50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

thanks for posting the pic, igy. the small world of running never ceases to surprise me--i coached in the same league as dave white (he ran for cal state fullerton, as did some of the others pictured) for many years here in orange county before he retired a few years ago, and currently coach against don chadez (the photographer for this article) in the same league (just saw him at a 5k last weekend, and he coached one of my masters clubmates at el dorado h.s. here in o.c.). i forwarded the pic to them, which drudged up many memories for both...

cush

SoCal Cush,

The other dos amigos of Cal State Fullerton were Perry Forrester and Mark Covert. Fullerton had some of the best marathoners in the country at that time. Schmenk shows up in some masters events in Northern California putting down some good times, and unfortunately Tim Tubbs passed away several years ago. Dave White was probably the greatest talent of the group as a young man, Perry gets that award on the other end of the age extreme. I ran against Covert the first meet of my senior high school year. Mark is best known for his running streak, but was also 5th in the 1972 Olympic Marathon Trials.

Igy

*Week 345*

Howdy, 50+ers! First off, props to Old Walker for sticking to it and respectfully finishing the race, and great race report and all the subsequent discussion, too. Quite a bit of nastalgia on the thread this past week. The '70s were an exciting time for running, that's for sure. Never ran a marathon in my youth; it was on my radar, but I developed my chronic injury before it ever happened. Longest race I'd run back then was Syttende Mai (May of '79), a hilly 20-miler from Madison to Stoughton. I was pretty happy with my 1:58:08 finish for that race considering I'd never run (even in training) further than 14 miles, and I'm not sure I ever even hit 60 miles/week for that spring. I ended up 36th in the highly competitive race and was surprised to have gotten "chicked." She caught up with us around mile 18, and us young bucks were like "who is this woman?" My buddy was able to move with her and finished in 1:56:xx, but I was pretty much toast by this point and straggled into the finish. That woman, we found out later, was Lorraine Moller (perhaps you've heard of her ? ); I believe she was using the race as a tune-up for Grandma's Marathon (though, I also think she set the 20-mile world road record the following year on that same course.)

So much for reminiscing, what's up this week? Despite the snow and cold, I was able to add a few more miles---now up to 25 miles for the week. Log reads as such:

Sun: 5.2 Easy-to-moderate (7:49/mi)

Mon: 5.3 Easy-to-moderate (7:50/mi)

Tue: 4.3 Easy (8:29/mi) snowy, icy, windy

Wed: Off

Thur: Off

Fri: 5.0 Easy (8:13/mi)

Sat: 5.4 Moderate (7:41/mi)

No workouts or long runs this week, didn't do hills Tuesday on account of the weather. Made Saturday's run a little harder and did try to find some hills to make it almost a workout. Knees are hanging in there, still no verdict on the Glucosamine/Chonroitin/MSM regime. Haven't ventured into any further supplementation.

BTW-heat is back on for now, but our 40-year-old furnace is going to need to be replaced sometime soon. We've had a good run with it.

That's it from me, what happening in your world?

All the Best!

lucKY, I have fond memories of Lorraine Moller. She among that group of great female runners that was bursting onto the scene around that time. There’s certainly no shame in losing to her.

LucKY, I agree with you; kudos to Old Walker for his race report and results. I enjoyed reading all of your memories of running in the 70's this week even though I wasn't a runner back then. In those days I knew swimming pools all over the country but thought running was awful because I would never want to be in a sport where I ended up sweaty and stinky. Obviously, my hygiene standards have been lowered over the years...

My return-to-fitness quest continued this week despite two ice/snow days that caused Greenville to grind to a halt. By Friday, everything had melted and yesterday it felt like spring with clear skies and temps in the 60s. My daffodils are already half-way up so I know spring race season is just about here. Despite the two days off running, I was able to get in 32 miles and about 4 hours of cross training for the week.

Sun: 8.1 E (9:26)

Mon: 6.2 Hills, 1:06 hrs biking, yoga

Tue: Rest Day, strength work

Weds: 1:10 hrs biking

Thu: 6.2 TM - Fartlek 12 x 1H/1E

Fri: 4.6 E - got caught in meetings at school

Sat: 7.0 E (9:02), yoga

Today I'm going on an 8mi run, 2500 yd swim, and my favorite hobby, playing in the garden. I hope y'all have a great week!

Ok I will admit to attempting the not so merrython twice. First time was on a lark. I mapped out an out and back loopish course following the Spokane River from CD'A to Post Falls . Things went well for the first 20 miles then someone turned off my motor and I was walking. Hitched a ride home with the rural postal dude who was pretty nice to stop. The other attempt was half arsed as in I made it half way which was also the finish area and I felt like Uta Pippig looked in 98 at Boston.

Rehab week 1

Both calves feel good but I am gonna give it another week then come back slow.

Jogged uphill 60 minutes total off 3 days : 10,20,30

Did at least 10 hours walking up and down a 10 percent grade with the downhills doing the trick.

I had reduced my hill walking the last few months and this is probably the reason my calfs started hurting.

Enjoyed two hour long hard hilly standup mtn bike rides this should keep my LT up while I let my calf muscles get 100 percent healed and the hilly walks with gentle jogging should get them strong with the eccentric strength being key as eccentric strength handles landing forces which are higher when running faster.

Plans

No races till Hayward in May

After a long stretch of consistent improving training I finally got a severe case of "old guy gets tired' this week. Last week was a big jump in both mileage and intensity and we know how that often works out. I got in 25 miles this week running Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I have not run since Wednesday, but probably will start up again tomorrow. Monday I ran a very easy (I thought) 9 miles on hills (10:54/mi. ave). Tuesday was supposed to be a workout day, but when I started running I felt totally exhausted and it never got any better. I managed to have a continuous internal dialog of "one more mile, one more mile" until I eked out 9 miles at 9:59/mi. on a dead flat pavement route. Wednesday I walked 7 miles and felt no better and decided it was time to completely rest. Thursday through Saturday I woke up and had zero interest in trying to get out the door and run at all. This morning I definitely felt more energized, but I think I will take today off as well and get back to it tomorrow. I am pretty sure that the world will not end if I take 4 days with no running and that all my accumulated fitness won't have disappeared in that 4 days, but emotionally, my inner voice keeps trying to tell me that I have suddenly turned old and become decrepit. I am not listening.

I also enjoyed the reminiscing about '70s and '80s running this week.

Male - 58 yrs- 5'11" - 175 lbs

Short term goals: Heal injuries, race a few 5Ks

Long term goal: 3:00 marathon at age 60, Oct 2019

January 14-21, 2018

Mon -- Off

Tue -- 2 x 20 mins elliptical

Wed -- 2 x 20 mins elliptical

Thu -- 2 x 20 mins elliptical

Fri -- 4.0 miles @ 9:37/mi

Sat -- 2 x 20 mins elliptical

Sun -- 4.0 miles @ 9:47/mi

Week total: 8.0 miles

My knee pain persists even during these short and slow runs. It's disappointing not to see much improvement. Six months may not be enough time to heal and get fit, but I would like to defend my

M55-59 title at an August 15K. I am a long ways from 6:20-pace runs. I am not so bold as to make that a stated goal.

I enjoyed all the stories of yore. Ours is, indeed, a simple and beautiful participatory sport with a rich history.

Be well.

-Allen

We are back to more wintry weather here, snow in the mountains, dry in the valley, morning temperatures in the 20s with 40s in the day. We are in this cycle when days are clear and beautiful, you can see the snow capped peaks both ends of the valley. Three more weeks of indoor season remain. At its conclusion I have decided to block out six weeks of general endurance training. I followed a similar format when I was coaching teams with both indoor and outdoor season. USATF outdoor will be exactly six months following my indoor season. Speaking of indoor, my quest has not been for the sub-3:00:00 marathon but rather the sub-3:00 800 Meters. Got it this past weekend with negative splits of 46-45-45-42 = 2:59.50.

Monday: 2 miles E/W

Tuesday: 2 miles E; 4 x 100m R @ 21-22 / 100m W; progressively faster repetitions with full 400m walk recovery-

600m @ 2:14, 500m @ 1:21, 400m @ 88, 300m @ 62, 200m @ 40, 100m @ 19; mile E

Wednesday: 3 miles E/W

Thursday: Off

Friday: 2 miles E

Saturday: 2 miles E; 4 x 100m / 100m W; 800m race 4 of 5; mile E

Sunday: TBD

Have a good week.

Igy

Nothing big to report, just a whole lotta cross training in order to let my injury heal.

Things are getting better, but I'd say a couple more weeks of not running is in order.

Go Vikes!!!

luKY2b, great Lorraine Moeller story. I got one or two of those from out here plus Anne Audain, and Anna Hannam. And I remember Syttende Mai being sort of a big deal back then.

Pretty good week for running, not so much for other things in life.

7.1

10

11.6 with some pick ups (6X45 sec)

11.5 (double)

8.2

15.5 with 10 miles of aerobic fartlek, varying between 6:15 and 6:45 (1:04 mid for everything)

8.6

71 or the week

Coyote Montane wrote:

Pretty good week for running, not so much for other things in life.

Your running week does sound good. I hope it helps make the other things in life a little more tolerable.

I have also enjoyed everyone's reminiscences about running in their younger days.

I had a very encouraging week. For the first time since May I was able to run 6 out of 7 days including one good long run, for a weekly total of 67 miles.

Monday: 10.1 miles at 9:11 pace.

Tues: 10.5 miles at 8:51 pace.

Weds: 10.2 miles at 8:49 pace.

Thurs: 10.5 miles at 9:11 pace.

Friday: Decided to take a day off from running, knowing that I wanted to do a hard effort the next day. Just spun the bike trainer easy for 90 minutes.

Sat: 16.0 miles at 8:41 pace. Probably the best long training run I’ve had since May.

Sun: 10.0 miles at 9:12 pace. Felt very easy and I was surprised it was that fast.

I’m going to enter a half-marathon 20 days from today, and see if I can get back under 1:45 again.

I still have a hankering to try another marathon, but that will have to wait until I can at least run every day again. If that ever happens.

happy Sunday, from gov't. shutdown land. At least AFN is back on. I'm close to someone who is deployed in Afghanistan and pleased they will get to see conference champs games after all. I gather it's quite a community-building thing there even among those who aren't huge football fans when at home.

fun week of training for me:

M 2:30 with 20 mins. at marathon pace

Tu 1:30 x-training

W 50:00

Th 1:00 with hill repeats

F 40:00 + 50:00 x-t

Sa 1:15 + 1:10 x-t

Su 2:40

in keeping with nostalgia theme of the thread, my wife and I went to see "The Post" on MLK Day, which focuses on the Washington Post decision to defy pressure from Nixon White House and publish Pentagon Papers in 1971. High drama with the decision to green light it, the production of the paper, loading stacks of copies on the trucks, and then just when it was getting good...........it ended.

As one of the kids who delivered that paper to many dozen suburban households, I look forward to Spielberg's inevitable sequel focusing on the unsung heroes of journalism -- sure, publishers/editors/writers are important, but what impact would they have had if not for the carriers?

have a great week,

Dave

amkelley wrote:

I had a very encouraging week. For the first time since May I was able to run 6 out of 7 days including one good long run, for a weekly total of 67 miles.

That is an impressive week. I would need to go back more than 35 years to find such a week in my logs.

Best wishes in your HM. That 16-miler is certainly encouraging. Was that pretty much even-paced, or more of a progression?

RE: Lorraine Moller, we are longtime pals...I was out there for her on the course in Seoul, South Korea during the 1988 Olympics ( in fact I have her NZ singlet which she gave me afterwards)...it was a hot day and at the drink tables the Russians up front would knock over the other athletes special fluids bottles...needless to say, Lorraine had a rough day at the office...but THEN, in the twilight of her career, comes back in Barcelona 4 years later and medals...or should I say 'mettles' because that's what it took. THAT has always impressed me...and you could not find a nicer, warmer human being with a delightfully sarcastic sense of humor.

I had a very good training week highlighted by yesterday's track sesssion. I have not been able to wear a racing shoe in 9 months because of my severe foot pain BUT tried out the new VaporFly 4% yesterday thinking they might provide far more protection than the average racing shoe...and they did. So, I ran 8 x 200...same workout I had done 10 days prior but with markedly better results and far less sharp stabbing pain...went: 46, 44, 44, 42, 44, 42, 41, 40...definite progress.

Headed out for a 6 mile active recovery jog with my bride and pup on NICELY groomed dirt over gently rolling hills in the most breathtakingly beautiful vineyards on the planet...it's our weekly family tradition...and then watching some football...about which I have but two words : Philly Philly ?

Have an outstanding week..."train don't strain" (a quote, coincidentally enough, that I got from Lorraine's coach, another old pal of mine, Arthur

Lydia Rd)

Best,

MF

Lorraine Moller was a pre-season guest speaker for my college cross country team and I remember how "in-tune" she was with her body. She did the miles and hard runs but also talked of taking 3 days off if she needed to recharge. I always gave in to that voice in my head that told me "you have to stick to the schedule". Anyway a light week for me. Busy week but I ran outside all 4 days.

Mon: off skin doctor

Tue: off son's 21st b-day

Wed: 4.1 miles in 38 min (4x 1/2 in 4 mins w 1/4 jog)

Thu: off out with friends

Fri: 3.4 miles run-walk in 39 min

Sat: 8.4 miles in 78 min

Sun: 4.7 miles run-walk in 55 mins

Skol!

Nice write-up Old Walker, very enjoyable read. No intentional thons in my history but I did have 2 accidental one’s where on one occasion I got lost and a second a buddy and I took the long way around a mountain. Both times ended up with about 30 miles. During the summers of 77, 78, and 79 I did the classic Lydiard 20’s every Saturday I could fit it in.

As far as running with fast women I was very fortunate to run the Virginia 10 miler during it’s heyday. Besides Shorter, Rogers and Viren, among others, we had Kim Merritt, Mary Shea, Miki Gorman, and, of course, Grete Waitz. Fond memories.

My rehab report is as such: T, Th, S, Su, 4 miles elliptical at between 7:15 and 7:30 pace. The right foot is definitely feeling good. Will begin to work in running in a few weeks. I did get the full medical report on the X-ray of my right foot. It was frustrating as what the doc said and what he wrote were slightly different. He SAID no fracture or spurs, but wrote, “some arthritis, mild enthesophyte formation. Mild additional bony degeneration as well as some atherosclerotic calcification”. This begs the obvious question: How “mild” and how much atherosclerotic calcification? Geez, anyway, glad I started the Glucosamine at least related to the arthritis. Tomorrow I turn 59 and may just have a calcium marker test of my arteries soon to see if there is anything to be worried about.

Have a good week folks.

Spring is in the air with high temps routinely in the 20s, if not higher. Great outdoor training weather. They may even re-open the golf course soon! ?? A good running week with one bump. Stepped out of the door for Wednesday's run full of enthusiasm, but felt a bit of a malaise once the jogging started. It didn’t get any better as the run continued. Was fearful that I might be coming down with the flu, so I stopped short, returned home, took a nap and some echinacea. Felt fine later and had no issues jogging the next day. Phew.

Sun: 44', body wt ex

Mon: off

Tues: 58' jog

Wed: off

Thu: 33' jog, 0.5 mi walk

Fri: 52' jog

Sat: 3 mi walk with the bride

Sun: 61' jog, body weight ex

Best to all.

Hello, all. Despite the excitement about discovering this thread that I expressed recently, I have reluctantly decided not to get involved. There is someone here who has not been very kind to me in the past, and I would rather step away than possibly take away from what appears to be a good thingfor most of you. While I am supportive of standing up to one's abusers, there is a time and place for that sort of thing and I choose to fight that battle elsewhere. Goodbye.

#metoo