50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Good morning from Eagle, Idaho. Spring conditions expected next week with afternoon temperatures in the low 60s.

Training volume was near normal levels with 34 Igy miles. Training intensity is dialed back several notches as I get my treatment legs stable. My week: 2 hours spin bike, 2 x free weight sessions, 2 x core sessions, one four mile light track session, and 18 miles walking.

Next week I plan a more intense running workout mid-week, with the second treatment to follow Friday.

Have a good week and best wishes to those racing.

Igy

Thanks for the 'good luck at Nats' mention. I'll take it as a slightly unlucky challenge arrived Thursday night with ANOTHER freakin' upper respiratory virus. Makes 3 since Thanksgiving. Though they all suck, this one feels like a common cold; I have faith I will race just fine in the 1500 Sat & 800 Sun next weekend.

3 Confidence Workouts in the barn...

10 days out - 65 & sunny Palm Springs

200 @ 33

600 @ 1:39

300 @ 48

200 @ 30

14 days out - 47 & cold Portland

200 @ 32

600 @ 1:40

300 @ 46

200 @ 30

17 days out - 45 & wet Portland

800 @ 2:25

200 @ 36

200 @ 36

600 @ 1:44

200 @ 34

200 @ 34

I went ahead and ran my half-marathon today despite having run a grand total of only 15 miles in the previous 11 days after re-aggravating my Achilles heel. It didn’t go very well. I went out with the 1:50 pace group for the first couple of miles but that felt too slow, so I eased myself forward and picked up the 3:37 marathon pace group, and followed them up to shortly before the two races diverged at 7.5 miles. At that point I still felt good and was able to pick up the pace a little, and everything was going fine until about 11 miles, when my calves started to cramp up. This has been a recurring problem. I ended up having to slow way down and I even had to stop and walk a few stretches, and I finally shambled across the finish line in 1:49:14. Not as bad as my last race four weeks ago, but not what I was looking for. Perhaps I just have to accept that this is all the better I can do at this age? The conditions were perfect—very flat course, temps in the upper 40s to low 50s and calm.

I still won the 55-59 age group with 70 finishers (and would have also won the 50-54 with 110 finishers), and was 26th female overall out of 821. And I still finished in plenty of time to pick up my post-race food, pick up my age-group award, mosey back to the car to put it all away and put on more clothes, and mosey back to the end of the race course to watch the winners finish the full marathon (standing in the bright sun—ah, lovely). In two months I turn 60 and move into the next age group.

It remains to be seen how sore my heel will be by the end of the day. So far it’s not too bad. I assume I’ll need at least several days off before I can run again. I hope it’s not several weeks or several months.

MikeF, the combination of dog and wild boar sounds dangerous. I hope the boar has the sense to run and the dog has the sense not to chase.

congratulations! an age group win when you're about to age out of the group is impressive, even if not quite the time you wanted.

i had a pretty good week leading into spring break, as follows:

M 1:00 x-t & 1:10 run

Tu 1:10 including run to blood donation site to get my HR up above their minimum [barely worked -- too much recovery time sitting around waiting my turn]

W 1:10 with 2 X 7:30 (4:30 recovery) at 5k effort [just under 2000 meters each]

Th 1:50 double

F 1:45 double

Sa 1:50

Su 3:00 with a few bursts of picking up the pace

good luck to all in filling out your brackets, and have a great week,

Dave

Had an interesting running week of sorts but it all worked out with a massage yesterday. That hurt way more than the 30K run I did earlier in the morning! And more than any race I do. But now feel much better. Closed the week out with a ski today.

65 miles running, and a 80 minute classic ski (easy/recovery effort aka L1/L2 in skier talk). I took Monday off because I was overtired. Gradually felt better through the week and the massage really did the trick to turn things around.

Cutting back a bit--will also be at Va Beach for USATF 8K, so maybe see some of you there.

I had a busy week and yesterday I tried a bit of running for the first time in over 3 weeks. Just a tiny bit - jogged the straights and walked the curves for a mile on the track. A bit of PF soreness this morning; not so bad but it tells me I'm not out of the woods yet.

As for the other days of the week: Monday and Wednesday - very intensive weight training, Tuesday, 60 minutes of pool running, Thursday 45 minutes of the stair mill. I'm staying in shape...wish I could run, but all good things come (back) in time I suppose.

Week 21 March 4 about 30 minutes

- March 5 2 x 1 mile next to dunes by creek ez tempo plus some barefoot hills on a sand dune really looking forward to doing more of these as the weather warms.Sore for a few days

- March 8 treadmill intervals see week 20 14s for 14 minutes or so

7/7....4/10 this was a 2 hour workout with the first hour just walking uphill then felt the need for speed really enjoyed this session. 7/7 is 7 percent grade at 7 mph so 4/10 is 4 percent grade at 10mph

Treadmill conversion from hill to flat probably optimistic but that is what I am too

https://42.195km.net/e/treadsim/

grade/mph converts to mph in minutes per mile

7/7 -> 9.2 = 6:31

6/8 -> 10.2 = 5:53

5/9 -> 11.0 = 5:27

4/10 -> 11.8 = 5:05

Another solid week — sick of snow and ready for Spring but more’s on its way.

28 miles on 4 runs with 12 yesterday in 7:11 on icy/snow covered roads

2 swims totaling 2.5 miles

3 lifting sessions with 1,200 sit-ups

2 spins including a two hour today

I also include 2.5 hours shoveling as a workout ?

Have a good week all.

This was a planned step-back week during my overall mileage build, although work scheduling and weather stepped it back way more than necessary. Less than five months before this year's only goal race, so eventually I need to start adding some quality. Sub-8 min/mile pace remains a hard effort, even for a single mile; I will need low 6:20s for the 15K in August. My knee was bothersome during today's run, but I was able to end with a 7:26 mile.

M58 -- 5'11" 171 lbs

Open PRs (1982) -- 16:04 5K, 2:40:30 marathon

Masters PRs (2003) -- 17:10 5K, 2:56:03 marathon

Most recent (2017) -- 18:58 5K, 3:07:23 marathon

Goals

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

Oct 2019 -- 3:00 marathon age 60

Training status -- Injury rehab, mileage build

March 5-11, 2018

Mon -- 20 mins elliptical, 20 mins treadmill

Tue -- 5.0 miles @ 9:51/mi (roads)

Wed -- Off

Thu --20 mins elliptical, 30 mins treadmill

Fri -- 10 mins elliptical, 30 mins treadmill

Sat -- Off

Sun -- 6.8 miles @ 8:32/mi (roads)

WEEK TOTAL: 11.8 MILES

Mon. 37 min. hilly hike. 47 min. mtn bike ride. 39 min. kayak.

Tue. 42 min. hilly mtn bike ride. 50 min. hike.

Wed. 2 hr. hilly hike (7 x Roo Hill) 530 metres elevation gain in 9 kms. Easy 150 metre jog x 7 enroute.

Thu. Split a hilly 13 km. 50 min. mountain bike ride with a slow 3 km plod on hilly trails (21 min.). 37 min. hike.

Fri. 55 min. hilly hike. Mountain bike ride with 4 km climb in 29 min. and descent in 5 min. Total 50 min. 37 min. kayak.

Sat. Slow hilly 5.2 km. trail jog in 40 min.

Sun. 12 km. hiking. Pretty steep. Quite a bit of navigating untracked bushland. 720 metres elevation gain in 3 hrs. For all you frosty Americans it was 37 deg C/100 deg F.

Hoping to add a bit more running in this week as the dicky hamstring is keeping quiet on the steep hikes and easy jogs.

Yikes, it's been a while since I posted! Will take a few days to catch up with everything here.

The beginning of the year was really busy with 3 weeks back to back travel and I'm only coming back up for air.

Have kept the training going despite an early morning fall on black ice in Hopkinton early one morning, gave my elbow and knee a good slap off the road, knee still hasn't fully recovered I suspect some bone bruising. I didn't miss any days, but had to back off the intensity and elected for the treadmill on icy mornings.

Races:

I finished 1st M50 in our county masters XC on a good course, covering the 6k ish at 5:49 min/ml pace, felt very strong.

Ran the regional masters XC on a sticky, twisty course, didn't suit me and I was a little fatigued from early morning runs while travelling and generally out of my normal routine, 4th about 20 secs behind 3rd.

Target was always the regional and national indoor 3,000m, so even though my knee wasn't quite recovered I ran an evening open indoor 1500m, race was delayed (started at 10:20pm), I started a little hot and that combined with the lack of sessions led to a disappointing death match in the last few laps (4:44).

I did follow this up with an outdoor 5k on a hilly course, had a great battle from 3k with 2 others and bagged 1st M50 and a 17:07.

Regional indoors, we were combined with the M45's, I ran an honest steady race finishing 2nd overall and 1st M50. Didn't over stretch because at that stage the nationals were the following weekend (subsequently postponed due to back weather impacting travel). This left me in a little limbo, but a timely Magness article on adjusting race week sessions to how you are feeling gave me a plan.

7 days out, I really felt ready to race, so instead ran a steady 10 miles at 6:40 pace, this flattened me for a few days, 2 recovery days of easy running, followed by 6 x 200, 1 easy day and 6 x 200 3 days out and felt sharp again.

Again for the Nationals we were mixed with the M45's, 17 in the race I felt was a little crowded. 1st place wasn't up for debate with a 9:30 guy in the field, but silver and bronze could go anyway. After a few laps I found myself in a little group of 3 M50's, the battle for silver was on. Nothing much happened between laps 3 and 12, one was taking it out and I was sitting in 3rd, just trying to stay relaxed and alert. We were running a little slower than my season opener (9:55.9), I recall seeing 6:42 at 2k versus 6:36 for my SB. With 3 laps to go (8:02) the 2nd placed guy made a move, which I responded to and we navigated our way through lapped runners and some M45's that were getting blown out the back. Entering the last lap he had 5m on me, but I stayed relaxed, focused on closing from 125 and as we entered the straight gave it a good rattle to claim 2nd by 4 /10ths in 9:54.52. Very happy with my performance and race management.

Next up a 5k next weekend, a down week to coincide with work travel followed by a solid 4 week training block introducing more 5k stuff.

End of April hopefully the club can pull a team a together for the National Road Relays (1M - 2M -1M) for the masters and then the regional road race champs 1st week in May (6k).

Encouraging news item for master's athletes:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/03/12/591513777/hearts-get-younger-even-at-middle-age-with-exercise

C0l0rado interesting article thanks!

At age 60 it took 10 months of banging away to get the old ticker to work like the old days. No kidding this article is spot on. I have seen the light. No more goof off years ! Maybe not running but definitely intensity on a weekly basis as a minimum. Thanks again!

SpikePlate, congratulations and nice race report. I was back on plan the past week with 49 miles.

M- off

T- 9 mi hills

W- 7 mi walk with 100M stride every 1/2 mi

Th- 9 mi hills

F- 7 mi walk with 100M stride every 1/2 mi

S- 10 mi with 2 mi w.u., 6 mi "steady state" (it turned into 3 at 6:50 and 3 at 7:21), 2 mi w.d.

Su- 7 mi walk with 100M stride every 1/2 mi

So this year's St Pat's 4 miler is in the books. New course, and took a STEEP downhill, STEEP uphill turnaround at 2 miles, such a quad buster. Felt so much better than last year, and ran 65 seconds faster, though with the differing course, hard to tell what that means. Went 8:21, 8:03, 8:40 (with the uphill), 7:50 to place 5th in the 65-69 in 32:55. This race is part of the KCTC Race Series, and I'd placed 2nd in this St Pat's last year. Only problem for me is that 4th was 11 seconds up on me, though I don't know what he looks like (us gray-hairs all look alike, right?).

My wife won her age group solidly, in 31:57, but she feels a long ways away from being ready for a sub 7 minute mile in June. Still have time to get ready for that. At least her time was not far off last year's race, and she survived that tough hill without her legs giving out (she's a bit iffy on the big hills injury-wise).

Don't know of any more races before the end of April, with a downhill 4 miler then, so on to a solid block of training. Best wishes to all for your indoor nationals.

Nice running, all!

I think it's been nearly 2 years since I posted - when I was just about to turn 50 and amusingly thought I might attempt a sub-5 mile at age 50. Ha! Made some effort at that last year, found sub-80 400's much harder than I anticipated. Got to where I could run 72's, but not without rest between.

So now at age 51, I'm just running without much of a goal. Maybe a late spring half marathon?

Last week: 31-ish miles on 5 days running.

3/5 - 47:00, about 5 miles on icy, muddy trails.

3/6 - 40:00, about 5.5 miles. included 2x2k at

Just Passing Through wrote:

Nice running, all!

I think it's been nearly 2 years since I posted - when I was just about to turn 50 and amusingly thought I might attempt a sub-5 mile at age 50. Ha! Made some effort at that last year, found sub-80 400's much harder than I anticipated. Got to where I could run 72's, but not without rest between.

So now at age 51, I'm just running without much of a goal. Maybe a late spring half marathon?

Last week: 31-ish miles on 5 days running.

3/5 - 47:00, about 5 miles on icy, muddy trails.

3/6 - 40:00, about 5.5 miles. included 2x2k at

Don't know why that got cut off. Anyway:

3/6 included 2x2k at

Just Passing Through wrote:

Nice running, all!

I think it's been nearly 2 years since I posted - when I was just about to turn 50 and amusingly thought I might attempt a sub-5 mile at age 50. Ha! Made some effort at that last year, found sub-80 400's much harder than I anticipated. Got to where I could run 72's, but not without rest between.

So now at age 51, I'm just running without much of a goal. Maybe a late spring half marathon?

Last week: 31-ish miles on 5 days running.

3/5 - 47:00, about 5 miles on icy, muddy trails.

3/6 - 40:00, about 5.5 miles. included 2x2k at

Going to try this one more time:

3/6 included 2x2k at 6:40/mi pace

3/8 - 40:00, 5+ miles, flat crushed gravel, very tight calf.

3/10 - 38:00, 5mi, rolling, crushed gravel, easy.

3/11 - 1:05:09 - 15k race. Pleased with effort given it's about equal to my long run distance this year. Course is tough, 350 foot drop first 3 miles, 4th mile flat, then climbs back up. Won age group! First race of the year.

This is a pretty typical week for me other than long run is normally on trails and a bit slower. Thanks for listening.

Racerdb wrote:

RF reader wrote:

Now I seriously plan to work on my speed after my marathon next month. I haven't done any serious speed work for years, and the brief attempt I made last year was cut short by yet another injury.

I would think a steady dose of weekly tempos would be really helpful. Speedwork (or trackwork) unless done at threshold or tempo pace... could lead to trouble!

Just my thoughts,

Dave

Thanks. I think this is a pretty good idea.

But first I need to get healthy again. Last week I wrote how health problems could come out of nowhere. Well, on Thursday night I felt unusual chill on my lower back. Next morning, I woke up with a 101F degree fever. I stayed in bed for most of Friday and Saturday, and fever finally went down to double digits by Sunday morning. It was ironic that one of the articles I found over the weekend was this:

But given this was the first time since 2005 that I spent more than one day in bed for illness, maybe my immune system is pretty sound. When I was a little kid, I got sick very easily and missed many days of my kindergarten. I have much improved since then. Having said that, now I am thinking about purchasing a humidifier for my home.

My week.

M: off.

T: 6 miles.

W: 7 miles.

R: 7 miles.

F-SU: off.