50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

My son's wedding was Saturday, so with travel and prep, I didn't prioritize training. But managed one workout day: repeat half-miles. I have no specific future races on my schedule ... may just switch to basic base-building for the winter and see what I can do with 5Ks next year.

Looking at age-grade equivalents, 19:10 would currently "match" my master's PR. That slows to 19:20 next year when I am 58 ... which may be a reasonable goal if I can maintain some decent mileage and race-specific workouts. Most recent effort was 20:03 (8 days ago).

As per Coach Rohl's advice, I got on the bike midweek for a hard effort on a breezy but warm day (no major climbs).

Mon: Off

Tues: 10.0 miles @ 8:12/mi

Wed: Bike: 21-mile loop @ 19.5 mph; 6-mile easy cooldown

Thur: VO2max: 1.5 mi warmup; 6 x 880y w/2-min recoveries (3:21, 3:14, 3:09, 3:10, 3:07, 3:03); 1.5 mi cooldown

Fri: 4.6 miles easy with 6 x 100y strides

Sat: Off

Sun: 4.6 miles @ 8:08/mi

Happy trails!

That is a solid week right there! Pretty cool seeing how everyone does each week. My wife wanted to know if this thread was like other threads that discuss anatomy of runners. I said yes if you she meant knee and hip replacements and Achilles and hamstrings issues.

Week 279 was the calf re-injury week, already posted.

Week 280: 0

Week 281: 1 run/walk, 30 minutes

Week 282: 2 run/walks, total 1 hour 11 minutes

Week 283: 5K race, 38 minutes

Week 284: 4-mile race, 47 minutes

Week 285: 0

Week 286: 1 run/walk, 60 minutes (guessing about 5 miles)

Week 287 (current week): 4 runs in 3 hours even

I started back on the bike in week 281, and have biked every weekday and some weekend days since. The run/walks were just testing the calf. It was only good for about 6-7 minutes at the start, then I struggled. The races were for charity. The flattish 5K hurt a little bit. The 4-miler hurt a LOT. It was held at the scene of the crime, over the same hills where I initially strained my calf. The hills were at the start and finish. At mile one I was walking backwards. At mile two I seriously considered dropping out. But figuring it was mostly flat or downhill from there, I limped to the finish. Twelve days later I did a social Thanksgiving Day turkey trot held at an even hillier park. Amazingly, no pain or soreness whatsoever. I cautiously took a few more days off, then started back running.

Tue - 36 mins easy (4.0 miles by odometer in 36:17)

Thu - 45 mins easy

Sat - 1 hr 3 mins easy

Sun - 36 mins easy (4.0 miles in 36:04)

All totally pain-free, probably because I haven't pushed off for a single stride. It was pointed out to me on Wednesday that I just did four miles in less time than my 5K race. Not having been on letsrun in 8 weeks, I have some catching up to do on this thread. Oh, and I got on the scale for the first time in 8 weeks, +1.6 kilos (for me that's a lot), so I have work to do there as well.

These injuries can go to hell. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Mike Lundgren wrote:

Just talked with a guy who once was one of the top runners in the KC area, about to run low 16 for 5 km consistently. Now a coach for high school runners and about age 50 or 55, He's scheduled for a total knee replacement. Says he cannot run across the parking lot now, without an EMT.

Or a local 46 year old female who ran a sub 4 for 50 km just four years ago, and passed away (no reason announced). Shocking. Hug your kids, your wife and your hamstrings and love this life while we can, right? Peace out!

You are so right. 25 years ago I could run a sub-1:20 half marathon. My last two, in October and November of this year, were both 1:46:xx. I, too, wonder whether I can really justify spending the time and money to enter races, but I still love competing even though I'm no longer fast. And then I look around at others my age (and younger) and realize how fortunate I am to still be able to run at all. And to have a husband who can also still do everything he could do when younger (he is a cyclist), albeit not quite as fast.

Week 4 of recovery post-hamstring tear went pretty well. 30 miles running and 20 biking, with my average pace dropping slowly from 8:20 to 7:50 and the distance getting back up to 10k.

Pre-tear steady state runs were 6 miles at around a 7:15 pace. I'm doing some hamstring strength and flexibiity work most days, and while I did this 2-3 times per week before this happened, it looks it will be part of my daily regimen. My plan is to keep progressing slowly this week and start incorporating some strides.

Good luck to those of you running Club Nats!

Scott

Though the Achilles is doing much better other than some get-out-of-bed stiffness, the plan to increase volume is on hold. I tweaked a hip flexor on a jog shortly before Turkey Day then reinjured it more seriously last week. I think I had been stretching it a little too vigorously. Its been a few days and it's still a little sore, though I'm now walking a couple of miles. I'm hopeful to test it jogging in the next day or two.

No golf either. The weather hasn't cooperated.

M: off.

T: 7 miles.

W: 5 miles.

R: 3 miles.

F: off.

SA: marathon (3:30:55)

SU: off.

As I wrote last week, I didn't have much expectation for my marathon. But the result was still disappointing. 6 minutes slower than last year, and I think the conditions were about the same. The first half in 1:42:54 felt a bit harder than it should be, and I could not maintain the pace after 15 miles. I had no serious physical problem, I simply did not have it on the day.

Now I will take a break from marathon, and try to improve my half and 10k in the spring.

Anyone know the story on Javier Coronado from Victoria TX? He supposedly won the 55-59 AG at San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon with a 1:16:## on Sunday. He had predicted he would run a 1:05 (you can find "predictions" in the results along with actual time).

He has now been pulled from the results.

Another course cutter?

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Week 288

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Howdy 50+er's! Quick bump to get the ball rolling. Been mired in finals week shtuff: test writing/giving/grading, dealing with students wanting to turn in anything for credit, end-of-semester faculty/staff meeting......fun, fun, fun. I did get out three times including a round of hills that I'm going to call a workout, though I didn't push the pace much. In the end, 15 miles will be added to the yearly total; log reads as such:

Sun/Mon: off

Tues: 5.0 w/8xhill loops (7:39 pace)

Wed/Thur: off

Fri: 4.2 easy (7:59 pace)

Sat: 6.0 mostly easy (7:36 avg pace)

The hill is a 70-75 foot elevation gain over 1/4-mile stretch, the full loop is just over 0.6 miles, so 590 feet of elevation for the day (or as mo'pak would call it, an easy day.) Picked it up a bit at the end of Saturday's run, but still mostly trying to keep it light. My right hip continues to tighten up after about 3-1/2 miles no matter what I'm doing. A quick stop and stretch will usually keep me going for another couple. Hopefully, time off over winter break will allow me to address/correct whatever is going on; we've chosen not to make our usual pilgrimage to Wisconsin this year. As for weight, sorry Rtype, I haven't been laying off the treats as we head into holiday party season. I'll pay for it in January.

OK, that's it from me. This forum isn't typically a place where we would suss out race cheats, so I doubt you'll get much response on you question, Fact Checking. Haven't had time to check out the results from Club XC Nats. Would love to hear any reports! Glad to see AlanB back on the roads.Hope y'all have had good training/racing this week!

All the Best!

In my continuing effort to be more patient and more prudent in my training I dropped back to 25 miles this week after 40 last week and starting the week with some calf soreness in my left ("good") leg. So,

M- 8 at 8:57 ave.

T- 3 at 8:45 ave

W-3 at 8:47 ave

Th- rest

F- rest

S- 9 at 8:39 ave on very hilly trails

Su- 5 walking

My calf was sore after yesterday's 9 miles, but not as sore as after last week's 9 miles. I have entered a 10K trail race next Saturday mainly as a fun race while visiting my son and his wife and to get a little bit of a sense of how my fitness is coming along.

I looked at the Club XC results and there were a lot of good people running a lot of good times across all of the age groups. Congratulations to everyone who raced!

fun week except for getting a bad head cold as of Wednesday. Total 10 hours of aerobic activity, of which 5 = running. Longest run today, 1 hour with progression to marathon pace. All injuries fairly manageable.

congratulations to those who ran club nationals. my hometown colleagues Baltimore-Washington did well [8th] in men's masters team competition. Also, Pete Magill won my age group, and I enjoy reading Pete's books/articles, so that's one degree of separation from a national championship! must brag to my students about this.....

Dave

I missed doing Club XC this year even though it was my main goal for 2016, due to the injury and surgery last summer. Hopefully to return in the future. Congrats to anyone who ran there, and to SoCal Pete for a big win. My picture is in one of his books so that's my 0.15 sec worth of fame.

45 miles for the week and I managed to get in an actual race, first since July, even though I'm supposed to stay on the treadmill until the end of the month.

10K, elev. 5,300 ft, temp mid 30s, extensive ice and snow on the course for first and last km. Ran 39:12 for age group 1st (83.7% age grade). It was slower than I'd hoped but considering the 2 month lay off and not great conditions somewhat encouraging.

Cross Country Club Nationals results link here:

http://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=120

(although was not functioning properly lastI looked)

Week 3 of comeback number 347 in quest of a 5 something track one mile at age 61 concluded with 37 miles, 250 push ups, 790 sit ups, two mini track workouts, one 1:30 deep tissue bodywork, one gym workout and weight loss of precisely .3 of a single pound ;(

Highlights were a blazing 83.92 400 meters and a smoking 7:02 mile ( second mile of a two mile track anaerobic threshold that turned into something much more akin to a time trial)...gotta start somewhere I guess.

Hoping everybody's OWies are one week better Than last week and look forward to your weekly war stories.

Cheers,

MF

MikeF wrote:

Cross Country Club Nationals results link here:

http://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=120

(although was not functioning properly lastI looked)

Week 3 of comeback number 347 in quest of a 5 something track one mile at age 61 concluded with 37 miles, 250 push ups, 790 sit ups, two mini track workouts, one 1:30 deep tissue bodywork, one gym workout and weight loss of precisely .3 of a single pound ;(

Highlights were a blazing 83.92 400 meters and a smoking 7:02 mile ( second mile of a two mile track anaerobic threshold that turned into something much more akin to a time trial)...gotta start somewhere I guess.

Hoping everybody's OWies are one week better Than last week and look forward to your weekly war stories.

Cheers,

MF

Hey Mike seems like we are about at the same point in our come back. At 60 week 6 hammered out a 6:48 1600 2 weeks ago. How about a gentlemen's bet . First one to sub 6 gets an atta boy;)

Not much this week. Did 2 treadmill "workouts". Two 400 in 90 secs with full recovery. A few days later one mile in 6:58 full recovery followed up with a 400 in 90 seconds. I was planning on doing 2 miles in 14 but after about 2 minutes realized it was not gonna happen. Weight is just not coming off but I am sticking to 2000 calories a day and hope I start dropping some lbs.

Had a real nice week. Ran all 7 days, all outside, and all with zero physical issues. I feel like I'm back to good. Winter arrived yesterday big time. Ran in about 5" of snow today. Dealt with some single digit wind chills all week.

The log for the week reads 38.8 miles, avg'd 7:29/mile.

Mon: 5.92 Miles in 43:38 [7:22 per mile]

Tue: 4.03 Miles in 32:15 [8:00 per mile]

Wed: 5.86 Miles in 40:39 [6:56 per mile] middle 2 6:30, 6:14

Thu: 5.97 Miles in 46:08 [7:43 per mile] dark & wc 9 degrees

Fri: 3.87 Miles in 28:04 [7:15 per mile]

Sat: 9.4 Miles in 1:11:02 [7:33 per mile] dark & wc 8 degrees

Sun: 3.7 Miles in 28:35 [7:43 per mile]

Big shout out to my teammate Kerry Barnett for his 2nd place finish in the 55-59 at the Club Champs. Really happy for him!

And congrats SCGal for her 4th place finish. But It is a bittersweet spot to be in as I know all too well.

That's it from here. Bumping the miles up to 42'ish next week. May have to get in some treadmill runs though.... 10" of snow is predicted by tomorrow morning.

Dave

Good afternoon from Eagle, Idaho.

Like others here weather conditions required a move indoors to a treadmill. I have had my best three weeks of running frequency and volume in years. I added two days of weight training; free weights-squat, bench and overhead. Friday evening was the company Christmas party, so missedmy hard training day that was scheduled for Saturday. A good time to recover from the past three weeks work.

Monday: Three way lunges; 2 miles easy; 16 x 100m shakedowns, 2 easy, 2 good; weights 2 sets

Tuesday: Leg swings; 3 miles alternating 150m easy, 50m walk

Wednesday: Treadmill- 2 miles easy; .50-.63-.75-.62-.50 tempo starting @ 7:30 and finishing at 6:30 per mile / 2:00 rest between; mile easy

Thursday: Treadmill- 3 miles with .10 walk and .20 easy; weights 1 set only

Friday: Treadmill- 3 miles easy

Saturday: off

Sunday: off

Igy

In Arizona now until spring. Did a 12K race yesterday 8:11 pace for 2nd in over 60 AG. Have a half marathon next Saturday. Perfect weather. Life is good.

Nice week here in PA

Monday got out and rode 15 +WTS SQ 120 4*5 BP 95 4*5 LE/LC 115/75 TR 120 4*12

Tuesday swam 2000yds 36:30 PM 8 miles @8:25 (700 feet climbing)

Wednesday AM 6 miles 48:00 PM 16 mile trainer ride @ the shop (2 IPA's after)

Thursday Ran 4 miles 32:00 Lifted then swam 1000yds Lift was FSQ 40lbs reps LE/LC 35/25 TR 40lbs all 50reps NOTE:Front squats for high reps are hard and very core intensive highly ercomend trying this for the sheet torture of it

Friday Meet at Houghton WU 2 1 mile time trial racewalk 7:36 Avg HR 175 with a max of 202 - how is that possible? Cadence at 201 steps per minute with a 1.4m stride

Saturday 4 miles easy 31:00

Sunday 10 miles 76:30 felt good all the way in the light snow. Weight gain from active rest/thanksgivng coming back off.

Now I get to pack for the USTFCCA convention in Orlando. Lot of nice warm weather there. Anyone else going to be there?.

lucKY, whatcha need to run more than 3 miles for? Just go faster :-)

Congrats Coyote, SCGal, and topcat on your races!

My week:

Mon = 3 miles road and trail, hard

Tue = 5 miles elliptical @7:12 pace

Wed = 3 miles road, medium

Thu = 5 miles elliptical @ 7:06 pace

Fri = 3 miles gravel trail, medium hard

Sat = 5 miles elliptical @7:03 pace

Sun = 3 miles rocky trail with 500 ft climb in 1.5 miles

Had a good week. Until today I had some questions about whether the elliptical was helping my running. Today’s climb answered in the affirmative. I usually avoid this climb as the first half mile “features” 300 feet of climbing. I motored right up it easier than I have in years. Obviously, the hips, glutes, hams, and calves are benefitting from the elliptical.

Have a great week everyone!