50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

SpikePlate wrote:

Yep, good feedback - looks easy when written down :)

I think also I didn't go into the race with the mindset that I was in 5 min shape, I thought more like 5:10, so was happy to have my mid pack battle rather than bury myself looking for a time - lesson learnt.

Only to someone who has not been there;)

Seriously this is exactly what I want in a race it is what I dream about when thinking about a race. The clock says 3:48 the guys around me are just holding on I am hurting so I floor it cause I know I gotta do something and I have a slight chance and need to move NOW!!!!! 99 percent of the time I end up beaten and missing the time goal but man what a ride.

Which brings up another thing. I do not race often . Santa Claus , The Fourth of July, The last day of school and of course your Birthday are days a lucky kid gets excited about because they are special days. These days are for kids so what special day does an old person have to look forward to? The new phone book is here? Gotta have a day on the calendar just for you.

Your birthday every 5 years when you move up an AG

My recovery week from Sunday’s half-marathon has been interesting.

I’ve run dozens of HMs over the past 15 years or so, and I’ve never had much generalized muscle soreness after the race. I would always go out for an easy run the day after, and within 2-3 days I would feel close to normal. A couple of years ago I ran HMs 7 days apart and ran a little better in the second one than in the first. But all of this was off 70-75 miles per week of training. Since May my Achilles heel has forced me to cut way back on training, and I went into last Sunday’s HM with a biggest week of about 45 miles, and an average of 20-30 per week.

The race was my slowest in 30+ years but not far off what I was running last fall, and considering the circumstances I was happy enough with my time. But the next day I could hardly get out of bed! I wasn’t systemically fatigued, but not only was my Achilles heel badly swollen and painful, but every large muscle in my legs ached. I took three full days off from running, just easy spinning on the bike trainer, and then tried to run on Thursday, and my legs were still comically dead as I slogged along at barely better than 10 min/mile pace. There seems to be nothing specifically wrong beyond my chronic Achilles heel problem, but it’s just taking me a whole lot longer to recover from a hard effort than it ever did when I was doing a lot more training volume.

Friday I did a 32-mile bike ride outdoors, and Saturday I laced up my running shoes and headed out the door with considerable trepidation. I was relieved to find that I felt pretty much like myself again, and I knocked off 12.1 miles right at 9-minute mile pace, feeling still a bit tired but basically OK.

I’ll be traveling the next three days and will spend most of Sunday and Tuesday driving. I plan to spin the bike trainer early Sunday morning before hitting the road, and then see if I can run a little both Monday and Tuesday mornings. I’ll be in an unfamiliar part of southern California but at least the weather will be nice, so this should be fun.

Looking forward to seeing everyone else's posts this weekend.

*Week 335*

Greetings, 50+ers! Really enjoyed everyone's posts last week, especially the several posts from amkelley inre: her HM and subsequent ruminations. Kudos on the race, and as a fairly low mileage guy, I totally get what you mean regarding post-race soreness. Whenever I've not done enough race-pace prep work, I get very sore, especially in the calves.

Nice mile race, SpikePlate! And welcome! Look forward to reading about your training.

Congrats on the new family member, Allen1959, and to props KP's family/team triumphs.

Glad to see some people recovering nicely from their setbacks. Hope for continued progress on that front.

As for me, about like last week: 5 days with a modest workout and 25+ miles again. Log looks as such:

Sun: 5.1 mostly easy (~8:05/mi) except 4th mile @7:18

Mon: Off

Tue: 4.6 XC workout with some hill repeats

Wed: Off

Thu: 7.5 steady (7:59/mi) longest run since May

Fri: 3.2 easy-to-moderate (7:36/mi avg)

Sat: 5.0 dead legs (7:59/mi)

I was worried the week would be a bust when I tweaked my back Monday morning (too much grading with inadequate posture over the weekend, I suspect.) Thankfully, despite issues walking and standing up from a sitting position, I've been able to run without pain; it's still kinda jacked-up. At any rate, the XC workout on Tuesday was over at Masterson Station. The course could be pretty fast or pretty sloppy, depends on the weather. It was drizzly all day Tuesday, so it was sloppy. There are sections of the course that have a ton of mole tracks; not sure if they'll be ironed out for December. Was really pleased with Thursday's "long" run. It was my first run of over 7 miles since May, and was done without any breaks and was even a bit faster for the second half. I could only manage a short run Friday so it was run progressively, and Saturday, I had to sneak a run in late (during the final minutes of the first half and during halftime of the Badgers big victory!) Legs had no pop, and I had to stop at about 3 miles to stretch.

That's it from the Bluegrass. Hope you are running/recovering well, and as always, I look forward to reading more fall race reports.

All the Best!

PS-they ran a preview race on the XC Club Nats course yesterday, unfortunately, I couldn't be out there due to other activities during the day. Some of my teammates did run, and said it was good, except they got misdirected off the real course at some point and ran 0.2 miles long. I'm sure that'll get straightened out.

Recovery from the hilly 15K the other week took some time but back at this week with 67 miles. 10K tempo effort Tuesday, some speed on the turf on Thursday (8X 200, and 4X 12 sec hill sprints), and a set of 800s @3K-5K effort yesterday. I also got a massage on Saturday and that MFing hurt! Almost each muscle group a 9/10--one point below punching and screaming. I've had massages before, including a set from the same therapist but this one hurt more. Been a year and a half since I've had one so my muscle bands may have been extra tight. Maybe my pain tolerance is weaker in my older age. Felt good afterward though! Esp. my sore hip which has been a nuisance for a few months. now. Going back in a couple weeks.

amkelly, yeah, the mileage helps with hm recovery. However I'm pretty tired for the first week after a half, and even feel it a bit on the 2nd week.

Lucky2b, looking forward to Lexington! Keep us posted on the course and conditions. And hope to see you there.

The recovery from calf issues continues unabated. I can honestly say this is the first week in many months that I have experienced no twinges, tugs, or other discomfort in the right calf. Knock on wood. As hoped, my progress this week took me yesterday to what I consider my "average" jog time. This is good! The high heels were set aside days ago and soon the calf sleeve and Ben Gay may join them. Thinking about a short jog today which would be my first back-to-back days in a looooong time.

Sun: 47' jog, body wt ex

Mon: golf (walk 18), 91

Tues: 46' jog, body wt ex

Wed: off

Thu: 50' jog; golf (walk 18), 93

Fri: off

Sat: 53' jog, body wt ex

Best to all!

This past week:

NOV 6-12, 2017:

Off

Off

Off

Easy: 4.0 miles @ 10:14/mi

Off

Easy: 5.0 miles @ 9:07/mi

Off

WEEK TOTAL: 9.0 MILES

Nearly six weeks off, and no improvement. Every step still hurts when I try to run. I need to either commit to doing the prescribed exercise routine twice a day( instead of twice a week) -- or move onto other things in life. I enjoy running and racing, but just have no patience for devoting an hour or more a day to this stretching/strengthening stuff.

-Allen

Week 4

1 run of 15 minutes 7/4/4 EZ 7 /LT 4 / Vo2Max 4

Nov 10 Treadmill 7/4/4 1 minute at each mph:

7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7

3/2 breathing at 10mph but calling it Vo2Max

Running Totals weeks in minutes EZ/LT/Vo2Max:

1 42 32/19

2 98 68/30

3 150 104/46

4 165 7/108/50

Left calf is getting better but still I am giving it lots of respect.

Biting my tongue when reading posts so in general terms. Relax and enjoy the day. Be smart take a long term approach to fitness. Yes indeed what we do to ourselves today we live with tomorrow.

I hear you Allen. Injuries that are not improving are beyond frustrating. I'd just put in a plug for non-binary thinking and taking things as they come. Pro athletes [esp. boxers it seems] take a lot of flak if they "retire" and then come back to competition, but I think the rest of us can adopt a more flexible posture. Running isn't going anywhere; it will be there for you if you so choose in a week or a year or a decade.

I had an ok week including:

M 60:00 x-training, 1:10 run including "pub run" with 10 or so members of my club

Tu 40:00 run/45:00 x-t

W 40:00 run/45:00 x-t

th 1:10 run/45:00 x-t

F 1:10 run/45:00 x-t (cycle class)

sa 50:00 run/1:00 x-t

Su 1:20 run

x-t = mostly stationary bike, some elliptical. Just about ready I think to resume small doses of harder running

have a great week,

Dave

[quote]Allen1959 wrote:

Nearly six weeks off, and no improvement. Every step still hurts when I try to run. I need to either commit to doing the prescribed exercise routine twice a day( instead of twice a week) -- or move onto other things in life. I enjoy running and racing, but just have no patience for devoting an hour or more a day to this stretching/strengthening stuff.

-Allen

A lot of the same for me but I happened to look in my logs and it's been 5 months now since I started posting on this thread and taking my training semi-seriously. It has been a lot of fun to see the progress. I try to keep in mind that I'm not a kid any longer and reading about our various setbacks and comebacks have hammered that lesson into me.

So this past week: Monday weights and yoga, Tuesday 5 miles with 6x100 striders at the end, Wednesday weights, Thursday a speed endurance workout I designed that is run on the treadmill, Friday rest, Saturday a track workout that was 300, 200, 100, 50, and then some hills. I had out of town company and we did a lot of walking around at a local festival/attraction. My pedometer said 19,000 steps for the day and my legs are dead so I think I will have to take today off.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Forgot to mention really excited with 20 hour intermittent fasting. After 3 days it is way too early to say it works but it feels like it is working. I am sleeping longer and the sleep is deeper.

Nice fall weather here in the Treasure Valley, but rain late in the week has kept us off the trails for the traditional one run. Fall outdoor chores have just about wrapped up. I have more time and energy for running so mileage and pace picking up a bit. The week total was 3 doubles, 42 miles in four days, 35+ running the rest walking. My week:

Monday: AM- 2 miles easy; 4 x 300m good speed / 100m easy; 400m easy; 6 x 600m good swing / 200m easy; 400m easy; 4 x 300m good speed / 100m easy; mile easy; PM: 3 miles easy/walk

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: AM- 2 miles easy; 2,000m tempo @ 9:57 / 2:00 rest; 2 miles tempo @ 16:15 / 2:00 rest; 2,000m tempo @ 9:41; mile easy; PM- 2 miles easy/walk

Thursday: Off

Friday: AM- 5 miles easy @ 9:33/mile; PM-3 miles easy/walk

Saturday: 12 miles long run @ 8:57/mile, fastest mile number 6 @ 8:21, slowest 12 @ 10:12; walk 800m

Igy

Nice reading through some of the logs here, I've a lot of catching up to do.

Decent week, main objective between now and year end is to keep a solid base of mid 60's per week.

Tempo session, strides, the odd short race and a medium length weekend run.

Have the opportunity for an outdoor 3,000m on Weds night, will make a call based on the conditions, it's an hour from the house so will travel if it's not too windy.

Week452017

Mon AM: Recovery - 3.75 @ 8:01

Mon PM: Easy + 275m x 6 @ 5:00 with jog back recovery - 6 @ 7:28

Tue PM: Easy 7.62 @ 7:33

Wed AM: Recovery - 3.82 @ 7:51

Thu PM: Race Indoor Mile, 4th 5:02.24 - 5 @

Fri AM: Recovery - 3.71 @ 7:55

Fri PM: Recovery - 6.8 @ 7:56

Sat AM: 105 @ 7:32, solo, plugged in listening to Bowerman and the men of Oregon

Sun AM: 9.15 @ 6:59 (in 20min @ T 5:59)

Sun PM: Recovery jog with dog

WTD: 63.0

MTD: 112.7

YTD: 2,673.3

It sounds like a lot of you are having a tough week. I have a tough time with the time change. I had a decent week of 28+ miles. I'm focusing on extending my "long" runs and running short the rest of the week to make sure I recover. I would like to get two 10 milers in a week. My Tuesday run of 8 miles was tougher mentally than physically. It was cold and dark when I finished.

M 3 miles in 28 min

Tu 8.2 miles in 81 mins

W 2 miles in 20 mins

Th 3 miles in 28 min

F off

Sa 3.3 miles in 31 min. 2nd mile in 7:30

Su 9.2 miles on the trails in 98 min

Have a good week all

Charlie wrote:

Week 4

1 run of 15 minutes 7/4/4 EZ 7 /LT 4 / Vo2Max 4

Nov 10 Treadmill 7/4/4 1 minute at each mph:

7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7

3/2 breathing at 10mph but calling it Vo2Max

Running Totals weeks in minutes EZ/LT/Vo2Max:

1 42 32/19

2 98 68/30

3 150 104/46

4 165 7/108/50

Left calf is getting better but still I am giving it lots of respect.

Biting my tongue when reading posts so in general terms. Relax and enjoy the day. Be smart take a long term approach to fitness. Yes indeed what we do to ourselves today we live with tomorrow.

Good build up.

For me it's all about the process. But I started out as D3 jv and wasn't very good when I got onto the varsity. Been at this for 40 years & I just enjoy getting out there, breathing hard some days, cruising easy others. Mixed feelings about those long runs but sure feels good when they are done!

Used to be I'd run 8 miles in Central Park while visiting NYC and no one would pass me. Yesterday on the other hand, I quit counting after passer # 132 blitzed on by. But then again it didn't used to take me 1:23 to run 8 miles....uggggghhhh.

Got in 40 miles for the week thanks to 3 consecutivee 8 milers on the aforementioned bridle path here in the Big Apple. Am 1600+ miles so far for 2017 ( hoping to surpass 1900) and just completed streak day 350... 2ish weeks till the one year streak-iversary

Hooked up with two of my 1974 college cross country teammates for a jog in the Park on Friday (they took the train up from Philly and Jersey just to do so) followed by a luncheon at America's number one runner's bar, Coogans, and then a private behind the scenes tour at the adjacent Armory and the USATF National Hall of Fame (a pal of mine oversees the HOF historical archives). Today had a long brunch with another old bud with a 1:45.11 PB...that'd be for 800 meters, not the half marathon. In all, a great weekend of telling lies and war stories (some for the 20th time)... and relishing in the truism that "the older we get, the faster we were"

Am eating and drinking waaay too much, but hey, when in New York...

Have a marvelous week of training, racing, commiserating and inspiring...and doing so in a fitness geezer sorta' way. Stay well.

Your pal,

MF

Drove 6.5 hours in the rain to be with my HS XC Team for NXR NW at Eagle Park Idaho. They did well. Our frosh girl won the Big B Race, her team was 4th. Boys were 6th in the Big B Race. I jumped in the community race early am. Was an ugly final 2 miles for me after gong out way too fast (5:55 first mile). Barely ran to the top of that hill on lap two and struggled home in 19:40. Maybe it was more than that first mile. Some say Boise is altitude issues. But it's only like 2600ft at race course. I think I was just tired from the recent heavy volume weeks of training.

Igy... is this your home town?

KP

KP,

Yes, probably just a little over a mile as the crow flies, four miles driving since their is no direct route. I forgot about the NXN at Eagle Island State Park. The Boise River splits into a north and south fork with Eagle Island in the center. Our house is just to the southeast of the park. I would have come on over to say hello.

We had a couple of days with light rain prior to the race, so I imagine the surface was a little soft. Down by the river the trails are hard summer, but with a little rain they get soft and spongy.

Where did you spend the night, eat?

Igy