50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

dhaaga: congrats on a great result! It also looks like you strategy was wise considering a considerable negative split.

The race season for me is over as the winter is knocking the door with night temps below 0C (freezing point), so it’s time to go quietly feeding all this slow-twitch stuff.

Mon – planned off

Tue – 7.5 miles mostly easy, only 2.5 km in the middle slightly below LT

Wed – same as Tue

Thu – unplanned off (family issues)

Fri – 8 miles easy with 5 km in the middle slightly below LT

Sat – same as Fri

Sun – 8 miles, all easy

Subtotal – 39 miles. Very good for me as it is 10% more than my season's average

Happy running to all and great to results to those who live in warmer parts of the planet and still take part in races!

Cool running Dave!

Orient, Germany is still fine for faster running despite chill wind and rain occur.

Mo 90 min easy in the hills

Tu 30 min jumps and drills uphill, 4x60m uphill

We 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Th 12 km Zone 2

Fr 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Sa WU, 5x400m with 200m jog in 80s/80s, 5x100m in 14-15 s and slow walk back

Su 90 min recovery pace in the hills

Second full week. It is full bore November training from my side.

Have a good week!

Meant third full week... Hopefully, I will not destroy myself :)

Continued progress with extending the length of my “runs”. I cut way back on the cycling this week because of time constraints and weather, but hit 29 miles of jogging. It still feels hard both physically and mentally as I have to think constantly about making my left leg do what it’s supposed to do. I have an appointment with a neurologist at UCSF tomorrow.

Mon: 4.0 mile jog, gym (busy day)

Tues: 4.2 mile jog, 15 mile bike, gym

Weds: 4.2 mile jog, 15 min on rowing machine (foggy), gym

Thurs: 4.4 mile jog, 16 mile bike, gym

Fri: 4.4 mile jog, 16 mile bike, gym

Sat: 4.7 mile jog, 22 mile bike

Sun: 3.4 mile jog with one big hill (first time I’ve attempted it since February, glad to find I could still make it to the top!), 19 mile bike in cold wind, will go to gym later

Mike Lundgren, that’s a nice 5K given what training you’d been doing! What seems to be working for me is getting off the drugs. I started taking methotrexate for RA in January but it was never clear that it was helping. I stopped taking it at the end of August, having finally tapered the prednisone to zero in April, and things have only improved since then. I am now taking no prescription drugs, and the only OTC drug I’m taking is naproxen sodium, 220 mg every other day--plus vitamins D and K, and calcium.

dhaaga, congrats on an excellent 10K!

Here in central California the weather is still fine for running, if getting a bit ugly for outdoor cycling. Tonight is supposed to be our first low below 40 F, so it’s time to dig out the gloves and headband. Being back on standard time doesn’t matter much at the time of day when I’m running.

Enjoyed watching the NYC Marathon after my little run this morning. Molly Seidel is a remarkably consistent marathoner.

Wishing everyone a good week.

Greetings, fellow 50+ers! And Happy November!

This week’s weather was much improved from the previous week with its damaging storm. There is still much clean up to do around the yard despite the many hours I have already put in. But I was still able to get in a solid 21 miles of actual running despite all the yard work. Given last week’s mini break from running, I thought it best to avoid speed this week in an effort to build back better. Life is good!

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

Tue: off

Wed: 53’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Thu: 44’ running (3); 16 oz curls

Fri: off

Sat: off

Sun: 62’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Best to most!

DAMN DHaaga...that is one brisk 6.2 miler...well done.

Igy, solid 'non-training' week...maintenance mode style.

My steady eddy comeback from a year of surgery continues. This week I surpassed the point whereby I am now closer to age 66 than 65.

In spite of all of the above, I managed my fastest ever track mile in more than 3 years on Thursday, and then today, successfully navigated an 11 miler...longest run in 4 years (since 10/17).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the body is an amazingly adaptive machine...particularly so, if you agree to work WITH it, not against it...immense patience and uber-disciplined ancillary work are the keys.

The operative songs on the playlist in my brain as of late, include the Stones' 'No Expectations' and Ringo's 'It Don't Come Easy'...as in 'you gotta' pay the dues if you wanna' sing the blues, 'cause you know, it don't come easy'

Jes' sayin'

Make it a great week of elder training and racing.

your pal,

MF

My last 2 weeks.

Mon. My daughter's moving house "training session".

A long brute of a day. Skipped all other means of training.

Tue. A nice sharp 20 km mtn bike ride in 52 min then a feeling fast 5 km run 26 min with 3 x 800 pickups the ladt one at 4.35 pace.

Wed. 45 min kayak and a cruisy 6.6 km fartlek run.

Thu. 60 min easy on the mtn bike.

Fri. 35 min kayak. Off on 3.5 hour drive to the foot of the Victorian Alps. I did a nice steep 45 min hike in the evening.

Sat. Unofficial 4 Peaks day one. Mt Buffalo 10.2 km 1100 m. elevation gain. 1 hr 40 m.

I got dropped early from our group of 4. Hit the first time check in 31.30 the first time under 32 in 5 years so I happily settled into my own pace. Finished off well with a bit in the tank. Ended up a minute behind the other 3. Nearly 4 mins faster than last year's unoffficial run.

Sun. Day 2. Mt Feathertop. 11.5 km 1400m elevation gain. 2 hr 6 min. 5 off us headed off together. Off the back by the km so just slotted into my groove. Hitting decent splits all the way but the others were out of sight. I lifted the effort a notch from 6 to 8 km. This is the "fast" part of the course. 8 through 10 is rough under foot with lots of big gnarly tree root steps and rocks. I caught a fella who had started half hour earlier at the 10 km mark. The last km up the steep knife edge face to the summit is a brute. I felt really strong at this point though. Despite having to vary the usual line due to snow I managed to clock a 5 year pb up the steepest part where it ave.30% gradient. My buddy flying 50 trail star Lisa clocked a pb of 1.58 and the othets 2.00 to 2.04. Last year we did 2.09 so I was happy with the run. We hiked back down the 11.5 kms.

Mon. Day 3. Mt Hotham. 14.6 km 1400 m elev. 2 hr 38 min.

Just 3 of us.The first 5.8 is relatively fast running up and down more moderate hills. Lisa was rolling along out front and I slotted into 2d spot with Lisa's daughter 26 yo Bec (19/39 5k/10k) trailing.

At 5.8 we cross the river and hit what is my sweet spot of a climb. I ran past Lisa and plowed along at around 15 min km pace for the next 3 kms. Lisa caught up when the gradient eased but Bec was off the back.

At 11 km Lisa let me go to wait for Bec. From there we hit a very rugged climb 30 to 40 % gradient. I was now fell walking rather than running. 20 to 23 min km pace. I caught a couple of early starters. At 12.5 the gradient eases as the course emerges from forest to bare alpine meadow. Now back to running and 13 to 15 min km pace all the way to the top where this climb meets the Razorback. I was spent by then so was happy just to cruise the last rocky 1.2 to the finish.

Lisa and Bec came in 3 and 5 mins behind. I ran 2.44 last year. Pretty happy with that.

Tue. Day 4. Mystic. 11.2 km 700 metres elev.

A loop course and the only one not in Nat Park. Much of the course has been logged in the last 2 years. Last year we missed a turn due to new logging work.

4 of us headed out. Lisa setting the pace up the first climb. On the 2d climb which is very steep and rough the 2 of us broke away but half way up Lisa let me go deciding to wait for the other 2. I pushed on solo and had a really pleasing run the rest of the way around. I eased off on the final couple of downhill kms with a slight tightening in my "chronic" left hammy. The other 3 rolled in 10 mins behind me.

Back to the BnB packed up and the long drive home.

Wed and Thu back at work and no training.

Fri. Eady 38 min kayak and cruisy 5 km run.

Sat. Lazy 14 km mtn bike.

Sat Easy 10 km forest run 59 mins.

I will be getting back into some training this week.

You can have your cake and eat it too!

The super shoes, including the super spikes, make you faster and reduce impact injuries!

IMO the shoe companies should put more focus on reducing injuries than shaving 10 seconds a mile off your race times. They will ketchup or get mustard . Exciting times in the shoe designs.

Good luck with your 10K

++++++++++++++++

The super shoes are amazing but still all my recent (over 50) PRs are in $5 dollar Chinese no name slip ons.

Ran my first race in the carbon/zoom late last year. While traveling it was a hassle doing the custom work I thought was needed on my Chinese shoes. I made my own carbon and put cushion where I needed it. Found out the last 2 weeks that the carbon seems to not be needed and as for me it is all about the cushion and weight!

Anyhow, back to that first race. I was kinda fat for me and drinking to much and had run probably only 30 miles a week the prior 2 months. I ran a respectable 1:17:30 half and that was minutes faster than I anticipated. Definitely not a PR but wow! My legs were trashed after and this lasted for weeks. That was because the shoes allowed me to run at paces I shouldn't have been running.

The 4% are durable shoes for many but not for me. After about 50 miles they usually are showing major wear and after a 100 they are unusable without a lot of glue and new rubber. I'm at 200 miles in one pair and the upper has come complete off twice and the sole is a mess. They still are just as fast or close to it!

A month ago I ordered my old Chinese no name shoes that now cost $12 vs $5 a few years ago. Not a rich man but $12 is almost free. Skipped adding carbon and focused on simple customization. Lots of insole padding ( almost 1/2 inch at the heel) and another 1/2 inch added to the outsole where I need it in the heel and less in in the forefoot.

Have had my best performance week in the last 6 months. Can't wait to get to an area that has a flat few miles to see how they perform. As for now, they are incredible on the constantly rolling terrain where I live.

I've got a few pairs of super shoes to fall back on but seriously thinking about getting back to what simply works for me. Tons of Cushion and very light shoes ( 5-6 ounces).

Wow, that was a ramble!

Good to see you are winning the battle. Also good to hear you are off the methotrexate and prednisone.

I have a vague recollection of you posting about neuro. issues maybe 5 years ago? Are you thinking this isn't RA but a neurological problem?

'mopac wrote:

Good to see you are winning the battle. Also good to hear you are off the methotrexate and prednisone.

I have a vague recollection of you posting about neuro. issues maybe 5 years ago? Are you thinking this isn't RA but a neurological problem?

Wow, you have a great memory! Yes, about seven years ago I went through a somewhat similar problem, where one leg suddenly felt slightly stiff and uncoordinated, without any pain. That time it affected my running only slightly and my walking barely at all. It started for no apparent reason, persisted off and on for several months, and one day disappeared as mysteriously as it had started.

This time the symptoms are similar but it is much more severe, and it affects walking more than running. It seems to be a distinct problem from the pain and stiffness in my shoulders, hips, back, and wrist that are being attributed to RA. (I'm still skeptical about that diagnosis.) My rheumatologist says she's never heard of RA causing the "stiff-leg syndrome" I'm experiencing, and she advised me to see a neurologist. So I am, but without much hope that she will find anything. My belief is that I have a type of focal dystonia, and that isn't usually very treatable. But I'm keeping an open mind.

Nice work young guy II

M-easy 4.5M

T-7.5M w/6M@MP

W-5M easy

Th-4M progressive

F-travel

S-paced friend thru BQ @ 3:54

Good week

One more week of fall and then cold arrives

Enjoy

About a year ago, I purchased a pair of Asics Meta Racers, boy did I notice the energy return when I did my tempo runs. Compared to the New Balance 890s that I had worn previously, I was running significantly faster and more relaxed too.

Anyway when I was looking for a pair of spikes for a return to track, I did some research comparing super spikes with more conventional models, before settling for a pair of Dragon Flys. Unbelievable cushioning for a spike. My school track is rock hard which would mash your legs up in conventional spikes, but with the Dragon Flys, it's like running on a pair of "magic carpets". Also what I like about them is they have great forefoot cushioning which most spikes have ben lacking.

However like with all spikes, you definitely need to break them in gradually . Do a few sessions of strides in them before running hard workouts .

M62, 5'11", 178 lbs

Open PRs: 16:04, 2:40:30

Masters PRs: 17:10, 2:56:04

Age 58 bests: 18:58, 3:07:23

Race calendar:

Nov 25, 2021: 4.4-mile

Feb 12, 2022: 10-mile

April 24, 2022: Half marathon

May 29, 2022: Marathon

NOVEMBER 1-7, 2021

M- Off

Tu- 7.4 miles (out @ 9:04/mi; back @ 8:24/mi)

W- Off

Th- 1.5 mi warmup; 6 x half-mile with 3-min jog recoveries (3:29, 3:30, 3:28, 3:24, 3:20, 3:35); half-mile cooldown.

F - Off

Sa - Off

Su - 7.7 miles @ 8:58 avg (10:07, 9:07, 8:56 ... 8:52, 7:53)

TOTAL: 21.1 MILES

Thursday was the first "workout" in a long while (2 years?!). Felt great to get back after it again; never mind that the VO2max repeat pace was marathon pace only four years ago ...

Ran my 10 km yesterday in 1:00:36, only 3 in the 70-74 age group, since there was a choice of 5, 10, 1/2 and full marathon, plus numerous other races around KC this weekend. Given my walk/run routine and no non-stop runs of late (other than my 5 km from a week or two ago), not bad for my. Hard to believe I ran a 36:15 10 km in my mid-30's! Does make me want to start some "real running" again and build up more running-related endurance.

At best, I did not have to walk the hills and there were some short steep ones I didn't expect. I do find it difficult to run steep downhills, but then I have not practiced that. Or it's because I am 70 now? :)

Temp was about 48 and breezy at the start.

Nice run MikeL…..

Great job Mike

Solid effort Mr. Lundgren.