50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

ATP,

Your 39:20 is 91-92% on the age-grade scale - fantastic! I've looked though the protocols and see that only 2 guys of the 60-64 AG and the winner in 55-59 may be at the same level.

65-69 AG is well behind you, bravo!

Across the pond wrote:

Do you mean step phase of TJ - if so, then short and liable to collapse. This was really only a matter of points for the team. There were only three of us, one regular jumper and two runners there for the points. I came 3rd for 6 team points :)

Yes, a former coach here. Joking really. Keeping the momentum going thru the hop, to the step, and jump. Linear you know, versus putting so much effort into the hop vertically the step phase is compromised, puny. Anyhow, more to the point great running.

ATP high performance running! Congratulation. You 400m repetitions in 79/80s sec are my next goal. Crazy, you are 20 years older!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My week:

Mo 8.5 miles easy

Tu 30 min jumps and drills uphill, 5x40m sprints uphill

We off, too much work

Th 12 km progressed from 6 km in Zone2 in 29 min to 6 km in Zone 3 in 26:40 min

Fr 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Sa Wu, 6x400m in 85 sec with 400m jog in 2:45 min

Su 90 min easy hills

On Saturday still somewhat tired from Thursday. Kept the bar low and felt better after the quarters than before.

Cheers

DenverDave - slurp up each run with gusto. A solid run is better than a great beer on a warm day. I lost my running in my 40’s to a career, raising a teenager, and Master’s Baseball. Got my stride back in my 50’s when my thyroid issue was addressed. My running times are excellent for me and will become even more excellenter. Enjoy the process.

This week past:

M - 4(10:00/3:00): faster pacing than five months ago with the paces @ 8:00/10:30 in humidity with lower HR

T - 5.5m @ 73% HR - pace quietlypicking up

W - 10M @75% HR - final 2M @ 80+% HR

TH - 8(2:00/2:30): again, fastest pacing in a long while - 7:18/10/00. Was a sneaky tempo of 4..15 miles @ 8:25 pace. Pleased was I.

F - 5.5M @ 70% HR: time faster despite humidity

S - 14.25M solo: progression run from 11:14 down to 9:14.

Weather changes to Fall for us later this upcoming week. Enjoy the week

Hello, fellow 50+ers! I hope you all are enjoying these last few days of summer. Fall is just around the corner!

My running volume remained subdued this week due to several factors: grandkids in town, weary legs, and one hot/humid running day. All of those factors are likely to be less influential this week and I remain hopeful of getting back to the 20 mpw range. So put me down for almost 15 miles of actual running this week. Not too bad!

Sun: off

Mon: 56’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Tues: off

Wed: 43’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (6 x 2 on/off); swim

Thu: off

Fri: 52’ CR; body wt ex

Sat: off

Best to most!

ATP Nice 10k off mid D training no less.

The 10:49 goal is setting the bar high but not too high;) In my early forties I wanted to go sub 2/800,4/1500 and 15/5000 never came close to any of these but they felt like reasonable goals at the time. At 60 I really thought I might be able to break 5 for the mile also felt like a reasonable goal at the time. If you never miss you never hit your potential and potential is forward thinking. I feel like running is just as interesting challenge at 65 as it was at 40

Kinda tapering for a mile on the track in 2 weeks but already building base looking forward to toeing the line in a real race vs time trial. Plan is to go out too fast and hang on;)

Derek Turnbull's best year M65 Records all set in 1992:

Mile 4:56.4

3000 9:47.4

5000 16:38.8

10,000 34:42.2

Marathon 2:41:57

https://youtu.be/gTPXhnQGp1s

31.5 miles

Bad week but coming off a 51 mile week, I started experiencing foot and ankle problems right at the start of the week.

On Monday I had problems even getting my left shoe on. Also experienced impingement problems on the top of my other foot.

I found a pair of Nike Vomero’s for 54 dollars and were overjoyed to find a pair for that price.

In the 46 years that I’ve been a runner and a racer, I have never paid over 100 bucks for a pair of training shoes.

For the last 3 or 4 years I’ve always bought Brooks Launch off the bargain racks for 75.

The Vomeros had an obvious improved feel but I think are so narrow that they caused these foot problems...

I wear them on all my effort workouts.. fartlek and tempo.

Feet are getting a lot of ice time. I’m nearing 1500 miles for the year. Need a good week.

ATP: Congrats on that 5:07.98!!

My week:

7 runs, 23 miles, 99 streak days.

I have not felt great since the 2nd shingles shot. It’s been a little over a week. I have literally jogged 12 min pace most of the time other than a surprisingly zippy 7:55 pace 3 miler on Sat. After how crappy I’ve felt and how slow I’ve been crawling, I’ll take it!

So, I guess for now, I’ve fallen into this pattern of running easy 6 days a week and hard one day a week. If this keeps me healthy and “somewhat” competitive I can live with it. The biggest benefit is running is actually truly enjoyable 6 days a week and, on that 7th, it is a different type of "fun".

Have a good ‘ern!

Greetings!

I have made sure once again that not only the “race day magic” do exist, but the “holiday week magic”, too.

Arrived to the seashore a week ago with the main goal to heal several injuries. Was relying on the medicine, but got so excited with wonderful park/forest on the mountain slopes that endorphin/dopamine started doing a good job immediately.

Here is my week.

Mon

45 min, incl. 12:30 hard (bpm 93-95% of HRM) uphill in the middle of course the with total elevation gain (dH) about 220 m (720 ft).

Tue

AM: 43 min, incl. 12:23 hard uphill in the middle with dH about 200 m (660 ft).

PM: 38 min incl. 2x6:05 hard uphill (dH = 2x80 m or 520 ft)

Wed

62 min, incl. 12:03 hard uphill in the middle with dH about 220 m (720 ft).

Thu

AM: 48 min, incl. 11:57 hard uphill in the middle with dH about 220 m (720 ft).

PM: 36 min incl. 6 min LT uphill with dH about 80 m (260 ft)

Fri

62 min incl. 9:30 LT uphill and 5:35 min hard uphill in the middle with dH about 220 m (720 ft).

Sat

AM: 39 min incl. 9:25 LT uphill with dH=120 m (390 ft)

PM: 44 min with 2 hard uphill runs (5:58 and 5:48) with subtotal dH=180 m (590 ft)

Sun

AM: 42 min incl. 10:15 LT uphill, subtotal dH=190 m (600 ft)

Week subtotal:

457 min incl. 78 min hard (17% of the total) and 35 min LT (7% of the total).

Subtotal elevation gain throughout the week: 1810 m (c.a. 6 kft)

Trying to roughly translate into miles and taking a conservative estimate of 8:15-8:30 mi/min equivalent, it results in 53.7 -55.4 miles for this week. Unimaginable earlier with my long-time average of 35 mpw.

Do not count 3 long walks with my wife (65 min on Wed, 95 on Fri and 55 today).

Especially glad that muscles, tendons and joints have not got worse. Assume that regular mud therapy, massage, pool, sauna and 8 hr sleep altogether help a lot, too.

So, “some kind of happiness is measured out in miles”.

Best to all!

happy almost Fall. thanks everyone for kind feedback on Cherry blossom 10-mile last week. Mostly easy this week to recover:

M 1:15 + 30:00 x-t

Tu 1:30

W 2:00 with drills/strides

Th 55:00

F 1:20

Sa 1:00 + 1:00 x-t

Su 1:25 with 20:00 at marathon pace (or a bit faster -- thru 2.5 miles 17:17)

Left hamstring tight this morning, so planning to nurse that back to good form for half-marathon next Sunday.

have a great week,

Dave

A satisfying week sticking to my "frequency rather than duration" plan.

Mon. 31 min kayak, windy/choppy.

5 km steep single track run 220 m elevation gain 40 mins.

Tue. 5.2 km steep single track run 220 m elev. 43 min.

24 km mtn bike ride 67 min.

Wed. 38 min fast kayak,no wind smooth water.

5 km run up and back 150 m elev. 30 mins. The 3d km rocky single track. Last 2 dh kms in 4.27 and 4.20.

Thu. Out and back 7 kms 350 m elev. A 2 km road climb on Mt Tarrengower then another 1.5 km down rugged trails and then back up and back down the road. 50 mins.

22 km mtn bike ride in 65 mins.

Fri. 37 min kayak.

6.6 km forest loop run. Jogged first 2 kms then 4 x 800 and 1 x 400 tempoish efforts. Simple plan. When the watch pings each km I walk 100, jog 100 then pick it up for 800. 36 mins total.

Sat. 24 km mtn bike with a climb up the rough 3.5 km tower rd on Mt Ida. I threw in a solid effort on my 4 + min strava segment toward the end.

Found my buddy Lisa's track on Mt Alexander. I have always ran up the other side. This was a lovely single track climbing 2.7 kms/350 metres. About 26 up and a cruisy 20 back down. 5.5 km in 46 mins.

Sun. A bit knackered after 6 hours solid gardening. Battled in strong winds on the mtn bike for 24 kms in 70 mins.

8.6 kms hilly run with 6 x 800 and 1 x 400 3/4ish efforts. 51 mins.

Good morning. We had a wind storm last evening, just enough to make a mess of the yard. We appear to be making the transition to fall with nice running temperatures predicted for the week ahead.

A couple of life milestones were passed last week. It was announced that four of my women’s cross country teams from three decades ago will be inducted next February into the University if Texas Rio Grande Valley Hall of Fame. Also, my three year post chemotherapy CT scan was clean and lab work excellent. I had no reason to expect a different result.

As for running, the hip impingement has eased, and back into a routine that is more manageable. I raced a two mile road race Saturday that I frequently run, and the result was good, not great. Legs were a little flat, with momentum slowed on the hills. Interesting that I was the oldest male competitor, and won my age group by default.

Sunday: 40:00 spin bike

Monday: AM- 2 miles easy; 6 x 150m repetition pace @ 45 / 50m easy; 400m easy; 6 x 200m interval pace @ 1:00 / 100m easy; 400m easy; 6 x 150m repetition pace @ 39 / 50m easy; mile easy; 1 set weights; core; exercises; PM 2 mile walk

Tuesday: 1500 yards swimming

Wednesday: 2 miles easy; 5 x 600m critical velocity pace @ 3:17 / 1:00 rest; mile easy; 2 sets weights; core; exercises

Thursday: mile walk; 60:00 spin bike; mile walk

Friday: mile easy/walk

Saturday: 2 miles easy; 2.12 miles = 8:16, 9:06; 0:54; mile walk

Have a good week.

Igy

ATP, congratulations on the great times! Igy, congratulations on your XC teams' honors and clean bill of health. I raced 5k XC yesterday with very low expectations and had it go surprisingly well. I had been feeling under the weather since last weekend with a mild sore throat, steadily rising resting HR, and distressingly high systolic BP in the mornings. I suspected that I was fighting off some pediatric virus since my son had worse congestion symptoms, and my granddaughter had the sniffles the preceding week. On Monday I had that internal discussion with myself that my goal is not to put up impressive mileage numbers in my Strava log, but to get as fit as I can to run as fast as I can. Tue I did a short walk/run, Wed I rested, Thur I did a short walk and Fri I rested. I thought I felt somewhat better on Fri. Sat. morning I did a steady warmup of 2.5mi and a few short strides. When the race started I went out a little behind people I usually am head-to-head with. I went through the mile in 6:53, which was a typical mile 1 time for me. The second mile was about 20M net downhill and I caught and passed a couple of people and went 6:38. At that point I could see a 65yr old competitor whom I had beaten the last two races about 50M ahead of me. I decided to try to close the gap and got it down to about 20M with 800M to go. From there to 400M I got to 5M behind him to sit and see how he was doing. The last 200M were along the flat well-mown edges of two soccer fields. Right about 200M he slowed and started to look over his left shoulder. I had to either put on the brakes or make my move around him. I moved right and started my sprint. From even at 200 to go I put 9 seconds on him at the finish. My Garmin showed my average cadence was 183 for the race and average pace 6:51/mi. It showed my cadence and pace for the last 200 as 210 and 4:44/mi, which would have been about a 35sec 200, which is what it felt like. Official results said 6:44/mi, which I think was generous and that the course was a little short. Nothing feels like having fresh legs late in a race.

Next week is a 10k XC race that is"XC" only in that it has 950ft of elevation gain. About 2/3rds is paved bike bath and the rest is a well-groomed, smooth packed DG trail. The course is an out-and-back from a park that goes to the top of a nearby hill and back. It's a new course to me, but looking at past results, beating 50 minutes for it will be a challenge.

Good running to all!

Nice finish, and thanks on the other. I suspect you were smelling the barn the last 200 meters.

Rtype wrote:

I have not felt great since the 2nd shingles shot.

Rtype, my spouse had a nasty reaction to the shingles shot. We actually took her get a Covid test as the reactions were similar to mild Covid. She was out for the count for a couple of days.

My weekly summary:

Second week of reduced mileage 41 total down from averaging just over 50mpw. Couple of very light days 3.5-4.5 easy days with a few strides.

Ran a limited field road mile race about an hour's drive away on Saturday. Free entry - Yippee! Male section was limited to ten entries based on time. Somehow, still not sure, but was #10 of 10. I am 64 3/4 y/o and everyone else was in the 20s. Pretty much the oldest person there except for a couple grandparents. First prize was $1,000 cash. Needless to say I did not win - in fact I was "DFL" , but expected that.

As crazy as it sounds, I was actually was okay with that result as I slipped under 6;00 flat by a second and half. (WMA calculator = 4:35 high right at 80%) I don't have any leg speed , so this was very good for me. Maybe the lower mileage helped (at at least did not hurt).

My daily planks at steady at 4:00 minutes. Not easy but easier than before.

Until next week,

NDJY

Shout out to ATP and NDJY! Nicely done. And I did just see on FB Roger was 2nd in the 12k champs.

I'm just damn glad this week is over. I got in my 41 miles but none of it felt good. Just tired. I attempted a fast mile Tuesday but had nothing. Got home after work. It was hot 90 deg, dew point 77, grandkids were there. Ran out the door for a short warmup as a storm was coming. Could only muster up a 6:12. Its all I had. Then ran a 5k on Saturday. Legs felt like lead. Finished 4th in 19:24 for 2.96 miles. Made a wrong turn totally my fault which cost me 3rd place and 20 seconds. Guess thats the way it goes sometimes.

So I'm just going to stay the course and keep it going. It was a suck week with two suck efforts. I know I'm better shape than the results showed.

Have a good run,

Dave

Cavorty - 41:55, which is about 32:32 age graded. Impressive!

ATP - 10k - 39:20 - 1st M70. Simply amazing! That would put you in the top 5 here in most over races for the 40 AG..

Orient - 12:30 hard (bpm 93-95% of HRM. I haven’t put in an effort like that for years. Hurts to think about.

old guy II - nice effort the last 200 meters - had to be a good moment at the end,

My Week:

Running: 38 miles

TM Incine walks: 18

Another semi lockdown week with no structure and just running and walking whenever I’m in the mood. One tempo (medium effort) run across the dam which is the only flat 500 meters in the area. 2 miles at around 5:45 to 5:50 mile pace. Hard to judge but looking at Strava it seems the turnarounds cost me 5 secs. Surprised how much a simple turnaround slows you down going into and coming of it.

On a side note. Quit my long relationship with sugar about a month ago which was harder than drinking about 6 months ago. Went from close to 170 lbs to 160ish in the last month and feeling great. Doing difficult things always puts me in a good place. Also my legs no longer look like twigs with most the weight coming from my upper body and I now kinda resemble a runner.

Thanks everyone for your comments on the last couple of weeks. I had a final flingon the track this weekend for the outdoor season with a mile race. I have a couple of road races coming up and then some time for regeneration.

Mon 13 - 35min

Tues 14 - am - 40min - pm - easy track session with a few laps of jogging the bends and running the straights

Wed 15 - 40min

Thurs 16 - am - 30min - pm - track session 4x150m accelerations average 26.9

Fri 17 - 25min

Sat 18 - mile race - 5:29.57 - new UK M70 record - went really well for 1200m then faded badly over the last lap - most likely some of the 10k still in my legs

Sun 19 70min

Total 64km/40miles

I have a question on recovery. I am useless at recovery runs. I may start slowly with good intentions, but my legs quickly take over. Instead of recovery runs I do a lot of brisk walking (often 30mins early and again in the evening - I am lucky to have the time and a tolerant OH). I don't log this as part of my training miles but do regard it as a significant part of recovery. What do others do?

Good running to all.