50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

greetings. Big couch potato day coming with the WFT taking on Browns and Celtics trying to save their season again. Fun week of training:

M 1:20

Tu 1:35 with form drills and strides

W 1:45 with 6 X 3:00 moderately hard hills (3:00 recovery)

Th 1:35

F 2:00 double

Sa 1:20 [+ kayaking]

Su 2:15 with 30:00 at marathon pace (probably closer to half-marathon--thru 7200m in 29:48)

have a great week,

Dave

Boise State Football is back October 24th. Part of the Mountain West Conference will be participating. High school sports have started back up, but unfortunately Covid 19 cases have doubled since Labor Day. There is still some caution as my 5k race scheduled for next Saturday has been cancelled.

Training has picked up with more free time. The past week I added in walking/running (old guy II style) and sprint drills. Covered 37.5 Igy miles; all walking or running. I plan to sign up for a virtual 5k in three weeks.

Monday: AM- 2 miles easy; drills; 5 x 800m interval pace @ 4:15 average / 400m easy; mile easy; PM- 3 mile walk

Tuesday: 5 miles walk/easy

Wednesday: AM- 2 miles easy; drills; 3 x mile tempo pace @ 9:20 average / 2:00 rest; mile easy; PM- 3 mile walk

Thursday: same as Tuesday

Friday: 3 mile walk

Saturday: 2 miles easy; 4 x 100m repetition pace @ 23, 22, 21, 21 / 20m walk; 200m walk; 3,000m tempo pace @ 17:11; 600m walk; 3 x 200m repetition pace @ 48, 45, 44 / 200m walk

Sunday: TBD

Have a good week.

Igy

My hip bursitis finally seems to be on the mend this week. I started easing back into some easy running and had no problems with my hip. 30 miles plus 4 miles stand up paddling for the week.

M- 4 mi walk

T- 4 mi walk with strides

W-4 mi of 1mi walk/ 1mi run/ 1mi walk/ 1mi run; paddle 2mi

Th- 4mi run 10:21/mi; paddle 2mi

F- 4 mi run 9:51/mi

S- 6 mi run 9:16/mi

Su- 4 mi walk

Good running to all!

Chi Slogging main benefit overall better posture less sand more grass some pavement in shoes

last week I did a speed check as part of my 4x30' :

3xhill pavement then drove to old wavy track and did 2x100 plus a 200

18,16,32

Maintain the CP /FT Neural Muscular System with a weekly 4x30' full recovery mix of hills sand track road what ever I feel like

this week speed

1.

I went to the lighthouse for some heavy work man I love the light house

hike/climb with a ridiculously STEEP section total of about 20 minutes

15:19 minute run:

3:19 with first 2 minutes at mile race pace followed by 1:19 at 5k effort no stress up a 5 percent grade

12 minutes easy

followed by 20 minutes all easy

4x30' medium grade hill all out to finish it off

2.Bunch of 100s barefoot on grass starting at 24 down to 16 most of em 22 or so with 7 fast than 20. Last 3 on track. 19 17 16

I believe in the Pareto Principle applies to over 60 running just do enough to get the most for least amount of strain then every once in awhile go for it. This will never produce a short term optimal performance but over time the area under the curve will be greater;)

OGII: glad the hip is improving

Mon = 21 min easy

Tue = 22 min easy

Wed = 23 min easy

Thr = 24 min easy

Fri = 25 min easy

Sat = 26 min easy

Sun = 27 min easy

I plan to keep rolling it up until my HR’s tell me I need to take a break or something hurts. Right now, nothing hurts and I feel great. I'll probably pause at 45 minutes if I get that far without any problems.

Have a good one.

There are still some big wildfires burning in California, but my air quality this week ranged from acceptable to very good and didn’t limit my activities. My main problem this week was my bad Achilles heel which seems to be getting worse after a long period of not bothering me much. I ran only four days this week for 44 miles, with the other three on the bike or trainer.

Monday: 10.6 miles feeling pretty good.

Tues: 10.5 miles, sore heel.

Weds: 20 mile bike ride.

Thurs: 11.0 miles again feeling pretty good, but heel got sore afterward.

Fri: Heel too sore to run, 60 minutes on bike trainer in the dark.

Sat: 12.2 miles at 9:26/mile average pace. That’s the “fastest” I’ve run in about two months, so I was quite pleased about that; however, I cut the run a mile shorter than planned because my heel was hurting quite a lot.

Sun: Heel too sore to run, 34 mile bike ride.

Nice training week, dhaaga. When are they going to name your football team?

Igy, too bad about your 5K. As far as I know there are zero races in California through the end of the year, CIM having just announced its cancellation. Someday…

ogII, good to hear your hip is on the mend.

Charlie, anything involving a lighthouse sounds fun, or at least different.

Rtype, glad to see the progression is still progressing.

I’m off to watch the 49ers, who are already ahead. Have a good week!

61.75 yo black male 6ft 145lbs

9/21/20 Monday 7am 45:09 for 5.09 miles easy to moderate

9/22/20 Tuesdays 7am 30min spinning bike then lifted weights. Light day

9/23/20 Wensday 650am 1:02:09 easy on the treadmill.

136pm 50:23 6.32 miles on street easy to moderate to light tempo.

9/24/20 Thursday 7am 55:41 6.23 miles easy to moderate.

9/25/20 Friday 650am

45:58 easy run on treadmill.

9/26/20 Saturday 455pm

1:16:50 10 miles with farlek during 2nd half of running.

9/27/20 Sunday 655am 10 miles in 1:20:31 easy to steady state for 2nd half of running.

Tired Sat so slept extra and ran in pm. Ragweed allergies acting up. Right Achilles slightly sore. So I need more easy recovery runs this week. And self massage area as often asap.

Cheers to yall.

Thanks to Allen1959 for the shout out. I appreciate the extra motivation.

Actual running this week totaled 19+ miles. Not quite the gold standard, but not too shabby. Following last Sunday’s virtual race, the legs were a bit weary on Tuesday. But I was still able to get in some fartlek. The right hammy was barking periodically, but some post-run self-massage seems to have helped. Thursday’s effort was intended to be easy, but ended up surprisingly peppy. Legs were tired again yesterday, but not enough to limit my planned mileage. Life is good!

Sun: 47’ runs (3); body wt ex

Mon: off

Tues: 53’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (6 x 2 on/off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Wed: off

Thu: 43’ runs (3); 16 oz curls

Fri: off

Sat: 54’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Best to most!

*Week 487*

Greetings, 50+ers!

Just checking in to register a pulse. Still too many irons in the fire; everything is taking half again as long as it used to. Keep up the good work. I'll catch up with y'all somewhere down the road. Stay Safe out there!

All the Best!

M61, 5'11", 177 lbs

Goals: First, continue straddling line between increasing fitness and disabling knee pain; so far, 10-16 mpw seems to be working. Second, go sub-6:30 for mile time trial; Third, run a few races if/when they ever come back.

SEPT 20-26, 2020

Sun -- Off

Mon - 4.0 miles (8:55, 8:08, 7:38, 7:05)

Tues - Off

Wed- Off

Thu - Off

Fri -- 2.0 miles (8:28, 7:26)

Sat -- 4.0 miles (8:44, 8:29, 7:51, 7:23)

TOTAL: 10.0 MILES

I had planned on more miles, but scheduling around work commitments was a challenge. Even 4 miles takes an hour, including cooling down enough to stop sweating before showering.

But the week started with a high point -- Monday's run was the first time this year I averaged under 8 minute mile pace for a progression run. The previous week I averaged 8-flat for a 7-miler.

Looking to bump my mileage some this coming week, maybe run a mile time trial. Dunno, though, still super busy with work.

Be well.

My best week yet. I managed five days running all in a face mask. I consider it both my social duty for a better world, while simulating high altitude training. My technique is to use six standard face masks, rotating inners and outers to force higher filtration, cleanliness, difficulty, and greater levels of social responsibility. Suffering more for social awareness is my motto. Wearing my obvious political statement generates feelings of moral superiority and purity. Thankfully there are people of purpose.

bertie wrote:

Suffering more for social awareness is my motto. Wearing my obvious political statement generates feelings of moral superiority and purity. Thankfully there are people of purpose.

You could do worse than ensuring strangers don’t get your asymptomatic disease, which is the worst case.

Dhaaga, when are people going to start calling it Washington Team Football instead? Makes so much more sense.

Kid Coach has decided that if we can’t get any races in this fall he’s going to have to hold his own. So some of us from the team are running a 10K at the municipal airport next weekend. I ran the course today for my long run, four circuits, two little rises at one end, so if we do this right we only have to climb them once.

I’m running with two watches now. Besides my FR 230 I’m getting to know my wife’s Apple Watch, which I bought refurbished for her only to realize neither of us quite understand it. We talk about heart rate here occasionally, I haven’t paid much attention to it for a while, BUT I’m noticing this week a tendency to speed up in the last one third of my easy runs. Thank you Apple Watch. I could’ve easily hit the wall today but I noticed my hr creeping into the high 150s and had to keep easing up.

Here is a typical week for me. Next week I’ll lower the miles ahead of the race, but not the intensity.

Monday 1+ hour slooooow LR recovery (10+ minute average pace)

Tuesday 1 hour, quicker

Wednesday workout 8x800 at 10K pace

Thursday 1 hour, start slow but finish quicker

Friday 7 miles in 52 minutes, last mile at tempo

Saturday 6 miles in 52 minutes, in no hurry

Sunday 15.3 miles in a little under 2 hours

About 60 miles

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

My best week yet. I managed five days running all in a face mask. I consider it both my social duty for a better world, while simulating high altitude training. My technique is to use six standard face masks, rotating inners and outers to force higher filtration, cleanliness, difficulty, and greater levels of social responsibility. Suffering more for social awareness is my motto. Wearing my obvious political statement generates feelings of moral superiority and purity. Thankfully there are people of purpose.

Did you get a haircut too?

KCGeezer and AMKelley,

no chatter here about renaming WFT, so I'm guessing they'll do nothing till offseason. After today's 5-turnover debacle, maybe "Washington Self-Defeaters" would work?

--dave

Allen1959 wrote:

M61, 5'11", 177 lbs

Goals: First, continue straddling line between increasing fitness and disabling knee pain; so far, 10-16 mpw seems to be working. Second, go sub-6:30 for mile time trial; Third, run a few races if/when they ever come back.

SEPT 20-26, 2020

Sun -- Off

Mon - 4.0 miles (8:55, 8:08, 7:38, 7:05)

Tues - Off

Wed- Off

Thu - Off

Fri -- 2.0 miles (8:28, 7:26)

Sat -- 4.0 miles (8:44, 8:29, 7:51, 7:23)

TOTAL: 10.0 MILES

I had planned on more miles, but scheduling around work commitments was a challenge. Even 4 miles takes an hour, including cooling down enough to stop sweating before showering.

But the week started with a high point -- Monday's run was the first time this year I averaged under 8 minute mile pace for a progression run. The previous week I averaged 8-flat for a 7-miler.

Looking to bump my mileage some this coming week, maybe run a mile time trial. Dunno, though, still super busy with work.

Be well.

Not bad for a 10 mile week. ? At the rate I'm going, I would take those splits in a heartbeat. I see you have drop a few pounds from the 180 you were at a few weeks ago - are you dieting or anything like that? What's your food sources like? Any supplements you take?

My weight has increased to 171 (@ 5-7) - the heaviest I've been since 2000 at age 40. ? The funny thing back back was at 171, I was running 40 mpw; a weekly long run, 2 speed sessions or a speed session plus a TT, a Wednesday night seasonal track workout with a cool running club & raced short distances year round. I still lifted weights a couple of days a week. No major injuries and just minor dings now & then that required minimal attention. And best of all I could eat like pig and drink some brews on weekends.

Now, 20 years later and a much higher body fat % than the 171 back then, I'm declining rapidly from PTOA from the assorted major injuries sustained over the last several years. The impact forces on this old heap are egregious from just 10-12 mpw. Interesting, I still lift diligently and eat a,very healthy diet with moderate portions (organic poultry & eggs, fish, fruits & vegetables, etc,) but still can't put on lean muscle mass and keep the fat low like in the good old days. I can see now how rapidly hormone levels drop with middle-aged men.

So, it's been a lot of spin bike HIIT sessions and more power/speed walking lately until I can shed some weight.

Real Live In-Person Race Report!

The Good: I achieved my time and place goal (25:50/ 9th OA/3rd Female/1st AG)

The Bad: Pace too fast, walk breaks, 78% AG, course was short

I honestly don’t know what to think about this race. The course was 1½ mi on pavement, ½ mi on gravel, and 1 mile on trail/ long grass and it was .1 short. There were moderate hills at the beginning and the end but nothing like Greenville or Atlanta. My goals going into the race were to go out “easy” in 8:15 and try to hold on, to break 26:00, and to finish in the top 10. This was a tiny race with few fast runners.

I felt OK for the first mile of the race, and was happy with my 8:12 split for the first mile. But at 1.2mi the wheels fell off, every .2 mi I had to walk for a few steps to get my HR down. I knew I should just run slower but running slower felt worse than doing the run/walk. Mile 2 ended up at 8:32 pace. I wasn’t happy but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. In mile 3, we hit the trail/grass. This wasn’t golf course grass, this was unmowed farm field grass. I felt better on this mile than in the one before it because there was no way I could push anymore. My split ended up being 9:05 which isn’t what I wanted but I think was pretty good for the conditions.

I felt sluggish all week, like I normally do when running fewer miles. There also were thunderstorms here starting at 11:00pm for the past few nights. One of our dogs is petrified of storms so I’ve been getting a lot less sleep trying to calm him down. But the biggest stressor of the week was the suicide of an XC and track coach at our local high school who my husband and I have known for ten years. That was a huge shock but then it also was revealed he had been under investigation for sexually abusing his runners. In fact, the woman who was the first accuser to step forward was someone we know and whose father was a track coach with the guy who killed himself. I was just blown away by finding out that someone I thought was a good person was so evil. I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this report how exhausted I feel from all of this news.

I can’t believe how tired I am. I feel like I ran a marathon, not a 5k. Not just physically but also mentally. I know I’ve been working hard and that this race means nothing and was a rust-buster but I'm disappointed in myself for how I ran it. I can't believe how much I've slowed down in the past few years! I've got a real live all-road 10k next week that I'm going to try to run an nice even pace with no time/place expectations and just have fun.

P.S. Allen1959: I'm 67 y.o. , swimmer in college, started running 10 years ago (mainly 5k,10k, XC, steeple), currently having fun competing in triathlon, duathlon, and aquathlon. Most of my biking is done on trainer following workouts from my coach so it's lots of intervals, tempos, etc., not just easy riding.

Long May You Run!

M50, 6'1", 163lbs

I occasionally check out LR. Mostly lurk, only posted a couple times. I'd seen this thread, but avoided because don't really think of myself as 50+ ;-) However it's been a couple months now and reality is starting to sink in.

I've had a great year of training, but unable to do any real races because of Covid. I was starting to feel a bit burnt out and wanted a real race to cap off the "season", take a several weeks off, and reset for next year. A few weeks ago I found the Snohomish (near Seattle) Marathon on October 18th. Looks to still be a go, though a modified route with staged starts over several hours to keep everyone social distanced. It'll essentially be a TT for me, but feels more real I guess because I had to pay for it, lol.

I had been doing 50-70 mpw through most of the summer, so decided to use the last 7 week's of a tweaked Pfitzinger 18 week, 70+ mile training plan. Skipping the plan's build up and just doing the Race Prep and Taper weeks. I've used this plan several times in the past with good success. Last week was the last big training week, and now I'm into the 3 week taper. :-)

Mon - 6 mile easy recovery trail run (recovery from 24 mile LR on Sunday)

Tue - 6 mile easy morning run / 4 mile afternoon easy trail run

Wed - 11 miles w/ 5x1200 @ 5:40 pace, 2 min recoveries

Thur - 13 miles easy morning commute to work (Hilly) / 4 mile afternoon easy trail run

Fri - 8 miles with 6 striders

Sat - 10 miles total. 2 mile WU / virtual 5K corporate race (~17:30) / 5 mile "CD"

Sun - 20 mile LR, steady pace ~7:30

Total - 83 miles

Easy pace runs are 8:30 to 8:00 pace. Otherwise I like to work up to 7:30 to 7:00 pace after a couple miles on my other runs.

I haven't run a marathon for about 9 years now so trying to temper my expectations a bit.

A goal < 2:45 (my PR from 9 years ago)

B goal < 2:50 (under 2 hours + age)

C goal < 3:00 (just get a marathon race in and go for time goal on a spring marathon)

The course is out and back on a paved urban trail. Going out is nearly all gradually up (300 ft over first 12 miles), a bit of flat at the top, and then back down on the same trail. I figure I'll ease into 6:30 pace (2:50) on the out. Coming back with the aid of the hill I'll start pushing the pace a bit and see how I feel. A little scary because I know how fast the wheels can come off if the legs aren't up to the challenge. Four weeks ago I did a 18 mile LR with the last 15 speeding up from 6:30 to 6:10. Tough, but manageable. I honestly couldn't have done that on yesterday's LR, but I had the 5K race the day before, and have been running a lot more miles the past couple weeks. Keeping faith the 3 week taper will allow me to hold those paces for a full 26. :-)

Thanks for reading!

SCgal, congratulations on both your race result and getting the opportunity to do any kind of a race. You mentioned you were swimmer in college. I'm curious where and when you found a women's college swimming program. My wife, who is 71, graduated from college in '70. At that time there were almost zero women's intercollegiate swimming programs in the country. Luckily, not long after we were married she found her way into masters swimming where she has a long successful competitive career.

SCgal, you've had a really rough week and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You can't expect to run well under such emotional stress. That being said, probably the only way to avoid getting slower with age is to make sure you were really slow when you were young! Your plan for the upcoming 10K sounds good. And I'm envious of your real races, although right now I would be too embarrassed to enter a race even if I could.

Obi-Run, that's a very impressive training week and nice goals for your upcoming marathon. I'm envious of your access to real races (of some sort) too! We'll be looking for a race report. And BTW, it took me a couple of years to fully accept the idea of being 50+ too...