50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

SCgal, I am not an MD, so this is only from my wife's personal perspective, she not only takes Vit D3 and calcium, but also Vit K2, as well as her daily weight-bearing exercise of running and quite a bit of walking with work (average of 13,000 steps total daily). I'd hate to speculate on the Fosamax, Googling it would be best to see the risks vs. benefits along with a doctor's 2nd opinion. My wife was prescribed something else many years ago, but chose not to take because it did not build bone strength in the inner bone and had a higher risk of fractures, but we don't recall that name. Again, hate to suggest. Oh, and she does eat A LOT of dark green veggies and salads. And she does her core and strength work twice weekly.

amKelley, so glad you are safe from your near miss, that would have been awful. I feel so lucky to have my near new Prius, so many more air bags and warnings like blind spot warning. This old bod needs protections!

Mon. 38 min. kayak. 50 min hike.

Tue. 45 min. mtn bike.

Wed. 48 min. mtn bike. 6.4 km up and down Mt Oberon, 330 metres elev. gain 28 min. up and 31 min. down. 9.5 km 1 hr. 45 min. hike up Mt. Bishop. 34 min kayak on the Darby River.

Thu. 2 hr. hiking on soft sand and sand dunes inc. 10 x 1 min runs with 30 sec walks. 55 min. mtn bike and 15 min. kayak.

Fri. 20 min. run on the beach with 10 x 1 min on soft sand with 30 sec walks and 3 x 80 metre uphill strides. 9 km hike to Tongue Point with my wife and youngest daughter, 340 metres elev. gain 2 hr. 18 min. 2.2 km hill run 20 mins.

Sat. 40 min. sea kayak. 23 km hike with my son, 510 metres elevation gain. A good mix of beach, dunes and forested mountains. 4 hr. 23 m.

Sun. 43 min. mtn bike. 42 min jog and hike about 5 km.

A nice week spent mostly at Wilsons Promontory, one of the jewels among our National Parks.

I didn't post last week. It was a quiet week as I was weary from night shift and came down with a crook throat by Thursday night. Fortunately I shook it off on the weekend. Maybe I passed on the lurgy to Lucky, a cyber virus perhaps?

SCgal Fosamax is effective but does have some nasty potential side effects so just be watchful of those if you choose to take it.

Igy all the best with your health challenge. As someone mentioned WOC who posted here has great info on cancer treatment. In particular exercising during chemo treatment.

amkelley wrote:

Apparently the 18-miler I did last weekend took more out of me than I thought.

I was tempted to comment on this last week, but decided not to. We all recover differently, and you know your body better than anyone else. But running a 18-miler is something I would not do a week before a half marathon race. As I got older, I have learned to taper more before a race, and build up more gradually after a pace. I tell myself that I shouldn't be doing what I used to do in my 40s.

And your near-miss reminded me of an accident I had in 2013. I was on my way back from a race that had been cancelled because of ice and snow. My car skidded on an icy patch on the highway, and span out of control. And I was hit from behind by a tractor trailer. Fortunately, I only had minor cuts and bruises. But my car was beyond repair, and had to be towed -- two days later. (There were too many accidents on that day the tow truck driver didn't have time to take me to my home. So I was dropped off at this tiny motel near the accident scene and spent two nights just waiting to get back home. I was charged for reckless driving and served one-year probation plus fine. The truck driver sued me for some injury, which apparently was dismissed by the court.

Anyway, so much for the accident story. Here is my week.

M: off.

T: 3 miles / 6 miles.

W: 12 miles. (8th-11th miles @ 7:53-7:47-7:41-7:35)

R: 3 miles / 6 miles.

F: 9 miles.

SA: 7 miles.

SU: 20 miles. (last mile @ 7:49)

This was my "getting used to running doubles" week. I cut my 7 miles run to 6, and added 2nd runs of 3 miles. Sunday's long run felt okay. So I have decent endurance. Now I need to get some speed back.

I completed all my initial testing, and my wife and I met with the oncologist Wednesday to go over the results and recommendations. The bone marrow was clean, and the diagnosis is an aggressive form of follicular lymphoma. The fast growing nature of the disease is actually a benefit for targeting treatment. The disease is considered cure able, which does not mean there won’t be challenges down the road, but the outlook favors survivability thru a normal life expectancy.

The first line treatment is R-CHOP, a cocktail of mono-clonal anti-bodies and traditional chemotheraphy. Infusion will begin next Friday with 6 times of a 21 day cycle over 18 weeks. So, if all goes as planned I should be over this phase around July 4th. Running is encouraged to tolerance, but naturally any training or racing plans will be tabled for the time being.

On a side note, my German born oncologist knows my passion for competing in masters track events. My wife and I got a chuckle when after announcing the treatment plan he said very directly, “unfortunately, for a time, I am going to shorten your stride.”

I will chime in from time to time. It’s been a lot of fun and if all goes well I hope to be a regular contributor down the road.

Thanks again for the well wishes and look forward to reading about your successes for years to come.

Igy aka Reid Harter

WOC/Ken M. was actually riding a stationary bike DURING his infusions Igy. As I have said he has a heap of research on this stuff.

mo’pac,

I saw that. I tried to reach out to him and the contact information was dated. I have an idea of what I would like to do exercise wise, but don’t want to jump ahead at this point. Feeling fine currently, if I hadn’t noticed a small bump on my clavicle or dismissed it, I would have had no warning. Thanks.

Love the touch of your posts. My wife called my son “little Roo” when he was a toddler. Winnie the Pooh was the genesis of course. Enjoy hearing about your runs up Roo hill.

Igy

The change in diagnosis makes noticing the swollen lymph node and getting it checked out oh so important.

Thanks for the update Igy .

*Week 349*

Greetings, 50+ers! No miles to report this week just sickness...it's been one of those lingering cruds, unfortunately. Sunday and Monday I was pretty laid up; I even canceled classes Monday for the first time in recent memory. Felt just a tad better Tuesday, but fortunately, didn't have to do any teaching, just listening to senior lab reports. Held my classes Wednesday, and they about wiped me out. By Thursday, was finally starting to regain some energy, though still coughing up phlegm like crazy. Feeling mostly back to normal (other than the residual phlegm) but was in meetings all day Friday. Yesterday, I had so much to catch up on, I missed my window to go running in the morning before the weather turned. The good news is that my knees are feeling better for having taken the week off; I suppose that is also bad news....or at least telling that I need to do something differently.

Reid, glad you have a clear diagnosis and promising treatment plan; sounds like you're in good hands. Will look forward to reading about your positive outcomes! It also reminds us all of the importance of early detection. That said, I really need to schedule my next colonoscopy.

OK. That's it for me. Hopefully, I'll get back on track this week (I know, I feel like I keep saying that.) Plan on getting my first post-cold run in later this afternoon. How's by you?

All the Best!

good luck to Igy in getting started on treatment protocol. sounds like your endurance will come in handy for this regimen. and good health to all of us....

fun training week for me amidst weird DC February weather -- high of 70 and eating dinner on the balcony one day, snow a day or two later....

M 1:10 run + 1:00 x-training

Tu 50:00 + 30:00 x-t

W 1:20 with 2 X 6:00 (4:00 recovery) and 5 X 1:30 (1:00 recovery) at 5k pace [basically 1600's and then 400's)

Th 1:50 double

F 30:00 + 30:00 x-t

Sa 2:30 with 3 X 20:00 (4:00 recovery) at marathon pace [about 3 miles each]

Su 2:00 double [in progress]

have a great week,

Dave

Get Well Soon Igy & LuKY2b.

Landover Is Loaded. Excited about Indoor Nats next month. The M55 1500 & 800 races are loaded. As Nats should be.

Chipped away a half-a-click for a 2:17 800m this week. Maintaining a rare aerobic base. Aiming to add speed-endurance work for the nex three weeks.

KP

CALF came come to roost, if this were a game of red light green light I just got sent back to the start.

week 18 Feb 11

- Feb 13 Tuesday 2.25 miles on treadmill 2x90 secs 9mph , 3 minutes at 10 mph, 6 minutes at 10mph (HR 169 85 percent), 75 secs at 12mph(HR 159) Rest untimed but fairly short. The 12mph was relaxed felt like I could have went 1000meters .

Calf tightened about half way into the workout so I cut it short but was not hurting too much. Later on I could tell I was back to square one.

So I got out my little porta bote which I use as a fishing kayak and did some fishing on a pretty little lake . Went back and forth on where to go next with the running. The injuries can be frustrating.

I am leaning towards moderation which is not my usual approach. Usually at this point I would toss the baby with the bath water. Gain about 20 pounds and do lots of fishing . Hey this can be fun too. Fish on is fun especially when it is a BIG fish. I have fond memories of fighting 200 pound sturgeon off the bank in current where your arms ache and hands cramp running down the bank and finally getting them in then playing GOD and letting them go. But here is the thing the only reason I can still do stuff like this is because I have stayed in shape. That is the key never let running run you down running powerful stuff use it carefully.

So I am contemplating my next move.

Another volume week (79 miles) with a 2X5K tempo on Tuesday and 4X 4 minute, 4X 1 min reps on Saturday. And hey this it the actual 2018 race season starts next week. Running with new team at USATFs starting next month and looking forward to the series! Weather here is crazy too--65 expected today, 1 F and snow tomorrow and Tuesday.

I'll be running in some heat and humidity next week, been preparing with treadmill runs at 7000 ft, (about 3X a week) wrapped up in layers of clothing! #sweatbomb.

Sorry to hear about the loss of Jon Grey (I have been on the same club for the past 3 years) last week as well as Ken Young who passed away a few days earlier. Jon was a superb runner and nice guy, who had a lot going for him. Ken was the master of masters performance database and he will be missed. Condolences to their friends and families.

Igy, best of luck on your treatment. LucKY2b, I hope you get well soon! It sounds like being unable to run because of upper-respiratory crud may be a bit of a blessing in disguise orthopedically…at least that’s what I try to tell myself whenever I get sick. Coyote, you’ve been putting in some terrific training weeks lately!

This was a week of R&R for me as I tried to recover from last Saturday’s failed race.

My heel was so sore that I could hardly walk Saturday afternoon, but after a couple of days completely off it started to feel better and quickly got pretty much back to the recent status quo (sore but manageable).

Monday: 90 minutes on bike trainer.

Tuesday: 36 minutes on a very awkward recumbent stationary bike at my hotel’s fitness room, then 2 miles of very slow jogging along the beach in La Jolla, watching the surfers and listening to the waves. I miss the ocean.

Weds: 3+ miles of easy running along the beach in the dark before traveling to the airport to come home.

Thurs: 10.5 miles easy at 9:19/mile average pace.

Fri: 10.2 miles at 9:07 pace.

Sat: 10.5 miles easy at 9:20 pace. It felt weird to be puttering around the house Saturday, my usual long-run day, feeling like I hadn’t worked out at all.

Sun: 10.8 miles at 8:51 pace. It felt really good to pick up the pace a bit.

This morning it was 38 degrees, and this is supposed to be the warmest morning for the next week. They’re forecasting a low of 28 for Monday night. Time to pull out the mittens and turtlenecks again.

I have another half-marathon in 3 weeks, and hope to get my legs under me by then.

Have a good week!

M58, 5'11" 172 lbs

Goals

Aug 2018 -- Defend M55-59 title in 15K

Oct 2019 -- 3:00 marathon age 60

Feb 12-18, 2018

Mon -- Off

Tue -- 7.7 miles @ 8:39/mi (roads)

Wed -- 6.9 miles @ 8:26/mi (roads)

Thu -- 4.0 miles @ 9:09/mi (roads)

Fri -- 2 x 20 mins elliptical; 20 mins treadmill

Sat -- 7.9 miles @ 9:40/mi (roads)

Sun -- 4.0 miles @ 8:19/mi (roads)

WEEK TOTAL: 30.5 MILES

I'm continuing on the slow road to recovery. Weekly mileage progression has been 6.0, 8.0, 21.0, 23.8, 28.6, 30.5.

Allen1959 wrote:

I'm continuing on the slow road to recovery. Weekly mileage progression has been 6.0, 8.0, 21.0, 23.8, 28.6, 30.5.

Nice job, Allen. It's good to see you on the road back.

Igy, sounds like they have a good plan. Your fitness will certainly help. Good wishes to!

lucKY, get well soon.

Coyote, wow, your training has got you primed for? Hum, that 12K road record looks to be the low-hanging fruit….

Tu, Th, Sa, Su: 19, 20, 21, and 22 min of running respectively on those days with 50 pushups/crunches. I almost feel like a runner again. The heel is feeling good but I’ve been fooled before. Thursday, I got to run in shorts and a T shirt with it being 75 degrees. I think that is the first time I have actually been warm in 2 months. My weight is staying at 156 but my waistline continues to shrink as I had to literally tighten my belt a notch to avoid the “confused old man with his pants around his ankles” look, which, I understand, is very much out of style.

If the foot continues to hold up I plan to stick with the 4 days a week ‘optimal-maximal’ approach I had planned for myself. I had gotten to 18:47 in the 5K on 5 days a week and 25 miles per week max, so I am guessing somewhere in the low to mid 20’s in a 5K would be a good goal as I near 60. I’m going to avoid pressing every run like I did before as it just got me injured. Documented somewhere on here I had several weeks where I averaged under 7 min miles for the entire week. That yielded a 19:24 5K at age 53 and frankly, that’s not fast enough to warrant that much work. Going forward I hope to get the minutes to 45 and do 1 and only one faster workout per week and 1 longer run per week. Tentatively I like the 6 800 reps workout where I shorten the rest intervals and gradually model the paces down.

Igy, continuing good wishes as you work your way through your treatment process.

We are wrapping up our visit to NZ today. It has been a wonderful sightseeing time in the farm country at the top of the South Island. I have gotten in some solid and scenic running mostly on gravel roads. Running with my son and d-in-law is always fun but usually feels like tempo pace. 47 miles for the week.

M- 4 at 7:55

T- 13 at 10:40 in Abel Tasman on a twisty, sometimes rocky and rooty trail

W- 4 at 10:50 with dead legs

Th- 6 at 8:10

F- 5at 7:55

S- 5 at 8:31

Su- 10 at 8:52

Mon. 33 mi. kayak in a fast flowing Campaspe River.

Tue. 2 x 5 km running errands on the mtn. bike then a solid 11 km ride in the forest.

Walked the last 3+ kms into work. Walked back to the car after work.

Wed. Caught up with some of the Himalaya crew in Melbourne. I hiked with an injured buddy while the others ran. 8.5 very hilly kms in 1 hr 20 min.

Thu. 1 hr 24 min hiking in the morning.

Afternoon mtn bike ride 27 km with 750 metres elevation gain 1 hr 40 min.

Fri. 25 min kayak on the lake.

Brisk hiking the last 3+km into work carrying 18 kg. Return journey at night with a little more weight.

Sat. 7 km hilly hiking and easy jogging. Hiked up Roo Hill then alternated hiking and jogging for the last 5 km.

Sun. 33 km hilly mountain bike ride with 660 metres of gain in 2 hours.

Lots of hamstring strengthening exercises this week as a try to shake off the high hammy tendinopathy. It feels good this morning so I will get back to some slow interval type running and see how it responds.

A solid week for me with at least some activity each day. A little snow in the air this week, but not much on the ground. The golf course was open, but it was tough sometimes to get my tee in the frozen ground. Windchills still challenging at times, but survivable.

Sun: 49 min jog

Mon: 2 mi walk

Tues: 51 min jog, body wt ex

Wed: golf (ride 18), 91

Thu: 52 min jog, body wt ex

Fri: 2 mi walk with the bride

Sat: 52 min jog (estimated, dead Garmin), body wt ex

Sun: w mi walk with the bride

Best to all!