50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I just finished watching the Chicago marathon coverage which was interesting and entertaining, even with the mediocre race commentary we usually get. This week was another of the up and down experiences that are the reality of masters running. I ran a 5K XC race yesterday (3rd race in 4 weekends) that went reasonably well. I ran 21:24 which was 8 seconds faster than last year and 1st in the 65-69s, but lost by 7 seconds to the 63 year old I outkicked in the 5K two weeks ago. For most of the week I was feeling pretty beaten up by my prior racing weeks and trip to Hawaii, so I mostly rested and ended up with 17 miles for the week with 8 of that yesterday.

M- 3 walking

T- off

W- off

Th- 2 walking

F- 4 easy 9:52/mi

Sa- 8 - 3 w.u., 5k 21:24, 2 w.d.

Su- off

I continue to have a very sore upper right achilles area after races, which I know is caused by my longer racing stride. This morning I am limping slightly from it. However, it clears up reasonably quickly so that I will be running normally by Tuesday or Wednesday with no tenderness in the achilles. This makes me suspect that the problem is mostly with my soleus at the point where it attaches to the tendon. I'll continue with soleus strengthening and stretching exercises to hopefully resolve it. Finally, I booked my flight and hotel for Spokane this week, despite swearing I would never do another cold weather race after Bend, OR. I look forward to seeing some people there.

Good health and good running to all.

M59 -- 5'11" 164 lbs

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

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

M55-59 PRs (2017) -- 18:58 5K, 3:07:23 marathon

Goal - 3:00 marathon Oct. 2019

Oct 1-7, 2018

Off -- (hamstring)

Off -- (hamstring)

Easy - 12.0 miles @ 7:50/mi

Off -- (hamstring)

LR -- 19.3 miles @ 7:42/mi (7:52 out, 7:32 back)

Easy - 7.7 miles @ 8:16/mi

Easy - 4.0 miles @ 7:44/mi

WEEK TOTAL: 43.0 MILES

Friday Long Run - Mid-50s and breezy; a flat out-and-back from a jobsite. Had a tailwind for first half (7:52/mi avg), then worked hard to average 7:32 into the headwind coming back. The hamstring wasn't too bad as long as I was careful not to over-stride.

Sunday Run - Today was a "controlled progression," focusing on form (turnover, not over-striding); splits were 9:10, 7:44, 7:06, 6:56.

mo’pac’s trail called the “Beast” reminds me of some Boise foothill runs. Most of the trails have names and numbers well marked by an entity that manages the system (26A or Lower Hull’s Gulch). Our Saturday group has added a touch like “Trail of Death” or “Darrel’s Demise.” The later was named after one of the regulars that tripped on a steep downhill and broke his collarbone. Sounds fun huh!

The radiation therapy wore me out this week. My employer participated in Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Night of Lights in my honor. Printed t-shirts and our regional director flew into town. His wife was diagnosed with a similar type of lymphoma a month or two before me and has been very supportive. Unfortunately I was too tired to make the event. Not much to report other than this and about six miles of walking. Thirteen doses of radiation complete and seven to go.

Best to all.

Igy

latter

Thanks, need to pay my proof reader more.

MikeF wrote:

Another gimpy week of slogging (slow jogging)...managed just 30 miles, all of which were uneventful...amused myself by writing another silly memoir... you can read it here...or not ?

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216547570817543&id=1106642135&set=a.1178418256407&source=48&ref=bookmarks

Great story, Mike. I assume the guitar intro reference was to the live “Sweet Jane.” Great tune.

good, albeit humid, week. still not many signs of October in DC yet. Few leaves changing color thus far.

M 1:10 "pub run" with friends from my club

Tu 3:00 with 3 X 20:00 (4:00 recoveries) at marathon pace

W 45:00 + 1:00 x-t

Th 1:00

F 2:00 double

Sa 1:30

Su 3:00 with 30:00 at marathon pace

off this afternoon to a friend's daughter's wedding. Even with a lot of people getting married later these days, we seem to be in the sweet spot for next generation [another niece wedding coming up soon, etc.].

have a great week,

Dave

KP: Hope you enjoyed your 100K milestone celebration. Its an exclusive club. (If I make it, it won't be for another 10 years) And another strong track workout!

L2b: Good to see you've still got the fire. And a track workout to boot! A lot of guys would kill for a 6:29.

Allen1959: Those are some decent runs on a gimpy hamstring. A19 mile run?!?!

Looks like I've switched over to all running these days. Haven't walked for about a month. I've got a 23 day running streak going that I didn't really intend to do. Guess thats good news on the injury front. Heel a solid two these days. Always there but not too bad.

The week went well. Had a few tempos, both unplanned and unintentional. The 10 miler was solid. I wanted to plot out more of a training schedule but didn't get around to it. So for the week, 43.5 miles. All morning runs except Monday. My log reads...

M: 7.9 mi @ 7:21/mi. Solid run, totally unplanned. Ran steady first 4, then picked it up into the light tempo zone. 730,730,727,726,711,705,658,745

T: 5.1 mi @ 8:50/mi. Very easy morning jog. Feeling a bit wup'd. I need to eat something, only 160.6 after run. 913,839,837,850,853

W: 6.7 mi @ 7:54/mi. Steady & relaxed run in the dark. Kinda cool 58 but sweated a ton. 823,802,751,752,742,739,740

T: 6.8 mi @ 7:08/mi. Another unplanned solid run. Turned into a decent tempo. Breezy & humid morning. 739,729,719,652,641,630,732

F: 4.0 miles. Easy morning wakeup run, no watch, no time.

S: 10.0 mi @ 7:30/mi. Good steady run mostly in a warm rain. Legs felt just a bit achy. 730,735,734,734,730,730,727,726,728,723

S: 3.0 miles. Easy run, no watch, no time. Pretty good week in the books.

May try to front load this weeks miles as we'll be taking a long weekend upNorth. 5K in two weeks.

Have a good one,

Dave

LucKY2b, good job on the horse track mile. 6:30 sounds utterly impossible to me at this time in my life. Tough age group you’re in!

OGII, nice job on the XS race and I hope the Achilles settles down.

MikeF, I’m looking forward to reading your post when I have more time.

dhaaga, sounds like a really good training week.

Today was a small local half-marathon, my first race since July 4 and my first HM since the first week of May. I went in with two goals: win my age group, and avoid a new personal worst. I managed to accomplish both fairly safely, although my 1:52:37 was the slowest HM I’ve run since I became what I’ll call a real runner—my PW of 1:57 was set in my very first HM at age 24 when I was 20 pounds overweight and had no idea what I was doing. I won the F60-69 age group by 8 minutes. Everything seemed to go just fine, the weather was nice, I thought my pacing was good, and that’s just all the faster I can run at my current level of fitness. Altogether I was happy enough with the result and looking forward to my major fall HM in 4 weeks. That one is usually more competitive, but the time I ran today will almost always win my age group there, on a slightly faster course. Today’s course was good pavement, not too many turns, and mostly flat, but there are four short but steep hills that really knock the stuffing out of me.

Came home, turned on the VCR and watched the Chicago Marathon. Altogether a great way to spend Sunday morning.

So an odd week for me - sometime coaching can just wear me out other times in energizes me.

Monday rode with the chancellor of the state system

Wednesday shop ride - gravel roads. Last climb of the night I didn't quite attack but I went at it and didn't let up. 2nd fastest time on it and 3 minutes faster in over two years. It felt good, felt normal

Thursday Friday just kind of did nothing. No symptoms though

Saturday got motivated and decided to mow the lawn after 3 weeks lol. Went out for a 6 mile run completely symptom free HR avg was 148 and and high of 178 but it felt normal. This is the first symptom free run in 12 weeks

Sunday 3.5 mile run at 8:36 pace and felt fine if not a bit sore

Looks like I am mended or at least to return to normal training

So time to lose weight and get ready for a half marathon in December

20lbs in ten weeks - I think I can do that

The temps have been cooling down here and running is more fun but unfortunately most of my running friends (teachers) are back at work and I have been doing solo workouts. Not as much fun. I realize that my raw speed is not good enough to be a pure sprinter but my speed endurance is pretty good. I'm thinking of moving to the 400/800 events. I really enjoy the strategy of the 800. It's always been my favorite event to watch but I doubt it will ever become my favorite event to run. However I'll give it a try.

This past week has been swimming, weights, and track. My best track workout was 2x400, 2x300, 3x200, 3x100. I will never come near Mike F's workouts. Never.

Phoenix,

As I have moved into my late 60s I have found training for the shorter events more fun and invigorating. Being a true endurance athlete shorter events for me are really 800m and 1500m. However, I have run several 200m and 400m events while training for the longer races. Never using blocks though I do understand the proper technique from my coaching days. More a question of execution and practice.

Igy

MikeF, your tequila-soaked run in 1984 bears an uncanny resemblance to Dean Karnazes' aha moment: https://www.wired.com/2007/01/ultraman/OGII, I would love to be doing a cold weather race right now. dhaaga, dumb question maybe but why do you do this one?

Tu 3:00 with 3 X 20:00 (4:00 recoveries) at marathon pace

Watched the NBC 5 live feed on LRC. I lived 10 years in Chicago and I know they have a lot of spirit but c'mon, how hard is it to stand under an umbrella when it's 59 degrees out and cheer for an hour or two? And to be yakking with some spectator while the Farah and Garemew were breaking away. That was some truly bad local TV. And it was free!

In 1984 my father bought some track and field tickets thru Sears for the Los Angeles Olympics. He gave them to me with two tickets for several sessions. I took various family members and for the women’s marathon went with my brother. We went to the start at Santa Monica College for the start, over to San Vicente Blvd for the three mile mark, then took a bus to the Coliseum for the finish of Joan Benoit. Pretty sure I will never do that again, so glad to have that experience.

Well, it's been two weeks now and still not running, which seems to me to be a very sad situation (fall, run 10 days, take 20+ days off, run 12 days, take 15 days off, etc.) My chiropractor and the massage therapist are baffled as to why it is not getting better. I was able to walk without limping late this week and that was a plus. I've been in the pool (aqua running) most days. And I've walked a few times (today I walked about 3 1/2 miles with about a minute of running).

This injury just seems so weird to me - if it's from the original fall, how come I didn't feel any pain when I resumed running until it cramped almost 2 weeks later? My hip/butt is still a bit tight/sore in the region of the piriformis/glute medius. But yesterday, I noted that there is a point on my back that is very tight and while it doesn't hurt unless you push on it, it's very tight. You know when people finish a race and put their hands on their hips (at least I always do), well the tight part is right where the thumbs would be placed on the back). I've tried to roll on a ball at that point and it seems to help.

I also noted that when doing some gentle hip mobility movements that my hip "clicks" as well as when I do "dead bug". So it seems like my core is not holding my hips correctly - so I guess I work on that. I despise cycling and I'm already sick of the pool.

My goal is to run a tiny bit on my birthday Tuesday. I did buy a rolling briefcase (wheee :-P) - old guy II I am indeed a lawyer and in my new area of dependency the files are gigantic and heavy and apparently my body can't handle that.

Although I've already booked a ticket to go to xc nationals, it seems unlikely that I will be able to run that far. And they won't need me on the team, either. I'm quite despondent about this turn of events as xc is my favorite. Also, my lone socialization during the week is my long run and I haven't be able to meet my friend for 2 months.

In the meantime, I've knit a hat, a pair of gloves, and am almost done with a shawl and have done a number of craft projects -- but haven't been able to do the two things that need doing - mowing the lawn and cleaning out the basement - as my body isn't quite there yet.

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a tiny run/walk in Monday and Tuesday - I'm at a conference and there is no pool.

part of long-run progression in which i get up to the amount of time i'll be on my feet [i hope] in race, with increasing amounts of time at marathon pace. In recent years I can handle more MP time by breaking it up into segments. cheers, Dave

KCgeezer wrote:

dhaaga, dumb question maybe but why do you do this one?

[quote]Tu 3:00 with 3 X 20:00 (4:00 recoveries) at marathon pace

It's been four week since my latest injury sidelined me, and I have managed to run a little under 7 miles in total in four runs.

M: off.

T: elliptical 20 min. Stationary bike 30 min.

W: 800m x 4. Stationary bike 20 min.

R: elliptical 20 min. Stationary bike 30 min.

F: Jacobs Ladder 20 min. Elliptical 20 min.

SA: elliptical 20 min. Stationary bike 30 min.

SU: 1200m x 3. Stationary bike 45 min.

So I increased my "easy" days from 40 min to 50 min from the previous week. And I hit another new record on Jacobs Ladder with 1771 steps in 20 min. I might have a shot at 90 spm. Finally, 45 min was the longest bike ride in four years. (The longest video clip on the machine, Central Park, is a little over 44 min. So I decided to bike until that was done.) My left heel still hurts badly after runs. But my right heel feels almost normal.

dhaaga wrote:

In recent years I can handle more MP time by breaking it up into segments.

Oh of course! just like my 5K reps, since that's my thing.

I'm so desperate to run in cool weather that I've decided to enter a 5K this weekend when, finally, it will be in the mid-40s at race time. I won't actually be racing though. T pace for 19 minutes and change. Testing my new footpod. Contributing to a local high school's activity fund. (Your excuse here!)

I went on a run twice with Dean Karnazas. Once when I was working on Nike Trail Shoes and he took up and down Mt TAM. Next when I rolled outta bed in Portland and met him for a few miles on his way to running Hood 2 Coast all by himself. I called in the am radio station to tell them a story about this nut-job running with a credit card and 2 pairs of Pegasus test shoes from Mt Hood to Seaside. He is one crazy dude.