50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

amkelley, my wife has had various cooking injuries that include burns, chopping veggie cuts, and drops to the feet. Rest up.

Saturday I ran the Y-Striders Turkey Trot Relay where the placing is determined by predicted times. Our club has a pretty good record in this event, and we won again with a time differential of 18 seconds for the four legs of 2 miles each. I managed a 15:44 split which was 1:39 faster than last year. Funnily enough, I experienced fat shaming with 600 meters to go when one of the course monitors (a fellow male masters runner) shouts at me “boy, have you put on weight.” And I wasn’t even weighed by Alberto. ? Felt good about my race, and getting comfortable running sub-8:00/mile pace. My week:

Monday: 2 miles easy; 2 x 800m interval pace @ 4:02, 3:52 / 400m easy; mile easy

Tuesday: 60:00 spin bike; core; weights

Wednesday: AM- 2 miles easy; 4 x 700m critical velocity @ 3:44, 3:43, 3:37, 3:35 / 100m walk; mile easy; PM- 3 mile walk

Thursday: 40:00 spin; core

Friday: 1.5 miles easy; 8 x 100m alternating 2 easy, 2 interval

Saturday: 2 miles easy; 4 x strides; 2 miles @ 7:52/mile

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Igy

lucKY2b wrote:

(and I'm expecting some west-coast push back on this.) Go Pack, Go!

The Niners are my "home" team (I refuse to acknowledge any kinship with the Raiders) but the Packers have always been my favorite team. It's going to be very tough for me to decide which team to root for tonight.

I ran for one season in college and was quite mediocre, best time was around 57 minutes for 10 miles.

Took up running for a year in my 30's and ran a 19:47 5k.

Took up running again for two years in my mid 50's, managed an 18:42 5k.

Now resuming and hoping to stay fit this time. In my early 60's. My goal is to beat my 18:42 5k time from 8 years ago. Doing about 35 miles a week and racing once a month (provided I stay injury free, that's always lurking). I still have about 40 lbs. to lose so I'm actually fitter now on that basis then I was in my 50's which is heartening. What's odd is that I'm doing less than half the mileage I did before and at far lower intensities but I'm getting better results.

1st 5k - 25:57 (hamstring issue in the last 800 meters slowed me down a little)

2nd 5k - 22:03 (I was hoping to crack 23, so pleasant surprise)

3rd 5k - 21:29 (on a harder course than the 2nd one)

4th 5k - In a few weeks, hoping for sub 21 time but you never know when a bad race is coming...

Just about fully back in the saddle this week. Finally worked back to my normal daily volume and completed almost 19 actual running miles (no fluff) for the week. Intensity increasing naturally. Life is good.

More thanks to those of you who chimed in with your support. It means so much. So nice to have some thoughtful, unselfish posters here.

L2B, good luck working on the weight. This time of year it’s tough to keep it off.

Sun: 43’ CR; body wt ex

Mon: off

Tues: 48’ CR; body wt ex

Wed: off

Thu: 54’ CR; body wt ex

Fri: walk w/ the bride

Sat: 53’ CR; body wt ex

Happy Thanksgiving to most! ??

lucKY2b wrote:

PS-(and I'm expecting some west-coast push back on this.) Go Pack, Go!

Niners by three ;}

Good week here in NorCal...26 miles with a couple of hard 4 milers and a mini geezer track workout

3 x 100 24, 23, 20

3 x 200 46,48, 43

1 x 400 85.36 (seasonal best)

Thinking Turkey Trot on Thursday.

Have a fine week of training and racing.

your pal,

MF

Mencken1976 welcome to the thread. I managed an 18:48 5k just after I turned 60 on about 45-50 mpw. That looks pretty darn good to me these days. Like you I was a college runner of very modest accomplishments, 2 years and a high 51 440 pr. I am calling this week an adaptation week because it sounds better than a "too tired to run much week". However, my legs are feeling much better now than at the beginning of the week. I ended up at a very easy/slow 29 miles for the week on the following -

M- 7 mi walk with strides

T- 4 mi at 9:40/mi

W- rest

Th- rest

F- 7 mi walk with strides

S- 4 mi at 9:50/mi

Su- 7 mi walk with strides

The plan for the next 3 weeks is 40-50 miles this coming week, 80% of that the following week and 60% of that going into Club XC, which will be my first race as a 70 year old. My team should be pretty competitive in the 70+ age group and I am looking to run a solid, sensible race in what I hope will be the last time I have signed up for a race in sub-freezing conditions.

Good running and happy Thanksgiving to all!

Amkelley: Yes, amazingly, the killer is still on the loose. My bet is he took his own life in the woods somewhere as It’s going on 3 weeks.

Ghost: Nice Turkey trot!

TU: 4 easy road

TH: 4 easy road

SA: 5 with 3 1600’s on the track 43 degrees, light rain @ 7:03, 7:11, 7:10 with 1 lap jog between

SU: 4 easy, cinder trail

Pretty good week. SAT, cold rain moved in just as I hit the track. I just never warmed up and it felt miserable. This was my last workout before a big local 5K on Thanksgiving. They are expecting 13,000 people. Yeah, it’s big for this area.

Have a good one folks!

good luck with your comeback; sounds like you got very fit surprisingly [to me] quickly in mid-50s

Approximately 52-run-miles week for me, almost all in one gulp:

M 50:00 x-t

Tu 1:10 x-t

W 50:00 x-t

Th 15:00 x-t + 15:00 shin-testing jog [a few twinges, but not bad enuf to pull the plug on sat. race]

F 15:00 x-t

Sa JFK 50 (50.2 officially) mile race in 8:32:41.8 [I don't see official results posted, but live results at finish showed I think 118th OA and 9th M50-59]

Su rest, shuffle around, watch football

Very pleased to beat my PR (9:22:55 from one previous 50-miler) and 9-hour goal, but what a slog. The Appalaichan Trail segment (approx. mile 2.5 to 15.5) really beat me up, culminating in steep downhill {Weverton Ciffs, complete with crime scene tape that I guess was supposed to hold me if i went careening off the single-track trail] to the start of marathon-length segment on flat C & O canal towpath, followed by 8.5 miles on rolling country roads to the finish.

One of my ultra consultant friends had told me that the key to JFK 50 is to "get to the towpath with your legs still under you". I managed to get to the towpath, but with sore shins, locked-up quads, feet tired of stepping on rocks........So instead of being able to start charging, I just managed to keep going at 10 minute miles from one aid station to the next.

I think I got ultramarathoning out of my system. By about 28 miles i was wondering why JFK couldn't have gone metric and challenged Americans to complete 50k instead. Done with racing for 2019 at any rate, and look forward to feeling well enough to jog again in a week or so.

have a great week,

Dave

Solid race report dhaaga...big congrats...and your Redskins took care of you today too?

dhaaga, nice job on the 50-miler. I can't imagine running for over 8 hours. I've never ever ridden a bike or hiked for that long without at least one significant break (e.g. for lunch). Take some time off to recover, and we'll see whether you really do have ultramarathoning out of your system!

A good week despite being on night shift.

Mon. 45 min kayak.

21 min 3.2 km barefoot shuffle on the golf course.

55 min road ride (mtn bike is in the shop).

Tue. 45 min run with 3 x Mt Piper. Just 3.5 kms of tech trail with 390 metres elevation gain.

46 min road ride, flatted a few minutes from home so walked in.

Wed. 45 min run with 4 x Temple Hill. 4.4 kms of tech trail 350 metres elevation gain. 37 deg C.

54 min road ride.

Thu. A pre summer Code Red day but was a bit of a fizzer really with temps only reaching 40 deg C rather than the predicted 43. The northerly was supposed to hit gusts of 80 kmph but rarely topped 40. By late afternoon the temps had plummeted to 28 and the wind died down. Did a hilly 51 min road ride. Only issue was the brown sky opened up at one stage and the rain was mud. Made visibilty difficult with muddy glasses.

I went out late for a run in the forest once the all clear was given.

6 kms up Roo Hill and up and down the ridgeline. 41 mins 220 metres elevation gain.

Fri. 51 min hilly road ride.

Stopped for a twilight 40 min kayak on a choppy lake on my way to work.

Sat. A weary 8 km hill run in 50 mins.

Sun. "3 Beasts". Drove to Mt Macedon and ran 3 times up an extended version of the Beast. My 55-59 best for the Beast is 19.22. Hoping I might produce a better time as a 60 -64.

First one trying to be conservative but still ran 19.02. Second one was 19.49 and the 3d a 19.45.

Pretty happy with that.

All up 6.7 kms of very tech trail 1000 metres total elevation gain 95 mins running time.

Funny thing. Coming down after the first about 200 metres from the bottom a 4 x 4 is chugging up the trail (signposted as walkers only). I had a hunch I would see him again.

About half way up I pass him. He is out looking at a tricky bit of trail.

On my return I find he has tried to reverse back down but now has one front wheel and the opposite rear wheel off the ground.

He is still there on my 3d climb with his winch out.

Back past on my final descent he has the winch hooked to a tree but has hardly moved the vehicle.

He had some problems ahead of him. Hard to be sympathetic given the stupidity of his actions.

dhaaga wrote:

{Weverton Ciffs, complete with crime scene tape that I guess was supposed to hold me if i went careening off the single-track trail

lol

I just watched a sweet little doc on Netflix tonight, LORENA, about a girl from a rural Mexican sheep herding family who wins ultras running in traditional dress and sandals.

Kid Coach got me up to 62 miles last week. This week, a mile trial ahead of my defense of the “Grandpa Won!” 5K.

I think I’m going to San Diego! I’ll be in LA on business and can get away overnight for the XC nationals. Who else is in??

amkelly- was the meal worth it.

dhagga- I can't imagine running that far. What goes through your head for 8 hours?

KCgeezer- Hopefully I will join you in SanDiego.

65 miles this week. Wonder how far I will run when I'm 80.

Each day is a "run as I feel" day. Typically I have been doing a lot of 10 milers with a longer (14) once a week. About half of my runs have been near threshold effort. Seven weeks until SanDiego if I run. My last race was last December Club xc nationals in Spokane. It has been a long road back but making good progress.

every song i know, various promises to myself [i'm not doing any more ultras....any more races......ever running again....], the occasional exchange with someone passing me or vice versa.....

at least the scenery of JFK race is beautiful. The guy who finished second, Zach Bitter, had recently set a 100-mile world record on indoor track. That's the one i can't imagine mentally.

cheers,

Dave

[quote]65 wrote:

dhagga- I can't imagine running that far. What goes through your head for 8 hours?

65 wrote:

amkelly- was the meal worth it.

Probably not. Three days later I have no memory of what the meal was, actually. Anyway, this morning I ran an easy 10 miles and didn't feel the slightest peep out of that foot, so all is well. Now I think I should have raced on Saturday, but that's water under the bridge now.

65 miles with half near threshold effort--yikes! But if your body can take it, that should indeed whip you into shape pretty quickly.

I find that if I don't do any hard workouts, then I feel good on almost all my runs making it easier to run faster.

Holding steady in week 3 of marathon build for March 1.

Sun 8.7 mi. medium easy

Mon 4 miles around 7:20 pace

Tue 13.3 miles out/back creek trail, neg. split tempo 1:49

Wed REST

Thur 10.5 medium easy

Fri 5.5 medium>med hard

Sat 10.5 medium

About 53 miles total

Will run local club TT Sunday 12/1, a hilly 10K. Minimal taper, just get the workout.

Yes am, Napa Vally marathon is my current goal race. Sorry to hear about the tweaked tendon, I've had my share of those kitchen injuries too (always catching a knee on a cabinet knob or something)

lucKY – nice to hear knee is improved.

Oldfart2, hell of a week. How the heck old are you? Fifty plus one day?

Nice work Igy, and like your namesake you dig those intervals. It's interesting to me, I last hit the intervals at age 50... but I've gone from 5k to marathon at 60+, I'm a committed tempo run guy. Sort of a Ron Clarke approach. Turn on the faucet and see what flows. Me, a former college miler.

Mencken, you are on the beam. I worked way hard in my 50s and only got under 19:00 once for 5K! WTF, I guess I needed to work even harder.

Good luck in your TT MikeF. Which Norcal TT are you running? There are almost a dozen within an hour radius of S.F.

Old guy II good luck with hitting the 70 category. I'm just a notch and a half behind you! Your 18:48 at 60, I find incomprehensible at 62. Geez, That is what I ran at 50.

Good luck in that big TT, Rtype.

dhaaga, congrats on the killer 50 miler

Kcgeezer, good week! You too “65”. I gotta get my volume up there too.

Mopac you're a true mountain goat

KCgeezer, I only live about a 10 minute drive from the Mission Bay race course in San Diego. If I don't break anything at Club XC I'll be at XC Nationals in January.

Big Red,

“Nice work Igy, and like your namesake you dig those intervals. It's interesting to me, I last hit the intervals at age 50... but I've gone from 5k to marathon at 60+, I'm a committed tempo run guy. Sort of a Ron Clarke approach. Turn on the faucet and see what flows. Me, a former college miler.”

Thanks. I find the track a more forgiving surface than the road. I do tempos/critical velocity (aka short tempo) most weeks. I do move to the roads for the longer tempos runs; really need to get in better condition first. This winter I plan to hit the Boise State Indoor track a couple times a week. I plan on racing 800m and mile indoor season.

Igy