50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

He who shows up to the line with spikes laced may be doing all the talking, but I'm listening to the guy who's spikes are the first to show up at the finish line. Just saying.

M: off.

T: 6 miles.

W: 4 miles.

R: 3 miles.

F: off.

SA: 13.1 miles.

SU: off.

Since I had never been less prepared for a half marathon, I had no expectation for the Saturday's race. The weather was almost perfect (mid 40s, cloudy, little wind). And I thought "why can't I get this kind of weather when I am ready?" 3:15 pacer for marathon seemed too fast for my current fitness, and 3:30 pacer seemed too slow. So I decided to just start conservatively and run by feel. The first mile was 7:44 and surprisingly easy. So I just focused on passing the runners in front of me, one at a time. The first five miles took me 38:04 and I thought, "maybe I could go under 1:40 if I can keep this up." I kept passing people in front of me and got to mile 10 in 1:15:37. I started thinking "I will go under 1:40 unless I really screw up." I ended up covering the last 5k in 23:11 to finish 1:38:48. (8th out of 129 in my AG.) It is five minutes off my PB from 2012. But my fastest half since 2016. And 68.3% AG is only slightly off my Age Grade PB of 69.1% from 2016. Seven months ago, I could not even walk for 5 minutes without excruciating pain. Given how seriously I have been undertrained, this was a truly surprising result.

My next half will be a local club race in September, which is on a hilly course, and usually under hot and humid conditions. So I don't run that race for the clock. But I have seven months to prepare for half in Memphis. If I can run 1:38 with 40-50mpw of easy jogging. I should be able to run faster with proper training. And hopefully, I can run my next marathon a year from now.

Nice. Good job.

Yes, if you believe in karma, I think you raked in some chips this weekend!

Charlie, Igy, I had the privelege to run and learn lots from Tom Osler and Browning Ross as a 14-17 year old on the road racing circuit in Philly circa very early '70s...that of which they spoke and demonstrated are still highly applicable to this day...Osler was my benchmark as a kid...how far behind Tom was I...kept getting closer and closer and eventually surpassed Tom the Turtle...great men...great days in the sport.

I owe them a debt of gratitude in that they're one of the reasons and inspirations that enable me to stay in motion (barely) a half century later.

Have a fine week of training.

Gotta run...literally ;}

you pal,

MF

Mkarver, you’re very welcome. Happy to help.

"For whom the bell tolls.The bell tolls for thee."

Race Report-DNF

The Marathon is truly a multi-headed beast.Everything can go right, but if one thing goes wrong it can end your day.Such was the case in my 2nd marathon attempt.My build up had been absolutely optimal, 4 months of the highest injury free mileage I have ever experienced.A perfect 2 week taper. Carb loading and pre-race fueling just right.I WAS READY!-Loaded into my corral just behind the 3:15 pacer, my legs felt absolutely energized.The plan was to go out with the pacer and adjust on the fly based on effort level and HR.Horn sounded and we were off ,it was astonishing how easy the first mile felt the only thing of note was a bit of tightness in my left calf which is not unusual for me,the tightness worked itself out by mile 4 and I was cruising.I was very aware of running the tangents because there are a fair amount of turns on this course and knew they would add up.By mile 5 I had gradually drifted ahead of the pacer but could still hear him talking to others in the group.I was finally settling into the pace and getting into my race/pace zone,so much so that when I checked my watch again I was at mile 9.At mile 12 the Half-Marathon runners split off and greatly reduced the amount of runners on the road.I was mostly running alone which is not a problem as almost all my miles are solo.At the halfway mark the clock had me at 1:36:51 which put a smile on my face.The next few miles were just picking them up and putting them down giving out a few high fives to the kids lining the course.Just before mile 16 I felt a little twinge of tightness in my hamstring which I thought might just be my piriformis acting up.(I always have some level of priformis/sciatic pain when running).But this was a bit different as it was medial to the piriformis and not as high up.I Figured I would run through it just like i did with my calf earlier and it would loosen up, as I was working out this treatment plan a bolt of pain shot through my leg and I audibly gasped. F**K!- I knew in my heart it was over but I lied to myself thinking maybe it's just a knot,a cramp,a niggle. I tried to run again,Immediate pain and a stumble.I started walking then stopped and tried to massage it out.The 3:15 pace group went by and offered up words of encouragement.I tried running, No go.I worked through the modified Kubler-Ross model of grief and by mile 18 had reached acceptance, where I checked into the medical tent.Crushed.

Splits and HR for anyone interested.MHR-185

1.7:23/150 9) 7:24/152

2.7:22/150 10) 7:25/154

3.7:21/149 11) 7:20/154

4.7:27/149 12) 7:24/154

5.7:22/151 13) 7:23/154

6.7:24/152 14) 7:26/156

7.7:25/153 15) 7:23/156

8.7:20/152 16) 7:28/155

16.5)3:41

Post Race Assessment -grade 1 tear Semi-membranosus(1 of the 3 muscles that makes up the hamstring).No running for a week but lots of walking planned (chaperoning my sons class trip to D.C this week).

This was the best I have ever felt through 16 miles on any run ,by far.I have felt a lot more spent on my hard and even moderate workouts.So I think I can go again once this issue resolves.

I would really like to take advantage of this fitness level and will be looking for a marathon to run before summer(late May early June).

Any comments advice or suggestions are welcome.

Thank You for your indulgence.

Another set of questions

Since turning 40:

- How many years have you ran?

-How many miles?

-Current weekly mileage?

Since turning 40 (rounding up guesstimates)

1996-2003 7 years 12,000 miles

2005-2006 2 years 2,000 miles

2012-2013 2 years 2,000 miles

2016-present 3 years 2000 miles

14 years 18 thousand miles

Current weekly mileage about 35

BF before forty I can't remember much detail but I did some running in high school, army, college and after watching Rocky

How many years have you run?

Started running high school cross country in 1965. I high jumped, pole vaulted and ran the 660 yard run my first track season. Second season ran the mile, started with Mihaly Igloi summer of 1967 at age 16. Serious business from there.

How many miles?

1965-66 ~10 miles a week

1967-69 ~ 50 miles a week

1970-1976 ~ 110 miles a week

1977-1996 ~ 20 miles a week

1997-2002 ~ 10 miles a week

2003-2010 ~ 50 miles a week

2011-2015 ~ 10 miles a week

2016-2018 ~ 25 miles a week

Current weekly mileage?

~ 20 miles

I have been somewhat of a streak runner: very dedicated young man ages 19-26 and very dedicated master 53-58. Always ran, even though I went thru years without racing.

Igy

Dave Waddles wrote:

"For whom the bell tolls.The bell tolls for thee."

Race Report-DNF

Dang! That's really a shame. The marathon is so unpredictable! It seemed like you were going into it in great form and you didn't apparently do anything wrong, but still disaster struck.

I would really like to take advantage of this fitness level and will be looking for a marathon to run before summer(late May early June).

That's getting to be a tough time to find cooperative weather for a marathon. One possibility is Grandma's. I ran it in June 1991, but I don't know whether it's even still the same course. I do remember landing at the Duluth airport in a plane about 3/4 full of marathoners, and when the captain came over the intercom to inform us that the current weather was something like 45 degrees, overcast and drizzly, the whole plane erupted in cheers. Only a plane full of marathoners would cheer that weather report!

I'm debating running San Francisco in late July. That's later than you may want, but it does have a high probability of decent weather. The down side is that it's really expensive for out-of-towners because of both the high entry fee and the very expensive hotels. It's not so bad for me because I can drive there and I only need a hotel for one night.

Best of luck for a speedy recovery!

Charlie wrote:

Another set of questions

Since turning 40:

- How many years have you ran?

-How many miles?

-Current weekly mileage?

BF: 1975 (age 16) – 1999 (age 40) = ~28,180 miles = 24 years ran

SF: 2000 (age 40) – 2019 (60) = ~13,661 = 20 years ran

44 years ran, ~41,841 total

Current Weekly miles 16

My records are approximate. I’ll bet Dave and Mike can give you to the feet!

Igy, I started out sprinting, high jumping, and totally sucking at the pole vault. I can actually still high jump pretty decently. Ridiculously, right now, I can probably place in USATF meets better in the high jump than my so-called running.

Rtype,

Pretty sure I sucked more. I was 9’-3” on a steel pole and 5’-0” in the high jump (straddle). Back then we landed in a saw dust pit. The pit was dug in dirt with sides used to contain the saw dust. By my senior year we had fiberglass poles and inflatable (running air pump) landing mats. By that time I was running the two mile in most meets. In 1966 I remember landing in the high jump pit and getting saw dust in your gear including jock strap. In the pole vault you landed on your feet if you could. I was pretty good at the 660 yard running 1:31 as a 15 year old 10th grader, but nothing special by Los Angeles ISD standards.

Igy

Rtype,

Oh, the crossbars were a triangular soft metal. Landing on them was not without some discomfort. Also, you were always extending out the bar to get it straight. They kept a fresh straight crossbar for meets.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Rtype,

Oh, the crossbars were a triangular soft metal. Landing on them was not without some discomfort. Also, you were always extending out the bar to get it straight. They kept a fresh straight crossbar for meets.

Igy

We had ONE high jump bar and it was bent all to hell. I’m not sure I made 9’3” vaulting! I was 16. I witnessed a horrific pole vault accident and I quit right then. At 16 I was 5’7” and could jump 5’9”. But the cool kids were long distance runners, so, for no other reason than that, I ran distance. Coach wouldn’t let me jump once I started distance, but I continued in AAU meets though.

Rtype,

Well you had some spring. I had a 5’-9” high hurdler in college running the 42” hurdles. Ran 13.6 for the 110m hurdles. As long as he ran clean he was good. Once he clipped a hurdle it was curtains.

Igy

He wrote, “Since turning 40.”

- 21 years since turning 40-

- approximately 32,000 miles running (plus another 8,000 or 10,000 of XC skiing)

- loaded question ; - ) recovery month so a ways below average. Before taper and recovery about 65 mpw, since 40s, now back up to 50s.

Pole vault 10' as a high school soph, not big enough nor strong enough to bend a the pole; I could long jump my age pretty much every year from 11 to 18. Then I stopped.

nedd wrote:

He wrote, “Since turning 40.”

Just for you:

1990-1996 ~ 20 miles a week

1997-2002 ~ 10 miles a week

2003-2010 ~ 50 miles a week

2011-2015 ~ 10 miles a week

2016-2018 ~ 25 miles a week

well, the cold and wind and sleep deprivation caught up to me for the Trolley Run, and I ran 33:47 for 4 miles, took 9th in my age group, and was 2.5 minutes slower than last year, YUCH! (last year I was 11th, small victory)

My wonderful wife, who can turn on the racing mindset, even with the stress of her Mom's Alzheimers and a very sleep deprived night, ran 31:00 for first 60-64. She is amazing, wish I could bottle and sell the way she can put all aside and be a tiger at racing time! She won her age group by almost 3 minutes, so very proud of her.