50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

thanks to all the shout outs on my KCTC Race Series win. Got official confirmation of it today, yeah! Did win by two points, so that last race did it for me. Plus my wife won her age group, too, so that's especially sweet. Considering that I had to take five weeks off this fall for my heel with the bone chip, I'm happy. Going to celebrate with a Santa Dash 5 km this Saturday.

And speaking of sweet, I love the idea of apple pie and ice cream for breakfast and lunch, though it would put me in a sugar coma for the afternoon!

Dave, my wife and I do pretty intense weight work twice weekly, all upper body right now. When we hit our 70's to 80's and see more muscle wasting in our legs, we'll probably add that for more balance and less fall risk. Right now, we try to cover all upper body muscles, front, back, sides, arms, shoulders, abs, and actually gluts, too. We do it all at Planet Fitness on machines, though, so we're not risking dropping a weight on our puny selves. We also do quite a bit of ab work for core strength, too. Men's Fitness magazine will have a lot of lifting ideas, plus getting a book from Borders' on strength training can be useful. Might even consider getting a personal fitness training session (just one or two) to get the basics, and get some good postural ideas. Keeping good posture becomes more important for us when we see unfit elders with very weak lower backs and the associated problems with them. Someone either ACSM or ACE certified would be good. I found that the first month or so left me quite fatigued and sore the day after until I learned my limits, gained some strength and adapted to that addition. Best wishes!

Really nice Turkey Trot Dave. You are going to have a solid Club Nats. What man are on on your team?

KP

We Have Found The Fountain of Youth wrote:

That's not good...how do think an oversight like this happen? Race director's mistake? It's too bad because the media here in Denver has made him out to be a hometown hero breaking what they believe to be the 5k WR. But hey..."97" yrs old and finishing a 5k! I'm 40 yrs younger than him and can't even finish a 5k without something breaking on this junk body. So kudos to anyone 90+ than can finish a 5k...I know I'll be in the junkyard before I ever reach that age. ?

Well, Roy's record is only 2 months old, so I assume it just hasn't been ratified yet. I think the old record was 48:55, so McAdam was under the old record. I think it takes a while to get things ratified. What's odd though is that USATF lists McAdam as having a pending record of 48:20 from 2016 that's faster than what he just ran in 2017. So if I'm right, McAdam actually did break the record in 2016 and held it for 1 year.

Either way, props to both. I'm just want to be alive and upright by then.

I see that there are pending 5 km records from 3 years ago, at least. Something's wrong with this picture when our process takes that long. Especially, when so many races are now chip timed, It would seem that the process for timers and the RD's paperwork should somehow be streamlined enough to move a record on to the correct USATF committee/s for review and acceptance. As a state records keeper, I certainly try to not get "in the way" of record setting, both for the timers and the RD's, but I do try to verify any potential new records. Just me doing some volunteer work for running.

In case anyone's interested, and not to brag, here's where you can go to find a bunch of state single age records:

www.staterunningrecords.com

And here's where you can go to find MO and KS state record lists for age groups:

www.mararunning.org

and

www.kctrack.org

(MO only).

There's a well-done set of OK records to be found also, but not certain where they are posted any more, too.

KP wrote:

Really nice Turkey Trot Dave. You are going to have a solid Club Nats. What man are on on your team?

KP

Oh man I don't know. Pretty sure #1 is far ahead of the rest of us. I could be anywhere from 2-6. We're all pretty close.

How's your team stacking up?

Dave

training as good as it can be. past 8 days been riddled with 'the crud'. fairly minor yet still a bit of a handicap. i figure to be #5 or #6 man but pretty far behind our top 4 stroner guys. sound like playmakers and bowerman will compete well for a podium spot or top 5.

Mike Lundgren wrote:

As to shoes, I would say maybe try an Altra Escalante (zero drop), or a Saucony Ride in the wide version (8 mm drop), or Brooks Revel (? drop), MAYBE thinner socks or 1/2 size larger Kinvara's. There's probably other options, too, but best to visit a specialty store and see what is offered. I love our stores, we are not on commission, so are dedicated to finding the best shoe FOR YOU.

Hey thanks for the suggestions. Ended up getting AltraFied with the Torin 3.0 and Lone Peak 3.0 . Purchased at the local running shoe specialty store in Green Acres/Florence Ha! drove over to Eugene went to Run Hub nice knowledgeable friendly so happy with these shoes with the huge forefoot area. If Birkenstock was gonna make a shoe the Torin 3.0 would be it. The shoe looks a bit goofy but feels oh so good walking or running. My dogs are wagging their toes.

Another solid week topped off with a season's best over 5k.

Mon: Double, AM: Easy 4 @ 7:31; PM: 2E - 4T (6:05) - 2E; 8 @ 6:41, reduced pace and effort with the race in mind.

Tue: 2 x recovery runs, 4.08 @ 8:10 and 6.04 @ 8:03

Wed: Double, AM: Recovery 3.5 @ 7:59; PM: Easy + 6 x 200 @ mile pace, with 200 jog recoveries; 6.54 @ 7:28

Thu: Easy, getting quite cold, so plenty of layers, 6.66 @ 7:37

November: 286 miles

Fri: AM recovery 3.87 @ 8

Sat:

5k race

Race Stats: 17:07, Position 79th, M50 2nd

Garmin Stats: Avg HR 165, Max HR 173, Avg Cad 180, Avg Stride 1.61m

Chilly start to this one, 6c with a real feel of half that and stiff northwesterly.

Good sized field, 1062 finishers and pretty deep, sub 20 gets you in the top 250, sub 17:30 to get in the top 100.

It's a race of 2 halves, some elevation gain in the first half mainly against that stiff breeze and the last mile is pretty slick with a net downhill.

Got off to a good start and after a bit of pushing, grabbing and jostling the race begins to settle down.

Keep it pretty steady, working my way from group to group and not leaving myself too exposed to the breeze for any length of time. Garmin km splits are 3:30 - 3:29 - 3:30.

I'm eyeing up an M35 club mate as we enter the last mile, we trade exchanges here, jump a few places and click a 3:27.

Quite a few are throwing shapes now as the pace ratchets up, myself and the club mate are having a right old ding dong, entering the red zone, but I keep grinding it out. He has maybe 4-5yds on me as he corners better into the finishing straight (about 150 to go), I dig deep and muster up a decent finish to take him (clearing 2 seconds) and a few others in the run in. 3:11 in the run in, probably 3:20 effort on the flat.

Pretty pleased, 2017 best was 17:19 and has me thinking that another sub 17 is becoming an attainable target.

Sun: Easy 100 flush the legs - 13.06 @ 7:40

WTD: 63.8

MTD (Nov): 286.1

YTD: 2,871.6

Current Streak: 112 / 992 / 8.86

Happy Running

SP

Hi fellow runners - American Records are ratified at the USATF annual meeting which took place this week. Hopefully the record situation was sorted out there but who knows how long it will take USATF to change its webpage.

I wanted to let those of you heading to Lexington know that I'll be there cheering for you. The race will determine the W60 Grand Prix title so I couldn't let my team race and not be there with them. Looks like it will be a bit chilly so I'll be the lady dressed in a parka with hand warmers in my gloves while you all fly by in your singlets. Good luck to those of you racing - I sure wish I could be out there to do my part.

I'm fighting to get back racing. I'm doing bike workouts every day for at least an hour. I started walk/runs last week and got in a huge 14 miles. I can't believe how hard it is to come back from this injury! My cardio and ankle feel fine but my knees are so sore I've had to switch to running on a TM on alternate days. After I worked at Footlocker South for two days last weekend, my ankle was so swollen I couldn't even try to run. I've quit trying formulate a race calendar since I have no clue when I'll be back. Unfortunately, that doesn't sit well with my compulsive personality ...

I hope you got to watch the stream of the Nike Nationals yesterday. What a great finish in the boys' race and a dominant performance by Katelyn Tuohy in the girls' race. May you run like they did next weekend!

Well, my turn to join the walking wounded list. My ailment is gout. Gout! In my big toe! It hurts like a mutha. Lest you think I'm living the high life by eating lobster and swigging champagne (rich foods can be a cause) my dad had it so I inherited the tendency. I went to the doc and got some good meds to dissolve the uric acid crystals and it's feeling much better but obviously no running. I've been weight lifting for the upper body and swimming in the lap pool. I find swimming incredibly boring but right now it's doing the trick for me to maintain my fitness. I can run in probably another week.

I think the thing that bothered me worst about getting gout (or "The Gout" as the old timers might say) is exactly that - it seems like such an "old" disease. The only thing I can think of that would sound worse would be getting a goiter.

Carry on everyone. This old goat with gout will keep on keeping on.

Good weeks work

2 workouts

9 mile Progressive run 7:00 down to 4:58

8 x 800 @ 2:28 30sec rest

easy 6-7 mile recovery runs

might be time to race soon

cheers

Nice training and racing SP and good to see you SCgal with congrats on the records.

A scale back week for me as I transition to indoor. Morning workout temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s. Dark and cold mornings test one’s motivation and discipline. My week:

Monday: AM-2 miles easy, planned more but beat; PM: 3 miles walk/easy

Tuesday: 2 miles easy/walk

Wednesday: 2 miles easy; 3 x mile tempo @ 7:43, 7:37, 7:17; mile easy

Thursday: Off

Friday: AM- 5 miles @ 9:13; PM- 2 miles easy/walk

Saturday: AM- 10 mile trail run with 750 foot elevation gain at an easy 11:03 average, stretched out last mile in 8:22; PM- 3 miles easy/walk

Sunday: Off

Best to those racing in Lexington and elsewhere.

Igy

*Week 338*

Salutations, 50+ers! Sorry for the late start, have had a busy morning already, so thanks for getting the ball rolling. Props to the T-day racers from last week. Looking forward to meeting some of you this coming weekend here in the Bluegrass; just wish I was in race shape. While you all are battling for podium spots, I'll be glad to just finish the race upright; c'est la vie. Did I mention that we're moving campuses? Yep, offices and labs all needed to be packed up and moved. The move is this Monday and Tuesday, which are also the first two days of final exams (nuts, right?) So I've been packing and moving boxes (our physics group is so small, we don't have lab techs or hourly workers to help,) along with the usual end-of-semester shtuff. So it was another failed attempt at training this week with the knee on the verge, but hanging in there...only 3 runs and 15.4 miles to show for it.

Sun: 5.2 moderate (7:39/mi)

Mon: Off

Tue: 5.2 XC hill loops

Wed: Off (3+ hours of packing)

Thu: Off (3+ hours of packing/moving equipment)

Fri: 5.0 moderately hard in middle (7:31/mi avg) (& 5+ hours, see above)

Sat: Off (w/6+ hours, more of the same)

Somewhere in this time I need to create my finals and grade them and evaluate final reports....oh, and get some runs in! It won't be pretty, but it'll happen, sleep will continue to suffer. I'm whining, I know, but I am still grateful for so many positives in my life. We're all allowed to kvetch a bit to blow off some steam. Right? Oh, and Badgers losing both BB and FB to Ohio State last night....ugh!

OK, so much for that. Some last minute XC course things: 1) On the white loop, that first hill back up to the start will not be as bad as I thought, it doesn't quite go to the top before snaking to the left; 2) the sharp zig on the course that I thought would be a fall hazard has also been straightened out, so it shouldn't be a problem; and 3) looks like it's going to be pretty cold (30 degrees,) with damp grounds. We'll have rain for sure mid-week, and then maybe snow flurries race morning; still 6 days out, so hard to know for sure. As for length of spikes, I wouldn't care to venture an opinion; I don't race enough Cross-country, nor have worn anything longer than 1/2" since High-school. For as fast as I'll be running, it probably won't make any difference, LOL.

I should be running a race this afternoon.How are things in your corner of the globe?

All the Best!

"celebrated" day 365 of my current streak with the first track workout in 7 months...a little ladder for this re-introduction of 'speed'...I use the word lightly ;)

4 x 100, 1 x 200, 1 x 400, 1 x 200, 4 x 100

Felt all uncoordinated as though a duckling just trying to take their very first ever awkward steps

Knocked out a 2 mile time trial 72 hours later...don't ask (slower than my 5,000 meter PR sadly)

Is comeback # 134 in the works or is this week just some kind of statistical outlier...only time will tell.

Best of luck in the upcoming week...especially you brave harrier sorts headed to Nationals

Your pal,

MF

congrats on day 365! funny you mention feeling "uncoordinated" during first track workout in a while. I always have that reaction after any time away from faster running. Doesn't feel the same but slower; feels like I'm doing some other sport/activity altogether

I had a pretty good week post-Thanksgiving, including

M 2:10 double

Tu 1:10

W 1:00 with hill repeats + 1:00 x-training

Th 1:45 double

F 1:10 + 1:00 cycle class

Sa 1:25 with 2 X 15:00 (3:00 recovery) at half-marathon effort -- came thru 3700m in 14:59 and 14:43* + 1:00 x-t

Su 1:20 + 1:00 x-t

*if for some reason you don't have fast/medium/slow 3700m paces in your head [and why not? try to keep up with best practices], these are approx. 1:37 and 1:35+ per lap

have a great week,

Dave

Really nice race SP.

Been 10 years... From Spokane To Lexington Club Nats XC. I'm grateful to be toeing the line. If we're LucKY we'll meet LucKY2b, SCGal, Dave, and many other Masters Of Running For Life post-race. Speaking of which... where is the best place to gather to raise a few pints? My teammates (BTC 50) are all staying in North Lex.

See y'all soon.

KP

A very good training week for me, not fast but long. 62 miles, which I hope I will be able to stabilize in that range for next year. This week I tried to keep the workouts easy and just run through the full distance and continue doing that until it feels comfortable before trying to build up the intensity. So, this week was

M- 9 hills 9:42/mi

T- 12 with 1mi w.u., 5x hard mile/easy mile, 1mi w.d. 9:34/mi

W- 7 walk

Th- 8 hills 10:11/mi

F- 10 with 1mi w.u., 16x 400hard/400 easy, 1mi w.d. 9:49/mi

S- 7 walk

Su- 9 hills 10:58/mi

I could definitely feel the mileage this morning and really tried to keep the pace down at the old man shuffle level.

Good running and stay/get health all.

SpikePlate, great job on the 5K. I’m really impressed by the depth in that race! In my part of the world, 17:07 would almost always put you in the top 10 in a race with ca. 1000 runners.

SCgal, trying to get back from that injury and resulting long layoff must be incredibly frustrating, but keep at it!

51andcounting, wow, that’s some week! I agree it may be time to race soon.

lucKY2b, as a physical chemist who has moved a lab three times, I can sympathize with your non-running hassles! All I had last week was a site visit evaluating our program for American Chemical Society approval.

Phoenix, that seems really weird. I assume you’ve had the blood work done and found that your uric acid really is high. My super-fit husband was “diagnosed” with gout by a physician’s assistant at an Urgent Care based on symptoms, but his blood work then showed his uric acid at the bottom of the normal range. We still don’t know what caused his severely painful big toe but it resolved on its own and it clearly wasn’t gout.

old guy II, nice job on getting the volume up. I still hope to get back up to that level myself.

I had another encouraging week. I only ran four days out of seven for 47 miles total, but three of those running days were consecutive, a feat I haven’t pulled off since May. And the weekend long run was the longest since May and felt very good in terms of pace relative to perceived effort.

Mon: 90 minutes on bike trainer, heel still rather sore from the previous day’s 14-mile run.

Tues: 10.6 miles at 9:15 pace.

Wed: 10.6 miles at 9:15 pace.

Thurs: 10.5 miles at 9:14 pace.

Fri: 90 minutes on bike trainer.

Sat: 15.5 miles at 8:54 pace. Nice cool conditions, 39 degrees with dense fog at the start, 43 with hazy sun by the finish. Felt very relaxed and comfortable the whole way.

Sun: 34 miles on bike. Upper 40s to low 50s, breezy and mostly sunny. Not a bad day for December.

Next week will be a low-mileage week as I’m racing a 5K on Saturday and will likely need to take both Friday and Sunday off. Back in the days when I was orthopedically sound I would normally do an easy 10-15 miles the day after a 5K race, but no longer.

Wishing everyone a good week.

Enjoyed reading the weekly reports, as usual. Best of luck, amkelley, on your upcoming 5k.

A mostly positive week here with one bump near the end. A new "issue" - a bit of intermittent soreness in the lower right lateral quad - surfaced during the week's first golf outing. It resurfaced during Thursday's golf and then briefly during each of my last two jogs. I don’t think it’s a big deal. More worrisome is I awoke Saturday with a tight and slightly sore right calf -the same one I’ve had issues with of late. I think it was related to,the calf strengthening exercises I did on Friday. Saturday was a planned day off, so it was on to Sunday. It felt much better this AM, though not 100%, so I decided to go for it. I busted out the calf sleeve and Ben Gay and survived. Fingers crossed.

Sun: 54' jog, body wt ex

Mon: 45' jog, body wt ex

Tues: golf (walk 18), 87

Wed: 53' jog, body wt ex

Thu: golf (walk9/ride12), 106

Fri: 54' jog, body wt ex

Sat: off

Sun: 54' jog, body wt ex

Best to all.