50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

CM, that's considerably more romantic than the tandem bike that was gifted to us by our neighbors as they were ending their marriage. I'm going to lug it onto the trainer (it weighs more than our lab) just to see how it goes.

AMK, you log some serious time on yours. I truly do not know how I'm going to keep from going spin crazy being on mine for even 30 minutes.

Allen's right, not even the Furman dudes would recommend running a race (let alone a marathon) on one day a week training.

KCgeezer wrote:I truly do not know how I'm going to keep from going spin crazy being on mine for even 30 minutes.

I find that breaking up the time helps. 10-minute warmup, 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, etc.

While injured a couple years ago, I joined the YMCA to use the elliptical, and found I could actually tolerate it with that approach. Or add to the incline every two minutes with no "easy" until the cooldown.

I would also break it up into two 20-minute sessions with a short weight routine between. That's 40 minutes total, and the maximum I could handle, ha!

'mopac wrote:

Rtype. Have you read any of the articles about 75 yo Lynn Rathjen who recently broke 6 for the mile?

His training seems to have parallels to yours.

Hope your GI problems are better. Runner's World has a nice bio on Lynn. Being a physical therapist, he has an interesting perspective on runners who overdo it. 20 miles a week tops is a great we to preserve the parts for the ultimate long run. It would be nice to arrive at the late-late show with all parts intact.

M: off.

T-SA: 10.7km.

SU: 12.5km.

M: off.

T-W: 8.9km.

R: 10,7km. (10:02-9:46-9:34-923-9:11-8:30)

F-SA: 8.9km.

SU: 12.5km. (9:57-9:48-9:30-9:25-9:13-9:02-8:30)

So after hitting 40+ miles for the first time since March, I took another cut-back week, and my legs felt fresh. 8:30 was the fastest closing lap (about 7:38/mile if my math is correct) since March, and I hit it twice. Now another three weeks of build-up and I will try to improve on those times in the next cut-back week.

Allen1959 wrote:

KCgeezer wrote:I truly do not know how I'm going to keep from going spin crazy being on mine for even 30 minutes.

I find that breaking up the time helps. 10-minute warmup, 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, etc.

I would also break it up into two 20-minute sessions with a short weight routine between. That's 40 minutes total, and the maximum I could handle, ha!

Brilliant. I’m installing a pull-up bar too so that’s when I’ll do em!

OG2 smart to rest you should get a good bounce once recovered

cns stuff

https://simplifaster.com/articles/central-nervous-system-fatigue-effects-speed-power-athletes/

What I have experienced is a gradual adaptation to where I recover faster after doing all out fast twitch type efforts. Also less jello near the end of each rep.

Took a week running wise but kept my 3 hours a day bike,row and walk

Oura is pretty interesting especially tracking Sleep SWS(slow wave sleep) and REM.

SWS is critical for recovery but declines with age. The average 65 year old sleeps a bit less but the percent of SWS drops from 20 to10!

20 years old : SWS is 20 percent of total sleep time 450 minutes = 90 minutes

65 ... SWS 10 percent of 350 = 35 minutes OUCH!

So my average SWS is 66 minutes with a best of 86 at age 64.

I had 2 out of 8 days of less than 30 minutes and will try and figure out why.

Training for maximum SWS kinda interesting idea who knows where this will go but one thing is for sure my emphasis has changed to training that promotes optimal health. Fortunately I still believe performance is a positive part of healthy aging....but must be done very carefully.

Plan is as always play it by ear.

dhaaga wrote:

To bring good luck for WFT against Detroit this afternoon, i'm going with a snack upgrade -- spicier injera crisps. Superstition IS the way.

Alex Smith had a good day and lost. Keira D'Amato had a good day and won!

Interesting article Charlie. I'll get to work on raising my dopamine levels :>)

Allen1959 wrote:

KCgeezer wrote:I truly do not know how I'm going to keep from going spin crazy being on mine for even 30 minutes.

I find that breaking up the time helps. 10-minute warmup, 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, etc.

I would also break it up into two 20-minute sessions with a short weight routine between. That's 40 minutes total, and the maximum I could handle, ha!

I listen to music while watching traffic go by on the major road 200 m from my garage. I use the breaks between songs to change position, or stand up on the pedals and crank for a bit, or switch effort levels. Or else I'll count cars--stand up for two cars, sit down and crank seriously for the next ten, go easy for the next 20...

I also find that the time passes much faster very early in the morning, perhaps because I'm still half-asleep. 75 minutes on the trainer starting at 5 or 5:30 am isn't a problem, but let me try to do the same duration starting at 9 am and I am indeed spin crazy within 30 minutes.

I haven't updated in a while...

Day 37 post Tenex achilles surgery. Things seem to be going very well. The pain level nearly non-existent. When it does hurt it's barely noticeable and doesn't last more than a few seconds. Though I have notice it hurting at times during the night. I've been working out in some way everyday. Someday's it's just a walk, other days I'll add a bike ride, last week I did a 20 min elliptical, which I hope to keep in my rotation. I'm being diligent with the heel dips. I'm up to 3x15, sometimes 2x/day. I'll be adding some backpack weights next week. I'm also foam-rolling the calves 4-5 x/week. I honestly feel like I could go for a run right now but I won't until my Dr gives me the ok. My next appt is Dec 3.

Since joining Strava a few months ago, I never realized how many runners cross train. Lots of them bike and do the elliptical. I plan on keeping them both up even as I transition back to running.

I'm starting to figure the biking out! Seems its all about the cadence right? I've been working on keeping it up. My routine lately has been 80'ish rpm at lower resistance. I hit over 21mph on my last ride for 40 minutes! That got be really hard... I just ordered a HR monitor that will pair with my Wahoo cycling app so now I'll fully equip'd for the winter. I never seem to have any problems with monotony or boredom running or biking inside. I listen to music most of the time or watch a game if there's one on. I've done 16 miles on my treadmill before and an hour on my bike, so far! The way I look at it, there's a reason I'm inside and it surely beats whatever alternative I'm avoiding. And I get a quality workout in!

That's it from here,

Dave

nice

61.85 yo black male 145lbs 6ft

Last couple of weeks has been mostly x training,

Spinning bike and weights. Try a few run on the treadmill but only for 30min then left toes mostly the 1 next to the big toe gets tender. Can walk ok with little to no pain but running is a different ballgame. So will continue to x training and icing the toe until I can run without pain. Best time to be injured if there is a ever a good time is now.

Cheers to yall.

Is Morton’s foot an issue?

sounds great; glad to hear your recovery is going so well.

fun week on my end and even discovered something I like about Zoom.

M 1:00

Tu 1:10 with drills & strides

W off day before starting marathon training cycle thurs

Th 1:20

F 1:00

Sa 1:20

Su 1:20 with 2 X 10:00 (2:00 jog) @ one-hour-race effort (2500m each +/- a couple steps)

This weekend was at a virtual conference, and Friday night we had a reunion with 25 or so of my former graduate students -- some i know well, but some for whatever reason I hadn't seen in 20--30 years. Don't love Zoom for teaching, but for catching up with people I haven't seen in a while it's the best! The little box showing their name around their face is a crucial cognitive aid.

When we go back to in-person meetings/classes, I'm going to ask everyone to carry around a little white board with their name in big letters and hold it in front of them while we talk.

have a great week,

Dave

good recovery @guess

Happy about my week:

Mo 4 km fast tempo in 16:08 min. ran even pace on tired legs on measured bike round which is slightly undulating, total 7 miles

Tu 30 min drills and jumps uphill, stopped after 30 min because of tired legs and avoiding to overdo things

We 7 miles easy, 4x100m accels with jog bacl

Th 10 km medium run, 7:45 min/mile

Fr 7 miles easy, 4x100m accels with jog back

Sa 10x38 sec with jog back, total 7 miles

Su 1:20 easy, hilly

This was the third consequtive week with no day off.

Easy pace means recovery pace to cope with the workouts.

Will repeat this weekly structure for a while until I feel to move on.

Happy running and stay healthy!

Guess: I second Igy, maybe Morton’s neuroma? My old training partner has that. She found that shoes with a wide toe box help.

Racerdb: Great to see recovery progresses. I always thought your business gave you all the cross training you need. I still believe cross training is mostly promoted by people who want to sell you cross training equipment.

Mon = 4 miles civic center parking lot

Tue = 4 miles river greenway

Wed = 4 miles mix parking lot and greenway

Thr = 1 mile TM recovery

Fri = 1 mile TM recovery

Sat = 4 miles AMC theater parking lot, 145 HR

Sun = 4 miles industrial park

Total = 22

It was a good week. This was a cut back week. I plan on rotating in a cut back every 3rd week. On Sat I ran just a bit harder to break out of the monotony of 129 HR all the time.

Before I started measuring my heart rate I would have called the Saturday run “easy” as it felt easy and I could have easily had a conversation during it. But at 145, it is quite a bit higher than my maximum aerobic threshold heart rate of 129.

So when training plans call for easy days to be at “conversational pace” it may be worthwhile to check on exactly what that pace means to each individual. For me it is too hard and explains why I broke down every time I tried to increase mileage….until this time...when I’m keeping my heart rate low.

Have a good one.

*Week 495*

Greetings, 50+ers!

Once again, not much to add here. A few brief walks and intentional stair climbs, but nothing even worth remarking. Combination of general exhaustion (I think I have both covid and post-election fatigue syndrome) and lack of strong motivation has settled back in. It was our last week for in person instruction (in which a lot of exam taking took place) so the remainder of the semester, such as it is, will be conducted remotely. This coming week is considered "fall break" so I plan on getting more exercise in; after which we just have one week of regular instruction and then finals week. Will be so glad when this semester is over, but I'm already dreading what January will be like.

Glad to hear good news from Racerdb on the tenex progress. Happy to see so many of you getting some decent training in. Hope you find a solution to the foot pain, Guess. I sympathize as I've been having a fair amount of foot pain (arthritis related) for a while now. Good luck to others on the mend, as well. Best wishes to those doing Turkey Trots live or virtual.

I'll Look forward to your reports, and please stay safe out there! Glad vaccines are on the horizon, but we're still not there!

All the Best!

Racerdb, good to hear that your recovery is progressing well. I got back closer to my training plan after last week's low energy episode. I finished out the week with a good trail effort yesterday. 26 miles for the week -

M- 4mi walk

T- rest

W- 4mi of 4x800 (ave 3:45) with 800 easy run recovery

Th- 4mi walk with strides

F- 4mi easy run 9:55/mi

S- 6mi trails with my son 8:10/mi

Su- 4mi walk

Happy Thanksgiving week (with no more than 9 other people in CA) to all!

old guy II wrote:

Happy Thanksgiving week (with no more than 9 other people in CA) to all!

You too O.G. As I'm guessing others on this thread did, we pulled the plug on Thanksgiving last week, about a day before the CDC advised (pats self on back). A muscle I didn't know was tensed relaxed after that, so I think we did the right thing.

The wheels are coming off a little, so I'm going to dial it down after Thursday's still-not-cancelled 5K in Johnson County, Kansas, the 7th Street Casino of Kansas City area COVID restrictions ("loosest slots in town!!!"). My right hip is irking me when I walk around, and it's taken days to work out the kinks in my quad and glute on that side.

57 miles this week with a 4x1mile + 4x200 on Wednesday and an easy peasy 12 today.

Hey, if you know someone in one of the states not colored purple on their map (Coyote-rado, Minnesota, Illinois, etc.) who'd like to run a virtual 10K, this is a great cause: