50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Hi

My first visit here:-)

I have a goal of running a sub 20 5k next year. The last 2 years I have been running 10-20 km a week. No intervals and no runs longer than 10 km. My current fitness is ok. I think I am cable of running a 5k in ca 22 minutes. I am running 3 times a week and doing weightlifting 3 times a week.

Any inputs on how to proceed my training to reach my goal will be much appreciated

It is really inspiring to see so many in their 50,60, 70s still training hard👍

About me

Male

50 years

Living in Denmark with my wife and 2 kids

Other hobbies: traveling, saltwater aquarium, guitar playing, soccer and Motorsports

Best regards

Christian

Hi Christian,

Welcome :)

Hello Christian,

For a well-fit 50 y.o. man reaching sub 20 @5k should not be a difficult task. And no complex training and planning is needed. However, it will likely require adding 4th (and maybe 5th) day with running per week.

Just double your weekly mileage (to 40 km) and add, as minimum, either one interval or one "tempo" workout per week and the result will come. Be careful while increasing the mileage, though. Not more than by 10% per week, better even less.

Good luck!

P.S. I run c.a. 50 km/week on average and at 63 is yet under 19/5k. And some older gentlemen here demonstrate much more impressive results.

Welcome DanishRunner and best of luck with the 5k. As Orient stated, probably nothing special is needed other than adding some volume with one interval workout or my favorite that originated in your neck of the wood, the fartlek. What is your height and weight? I can drop a minute off my 5k just by dropping 5 lbs.

Welcome Christian Good luck with your sub 20 5 km. You've definitely come to the right forum for advice. And I reckon one of the friendliest forums around with so much encouragement and advice

Runners,

The week of the M50 was:

Mo 7 miles easy

Tu 30 min jumps and drills uphill, 6x60m uphill, 2x150m uphill

We 7 miles easy, 8x30s/30s

Th 1.5 miles steady, weak legs, shut down to finish 6 miles in recovery pace

Fr 4 miles easy, 5x100m buildups with jog back

Sa 8x400m with 200m jog in 85s/85s, 400m walk, 200 m in 30.2s

Su 80 min very easy in fizzling rain

The 30s/30s had been so much fun that I finished with HR200 measured with the finger at the throat. Next day, I was not recovered for my steady run. Hope to do better next week.

BR

Registered for a marathon and have 3 weeks of redline training to get ready. All upcoming marathons this month and early next month have been canceled and was surprised to see this one open for registration. Haven't run anything further than 3 miles at marathon pace in a year and my mileage is at about 35 miles per week. Going to get that up to 60 in three weeks and throw in a ton of cross training. 2:45 won the 50 AG last year (2 week later I would be 55 ag) which is what I would expect if prepared but can only hope others are also less fit because of not racing the last year.

Upped the miles this week to 48 with about another 4-5 hours walking and running at 20% incline. Added some intense interval sessions on the treadmill. 12kph at 20% looks a lot faster than 12kph at 0%.

Not really tracking my running nor sticking to a strict schedule. I usually double or on the treadmill or road runs. If I'm feeling fresh ( 3 days the past week) I'll run usually a fartlek with 1-2 miles sub 5:30/mi and 2-3 miles at around marathon pace. On a the day I do run hard, I add a tough treadmill 20% incline session of 1 minute to 30 secs at 2k effort with equal rest. Usually get in about 12-15 minutes of hard efforts.

Going to add a long run in this week of 10 miles and most at marathon pace. Try to get that close to 15 miles in 3 weeks. 80% chance of failure but it won't be from lack of trying. If I don't get injured, it will be a miracle.

Christian, good to have you here. I would recommend reading Jack Daniels, Running Formula. Any edition will do. It will give you a good backbone for writing your training schedule, and the metrics you should use for increasing volume and intensity. Best wishes on the adventure.

Morning have turned cold here. Today we woke to a thick layer of frost on the ground. We lit our first fire yesterday evening. More for ambiance, but it did bring a nice warmth to the family room.

Running took a stumble early last week. I suppose some of my household chores irritated my hip. I missed a couple days of running training, and needed to taper the swimming and spin biking. It felt good enough by Saturday to support a friend that hosted a turkey trot fund raiser for a youth track club. The course was loops over an uneven athletic fields. Slight breeze out of the north with temperatures around freezing. Probably not the best idea with an inflamed hip. I ran the 4 kilometer course as a tempo run, and managed 9:26/mile. Felt no worse after the race. Spent the rest of the day getting my Christmas lights up.

Have a good week.

Igy

148 days to Boston. I got in on my July 2021 marathon time.

Same day I spent time with my endocrinologist about my peaks/valleys in my blood sugar readings (I'm type 2, diagnosed when i was 47) and my general practitioner for why I fell off my pacing (since August 202, my training pace has slowed by two minutes per mile and my race pace is pedestrian, at best).

Anyway, second week post-race recovery:

M - 8M (last 2 miles picked up to under 10:00 pace)

T - 5M recovery run, pace 1:00 per mile faster than last week

W - 7M hilly run into a mighty November wind (last 3km at 9:20 pace)

T - work got in the way

F - 5.5M progressive push of pace on a sub-freezing morning

S - 10M solo: steady progression from 11:00 down to 9:45 on a hilly loop on a very quiet morning

Enjoy the week ahead

Tons of good basic programs out there Probably a 5k TT to just see where you are at;)

Continued recovery phase includes pre hab while keeping my endurance and top end speed transitioning to endurance in January if all goes well.

Another very solid week here in comeback # 347...or is it #348?

30 miles for the with an intense 8 mile anaerobic threshold run and my first time trial (2 miles) in forever. Even 4 out of the 5 days that were active recovery sessions felt dangerously good.

As the track nor the stopwatch do not lie, said time trial was done at zero dark thirty on the local high school oval.

I honestly did not know if I could break 8:00 pace at this early post-surgical stage of trying to round back into competitive condition while having edged closer in age to 66 than 65.

As I looked at splits every 200 meters, I was surprised / pleased to see that I was ahead of goal pace right from the start, and never faltered...7:43, 7:38 for 15:21.61. I'll take it.

Next up is a Thanksgiving Day rust buster 5K...first race in 2 years...something to really gobble about ;}

Sending positive vibes to everyone in pursuit of your fitness and racing goals...I look forward to your always inspiring results. Happy Thanksgiving.

your pal,

MF

DanishRunner, welcome! I’m sure you’ll get lots of useful advice from this site (though not from me!) and we’ll cheer you on. Where are you in Denmark? I visited Copenhagen once, many years ago. It was dark and cold and misty-rainy the whole time. I attended my first ever spin class at a gym there and got a great workout from a very tough-looking woman instructor yelling at us in Danish (which I don’t know a word of) the whole time.

BigMango, best of luck on the upcoming marathon. Better to go in undertrained than to get injured trying…

MikeF, you are coming back very well. Best wishes on your 5K!

Like Igy, I had a significant setback this week due to a sore hip. I really hope it’s not the RA coming back into my hips. I quit taking my RA drug (methotrexate) at the end of August and until now my symptoms have been no worse, but perhaps it’s now catching up to me. I aborted one run and took three other days completely off, and ended up with a sorry 12 miles of jogging for the week. Plus 4.5 hours on the bike trainer and 85 miles on the outdoor bike so far, with a planned ride for later in the day, and six days of gym work.

I ponied up my $35 for the first month of the Dystonia Recovery Program and am starting to work through the exercise videos. Will reserve judgment until I’ve done a week’s worth.

Wishing everyone happy and healthy running and a great Thanksgiving.

Christian, another welcome to the thread. AMK, your persistence in continuing to find the training that you can do and to chase answers to your current running issues is inspirational. Continuing to show up and put in the effort when things aren't going well is never easy. I am very interested in getting your evaluation of the Dystonia Recovery Program as you progress through it.

My 10 miler this morning was my "the hay is in the barn" final workout before Club XC in 3 weeks. Now it will be just recovery, maintenance and a very small bit of speed for sharpening until the race. I am currently using the upcoming race as an excellent excuse for avoiding any sort of strenuous yard or handyman work around the house. I may start claiming I am in final race prep mode more frequently.

43 miles for the week -

M- 4mi walk

T- 7mi easy run

W- 8mi walk

Th- rest

F- 6mi walk

S- 6mi trails with my son at moderate effort 8:12/mi

Su- 10mi trails easy run 10:12/mi

Good running and happy Thanksgiving to all!

congrats on the time trial! well done.

fun week for me tapering toward marathon next saturday 11/27

M 1:00

Tu 1:25 with 2 X 10:00 (3:00 jog) at half-marathon pace (passed 1.5 miles in 9:49/9:42)

W 1:20 double

Th 2:00 double

F 1:25 with drills & strides

Sa 1:05

Su 1:10 with 3 miles at marathon pace (21:00)

Using various algorithms (2 X half-marathon time + 10; online calculator equivalencies of recent races; PR + 1 minute per mile [good formula for me at most distances these days]; recent marathon times by people I have been finishing close to in races this year........) I can justify anywhere from 3:03 to 3:10 as a goal/prediction. I think I'll try to start at 7:10/mile (around 3:08 pace) and then adjust by feel and by weather (esp. wind).

Any finishing time would be an improvement, since the one prior time I ran this race (NCR trail marathon in Sparks, MD) I DNF'ed t 15 miles with hamstring issue.

happy Thanksgiving,

Dave

Greetings, fellow 50+ers! And a very Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating. 🦃

As I alluded to last week, I took an extra day off this week for a pair of medical appointments. The good news is no additional cancer was found and I am now boostered. The bad news is my weekly mileage took a hit. That’s a price I am more than willing to pay in exchange for good health.

So you can put me down for about 17 miles of actual running. That does include a “long” run, a nice tempo run, and a touch of “speed”. The mornings have been frosty, but the lows have been only slightly below freezing so I’m still repping the shorts and peeling the gloves off mid run.

The coming week brings some challenges with some unfavorable weather forecast for tomorrow and some special guests arriving later today for the holiday week. I may find myself preferring some time with the grandkids to going out for a solo run. 🥰 But I’m sure to consume some extra calories this week, so I am really going to need to burn some too. I’ll just have to stay disciplined.

Sun: off

Mon: 66’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Tue: off

Wed: off

Thu: 55’ running (2); 16 oz curls

Fri: off

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

Good luck to all competing in a Turkey Trot.

“I am currently using the upcoming race as an excellent excuse for avoiding any sort of strenuous yard or handyman work around the house. I may start claiming I am in final race prep mode more frequently.”

Funnily enough the injury was not the result of a more strenuous activity. Our decade old Oreck vacuum had a bad roller, the company was bought out by a Chinese firm intent on producing built-in obsolescence. As a result parts are no longer available for this formerly reliable model. Anyway, while we were researching, then awaiting the new tool to arrive, we substituted with the broken down Oreck. Net result was both the wife and I jacked-up right side of our bodies. Running feels like I have a round and a square wheel. It ain’t getting easier folks.

Best wishes on the health challenge.

Greetings!

Big Mango: switching from 35 mpw to 60 in 3 weeks sounds like a challenge, be careful. And don’t forget to have a good tampering before your marathon. Better be undertrained than over trained.

Igy: the weather in my part of the planet is somewhat similar to yours now: temperature is dancing around the freezing point and meteo have difficulties to forecast. E.g., they predicted a massive snow fall this weekend with about 5-6 inches of snow to arrive (thus I started looking at my skis with a hope), but in reality it was a mix of rain/snow and nothing will remain on the ground tomorrow.

Amkelley: sorry about your sore hip and some setback in training. Hope it has nothing to do with the trouble you are fighting against.

My week was again a low profile one. Mainly because of a very busy time at work. The project I am managing is approaching one of its major milestones, while some subcos seem to fail to deliver their s/w components with the required quality. Thus, am working on a “plan B”, which will be a pain anyway (because in reality there is no plan B  Therefore, only 4 days with running, but I tried not to skip a tempo work.

Mon, Wed and Fri – off

Tue – 60’ elliptical during the lunch time. Then 4 miles running in the evening with a 2 km tempo work on an asphalt road @4:15/km pace.

Thu – 6 miles on road with 3x1.5 km (2’ jog in between) in the middle. The pace, by feel, was far from regular intervals. Times were 6:17, 6:09 and 6:06. Bpm in the end was adequate to LT (144 and then 108 in 1 min).

Sat: 45 min elliptical

Sun: 8 miles in the forest. After a warm-up, a short loop (5+ min) @10k effort to check whether the course was “runnable” as it was a mix of mud and snow everywhere. It was, and then tried a 5 km tempo. Started with a 15K pace (LT), but two last kms ran faster, at about 10K pace. The total time was 21:50 with a half-way split at 11:05 and then the second half at 10:45. Think it’s not bad on a muddy and slippery trail.

Happy and injury-free run to all!

Thx for the nice welcome

AMkelly: I live in northern part of Denmark, but my wife’s parents live in Copenhagen, so I know the city quite well.

Ghost: I will order JD running formula.

I think I will start doing some easy interval soon, just to get the body ready for some higher intensity.

Again, thx for the comments

/Christian