50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

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Week 329

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Greetings, 50+ers! Let's see if we can't change the subject and get back to talking about racing and training. Managed about 17 miles of training on 4 days (plus a fifth day with about 5 walking miles that included the annual CROP Hunger Walk---see

https://www.crophungerwalk.org/

for more on that.) Week was like this:

Sun: CROP Walk

Mon: Off

Tue: 4 mostly easy, with 0.75@under 6:40 pace

Wed: Off (Leadership Academy from dawn to dusk, followed by fine dining.)

Thur: 4.1 (7:25 avg) Several untimed breaks, but sub-7 for one mile

Fri: 4.1 Fairly easy (7:57 pace)

Sat: 4.5 Easy grass (8:14 pace)

Knee is feeling 90-95%, so hopefully it's all about getting weight off and getting the mileage back up going forward (and continuing with core-stability.) I felt lethargic on Thursday (sitting for hours on end Wednesday and Thursday for this Academy didn't help, I'm sure) and tried to shake it off, but found myself gasping and wheezing several times. Felt better by Friday. The highlight of the week was running on the grass out at Masterson Station (where the USATF Club XC Championships will be.) If the meet were held today, the race would be fast; we've had very little rain of late, and the ground is incredibly firm, so firm that I nearly twisted an ankle a couple of times where it was a bit uneven. I rolled it twice in the first mile (but thankfully didn't sprain it,) then paid more attention to my footing and was fine the rest off the way. In fact, aside from a couple of rough spots on that first long downhill after where the start was last time the meet was here, most the course is in fantastic shape.

OK, that's it from here. Hopefully, I'll get to the mid-20's this week. Onward and upward, as they say. How's by you?

Cheers!

Allen1959 wrote:

Rtype -- What's the next step for rehabilitating your heel?

In short: nothing.

I am taking a page out of the great Ed Whitlock’s book and taking a break from running until my heel is good to go. I think it was on at least 2 occasions he took a whole year off to let his knee heal. No cortisone shots, no chiropractors, no surgeries, no stretching, no plyometrics, no cross training, no foam rolling, no heel drops or any other special interventions. He simply, very patiently, ...waited...Of course, as I’ve said before, I aint no Ed Whitlock, and neither are you! So, unlike Ed I am continuing the dumbbell workouts and I’m hoping it will only be a few weeks of waiting. On day 5 now and am watching my diet and I have gained no weight. What’s seldom mentioned on Ed’s return is he sometimes started with as little as 10 min a day and then added a minute a day until he slowly built up his time. I’ve done that twice now successfully. I don’t like running minutes over miles but I’ve found it does have sort-of a built-in governor effect, whereby 30 minutes on a day that is hot or you are tired may yield only 3 miles or so but on feel-good it days may get you 4 miles or more.

Sorry for going on about Ed but I feel he has many lessons yet to teach and we’ll be learning from him long after his passing which was just 3.13.2017.

Have a great week folks.

Another good week for me. No calf issues and I’m actually sensing a bit of spring in my step. Got me thinking about jumping into the neighborhood 5k coming up. It’s been awhile.

Sun: 3mi walk

Mon: 53' jog, body wt ex

Tues: off

Wed: 62'jog, body wt ex

Thu: golf (walk9/ride9), 87

Fri: 62'jog, body wt ex

Sat: 2mi walk

Best to all!

Doing pretty well. Trying to "curb my enthusiasm" as I feel fitness returning. I'm well aware of pushing too much too soon. I was at the track the other day and was talking with another runner who was doing his intervals. He was also a sprinter in high school and college and we talked about workouts that we'd finish before classes with only a small whimper that would now lay us low. My only regret from those years is that I didn't appreciate it. I thought my fitness and strength would always been there for me. Ahhh....youth!

So my past week went like this: Monday, weights, Tuesday, 5 miles finishing with 4x100 strides, Wednesday, weights and yoga, Thursday 5 miles with strides, Friday rest, Saturday speed endurance on the track which was 5x200, then speed work of 4x50 wearing track shoes. Today I have some chores to see to, so I'll take an active rest day. Happy week ahead to all.

Good morning from Eagle, Idaho. Unfortunately more negative than positive to report this week; infected toenail, general fatigue, inconsistent training and a poor race. How's that for a report! My week:

Monday: 1 1/2 miles easy (tired called it a day)

Tuesday: 1,000 yards swimming

Wednesday: AM- 2miles easy; 1,000m tempo @ 4:30 / 2:00 rest; 1,500m tempo @ 6:58; mile easy; PM- 3 mile walk

Thursday: Off

Friday: 4 miles easy @ 10:02 / mile

Saturday: AM- 1 1/2 mile walk; PM: 5k easy; 4 x strides; 5k race (fast course, accurate, good weather) 7:49 first mile, very tired, walked at 1.6 miles and 2.0 miles; thighs heavy; 25:51 / 8:17 per mile

Sunday: ?

Room for improvement.

Igy

Rtype thanks for the Ed Whitlock-isms. I had the pleasure of chaperoning him for a few days at Masters World T&F Championships as we were staying in the same hotel and same races...but different heats. He sure was interesting...and usually once a week or so I find myself asking WWEWD?

Did a solo 10,000 meter "time trial" on a windy high school track yesterday morning and accomplished my somewhat embarrassing goal to run faster than my lifetime PR x 2...made it (thankfully) but not with a lot to spare (a blistering 58:29)

Hit exactly 108,000 lifetime miles yesterday buoyed by a quite stout (for me anyways) 190 miles for the month of September. Of the 44 run this past week, 29 were done on the track (including a ten miler)...I know, weird, right?

No big ambitions for the coming week aside from staying in perpetual motion...another 40 miles of floundering about would be just fine by me.

Gotta run...literally ;)

your pal,

MF

35 miles so far this week

62 years old and will be getting my first social security check in 3 weeks.

Started training in 1977.

medical problems keep coming one after the other.

Its a challenge nowadays.

3 weeks ago, I got an ear infection that lead to vertigo and dizziness SO they put me on amoxicillin and at the end of the 10 day cycle I got horrible stomach problems ha

Went out this morning anyway and went through the motions and ran one tempo mile in 7:38 plus 5 more miles just to get through.

Getting old aint for sissies..

1300 miles so far this year.

Race next week.

Another solid week for me.

Mon. Legs were really fatigued from Sunday's long run so swapped the bike for the kayak.

Paddled 25 mins up the Mt Ida Creek. I did a 1 km recon. jog and decided to head back to the lake, too many sandbars.

Another 40 mins paddling.

Back home I went for a 1 hour hike with the weighted vest over Roo Hill.

Tues. An easy 10 min warmup jog then 6 hard efforts up Basin Hill, 1km, 100 metres elevation gain. So 12km and 600 metres elev gain in about 78 mins. A tough session.

Wed. Surprisingly lively 24.5 km mountain bike ride in 1.10.

Thu. 12 km easy trail run 1.03. Heavy legs.

Fri. 26 km mountain bike ride in 1.16. Strong on the hills.

Sat. Easy 5 km jog then picked it up a bit with a 4.06 km and an 87 sec 400 metres over the remaining 4 kms. Straight out in the kayak for a brisk 34 mins.

Sun. 4 x up Mt Ida the hard way (550 metres 155 metres elevation ) then a solid run down the fire tower road 2.5 kms then a hard climb back up the road. 11 kms with 800 plus metres of elevation gain. It is rugged and it took me 1 hr 56 min.

Going ok.

So this time around I promised to post set backs and I have had a set back.

My Left Foot resurfaced when I resumed my running after a full month of just hiking pain free. So running seems to be the issue.

As RType and MF mentioned I too ask WWEWD?

Ed would gently persevere.

Added barefoot in the sand and surf to strengthen feet.

Probably hiked over 70 miles hills. Ran 2 times for a total of 3 miles all as usual hard running. Running felt great except for the foot.

congrats on the 108K! that's remarkable endurance in the sport.

I had a pretty good week, though left hip adductor strain recurring and worrisome just 13 days out from Hartford Marathon 10/14. began to taper this week, including:

M 1:45 double

Tu 1:10 with 6 X 90 sec pretty hard hills (2:30 recovery)

W 1:30 bike incl. 45:00 class

Th 2:20 double

F 1:00 incl. 3 X 3:00 at 5k pace (2:00 recovery)

Sat 1:30

Su 1:20

have a great week. I hope all went well today for allen1959 [marathon day, right?]

Dave

60 or 61 miles with a tempo on Wednesday and 5K fun run today. They had me at 6:00 pace my watch had 5:52 (for 3.2). 1st masters and 5th overall.

M - easy 5

T - 8

W - 9 with 3.3 mile tempo and 4X 20 sec pick ups

Th - 10

Fr - Just under 13

Sa 7

Su - 8.5 with the 5K

MikeF, I kind of like the idea of shooting for a PR*2. Since I was never very fast when young, I still have a lot of cushion there. Perhaps a better goal for me would be PR*1.5.

Allen1959, I hope the marathon went OK?

I had what amounts these days to a good week, with only one minor and temporary glitch.

Monday: 10.5 miles at 9:12/mile pace.

Tues: 90 min on bike trainer.

Weds: 10.4 miles at 9:02 pace.

Thurs: 95 minutes on bike trainer.

Fri: 9.9 miles at 9:06 pace

Sat: 13.3 miles in 1:59 (just under 9:00 pace). Longest run I've done since my heel blew up in May. Slow but it felt great. I felt like I could have run all day at that pace, but realistically I'm pretty sure the wheels would have come off within a few more miles, so I think I stopped at a good point while still feeling strong.

Sun: 37 miles on bike with lots of wind.

My heel is pretty sore today after 23 miles in two days. I really hope it's calmed down enough to run again tomorrow, but I'll have to play it by ear.

The "glitch" was getting stung by a fire ant in my bathtub (no s#!t) on Friday night on the ankle of my Achilles foot. I have a pretty intense local allergic reaction to all insect bites, and fire ants are particularly bad. My ankle is bright red, very swolllen and horribly itchy, but once I start running or cycling I'm able to mostly forget about it. In another day or two it will be much better.

Happy trails to all!

60 miles for the week

one day off

2 hard days

12M incl Tempo 6M @ 5:45

18M long run at 6:10 pace

everything else 7:30 pace

cheers

amkelley, sorry about the fire ant. I too tend to have allergic overreactions to insect bites. As a result I pretty much hate all insects, especially mosquitoes, wasps, hornets, fire ants...but I digress.

I guess we are all waiting for Allen1959's race report.

Charlie, running per se may not be the problem with your foot. It may be the addition of running to your high volume of hiking. In other words, the running may simply have tipped you over the edge. In the past I have had foot problems, and I still wear a Strassburg boot at night to manage my plantar fasciitis. I'm convinced my own foot problems tend to result from general overload of activities, which in my case have included hiking, running, and too much standing on hard floors when I used to teach high school.

I am not one of those guys who can remember what everyone else said in their posts, and reply to each, so now I will wish everyone well, and move on to report my own meager doings.

September 24, 2017

Sunday

170 pounds

- 6.35 miles on the treadmill, 2% incline, in 1:00:00 (9:27 mile pace). Progression run from 5.1 mph to 8.5 mph at the very end.

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2017: 22.35 MILES RUNNING

I'm going to ignore all the ways my training fell short this week. Based on the fact that I hit my mileage goal, I'm calling this week a win.

*I meant October 1, not Sep. 24. I keep doing this! Sorry. It's because I cut and paste the headings in my own training log, and sometimes forget to change the date.

A solid week for me and my fitness seems still to be on an upward trend as my XC season continues. 51 miles this week coming off a race last Saturday.

M- 7 walk hills

T- 7 walk

W- 10 with 2 w.u. + 4 x hard mile/easy mile, hard miles- 7:55, 7:26, 7:12, 7:20

Th- 5 walk (feeling crumby from Wed. flu shot)

F- 7 walk hills

S- 7 walk barefoot on the beach

Su- 8 progressive on trails with son and d-in-l 7:43 ave.

Good running and improving health to all!

2 days off due to slight hamstring strain!

No track today, decided to back off.

Not sure what system this taxes but tough for a guy training a a 400 runner lately*.

Mile workup 5 x 1/2 mile road- 2:00 recovery - Avg. 2:42 13.5 minutes

total running, 8min recovery. Leg turnover feels slow and choppy but I

was breathing hard.

1/2 mile cooldown and 10 quick sets of 10 pullups

Thursday: 5 minute jog 9 x 110 all out on soccer field wearing cross

country type spikes. 13.25 to 13.5 each. Right about 50 strides. Drove

to work and hamstring aching. Next two days no running. Next time,

longer warmup and dynamic stretches.

Hamstring feels 75% better, maybe I got lucky, but don't think I can head to the track for at least another week.

*Found an old book: Computerized Running Training Programs James B. Gardner and J. Gerry Purdy. It shows about 6 x 880 with 2 minute rest in 2:41.1 would be referred to as "interval training"

Not clear what the adaptation is though.

Checked with Better training for distance runners 2nd ed.

A chart in the book refers to Physiological adaptions. Long intervals or long speed is 800m- 300m repeats from 3k to 10K pace.

Some increase in Neurological recruitment an some increase in blood buffering ability, increased glycolytic enzymes at 90% of max HR.

Long intervals or long speed is 800m- 300m repeats from 3k to 10K pace

missed a "0" 800-3000m repeats.

Skate said: "Found an old book: Computerized Running Training Programs James B. Gardner and J. Gerry Purdy."

This book should be on the shelf of every single serious runner...it is spooky accurate and entirely relevant to this day...used it to coach 15 Olympic Trials qualifiers over the years...my most worn and tattered training reference book...by far.