50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

My condolences lucKY and get well soon.

Congrats on making it back Kudzu! Lots of folks use various blends of Glucosamine here. Just wanted to sound a small note of caution in that I too began using it and had an odd reaction of it raising my BP. Took almost exactly one week for my BP to drop after going off it.

mo’pak: good luck in 4 peaks.

RF reader: Hope your PF continues to improve.

Tue = 60 min rocky trail

Thr = 45 min hard climbing trail

Sat = 5 miles, warmup track miles of 7:40, 7:38 then 440’s of 1:33, 1:35, 1:35, and 1:36

Sun = 45 min trail..planned later, after watching NYCM

11 weeks ‘til I turn 60. I hope to gradually keep knocking seconds off my track times, particularly the quarters. My legs are getting stronger and the runs feel smoother. It’s more of a skill than an ability. The long-term plan is to either race for speed on Saturday’s or do something similar to the above indefinitely. I think it was Rob de Castella that did 8 400’s every week 100% of the time. The thinking was he never got injured from introducing speed. It was a built-in natural part of training. If I can stay healthy and stay on the track I’ll keep improving. I do like the track more than trails, just can’t do it as much as I want. As rlb used to say, I’m a jogger who likes track. Only in my case, I lack rlb’s talent.

Have a good week folks!

M59 -- 5'11" 164 lbs

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

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

Goals -

1:25 half marathon May 2019

3:00 marathon Oct. 2019

Oct 29 - Nov 4, 2018

Off

MLR - 12.2 miles @ 6:58/mi

Off (knee)

Easy - 7.7 miles @ 8:27/mi w/3x100m strides

Off (knee)

VO2 - 2-mile warmup; 5K race @ 6:17/mi (19:32)

Off (knee)

WEEK TOTAL: 25.0 MILES

Tuesday Medium-Long Run - I was very happy with this effort. First mile was 7:30, closing mile was 6:29. It's been many years since I've averaged sub-7 for a 12-mile training run.

Saturday 5K Race - This was run on a certified course, but no mile markers. So, with just my old-style stopwatch, I had to run completely by feel. I pushed hard, I thought, but the time was disappointingly slow. There was a half-minute gap to the next runner in front of me, and a full minute behind me, so maybe not enough motivation to really go to the well. Still, fourth overall, first master (only 100 or so runners).

Injury - It's been nearly two weeks since I fell onto my right knee, and it's still painful. Taking every other day off isn't helping much, so maybe I will give it a full week without running. I guess my season is done, anyway. Then start building toward the spring half marathon.

Broken...but not quite dead just yet ;)

Been crippled nearly all of October but have not missed a day in November ?

A total of FOUR miles last week and 14 this week...trending nicely.

“The body is an amazingly adaptive machine” is my mantra while heading into comeback number 158

Wishing everyone a fine week of masters training and racing.

your pal,

MF

Good morning all. Feeling stronger almost daily. Ran my longest run in awhile yesterday followed by a four hours stint in the yard. It is nice to have the yardwork wrapped up for 2018. I logged 30 miles for the week approximately 60/40 running/walking mix. Paces have increased without any effort to do so.

Monday: 2 miles easy; 3 x 400m good speed / 200m walk; mile easy/walk

Tuesday: AM- 3 miles easy/ walk; core; weights; PM- 3 miles walk

Wednesday; 2 miles easy; 800m tempo @ 4:14 / 2:00 rest; 1,000m tempo @ 5:24 / 2:00 rest; 1,200m tempo @ 6:24; mike easy

Thursday: same as Tuesday

Friday: 3 miles easy/ walk

Saturday: 6 mile trail run in foothills

Sunday: Off

Igy

nice race. always tough to hit time goals when you're in no person's land, not to mention the lack of mile times along the way.

good week as I taper for Richmond marathon

M 1:30 double

Tu 1:00 incl. 6 X 90 seconds hard hills {2:30 jog down]

W 1:15

Th 1:10

F 1:30 double

Sa 1:20 with 2 X 10:00 (2:00 recovery) at half-marathon pace [just over 1.5 miles]

Su 1:10

enjoying watching NYC marathon on TV. looks like they got good conditions.

have a great week,

Dave

Injury no running turf toe 2 NRR slippery river rocks

2 days of 3 hour walks before injury

4 bike rides about 25 miles each with a few 90 rotation sprints here and there

gonna gradually get back to my 3 hours a day of walking by the end of this week but no rush

continue to ride the bike as needed to keep my fitness as my toe joint heels

I have started dipping my toe into 800m training. You guys are right - it's no joke. My best workout was 3 split 400s - running the first 300 at 50 seconds, stopping to rest 15 seconds and then "sprinting" the last 100m. I say "sprinting" because I was running as fast as my body could possibly run. It was 100% effort but the actual speed left something to be desired. I rested 3 minutes in between. I could only do 3 of them, but I will keep at them. I have goals!

Per the discussion last week re: the National Masters News All American standards, they are purposely set at a modest level in order to sell NMN certificates, gear, etc. Not to sound overly cynical, but just follow the money.

I suffered a bit of a set back this week thanks to a (mostly) non-running-related injury. One morning mid-week, I walked out onto the deck admiring the pretty frost on the lawn. Naturally the frost was also on the deck, though less visible, and I slipped. I didn’t go down, but must have tweaked my hip/glutes as I noticed some soreness very early in my jog later that same morning. I finished the jog, but was very sore afterward. So I took some extra time off before testing things today when things were better though far from 100%. Given the nature of the injury, there was no golf this week and likely won’t be for awhile.

Sun: off

Mon: 53’ jog, body wt ex

Tues: walk w/ the bride

Wed: 51’ jog w/ 1 mi utility pole fartlek (2 on/off), body wt ex

Thu-Sat: off

Best to most.

While the rest of the running community was focusing on the NYC marathon, I was running my "key" half-marathon of the fall. I had looked at results from prior years about 5 years back and the F60-64 age group had never been won in a time faster than 1:56. I was pretty confident that I could run that given that I ran 1:52 six weeks ago on a slightly slower course. However, I also noticed that a woman was entered who had beaten me 1.5 years ago and apparently is very close to my age, as she moved into my age group with me. 1.5 years ago she ran 1:43 and I ran 1:44. I didn't think I could get under 1:50 today, which made my chances of an age-group win look pretty slim.

I don't know this woman by sight and have apparently raced her only that one time. I noted her race number and looked for her before the start, but never saw her. To make a long story short, I went out too fast and paid for it with calf cramps in the final 3 miles. I was slightly ahead of the 1:50 pacer and feeling good until about 10 miles, then started having to slow down with cramps. The 1:50 pacer passed me about the 11-mile mark and I struggled home as best I could, finishing in a chip time of 1:50:29. About 2 minutes faster than my race six weeks ago, so it seemed a pretty good result in any case.

When I looked at the posted results at the end of the race, I got a jolt. I had won my age group, but the woman I'd worried about was only 12 seconds back in second place! I never saw her during the race and I'm quite sure I never passed her. She probably ran a more evenly paced race and was been running me down at the end, but ran out of real estate. It's rather depressing to realize that I've lost 6 minutes in the HM during the past 1.5 years and she's lost 7 minutes. But for now, we are well matched and this has the prospect for a great rivalry.

Oh KC, I am so sorry you feel deflated. I ran all my PRs prior to having children at 31, and I never got back to that level again (sub 16:50 5k, 1:19 1/2). As a master, I've run 1:24 1/2, 24 min. 6k, and a 58 min. 15k, but those were in my 40s. Since then, its been a decline (1:31 1/2 as a 50+) and I've never had any expectations that I've ever see PRs after I turned 30. So maybe that's been better, I don't know.

I even cut out the egg whites (RxBars) in my diet this week - we will see how I do. I started doing overnight oatmeal instead, with peanut protein added. Overall feeling pretty good (not thin, but good). Less than a pound lighter, which isn't significant. I haven't picked a menu for this week yet, but will be heading to the store soon. By and large, last week's dinners were very good.

Ran 35 ish miles this week. I estimate distance and when I get a measurement, I'm usually short. My friend's garmin had us at 9.75 today. I'm feeling a little sore and have KT on my leg, which is a crutch, but I think is beneficial.

M - off, 1 hr. strength, 40 min. pool

T - 5 mi. with about 1200m a little faster

W - 3 mi or so (I have to stop going to the trails after work - it always gets too dark on me AND this time, there was only one car in the parking lot & I didn't see that person the entire loop, which creeped me out a bit), plus strength routine

T - 7+ mi

F - 5+ mi (see Wednesday - this time, I took a road back, but took the wrong one)

S - 4.5 mi, with the last 1.5 on the track (rolled a little on my ankle in the leaves, so switched) with some modest pickups. Strength routine

S - 9.75 mi

Thanks for the discussion about shoes. I've been wearing the Nike Lunar Tempo for a while (and the Nike Terra Kiger), but think it's time for a change. I don't think the Tempos have enough lateral support, but really like how flexible they are. I need to do some research (and I loathe shoe shopping). Since I wear orthotics (now several decades old), I can wear lower drop shoes since the orthotic adds a couple of mm anyway).

Happy running, all.

MG

amkelley,

Fun story and good race. Congratulations. Bet she looks up your race number next time.

Igy

nice work! frenemies are great for bringing out the best in each other

--dave

Fun Week was on the road to an Alums wedding where I ran 5 on Trails with Michell

Monday Off - recruit on Campus

Tuesday Off being lazy

Wednesday 4 at 7:59

Thursday 1 mile warm up 1 mile 6:35 - to celebrate 3 years running 1 cool down

Friday 60 minutes Bike 4 miles at Edinboro running the course with the legend Steve Spence 8:45 pace muddy muddy muddy

Saturday 2 miles 16:00

Sunday 7 miles 7:48 pace with Michelle

Keeping up with everyone's posts. Kind of sad but this thread is pretty much the extent of my social running world.

Took a few days to get my legs back but the last few days of the week went ok. Not feeling too bad these days. Ran my longest run (11 miles) since March today. Guess thats a positive.

Logged about 43 miles this week with a day off. No workouts.

M: Off Travel home

T: 5.1 miles @ 8:24/mi. Easy run. Legs felt sore and heavy.

W: 6.1 miles @ 7:50/mi. Late run in the dark. Felt better than yesterday.

T: 7.0 miles @ 7:31/mi. Treadmilled it. Raining. Turned out to be a decent run. Steady prog from 8:00-6:59

F: 7.3 miles @ 7:48/mi. Lunchtime time run from my jobsite. Mostly trails. Good run.

S: 6.4 @ 7:44/mi. Good steady afternoon run.

S: 11.0 @ 8:13/mi. Very comfortable treadmill run while watching the NYC marathon. Breathing very light. Kept it easy, No reason to run any faster.

I think I'm going start my 6 month plan that Tinman layed out for me a few years ago. I've done it three times and have gotten to some pretty good places with it. 16:45 the first time in 2015, then 16:54 in 2016, and 17:07 last year....before I fell off the cliff. Lets see what we can do in six months.

Lastly I want to comment on the results of long slow runs. My training partner (of the last 12 years) and his wife ran the Monumental HM Saturday. He ran all of his long runs with her as well as most of his in-between days. (while I've been walking and getting back in to it) Usually in the 8:30'ish range. He did a few tempos and strides. Not nearly as many as we used to do. His wife trained seriously for the first time since college. He ended up running about 6:00 pace at 1:18:50; She had a 6 minute PR of 1:37:45, 7:28 pace. They're both 44-45 years old. He avg'd about 55 mpw, she maybe 40. He hit race pace very few times, I don't think she ever did in a workout. That should tell us something right there!

Have a good week,

Dave

I didn't run today and just got back from spending the day at my wife's masters swim meet. She swam 23:11 for 1500M which would have put her 3rd in the 65-69s in the US last year. In an effort to be sensible and stick to my plan of starting the year before I turn 70 at 100% health, I just walked and did not run this week. I walked 6.5 miles daily over an 800ft hill Monday through Friday. At the moment I don't feel any soreness in my achilles. My local XC series championship race is next Sunday. Tomorrow I will repeat my walk with some strides and see how everything feels. To the extent that my achilles remains happy I will add running through the week. I currently am 4th in the 60+ division in the series with a 60yr old and two 61yr olds in front of me. If I have a decent race next Sunday I can hang onto that position.

Good health and good running to all.

Monday night here. Tomorrow is day 4 of 4 Peaks. Saturday went better than expected. A good solid run pulling a big train of runners up the 10 km of Mt Buffalo. My slow steady grind made me a good pacemaker for many. I was a long way down the field and my 1 h 39 m. light years from my mid 80s beast of 1 hr 7 m. Fastest for the day 1 hr 4 m.

Sunday was not so pleasing. I struggled all the way up the 11 kms of Mt Feathertop. I should have been around the 2 hours but struggled in at 2 hr 9 mins. Fortunately it was a perfect day on Victoria's 2d highest peak.

Today was a new day. I rolled off at a good tempo and was strong for the first 6 rolling kms. My mates Gary and Matt about 30 secs behind when we reached the river crossing before the serious climbing starts. Both got away up the first steep climb. I caught Gary about 7.5 but kept losing ground to Matt

(Gary and I dead heated on this mountain last year) and we spent the next few kms climbing together. I opened a gap of 30 secs on him on some technical downhill. We were passing plenty and enjoying ourselves.

I hit the brutal final climb with that small lead. The first section is very steep and I was passing plenty and increasing the lead on Gary. In the last km of climbing I spotted Matt pulling a line of about 10 runners maybe a minute ahead.

Above the tree line we hit the weather, big cold winds and a chill rain. The gradient eases here and Matt took off. By the time we hit the Razorback Ridge Gary had caught me. The last 1.5 km rough ridge running was in heavy cloud and Gary and I ran together and dead heated again. Matt was a couple of minutes in front. The time was 2 h 38 m. Not flash but a good fun run.

Tomorrow is steep up and is the only day we run up and down. The steepest descents are gonna be muddy and slippery. Should be fun although my legs are stuffed.

mo’pac,

Do you get a ride back down the hill or is that part of the race?

Igy

Days one and three we get a ride back down. Day 2 the race finish is on the summit. The only way back off the mountain is by foot but it isn't counted as part of the race. Just a good 2 hour downhill social hike/jog.

Day 4 is a loop course start and finish at the Wandiligong Cricket Ground. So we do get to race the downhill. Some heavy downpours this morning so the normally treacherous descent off the summit will be very interesting.

Rtype wrote:

RF reader: Hope your PF continues to improve.

Thanks. I think I am improving. Not as fast as I'd like, but I cannot set a time table for my recovery.

M: off.

T: 20 min elliptical. 30 min stationary bike.

W: 800m x 3. 20 min stationary bike.

R: 20 min elliptical. 30 min stationary bike.

F: 1200m x 3. 20 min stationary bike.

SA: 20 min elliptical. 30 min stationary bike.

SU: 1 mile x 3. 45 min stationary bike.

This 6.75 miles total is the most I have "run" in eight weeks. No pain during or after runs. But a lot of soreness. I think my feet got "detrained" while not running. Since I didn't do the threshold work on Jacobs Ladder, I decided to push a little harder at the end of bike session on Sunday. It felt a bit like the "fast finish" long run that I used to do on Sundays. Hopefully, I can run a bit more this week.