50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

This turned out to be a fairly respectable week with 17+ miles of actual running (no fluff). The calf/Achilles issue has been improving and I was able to gradually increase the volume of my runs as the week progressed. I also transitioned from the high-heels back to the lowriders yesterday. I think some caution is still warranted, but I am much more optimistic than I was last week. Thanks to Big Red for the encouragement.

The running group has restarted with socially distanced running. I have not yet rejoined them and likely won’t for a few more weeks, but it is nice to see some things gradually returning to normal. Life is good!

Sun: 32’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Mon: walk w/ the bride

Tues: 43’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Wed: walk w/ the bride

Thu: 52’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Fri: off

Sat: 52’ run w/ potty break

Best to most!

Looks like CM and TR gonna be mixing it up sooner or later in the 60 AG;)

LKY2B YeahProgress!

DHaaga looking good!

Brittle nice kick All ya got inspires everyone and feels great too

6 days of 50 minutes slow jogging / slow running

40 minutes slow jogging and 10 minutes slow running

I think the sand makes a big difference not just reducing impact stress but muscle tendon and joint strength.

Onward!

Sounds like there's some good progress being made despite the lack of races. Glad to hear you're back at it lucKY and that the sciatica settled down, OGII. Charlie, I though of you today as I ran on the sandy roads of the UP. Thanks for the Brooklyn Mile reminder CM. I'm on the fence about racing since just about all I've been doing is base work but I miss racing so I might give it a go.

I was under orders from my coach to cut back my miles after my two duathlons last week. My legs felt pretty good and I didn't want to fall too far behind on my 500 mile summer challenge so I snuck in a few extra miles. I'll be in trouble when she sees my log:

Sun 10.2 E (9:20)

Mon off

Tue 6.4 E (9:05)

Wed off

Thu 9.5 Track 6 x 800 PRO (8:09 pace -> 7:40)

Fri 6.5 Trail run

Sat 6.4 E, 23.4 bike

Total: 39 run, 23.4 bike

On Friday, our son (youngest child) graduated from grad school in Barcelona. We attended virtually. He was in a program that began at UVA in the fall and was supposed to spend the spring in China and Barcelona. He was ordered to leave China in January, was quarantined for two months in Barcelona, and ended up taking all of his spring classes online. Now that he's finally finished, I'm feeling old. It's the first time I haven't had a child in school since 1982. Yay, no more tuition bills! However, it's a tough mental adjustment for me to make. At least running helps to keep me in a little denial of my mortality. Thanks to all of you for keeping me accountable.

Long may you run!

Here's a write up from Paul Carlin's blog on our 60+ team challenge from Memorial Day.

A Boulder Road Runner Memorial Day (actually it was a week plus) Virtual 5K/10K Competition.

http://www.runningprof.com/2020/05/a-boulder-road-runner-memorial-day-week.html

We're doing another 5K-10K for 60-69 age group teams for July 4 (July 3-12)

The series was supposed to commemorate Bolder Boulder and Peachtree and it was going to be just Boulder Road Runners vs. Atlanta Track Club but due to some interest we opened it up to other USATF teams. We had 5 men's and 3 women's teams participate last month, and have sent out a dozen or so additional invites.

rainwolf wrote:

Rick if you are looking for races the CNW all-comers start again on 7/8. By August I am sure a number of road races will show up also.

WOW! Thanks. That's great!

Yea KP. It's easy to turn a tempo into a time trial. When I run tempo's I go as fast as I can without breathing hard, straining, or experiencing much pain. When I finish I feel that I could have kept going for another mile or so.

i've been lurking the last few weeks wrapping up the school year--good to see lucKY and rick becker back at it, welcome to the new posters--hope you enjoy your stay, and always inspired to see the efforts of the usual cast of misfits...

after a solid month of 60/60/70/70, i ran 100 miles sunday through saturday, my first 100 mile week ever in 39 years of running. i rounded down on all runs, so probably closer to 104, which is double my age. i was inspired by andy diconti (used to post as shorter than frank) who did it back in may--he’s really old and fragile, so i figured if he can do it, i can too ;) i also figured if i’m going to struggle to run fast in the no-racing-covid-era, i may as well run far. no revelations; instead, just more confirmations: i’d rather run fast than far; i now want to run a marathon more than never; i ran about 80%/20% solo/with people, and i’d generally prefer the ratio to be reversed. that said, i enjoyed the challenge in the absence of racing, and there's at least one numbers geek on this thread that also motivated me to try something different since i've never normally kept a log.

don't know how to embed pics, but i jokingly "invented" an app called STRABA for my friends (super technological running and beer app) who know me as a flip phone/timex dude--the pic compiled pics of the beers i sampled during the week paired with daily mileage totals--details below...

sunday AM 65 degrees: 10+ miles, backbay in newport--a little slower than 7 minute mile pace. sunday PM: 4 miles, foothill h.s. track, 3x200--31.8, 31.3, 30.5

beer: row 2, hill 56 (russian river pale ale)

---------------------14 miles

monday AM 86 degrees: 10 miles, hilly amapoela loop from my house--miserable during santa ana winds, struggling up newport and chapman grade with crap being blown in my eyes.

monday PM 93 degrees: 4 miles, foothill h.s. track, 3x150 buildups

beer: pliny the elder (russian river DIPA)

---------------------14 miles (28 total)

tuesday AM 85 degrees: 9 miles, hicks canyon. 24% humidity, but seemed drier.

tuesday PM 90 degrees: 8 miles, turtle rock with calcoast group, hard 2 miles on hilly trail (11:22) with another mile medium with teammates.

beer: happy hops (russian river IPA)

---------------------17 miles (45 total)

wednesday AM 85 degrees: 10 miles, loop through peters cyn from home.

wednesday PM 87 degrees: 4 miles, foothill h.s. track, 10x100 (2 easy, 1 good).

beer: food fight (common space hazy IPA); hazy IPA (harland)

---------------------14 miles (59 total)

thursday AM 80 degrees: 14 miles, up peters canyon and santiago canyon, about 830 feet of climbing. slower than 8 minute mile pace on this run, almost 2 hours--feeling tired…

thursday PM 80 degrees: 3 miles, foothill h.s. track, 10x100 (2 easy, 1 good)

beer: west wood (the bruery--a belgian-style quadrupel ale aged in whiskey barrels), mind circus (russian river hazy IPA) waimea haze (harland hazy IPA)

---------------------17 miles (76 total)

friday AM 70 degrees: 8 miles, hicks cyn (4 mile tempo, 23:30)

friday PM 70 degrees: 6 miles, tustin sports park.

beer: robert saison (russian river farmhouse ale), mischief (the bruery belgian strong ale)

---------------------14 miles (90 total)

saturday AM 70 degrees: 10 miles, peters cyn lake loop from tustin sports park, felt ok, around 7 minute pace.

beer: relax (offshoot hazy IPA), saturhaze (green flash hazy IPA), black butte porter (deschutes)

---------------------10 miles (100 total)

WOW Socalcush. Impressive.

socalcush wrote:

after a solid month of 60/60/70/70, i ran 100 miles sunday through saturday, my first 100 mile week ever in 39 years of running.

Dang, that's impressive. Although a marathon specialist in my heyday, I only once ran 100 miles in a 7-day period and that was sort of accidental--my long runs just happened to fall on a Sunday one week and a Saturday the next week. I did mine with only one double, though. Also in much cooler weather, by and large, than yours. And I was only 32 years old...

dhaaga wrote:

Congrats on the 112K miles! I saw you had a blurb on the Bob Hodge book Tales of the Times; i hope they gave you a comp copy. Very enjoyable read -- as advertised, it was like listening to an old pro tell stories. i lived in Boston for several years in late stages of the GBTC heyday so knew a lot of the names and accomplishments, but not from behind the scenes.

Many thanks dhaaga...was honored to be ask to write cover notes for Bob's book...he's a dear pal and great storyteller...I hope that you found my 'description' accurate... funny story, the first time we were in the same race was 1st annual Newark Distance Run...Bill Rodgers won...I was first place 19 and under (junior) category, Hodgie was second...only time that I EVER finished ahead of him...then in 1980 at Nike OTC, we both ran our lifetime bests...except his was 2:10 and mine was a paltry in comparison 2:25...cool that both of our PBs are from same race...40 years ago...glad that you dug the book

Thanks to folks for the kind words on my truly modest Saturday run. Some people here are doing amazing things. Rick Becker in particular seems to live and run on a different planet than I do, which I can hardly see even with a powerful telescope.

lucKY2b, thanks for keeping this show going.

Rtype, your cemetery run reminds me of Ed Whitlock.

old guy II, good luck with your sciatica. I have some of that too from an old lower-back injury. Also once in a while my right calf is overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of massive weakness and I start to keel over as my leg collapses; I think that may be related.

Mopac, I had to look up “Goulbourn River” to be sure where you were located. One of my sisters went to med school in New Zealand which is sort of in your neck of the woods but not really. You know how weak in geography we Americans are.

Ghost of Igloi, looks like a good week of training to me. I won’t tell anyone about your hands and feet.

KPdx, 6:45 is a fast pace. I like how you blamed Strava. I make mistakes every day; can I blame Strava too?

amkelley, your mileage is awesome. Good luck with the PMR.

MikeF, congrats on “the streak” and your incredible mileage.

dhaaga, awesome week of training. Pro tip: On the internet, no one knows you are a dog or under 60, so you can be on the 60+ virtual team whenever you like.

Texas runner, I see your average pace for 38 miles last week was under 7:00; I’d like to get back to running 1 mile that fast. At age 50 I could still run 1 mile sub-6:00 easily and 5K in 20:00 with effort, but then it all started to fall apart. And this week you bust a 10K workout in 38:11--pretty impressive.

Coyote Montane, you look like another ringer like Coureur des Bois. I have to look so far up at you guys I get neck strain.

Olde Farte, I am not sure what CR stands for (Cool Running? Continuing resolution?), but it looks like a pretty good week.

SCgal, great week of workouts and big congrats on your son graduating in Barcelona. I spent a few days there on pass when I was deployed overseas and would like to go back sometime. Our younger son is still in college; he is on the long plan as both of his parents were. I always say college was the best eight and a half years of my life.

socalcush, 100 miles in one week! How do you do it?

As a decided anticlimax, here is my body of work for the week, but hey, we all do what we can:

M: 2 miles walking, lower body strength (situps and dumbbells), hip stretches, back stretches

Tu: 1.75 MILES RUNNING, 2 miles walking, upper body strength (situps and dumbbells), regular stretches

W: 2 miles walking, lower body strength (situps and dumbbells), hip stretches, back stretches

Th: 1.75 MILES RUNNING, 2 miles walking, regular stretches

F: 2 miles walking, upper body strength (pushups and dumbbells), regular stretches

Sa: 2 MILES RUNNING at the track in 18:00 flat, 2 miles walking

Su: Lower body strength (situps and dumbbells), hip stretches, back stretches

?

Ran 0 miles this week.

Left Achilles, Knee and Hamstring hurt.

socalcush - love to hear about your 100+ week!

Sending positive vibes to all for a great week.

P.S. - There is a silver lining, I'm negotiating a contract to illustrate a graphic novel by a big-time literary writer. Holding my breath!

Big Red wrote:

Ran 0 miles this week.

Left Achilles, Knee and Hamstring hurt.

socalcush - love to hear about your 100+ week!

Sending positive vibes to all for a great week.

P.S. - There is a silver lining, I'm negotiating a contract to illustrate a graphic novel by a big-time literary writer. Holding my breath!

big red, i am a huge comic book/graphic novel nut--well over 10,000 going back to probably 1st grade (and some older but bought later). the bad and good of the pandemic: sad that new material was extremely limited, but i had fun rereading some old stuff.

long, long ago, i wanted to be a comic book artist--in fact, in high school, this impacted my choice to take up running. i initially wanted to take a beginning tennis class that they offered at my school (my mom played some tennis recreationally) for PE, but the art class i wanted to take was the same period, i chose the art class, which created a domino effect on my schedule that left only 6th period (competitive sports) open for PE. at 4'11" and well under a 100 lbs, i had really only one option: cross country.

i hope to see some of your work soon...

cush

Glad you figured out where I come from Brittle. Google Black Caviar, I was paddling beside her birthplace Gilgai Farm.

Some guys are still flying and it is great to see.

Plenty of us are just trying to find a way to keep going as best we can.

Goodonya ((classic Aussie slang) for still getting out and having a crack..

Still following this thread daily though I probably don't qualify as a runner anymore! Maybe someday...

Alive and kicking these days. I've been logging 100'ish miles/week spread across a few bike rides, walks & pool runs. Plus 2-3x weekly weight sessions and my laborous job. So I'm at least keeping in shape, though not running shape.

The achilles has been real good lately. 90-100% painfree. I'm just going to be sure to be more patient this time and not jump back into running too soon. Though I did jog a very easy mile in the middle of my walk this morning.

Nice to see Cush & Big Red's other interests in comic books. Mine is baseball cards. Kind of excited to complete my 1969 set on Saturday by getting my last card needed in the mail, Nolan Ryan. I now have a complete run of Topps sets from 1969 thru 2019. In binders. Plus my birth year of 1960. Working on the 61-68 sets which I hope to complete before I die.

Have a good run,

Dave

That website is a nice source of information. Thanks for the share.

Socal,

Great week of training. Nice to have the endurance to handle that, and mix in some fast work at the same time!

MikeF,

Just downloaded the book by Hodge, look forward to reading it. The running talent in that era was tremendous, and fueled my attraction to the sport.