50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I don’t think many of them smoke.

I am now offically registered for the 15, 5, and steeple. Yes the 1500 60 should be fun.

RB

aging wrote:

Do these guys have families? Kids? Are they Grandpas? For single guys it is easy(er) to stay race fit.

I'd just like to say that as a married grandfather of four, who still puts in a full day's work 6-7 days/week, it is possible to set aside the 8-10 hours/week one needs to train.

Because I'm new I'll spend 2 hours/week planning. Travel is minimal as I usually just step outside. I know I've sacrificed things for running, but not family and not work. And of course it lends all kinds of benefits to the rest of my week.

KCgeezer wrote:

aging wrote:

Do these guys have families? Kids? Are they Grandpas? For single guys it is easy(er) to stay race fit.

I'd just like to say that as a married grandfather of four, who still puts in a full day's work 6-7 days/week, it is possible to set aside the 8-10 hours/week one needs to train.

Because I'm new I'll spend 2 hours/week planning. Travel is minimal as I usually just step outside. I know I've sacrificed things for running, but not family and not work. And of course it lends all kinds of benefits to the rest of my week.

I think just about anyone can find the time they need to train at a high level, but that means not doing absolutely everything else you might want to do. I trained for a Trials qualifier marathon at the same time I was earning tenure in chemistry at a good research university, working 60+ hours per week and doing a lot of traveling to scientific conferences both in the U.S. and abroad. I still managed to run 75-90 mpw but I was single, lived in a no-maintenance condo, and did very little else in the way of recreation. 20 years later I was still training ~70 mpw and running well as a 50+ master, and by then I was taking care of a house and dogs and a husband, but working and traveling considerably less. We all have the same 24 hours in each day, and we all have to decide how to partition those hours among our various priorities.

Yeah I like to sort by time looks like everyone will have someone to race ie the race within the race:

1 Stephen 4:52.34

2 Brian 4:54.72

3 Rick 4:55.00

4 David 4:58.20

5 Michael 5:02.31

6 Thomas 5:05.00

7 Robert 5:06.00

8 Steve 5:07.00

9 Richard 5:14.00

10 Charlie 5:21 mile 5:47

11 Gary 5:26.00

12 David 5:30.00

13 Werner5:32 mile 5:59

14 Rodney 5:40.60

15 Patrick NT 5:43.05 from 2018 results

16 Rob NT 5:54.02 from 2018 results

Blast from the past seems like yesterday:

https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20783481/speedy-old-men-and-women/

I believe you're correct about LeBourne. Tom LeGan's 4:24.8 time "grades" out to a 3:32 (3:49 mile), but it's on the road with a 16m drop. Todd Straka ran a world-best 4:28 at Fifth Ave. mile in 2017 (also net downhill, but by 10m). We'll really have to see what's what on the track. Also, for the other poster who asked, Tom has four sons, all college aged or older. Tom (for what it's worth), ran 1:48.98 in college as well as ~3:47 for the 1500 at SJ State. 9:07 + 4:11 in high school, legendary kick on the track. Tom boxed for decades after college instead of running, and now coaches boxing for the San Jose PAL. His son, Rosino, is trying to make the Olympic team. So one thing in his favor is he didn't drop 50K miles into his legs but still stayed very fit. Tom always ate extremely well, is very lean, and has not gained a pound since college. He also incorporates boxing drills and conditioning into his training (I take copious notes because i don't see some of these in the running realm). I think a large part of why masters and seniors are better now is there is greater access to better training regimens. We also had a chat. This would not be possible without the supportive club structure - guys to train with and so on. If I was just feeding him workouts, it would not yield the same level of positive effect. I think we've talked him into going to IAAF Worlds in Spain next September so this should be interesting.

Allen1959 wrote:

Pacific Heights wrote:

4:24.8 for the mile at 51??? That's even scarier than the 59 year old.

On the age-grade charts, I think the 59-year-old's time scores higher. What is scarier, then, is the accelerating rate of decline through the 50s, I would say.

Regarding finding the time to train. I retired from teaching a couple of years ago so I did the majority of my training before school. I had a family waiting for me after teaching and coaching so needed to free up my evenings. I always find time to train. Yesterday for example, I was up at 4:30 AM, drove to the track for a four mile tempo run. Did some steeple barrier work, back home, loaded up my truck, drove up in the mountains and cut a cord of firewood, back home and at our church by 4:30 to volunteer at a youth Christian camp until 8:30. So if properly motivated, you always find time. For me, it's just getting up earlier. For those planning on runnning the nationals in Cheney, we have just four weeks left. Stay (or get) healthy. Getting to the starting line healthy is half of the battle at our age. Is anyone out there plan on going to the athletes social on Saturday night?

RB

been lurking for a few weeks as personal issues came up, but speaking of which:

i'd like to thank the masters running community--and specifically this thread--for their kind thoughts during a tough time with my father passing recently. social media in all its forms actually helped in ways i couldn't have anticipated, from hanging out with fellow master todd straka at a local boulder race (not to mention him picking me and my daughter up at the airport) and a leisurely run with coyote montane the next day.

i've also been dealing with what i have now learned are called "calf heart attacks" the last few weeks. don't know if others have a similar issue, but i tend to have more injury/ailment issues when i take it easy and/or train inconsistently than when i'm training hard. 60-70 mile weeks through april and i felt good--cut down to 20-30 mile weeks for two weeks and i have these calf heart attacks. i was lucky to read an article about these posted on the masters milers page on facebook and i'm hoping to have licked it, which for now means i ran my longest uninterrupted today--1 mile--over the last three weeks. now if i can get my body in gear over the coming weeks, i'll still plan on going to atlanta for the 5k...

as for lifestyle choices: i'm raising 4 kids, teaching h.s. english full-time, and coaching pretty much year-round, and as others have mentioned, it comes down to choices. yes, i prioritize like any common sense parent/husband ought to, which is why i don't travel to every race under the sun. the ones i do usually are during the off-season so as not interfere with the h.s. seasons--i get lucky with the tulsa 15k because it's on the weekend before our league finals, so an easy weekend training-wise. i've focused on road races like carlsbad because 1) it's relatively local; and 2) it's on a sunday. this is part of the reason i rarely get on the track--i'm lucky to get 1-2 races per season. i also benefit from being able to run with my kids often (both the kids i coach and my own kids), so occupation-time/recreational time/family time fortunately overlap for me. my wife also competes, so trips to some of these races are good for our marriage. but i don't watch a lot of tv, etc., so i seem to have no problem balancing everything for the most part. yay for me...

carpe crepusculem,

cush

p.s. i hope igy's doing well. by the way igy, there's a memorial planned for laszlo july 8th--shoot me an email if you want more info about it (

us183sub4@yahoo.com

)...

Coyote Montane wrote:

Was it 63 asking about thoughts on peaking the other day? I can't find to post but saw it, but was busy at the time. Anyway, I periodize with a couple peak racing periods in a year, and will do a full taper for marathons. However, for the most part getting to an actual peak and having a big performance, well that seem elusive. I tend to do as well or better by just cutting back a few days and making sure I get an adequate recovery for 10K and up, and then ramp it up again for a few weeks until the next race. Overall my training is very aerobic, and any speed I do is in the form of pick ups or fartlek.

That was me on page 512. Our approaches are similar, training as usual leading up to big races. Just looked at the log and the best race last year (sub 1:15:49 HM) was the last of 5 races in 5 weeks. Four were half marathons. Raced every race hard and had good results in all of them. Don't have loads of data to look at but this seems to be the norm. At least for me, racing often equates to top performances where trying to peak has lead to average results.

Howdy all. After the recent two-week family camping trip I was feeling insecure about fitness so ran a hard 5-mile loop. It went fine, but then my arthritic hip flared up. This time I resolved to see a professional for advice. Images confirmed that there's significant bone buildup impinging my left hip, but I'm going to try a few months of physical therapy before consider a resurfacing or replacement.

Also, I finally went out on the water with the local community rowing program yesterday -- first time in a racing shell in about 25 years! I was expect something gentler but instead I got put in a quad (4 rowers handling 2 oars apiece) with three collegiate rowers for a full workout, including 3 X 2000 meter competitive pieces. We beat the men's 8 on each piece -- so fun! I'm wrecked today but still grinning about it.

Be well.

nice job on the rowing! that sounds fun. impressive you could do it despite your hip situation.

i had an enjoyable week of training in the first full week of official summer [unsurprisingly, hot and humid]:

M 40:00 run + 60:00 x-t

Tu 1:45 double

W 1:00

Th 50:00 incl. 16 X 200 (200 jog) average 42.4 + 20:00 x-t cooldown

F 1:00 + 1:00 x-t

Sa 1:50

Su 50:00

it crossed my mind running 200's that i was going slower than the pace of my best 10-miler as a master, but i'm trying to banish those sorts of comparisons and just give a good effort with what i have now. A week from Friday will be track mile, and I'm thinking "PR plus a minute" would be a good goal -- will require 5:41 or better.

have a great week,

Dave

Good subthread ... I'm reminded by cush's story that maybe the biggest motivator for me is the fear of losing what I've built up so far.

The last two weeks were before and after a 5K around corn and hay fields. Back to the 45-mile routine this week ... just as soon as it stops raining.

Week 1 - 39 miles, including 2 days on TM and 1 on dunelike ATV trails in Wisconsin

Week 2 - 36 miles, including rest day, another ATV trail run, 2x10 slow tempo on road and 8mile LR on TM

Those of you who pile on the TM miles, I don't know how you do it.

Glad to see y'all keeping things rolling. I've got a lot going on today, I'll post when I can. Cheers!

Scratched out a 34 mile mostly maintenance week...a hard six mile anaerobic threshold run on the high school track one day and 4 x 3:00 with 1:00 'recovery' were the only sessions of note...everything else just slogging (slow jogging)...finished up the first 1/2 of 2018 at 825 miles YTD...not terrible for a codger sort.

Trying to figure out how to celebrate 110,000 lifetime miles later this year...thinking perhaps to do 110 laps of the local track...but somehow that just doesn't seem quite dumb enough ?

Have a fine Independence Day...I'll look forward to your 4th of July footrace war stories next weekend

your pal,

MF

I doubled my mileage from last week, moving up from 1 mile last week to 2 miles this week. The dull ache in my piriformis finally disappeared on Thursday. I waited until this morning to try running again. I did 10 minutes on the rowing machine and then headed out for an easy run. I went 9:39 for the first mile and then started to feel a little tightness in my piriformis shortly after the mile. I immediately slowed to a walk and turned around and walked home. By the end of the walk back there was no tightness or pain. I'll try to get farther tomorrow, but I am being extra cautious with getting healed up first and worrying about fitness when everything feels right.

Good running to all.

M58 -- 5'11" 163 lbs

Last year -- 18:58 5K, 59:59 15K, 3:07:23 marathon

This year -- 5:37.8 mile, 19:17 5K

Goal -- Defend M55-59 title in 15K (August)

Training -- 9-day cycle with Long Run, VO2max and LT workouts

June 25 -July 1, 2018

LT -- 2-mi warmup; 6 miles alternating 800 @ LT/MP; 2-mi cooldown

Easy -- 10.0 miles @ 8:42/mi

Easy -- 4.0 miles @ 8:53/mi

VO2 - 2-mi warmup; 3 x 1-mile w/5-min jog - 6:09, 5:58, 5:51; 2.5-mi cooldown

Easy -- 8.2 miles @ 9:15/mi

Easy -- 8.2 miles @ 7:21/mi (middle 4 miles brisk)

Off

WEEK TOTAL: 48.3 MILES

The idea behind Monday's "alternation workout" was to run six continuous miles, alternating Threshold Pace for 800 meters with 800-meter recoveries at Marathon Pace. My pacing was a bit off, but I was happy to average 6:40/mile. And with warm-up and cool-down, a solid 10-mile day.

The 800's were: 3:22/3:30, 3:22/3:29, 3:10/3:27, 3:07/3:35, 3:00/3:35, 3:01/3:19

I was very pleased with Thursday's mile repeats, averaging sub-6. All three were about the same perceived effort, but as usual, it took a while to get rolling. The half-mile splits were: (3:09-3:00), 4:59 jog, (3:02-2:56), 4:57 jog, (2:56-2:55).

The next LT "workout" will be Wednesday's 10K race. I am looking for sub-40, but really need close to 39-flat to be on target for the goal race next month.

No long run this past week, mostly due to other obligations. On my nine-day schedule it should have been today. Yesterday I snuck a few quicker miles into my easy run (4 miles @ 6:59/mi) -- so a little quality before taking today off.

I seem to be suffering from "old age" crap. I had gout a few months ago, and now I have shingles. Funny thing, I had been picking up a prescription for the gout when the pharmacists mentioned the shingles vaccine. I said "I'll think about it." In hindsight I should have gone for it right then. I'm lucky in that this is a mild case but still very painful. I'm still working out and enjoying it but I need a long nap afterwards since fatigue is a part of this. My advice - if you haven't had the vaccine yet, go get it. A mild case is still tough.

So this past week I had 2 lifting workouts and 3 track workouts. The last track one was yesterday and the fatigue and the heat were tough. I had to cut it short. I did a ladder of 200, 150, 100, 50, 100, 150, 200. I wanted to do sled pulls afterward but there was nothing left. So a not-too-strenuous workout kicked my butt. But at least I was out there.

Being retired, I have a lot of time for workouts but I seem to be filling my time with all sorts of fun pursuits and hobbies. Running is one of them.

MF do something nice for your wife suprise her with the vacation of a life time then hit 110k with her by your side in a beautiful place.

Week starting June 24 32 minutes on 2 runs

1. June 27 treadmill 14 minutes LT:6:23 for 6 minutes R1 6:07 for 5 minutes then increased pace to 5:40 for last minute R3 5:18 pace left hs area started to hurt so shut it down at 80 seconds R2 tried again same thing

2. June 30 treadmill mix 18 minutes W2'/R1' (2 minutes of Work and 1 minute of Recovery)

Grade/mph 12/6,7/7,2/9,4/9 x 2 , R3 , 2 minutes at 11.3 still have a little weakness / pain upper left hamstring area/piriformis sciatic nerve butt not much butt enough to keep me off the track .

4 weeks to get a bit faster gonna prepare carefully

It was a very light week for me as the first 3 days were occupied by a backpacking trip. It was a bit of a fiasco, as the mosquitoes were so bad that we ended up cutting our 3-night trip to a short 2-nighter and were actually on the trail for only about 48 hours. I never manage to eat or drink enough on these trips and I came back very light and depleted, and it took a couple of days to recover fully. We’re going to try the backpack trip again in a month or so, when we hope the mosquitoes will be less savage.

I ran on Thursday and Friday, a total of 17 slow miles, and rode my bike Saturday and Sunday, a total of 85 flat miles. I’m hoping to continue to ramp up the running mileage as my calf issue appears to be solved.

C0l0rado, that rowing workout sounds like a blast! I’ve never rowed an actual boat on water, just the rowing machine in the gym, but rowing looks so pretty from the spectator’s side. I suppose from the rower’s side it’s a lung, arm, and leg-busting grunt, but surely a great workout.

Allen1959, good luck in your Independence Day 10K. I may ride my bike to my local 5-miler that day to watch my friends run. Sigh.

Phoenix, you have my sympathy about the shingles. I haven’t had it but my husband did, long ago before we were together. His description gives me the willies. Hope you get well soon!

Good health and happy Independence Day to all.