50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Abbreviated the week’s first jog due to heat acclimation concerns and glad I did as my HR had gotten relatively high when I checked later. Finished with a walk and a swim to cool down. No ill effects. The weather moderated later in the week. Things were feeling good enough to throw in some fartlek at one point. Weight is in a good place, but I’d like to get it lower still. Haven’t golfed in awhile.

Sun: 42’ jog, 2 striders, 1+ mi walk with swim

Mon: off

Tue: 52’ jog, body wt ex

Wed: off

Thu: 51’ jog w/ utility pole fartlek (8 x 1 on / 3 off)

Fri: off

Sat: off (weather)

Sun: 52’ jog, body wt ex

Best to all!

After weeks of one, one, and four miles of running, this week I managed 18 miles total (3, 4, 5, and 6 miles on M, Tu, Th, and F, respectively). Not a peep out of my strained calf, so I declare that fixed and now I just have to start working myself back into running shape. However, it will have to wait another week, as my husband and I are taking a four-day backpacking trip starting tomorrow. Lugging a heavy pack up and down mountains at 8,000 feet will be some sort of workout but it isn’t running and won’t help too much to get my running form back.

In addition to the little bit of running, I put in 185 miles on the bike this week. Also helpful for maintaining general fitness, but not running –specific.

A week ago I set our over/under for turning on the A/C at June 22. We were one day over—finally broke down and turned it on yesterday. Our house is very well insulated and up until this weekend the nights had still been getting quite cool, allowing us to open up all the windows before going to bed and cool the house that way. This weekend summer finally arrived, with highs over 100 and lows barely below 70. (Still not at all bad compared with much of the country, I know). That’s another good reason for putting in lots of miles on the bike, which is much more amenable to warmer temperatures.

I’m looking forward to four days of no contact with the outside world, and just hope we all (self, husband, and dog) come back in good shape.

Congrats KP!

Whew, 63, and Coyote, 70 miles a week is proof that if one can do the training the results will come no matter the age. Tempting….but so dangerous…….

Glad the calf-woes are behind you now amkelly

Tue = 4+ miles hard with 15 or so accelerations in 95 degree heat

Thr = 45 min rocky trail, 500 feet climbing

Sat = 45 min rocky trail, 297 feet climbing + mowing

Sun = 45 min trail, 600 climbing + 5 hours of “grandpa” work planned later today for a 5yo (harder than it seems!)

I joined a local trail running group and Tuesday was my first run with them. There were 12 of us with two folks running really slowly. Because the group does not want to strand people and this trail had many turns, we ended up, essentially, doing fartlek’s between turns and waiting on the others to catch up. It was a heck of a hard workout for me. So much so I had the “achy-legs-keep-you-awake-at-night” that night. Which, to me, is a really good sign. The heel handled it with only minor soreness. I decided I didn’t want to push it with another 1600 on the track Sat. I really like these people and I’ve missed running with a group. Also….this is the first time I’ve been the oldest person in a group. WEIRD!

I am feeling the best I have felt in about 4 years. I’ve found the Goldilocks Zone for me at this time. But…..I want to race fast. Such a conundrum. I should be, and am, thankful that this particular pattern of training has transformed me from someone who was about ready to throw in the towel on running to someone who can now contemplate doing the real work it takes to race well. Signed….Never satisfied….

Have a great week folks!

Nice 15 KP, priming up for USATFs, and good to see you here 63 - That was a good race in Ann Arbor! DW beat me by 1 sec in the age grade.

I had a decent week, 65, but knee is a little sore so might need a few days off along with some dedication to ice and ibuprofen. Did some hill reps at 8000 feet the other day, and had a couple of mid-length runs on the weekend (10.5 and 13). In need of a massage, in fact overdue, have been tight since Boston. First mile of every workout is in the 9:30-10:00 range!

"Charlie" as it stands now I plan on entering the 5,000, Steeple, and 1500 in Cheney. We'll see how the Steeple goes for me two weeks before Cheney at the NW Masters meet in Seattle. If it goes decent I will run the Steeple in Cheney. Did 5xmile this morning going over one barrier (it's all I had access to) each lap that went fairly well since I am just learning the event.

A short report for this week - 1 mile walking. So, driving for 8 hours a week ago Thursday, doing 3 days of hard construction work and driving 8 hours back on home Monday caught up with me. Tuesday I went out for a planned 4 miles of 1 mile walking warm up and 3 miles easy run. At 1/2 mile into my walk I got a shooting pain in my lower back/ upper glute. Obviously, sciatica/piriformis from the 8 hours of sitting in a car seat after exhausting myself with the construction activities. The rest of this week has been taking it easy and waiting for the upper glute pain to subside. It feels about 90% right today, so I will try walking again tomorrow. I have been doing all the appropriate piriformis stretching and strengthening exercises and will continue with them. This seems like a short term muscular problem and I will just rebuild day by day as it settles back down.

Good running and try not to do stupid stuff for older people to all!

A very brief post from me - my foot is getting stronger and my track sessions are becoming longer and with more intensity.

I'm feeling happy and positive. Best to everyone this upcoming week.

USATF T&F nationals next month highly unlikely unless something changes in the next couple of days. It's been on my radar all year, but seems like all hands (and legs) needed for the remaining road/xc series if we want to win as a team so probably gearing for the road 5K and mile races in August. Ha, I can only fake a 5K and am am burnt toast in the mile, but should be able to help score some needed team points at those events.

Greetings from Wisconsin, where I took second in a 5K today run at a dairy farm. Mostly over the edges of cornfields and mowed hay fields, so finishing 30 seconds off my PR seemed – OK? (shrug)

This is the frustrating part of being an experiment of one. I have finished second in three of the last four races I have run. Today’s, I finished 18 seconds behind the leader, trying to catch him the whole race, and this was one that I felt maybe got away from me.

Having not run on a XC course since high school I arbitrarily set a pace that was PR +10 seconds. Had I set it at PR +5, would I have found the juice to sustain that, draft behind the leader, and kick with him at the finish??

I am pondering this as I munch on the cheese curds that I was awarded for my age group win.

On the other hand, it was a race that just popped up a few days ago, as we were planning our family reunion trip. I did not train for it. And it was good experience. I’ll try to learn from this, I’m just not sure what the lesson is.

Treadmill workouts don’t translate to road times but able to hold 5.30 mile pace for 20-25 mins without going over 89% MHR. Almost three years without an injury gap! Feel so fortunate and hope my luck continues.

Wish I was in the USA at times where I could try to hang with some of the runners on this thread. Probably get dropped but it would be a fun challenge.

Date----Time of Day---Acivity----- ----Duration-----AvgHR/Max---Workout Type--WO Duration-------Note

06-18 ------15:40---Run Incline TM---01:51---------116/123------- - None -------------- 00:00

06-18 ------ 18:07 Run---------------- 00:36 --------- 126/139------- - None------------ 00:00 --------- Feeling so strong. Prob peaking in the hot season

06-19 ------ 14:49 Run Treadmill ---00:43 --------- 139/165------- - Threshold------00:25 ----------25 mins @ 10.9 mph

06-19 ------ 14:51 Run Incline TM--- 00:20 --------- 136/133 ------- - None ----- -- 00:00

06-19 ------ 18:39 Run---------------- 00:40 --------- 146/173 ------- - C-Ints and TH- 00:17----- 2x1200 meters (3.55, 350) and 9 min tempo at 6.05

06-20 ------10:43 Run Incline TM --- 01:20 --------- 114/125------- - None ----- 00:00

06-20 ------ 19:16 Walk Incline TM--- 00:30 --------- 119/126------- - None ----- 00:00

06-20 ------19:16 Walk Incline TM ---00:30--------- 119/126------- - None ----- 00:00

06-20 ------19:16 Run ---------------- 00:18 --------- 111/ ------- - --- None ----- 00:00

06-21 ------10:30 Run Incline TM--- 00:50 --------- 123/130------- - None ----- 00:00

06-21 ------10:31 Walk Incline TM--- 00:37--------- 112/119 ------- - None ----- 00:00

06-21 ------18:55 Run ---------------- 00:22 --------- 135/145 ------- - None ----- 00:00

06-22 ------ 12:44 Elliptical ----------- 00:25 --------- 115/121 ------- - None ----- 00:00

06-22 ------18:45 Run Treadmill --- 00:21 --------- 155/164 ------- - Threshold ---- 00:21----- 10.9 mph 21 mins

06-22 ------ 20:48 Run Incline TM--- 00:50 --------- 126/131 ------- - None ----- 00:00

06-23 ------ 12:10 Run Incline TM--- 00:40 --------- 118/125 ------- - None ----- 00:00

06-23 ------ 19:00 Run Incline TM--- 01:03 --------- 115/125 ------- - None ----- 00:00 ----- 50 mins of it barefoot

06-24 ------ 07:02 Run Incline TM--- 00:42 --------- 114/120 ------- - None ----- 00:00----- all barefoot

06-24 ------ 07:03 Run---------------- 00:15 --------- 113/120 ------- - None ----- 00:00

Mon. 50 minute hilly hiking. 45 minute mountain bike ride 30 minute kayak.

Tue. 30 minute hilly hiking, 3 km run in 18 minutes, 30 minute hilly hiking.

Wed. 5 km hilly trail run with 160 metres elevation gain in 33 minutes.

Thu. Jogged a cold (-2C) 1+km into work. Jogged 2+km at lunch and a km after work. Then a 1 hr 5 minute mountain bike ride.

Fri. 5 km hilly trail run with 135 metres elevation gain in 31 minutes. 45 minute kayak.

Sat. Rugged 1 hr 45 minute mountain bike ride.

Sun. 10 km hilly trail run with 290 metres elevation gain in 1 hr 9 minutes.

A not very impressive 27 kms of slow jogging but I am happy to put that in the bank and look forward to building back toward some half decent run training.

Broken Down Old Stiff wrote:

So, what's the deal here? Different physiology? Different genetics?

Since BigMango mentioned diet, I will mention another factor: sleep. Both the quantity and the quality are very important for recovery and injury prevention. It is also important in keeping weight under control.

Other than that, my "secret" (if you call it that) is an electric stimulator. No, I don't have a professional grade machine you see at a chiropractor or a PT's office. But I have a small kit I use at home.

Here is my week.

M: 4 miles.

T: 4 miles.

W: 4 miles.

R: 6 miles.

F: 7 miles.

SA: 7 miles.

SU: 11 miles.

This was the first time I took a vacation trip with my new activity tracker. I managed to get over 20,000 steps on most days in spite of running only 4 miles a day.

On Sunday, I was planning to run outside, then I heard lightening on my way to a park. I can run in a rain. But that lightening sounded scary. So I changed my direction to my gym, and ran 11 miles on a treadmill. The only good thing was that I was able to see some WC action on TV. Hopefully, the weather will be more friendly in coming weeks.

Many on this thread have mentioned peaking which I get from a performance level. Any out there that take alternative approaches? As for me, I just train hard on hard days and add different sorts of moderate cardio exercise throughout the year. There will be variations but usually my motivation picks up around June and last to end of March when I race more. The racing creates an unplanned peak every year where I have one or two races that are noticeably faster than the others.

Intentionally peaking for me created to much collateral damage. Being preoccupied with a schedule, injury fear, second guessing the plan, and post peak let down. Still have my big races but I train as usual leading up to them and wonder if the added benefits compensate for not attempting to peak.

Also hear constantly about how he/she mistimed peaking. Hard to nail it but I'm sure it feels good.

Great post.

Your times are excellent. Especially as they happen to be the same as mine !!!!

- except the marathon never did one seriously - 1:14:30 half

Not done any serious training over past 10 years (now 53) as had pf which pretty much stuffed me up and put weight on. Mainly coached during that time

Was seriously ill 3 years ago spent 5 months in hospital but came out alive touch wood.

PB for 5km 15:54. This year did 29 park run then 28. Going for 27 next time or at least to beat my seasons best. Racing waight when young 10 st 7 now 14st 7 +

Lost a few 1b recently. Can't stand gym etc hence put weight on when not running

This year had endless full on flu etc but had a run of a few wks training.

Used to get fit then find a race but as that's not worked for last 10 yrs entered 1/2 marathon in Sept

Doing a parkrun this weekend hopefully. Think I'll manage to do it without a predictor session thread!

Back in Boulder after a two-week family camping trip in Western national parks. Got a few good runs in while were in Grand Teton, running from Jenny Lake on the multi-use path. Yellowstone was too busy, and Glacier too bear-y. Felt somewhat yukky after too much whiskey drinking by campfires after the kids had gone to bed. Got out for a 5-mile cruise this morning a felt good for most of it at 7:45 or better pace. I like to tell my wife that we're never as out of shape as we fear we will be after a layoff period, but also not as fit as we think we should be after a few months of good training.

Considering getting back on the water with the local rowing club. I rowed a bunch in my 20s and eventually won some U.S. national championships (in 8-, 4- and 2-man boats) with Potomac Boat Club's competitive program. I was in a lightweight four that saw all the other guys earn national team seats -- but not me. Still, fun to row at a high level back in the day, and now I feel like it might be a good fit for my arthritic left hip. Row 2-3 days a week and run 2-3 days a week would be a pretty good balance. Practices start at 5 AM -- I'm a morning person but still ... still a bit on the fence but we shall see.

Good health, and good running, to all.

Gosh. That was 7 years ago. Plenty of injury issues in the last few years but still battling on.

My take on the diet thing is it's overrated for improving degenerative joint problems for aging runners. For overall health, nutrition is extremely important for the aging population. I eat a lot of organic friuts & vegetables, organic animal proteins, vitamins, glucosamine supps and all that - none of which improves my OA (ankle & hip) and even the chronic injuries (back, Achilles, IT band, pateller tendon). I do strength training 3x week at the gym concentrating on the legs which probably is the main reason I can still manage a pathetic ~15 mpw.

On sleep: I agree on recovery and again for general overall health (if some of us old people can even sleep more than 5 hrs straight without having to wake up. Lol). But again adequate sleep isn't going to regenerate age-related damage joints. I definitely agree on weight for aging distance runners but not everyone built like skin & bones as Whitlock was, nor does everyone want to look like that anyway. And weight loss gets tough as you age with a slowing metabolism - big difference with someone trying to lose weight in thier 20s vs someone in their 50s.

There must be a strong genetic component that allows some aging runners to be run higher mileage and consistently train without getting injured, or very seldom get injured. In my younger days 30 yrs ago (late 50s now), I could run 40+ mpw, complete twice-weekly speed sessions & twice-monthly racing with very few injuries. When I hit 50, you know what "hit the fan" happened. Lol. Chronic injuries started to develope and mileage, speed sessions, racing, etc. had to be reduced dramatically. In my mid-50s, the OA diagnosis came and ice bags & pain meds after runs was the name of the game.

All of the studies I've seen with age-related degenerative decline with athletes starts occurring right around age 50 and gets worst from there. But to see some runners defy the science on this almost to a point of anti-aging "magic" is baffling. Granted, I think Whitlock was an outlier with alien genetics but that should be a rarity (I don't about you guys but my parents & grandparents when they were in their 80s could barely walk let alone run marathons!).

I don't know...maybe some aging runners have built-in genetics protective against wear & tear. ?

Anselm Le Bourne has run a 4.26 1500 at age 59.

I coach Tom LeGan who had a nice one mile road race in Los Gatos. The course drops 16 meters so about five seconds off. He comes up to Berkeley to do speed work with the club at least once a week and has been since last summer. He lives all the way down in Gilroy and works in Mountain View and turns 52 in about a week.

http://rtspt.com/events/misc/bang18/open_men.html

If anyone is interested he'll run an 800 this Thursday at Los Gatos, the Morgan Hill 5K on July 4th, and the One Mile event at the Tamalpa track meet on July 17th.