50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Thanks again everyone it's kinda but not really sunk in yet.

RType I think it's more or less the same course as 93 so chasing Norm Green again. The record was on my mind heading in but during the race itself only thought about it over the last 200 or so when I could see the clock so too little too late to mount a massive kick to maybe get under.

Splits were 11:20, 17:01, 22:42

Week was 63

10, 11, 10, rest, 5, 10, 17

Let me add my congrats to CM, truly incredible performance.

Gong week here despite atrocious weather.

4 runs including a 13+ miler yesterday at 7:16 pace

3 swims for 4.5 miles including a 2 miler today in 62:40

2 spins x 60 min

4 lifting sessions with 1,100 sit-ups

Heading to the Caribbean at the end of the week, only thing keeping me sane over the past 3 weeks/nor’easters

Congrats, CM! I admit that I had picked my teammate, Joe, to win. Beating him is quite an accomplishment as he's a very tough racer. Looks like the new AG is great for you!

I missed checking in last week. Traveled with the team to spring break with the team and spent 11 days in Myrtle Beach.

Running and biking was solid. My dead leg seems better. Infact I ran doeay with a normal stride.

Did a crazy workout in new ASICS MD's - holy cow were my calves sore but I think it heped. While in Myrtle rode a group ride. They ride fast cause it is flat but no hills makes it easy.

I'm 3 weeks from the National Duathlon. This should be interesting.

I did 29 and 30 miles + 100 and 75 more on the bike

Oh and 29 8k for CM holy cow

Mike Rohl wrote:

Oh and 29 8k for CM holy cow

That's 28:10. Holy cow, indeed!

I will add my congratulations to CM and the other very impressive racers. I always find those kind of performances to be inspirational. They make me think that if I can figure out the right training and do it, then I can get a lot faster than I am now. I took several rest days this week to get my legs a little fresher for racing next weekend. Only 28 miles this week with Mon., Wed., and Thu. off.

Thanks to lucKY2b for the shout out (would it be worth trying something prescribed to enhance that lung clearing???), and here's mine to amkelley for the 1/2 marathon (sorry to hear of the sore heal, though), to CM (what a race and what a %, bet you can withstand kryptonite!) and to Ghost of Igloi for even putting on the workout shoes in the midst of treatment. There is growing evidence that exercise does enhance your therapy, but the fatigue experienced does make it hard for folks to take that "first step" and do some exercise. Hope you can document your experiences and trials and share with us more, as we never know when one of us might need some knowledge in pursuing health and dealing with the big C.

Congrats, too, to KP, saw that he missed the bronze in the 1500 by less than a second, but did get a solid silver in the 800, and in a fast 2:21-2 area.

No races here since St Pat's, after a 38 mile week, last week was 28 (which ended Saturday), felt good enough to get out for 12.5 miles yesterday, with 5+ with my wonderful wife. First run in a long while under 10 min/mile average, and did it wipe me out, needed a 1 and 1/2 hour nap! My Garmin told me I'll need 72 hours of recovery, I can believe that, as I got my heart rate up to 124 average and 139 peak (my max is 150 so must have worked a hill pretty hard). Reminded me of the 18 to 20 milers we used to do for marathon training, now it's all 1/2 focused, but hopefully can get in a couple more and even run longer than 13 prior to a mid-May 13.1 effort.

MikeL,

Thanks. I am trying not to be a martyr or some example that I am not. Certainly I do not want anyone to feel sorry for me or fear for my welfare. That said, there are periods of challenge for sure. The aerobic activity helps both the physical and mental side. For me I have had to scale back any thoughts of training for racing, just too much pressure. At the same time realizing that any thoughts of racing in the near term was pushing on a string, and perhaps counterproductive. On the other hand, in addition to the less intense exercise, I have found light chores around the house helpful both physically and mentally. The tumor that appeared out of the blue is now completely gone at the surface level. Some strong therapy for sure. I am confident that a balanced approach is the best course for me, knowing each of us respond to stimuli differently.

Igy

Reporting in late after a fun weekend in VA Beach...First, congratulations to CM and to those of you who ran in Landover. My race wasn't as stellar as yours but I consider it a success even though CM had already been in the beer tent for 10 minutes by the time I finished! Here's my race report...

The race conditions were perfect: a flat course, cool, no rain, and most important, no wind. I lined up in the crush of people that were herded into corral 1. Did anyone else notice that we had a mixture of middle schoolers, masters runners, college runners etc. in the corral? There was no separate corral for the masters and there was no head start as in most of the other national championship races. The corral was half the width of the street with metal barriers on both sides. When the gun went off, the mass of people surged forward and a 20-something guy cut in front of a woman and tripped her. When she fell, the people behind her also fell. I saw my teammate fall hard but fortunately a man helped her up so she wasn't trampled. We didn't know until later that one man had badly injured his hip in the incident. My tough friend broke her elbow and badly hurt her knee but still finished the race ahead of me!

My goal this year was to run an even pace. I had hoped to run sub 8 minute miles even though I haven't done any workouts yet. I intentionally held back on miles one and two and found myself running behind two women I knew would be close to my goal pace. They were from teams my team was competing against so I hoped to be able to stick with them. I came through the 2 mile at 15:50 (:50 slower than last year) and felt strong. I stuck to the women staying just a few steps behind so they wouldn't know I was there. They pulled me through the rest of the race and when we turned to run the final 800 to the finish line I passed one of them. When we got within the last 200 I gave it all I could and the two of us battled to the finish line. I ended up beating her by :01. My time was :50 slower (39: 24 - 7:56 pace) than last year but I felt like I'd won the Olympics. That was so much fun - I'm so grateful that I'm finally able to race again!

I competed in a "Dri Tri" at my OrangeTheory gym on Saturday: a 2,000 meter row, 300 reps of various bodyweight lifts in the gym, and a 5,000 meter run on a treadmill (1% grade).

The run was harder and slower than I expected! My heart rate stayed right in the 90%-92% range for most of the 40 minutes that it took me to finish the event.

Was it goofy? Yes. Was it fun? Yes.

Wow...the tumor is already gone to the point of it no longer being palpable? Excellent news! - how many chemo treatments have you had at this point? Any reason why treatments are continued giving the shrinkage of the tumor as opposed to a surveillance strategy (is that even an option in today's lymphoma treatment protocol?). And I wonder how much of your own immune system kicked in (NK cells) and started destroying the mutating cancer cells. Immune systems can get sluggish as we get older allowing cancer cells to proliferate into tumors. I think the future in cancer treatment is to genetically reprogram/recharge NK cells to mount a more effective defense against proliferating cancer cells. No more toxic side-effects from chemo which would be nice.

Just Passing By,

I am scheduled for six sessions of R-CHOP every three weeks. R is a mono-clonal anti-body, and CHOP a proven chemo strategy for a variety of cancers. I received my second dose Friday, an infusion and shots, followed by four days of high dosage prednisone. The prednisone has a tendency to cause restlessness just when the other protocol wears down the white cells.

What you stated is generally correct. I have follicular lymphoma 3a which is moderately aggressive. At the cellular there is a antigen CD20 that is the troublemaker, in part. Follicular lymphoma 1and 2 are indolent (lazy) and the antigen is not mature enough to target, so treatment is not recommended. In my case the tumor burden can increase and create havoc on other organs. Additionally and somewhat beneficially, in the more aggressive 3a the CD20 can be targeted, and in most cases eliminated as a health concern. My tumorous lymph node tissue has been sent off for genetic testing. If an additional marker is present in chromosome six it is more likely but not certain that I will have a relapse down the road. The options at that point are variations of the current protocol, stem cell transplant, or cutting edge treatment like you referenced. There is a clinical trial at Sloan-Kettering doing the same. These procedures are directed toward those that have exhausted the options available to me if things turn south. For most people with my condition a bad ending can be extended for decades.

Thanks for the concern, and trust this post won’t irritate others in what is an entirely uplifting thread of accomplishments and triumphs.

I have quite a bit of time to sit and ruminate lately. Not entirely a bad thing.

Igy

SCgal, I'm so happy to hear that you're back! That was quite a nasty injury you had to overcome.

SCgal

Good to hear that you are back and had an enjoyable return-I totally agree about the course start. The injured guy was on our 70+ team and we spent Saturday afternoon at the hospital as they got him ready for surgery. The doctor was optimistic that he'll recover okay due to his good health and bone density but will be out for a number of months. Sorry to hear about your teammate! I think a bunch of need to send a note to USATF to consider a split startline.

Muddy girl

Thanks. And yes Joe is a very tough runner.

M: off.

T: 6 miles.

W: 7 miles.

R: 7 miles.

F: 7 miles.

SA: 7 miles.

SU: 14.5 miles. (7:22@ last mile)

This is what the previous week was supposed to be. But I got derailed by illness, so I did the "recovery week" again. My throat and nose are not normal yet, but everything else is fine. I had a decent pickup at the end of my Sunday run. So hopefully I did not lose too much fitness.

Each week I have been checking marathon results, looking for M60+ runners under 3 hours. At the LA Marathon, 69-year-old Frank Meza of South Pasadena ran 2:56:12. Wow!

Interestingly, Dr. Mesa ran a couple 3:09 marathons in 2011, and 3:00 in 2013. Anyone know more about him or his training?

It will be interesting to see how he progresses so far so good!

You might enjoy Canute's take on the Ancient Marathoner Greats

https://canute1.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/the-secrets-of-the-enduring-ancient-marathoners/

I hesitate to say this but will anyhow as this thread is supportive and is meant as a supportive but honest opinion. The only thing standing in between you and a sub 3 at 60 are injuries. Unless you can get your knee(s) healthy it is not gonna happen OTOH if you can figure the knee thing out you have a real shot at it.

My quest for a sub 5 mile will only happen if I can run more without getting injured. My lower leg issues always seem to come back. The difference this time is I am keeping the injury on the FRONT burner. I believe if I keep working on this issue I will overcome it. On my walk today I started thinking about what are my biggest regrets when it comes to running. Well it really comes down to just one thing and that is giving up;)

CM,

The ATC folks have already been in touch with our USATF LDR Committee members about the race start. Mary Rosado and Bill Quinlisk have been very understanding and are going to work with the race director to see that changes are made in the future. I'm sorry about you teammate but glad to hear that he's going to be OK. Congratulations again on your well-deserved win!