healthy with the miles you're running. I'll look forward to hearing about your progress.

Well it's been kind of a crash & burn time around here. Currently on day 6 of 7 days off. I took this time to really look at myself and decide what I want to do with my running. Mentally I was out of it; physically I was feeling beat up. Running seemed to be such a drag. My attitude towards running wasn't very good to the point of questioning weather I really wanted to do this anymore. So the week off has been good.

My daughter has such a positive, uplifting attitude. Mostly because of her I decided this wasn't the time walk away. My training partner also has a very positive attitude and has been helpful counsel. I still feel I have better races than I have shown, yet this year. The 5k on the 13th seemed like a good effort to many, but to me me it was a big disappointment. Eight months of solid training and I fell far short of what I felt I was capable of running.

So during the past week I've gone from the thoughts of 'I never want to run again' to thinking 'Ok, this is a big part of who I am, this is what I do. This is what I've always done. Don't quit now.'

Lastly, a few weeks ago I was invited to join a 'very good' club team. I think I'm going to accept the invitation. Hopefully I can contribute and make a strong 50's team a little stronger. My race schedule will now include the Masters 5K champs in Syracuse and Club XC champs in San Francisco.

I do have the reality of dealing with my Achilles tendonitis. (at least that's what we think it is) It's always there but I have been able to run thru it. For some brief times early on some runs the pain is a '10', other times it's a '1', then it pretty much goes away. I just wish it were gone. My therapy includes icing, laser to aid in breaking up the scar tissue, magnetic roller and a new wobble board I got yesterday. Hope something works.

That's it for now; See you on the roads,

Dave

Dave,

I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles. I think we all go through the same thing periodically. But you have so much more talent than most of us, I'd hate to see you give it up for good! However, I know it's a challenge to run with an injury and I certainly can understand the need for time to heal and mentally recover.

I'm glad to hear you're thinking of joining a team. It has made a huge difference for me. I'll give much more for my teammates than I will for just myself. I'm sure you will do the same. Congratulations on your invitation and I hope I'll see you in SF in December!

I've been to Munising before, but not in recent years. Used to do the Pictured Rocks Road Race up there. I live in the Iron Mountain-Kingsford area. And yes, it never gets crazy hot up here, but we do have our days...I am healthy to this point, but not very happy with my races dating back a year. Trying to increase my base for one thing, and make my easy and recovery days "easy"....

Steve

Dave, you sound a lot like me--very hard on yourself. But I'm reminded of a half marathon I did about 5-6 years ago where I "only" ran around 1:29 or so. I was riding the bus back to the hotel, lamenting my "slow" time, when one slower runner made a comment saying "I would kill for that time." That's when I tried to put it into a better perspective. You and I are the same age, and I would kill to run sub 17 for 5K or even sub 36 for 5K at the age of 55. I mean...you are still kicking butt out there! I've been reading your weekly reports and there is no way you should even think about stopping or backing down.

I haven't broke 40 minutes in a 10K in about 5 years. Granted, I don't race that many 10K's anymore, and the ones I have done are usually pretty challenging. But I'd be happy just to get back under 40 minutes and even to go 18:30 for 5K would make me pretty happy...

Steve

Greetings you speedsters! Just checking in quickly - on a 2 week vacation with the fam damily in Co Springs and surrounding areas. Enjoying cooler temps and little to no humidity. Lots of trail running, hiking, cycling, etc. No mileage to report - just doing what feels like fun every day for as long as I can do it. Thank goodness the hubby and kids enjoy all the same stuff.

My nagging sciatica/hip/hammy issues have all but evaporated. I still feel a tug in my hammy when I do a traditional track workout or tempo run. But NOTHING like what I was struggling with at home. Could it be varying terrain and activities may be helpful. Plus, only doing one hard run workout every week. Everything else has been easy.

On chiros - I have used the same one in the past and continue to use him today to help me with current problem. I have had big gains in pain reduction and really like his "physician, heal thyself" attitude. He does not do much in the way of adjustments - mainly ART and analysis of form, muscle weakness, etc. that could be causing problems. If he can't fix things in 4 sessions, he pretty much says - time to go see a traditional doctor.

Tried something today that I said I would "never" do - climbing - with my son and husband. My son really loves it and has been on me for awhile to try. Scary, scary, scary for me - but I did it! Not pretty and totally scary, but I found myself saying "I can do better than that" every segment. So would rest and try again. Reminded me of running the marathon - I get discouraged sometimes when I don't hit the time goal, but continue to find myself saying "I can do better next time". So, think I will try again this spring to run another one. OH, and take a few climbing lessons in the interim so I can go out with my son and his friends one day.

So - I may try a few more things outside the comfort zone this year - and see if it breaks me out of this discouraged running rut.

My best to all of you and may all of us get over these nagging niggles we seem to be struggling with.

As the climbing kids say "Climb on!"

indycolt wrote:

... one slower runner made a comment saying "I would kill for that time." That's when I tried to put it into a better perspective.

^^This, exactly. Thank you, Steve.

The Prophet said:

Consider those who have less than you do, not those who have more than you do. This will better assist you not to make light of the grace God has given you.

--Ibn Ábbād of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path, John Renard, S.J. (translator), Paulist Press 1986, pg 74

"Ibn Abbad of Ronda". The board ate the characters in a way that preview did not...

GreteHund wrote:

Tried something today that I said I would "never" do - climbing ... Scary, scary, scary for me - but I did it!

That's awesome. Made my week. Rock on.

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Week 212

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Greetings, 50+ers! It was continued hot and humid all the way through the week; still running afternoons and evenings (except Saturday). I backed off and only covered about 27 miles for the week. Log reads as such:

Sun: 5.0 easy (8:30 pace)

Mon: Off (just tired)

Tue: 4.6 track w/400,1600,1200,800,400 (95,634,450,309,92)

Wed: 4.1 easy-ish progressive (8:00 -> 7:00)

Thu: 5.3 easy (8:19 pace) mostly on wooded trail loop.

Fri: Off (sick of running in the heat)

Sat: 8.0 (7:18 average) w/1.5@6:22 pace and 1.0@6:30

Tuesday's track workout was hot, windy, and humid. When I planned the workout, I anticipated a storm rolling through late afternoon to cool things off; didn't happen, but we went on as planned. The cut-downs went pretty well, getting progressively faster as we shortened up the reps (1-lap jog recovery between each). We were supposed to run one final 400, but I, for one, was starting to get that tingly feeling, telling me it was time to stop. As you can see, we also cut the warm-up and cool-down to a only few laps.

Wednesday was meant to be easy, but somehow I kept picking the pace up, I think I just wanted to be done.

Thursday, I just ran 9 laps on the ~1/2-mile loop in the shaded arboretum woods near our house to beat the heat (90+).

Saturday morning's run felt relatively cool (70 degrees) compared to the afternoon slog-fest, but the humidity was sky high (93-4%). Since I opted not to race, I was determined to get some pace in. After an 8:22 first mile, I ran the next 1.5 miles at what I thought would be about my current 5k pace. The plan was to do a repeat of that again on the return trip of this hilly out and back. But this first effort really fried my quads, and I struggled coming back. Finally, with a little over a mile to go (and a bit of downhill to help), I mustered the energy to get at least a 6:32 effort in. The miles in between the two efforts were run in the 7:20-7:30 range. Finished the morning off with an 8:00 cool-down mile.

I'm still so far off from where I think that I could be by this point in the year, but I'm satisfied with the current progress. I'll go ahead and sign up for next Saturday's 10k. My current fitness tells me 41-minutes is probably all I can muster, but if weather is good, I might surprise myself and get under 40...we'll see.

To Dave, I'm glad to hear that you are going to keep at it, I think you've still got some great times ahead of you and that joining an elite team is a really wise choice. You've had a tremendously long, consistent, high-level career as a masters runner; you've received honorable mention in Running Times masters rankings multiple times. I'm always a bit envious of your raw and honed talent, while vicariously relishing in your successes (personally, I'd love to see you 15-years down the road breaking the 70+ 5k mark); but truth is, you owe us nothing. You know best what you still want to get out of running and what your body can handle. I hope that by getting more support with this elite team, you'll find that enthusiasm to propel you forward and upward on this journey. We're pulling for you!

Gretehund, I'm really glad that you've been getting in some quality time away from running and enjoying some new adventures. Yes, it is nice when those niggles start to fade when not training all the time. I'm reminded about the PT that visited our club meeting a year back whose one advice to runners was to "do something else." No, he didn't mean to give up on running, but to be passionate about some other physical activity, as well (basketball, climbing, rowing, cycling, whatever.) He said that it'll aid in our running in many intangible ways by keeping our whole body fresher (always think of Mo'pak in that regard.) I still need to find that "something else", "yard work" is not a passion, :-P .

And Welcome Steve! Hope that you find some support through this thread. Although I've lived in KY for the past 20+ years, I still think of myself as a Wisconsinite, and I also think of the U.P. is kind of an extension of northern Wisconsin, so we have a bit in common there. Do you cross-country ski, too? It'd be a natural fit, especially with the Birkie close by. Co57 is a big skier. I'll look forward to reading about your training (I'm hoping the 1200 on your post was a typo and should be 4:41), I think that we're in about the same boat.

There was a masters women's exhibition 3000m at the USATF Championships yesterday in which SCGal's club-mate Sonja Friend-Uhl smoked the field in 9:48.16. Don't know if there were any 50+ runners in the field. There'll be 3000m exhibition for the men today. I know that Mike Blackmore is running that one, but the weather has been hot, so not sure what kind of times they might able to achieve. Good Luck!

OK. That's enough rambling for the day. Hope you all are in a good place. Looking forward to engaging in your journey. Any races to report?

All the Best!

Another solid week and a little bit better fitness. 57 miles total -

Mon - 8 mile hills 9:32 ave

Tue - 8 mile hills 8:12 ave

Wed - 8 mile hills 10:24 ave

Thu - 8 mile hills 9:38 ave

Fri - 8 mile hills 9:30 ave

Sat - 9 miles trails 8:34 ave

Sun -8 mile hills 10:35 ave

This week will be all easy recovery running with a few strides and a 10K on the 4th.