50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Hi Mango,

Sorry for your situation. Deep fatigue is no fun. Can be a serious problem. You know of course. For me as a hobby-runner (never reaching your volume and intensity distribution) your description sounds what I call in my simple hobby runner thinking as deep energy depletion. Light energy depletion may be good as the result of wanted (and controlled) uncomplete recovery during endurance basis training. Nevertheless, for a lactate test during this base phase one should rest enough to fill up the glycogen stores because otherwise lactate is not going up and you cannot bring your heart rate up to fast paces at the end of the test. The test will produce a wrong and too short curve if not rested. The blog described well to keep training super easy and rest for one week or longer, then.

Hopefully, you are not ill. Hopefully, you have not trained too much with too high intensity and destroyed your aerobic capabilities. You may see it after doing the very, very easy stuff with some light, short strides. If the snappy feeling in the legs will not come back after a week or so, then I would not be suprised a long recovery phase with walking, hiking etc. is helpful and a new buildup of thr aerobic base may be necessary. What do you think?

Best wishes, please keep posting.

Owain Lewes wrote:

Yeah. Saw Milrose on Youtube. What a kick taking down that Nike Duo. Wonder what he closed that last 100 in.

Had my first prostate check 10 days ago. No sign of cancer but the specialist reckoned it was a bit too enlarged be ignored so he prescribed me 2 months supply of pills (18 a day) to bring it down. No real side effects however the medication is leaving me a bit flat so just been resting up. Give it a couple more days before I start running again.

Anyway hope your other half is good. She sounds pretty tough

Keep up the good training

I am curious to know what pills you were prescribed for the enlarged prostate?

BigMango wrote:

@Robert E . Lee, Serious question - can a meniscus tear get better on its own? I have been dealing with something funky for about 2 years now that migrates around my knee but mostly felt around a tendon that attaches to the back of the knee. I know when I messed it up while experimenting with a loose running gait during repeats at an end of a run. Last time I experimented with this type of gait.

Tears to some parts of the meniscus can sometimes heal themselves.

This is sort of lame, but bear with me.

When I first started posting on these boards back in 2016, I came across this thread and thought it an interesting place within the forum. At 44, I was running well as a masters runner and assumed that I would continue running consistently and competitively long enough to eventually become a contributing member to this thread.

Fast forward a couple of more years of hard training and hard racing, all while not doing all of the little things like prehab and rehab exercises, and pushing my limits throughout that training, and by my last real race in 2018, I was physically and emotionally done and needed some down time.

Unfortunately, I didn't really stage much of a comeback beyond one stretch in the summer of 2020 that ended after some of the same nagging injuries resurfaced (because I never addressed the underlying causes).

But, I turned 50 last month, so I went out and ran 1 mile at the end of my morning walk today. While I don't have any present intention of getting back to serious training (walking most mornings doesn't scratch all of the itches that running does, but it scratches a lot of them), I did feel compelled to get at least one run in during my 50s so that I could justify one post in this 50 plus training thread as I had long aspired to.

Owain Lewes wrote:

Showing a nice bit of speed. Any plans to race indoors? Also what times are you hoping to run on the track in the Summer as we both seem to be very similar standard.

Greetings Owain Lewes,

You asked so here it goes:

I am planning either a mile indoors at Fort Wayne USATF regional meet on March 12th or the local track club has in the past held a low key mini track meet (like five events) in mid March. No idea if that is going to happen this year (just happy to have an indoors facility for a couple of months to train, but a race only mile warm-up and cool down from my home would be a bonus).

Outdoors?

-Hoping the Clawson (Michigan) Fourth of July road mile is back on. They had over 1,000 runners a couple years ago. Straight, flat, and fast.

-Then couple of super low key all comers meets with 800s and mile events on Wednesday evenings in Dearborn (will use them as hard workouts like last year with zero taper)

-The USATF nationals in July 23-25 in Lexington, Kentucky.

-After that? There are two local road mile races I have run the past few years, both in early September. But will be mixing in some 5 &10ks I hope to keep it interesting.

And how about your plans?

^^^^^^ Oh and answer your question...

2022 65 y/o goals? Looking to hit sub 6:00 (hopefully sub 5:55) for the mile and sub 5:35 (maybe 5:30) for the 1,500.

Both would put me in the 80% WMA AG percentile and according to the charts slightly exceeding my age graded youthful performance in the mile of 4:43 (where I was "DFL" at International Police Games in the 1982 haha! Top six runner from U.A.E. U.K. Australia, and New Zealand were all under 4:15 - I still contend there is no way in heck those guys were pulling 40 hour shift work with overtime. Upside was I ran the half marathon the next morning and took third.

Hey Smoove, hope you get back at it. You were one of the great masters to post on LRC. Hopefully you can weave in some cross training to replicate an easy run day and return to greatness in your 50s.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Hey Smoove, hope you get back at it. You were one of the great masters to post on LRC. Hopefully you can weave in some cross training to replicate an easy run day and return to greatness in your 50s.

Igy

Ditto Smoove Rock the OFW Old Fart World

Here is my latest OFT Old Fart Trick

Power Off 12 percent grade 4x30 seconds HARD R 4 minutes low impact way to build OMS Old Man Strength

Charlie,

How often would you recommend that routine? Also, what approximate mph? Where would you place that routine in a training microcycle (week or other)?

I like the idea, and I have seen your success. Just ruminating, where would I place that in a training week?

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Charlie,

How often would you recommend that routine? Also, what approximate mph? Where would you place that routine in a training microcycle (week or other)?

I like the idea, and I have seen your success. Just ruminating, where would I place that in a training week?

Igy

speed in terms of effort acceleration over the 30 seconds from 1500 to 800 to 400 to 200 without losing form then complete rest. The goal is Maximize neuromuscular and Minimize metabolic stress. If I do not feel great after doing these I went too long or did not take a long enough rest between em.

Once a week to achieve max benefit . Even though I do not consider this a speed day I take a couple of easy days afterwards.

Note

The power off is critical. Notice I hold the hand rails to modulate landing force.

When power is off the steeper the incline the EZR it is to push the belt.

Longer runs with same setup.

Key is stronger running specific muscles with less impact damage.

Thanks Charlie. I believe it can be a great edition. I plan to give it a try while I am in a flexible mode.

Igy

Smoove wrote:I did feel compelled to get at least one run in during my 50s so that I could justify one post in this 50 plus training thread as I had long aspired to.

Happy belated birthday! Welcome to 50+ club. Like you, despite best intentions, for decades I've neglected the "prehab" and "rehab" aspects of training. Maybe this year?!

Have you considered maybe just three runs per week? If you're walking, you've already made the time commitment. (I hate walking, so for me, it's run, bike or nothing).

Help keep me motivated by posting your "training" each week, including walking and cross-training. As a 2:30 Masters marathoner, you were obviously way beyond me, but your training insights and race results were invaluable and inspirational during my late-50s "comeback."

Hi Smoove,

welcome. Hope this thread is always welcoming posts from former runners, pausing runners and injured runners. Not to forget the future runners. While you had performing great in 2016 I was raising my last toddler and did a bit on my job. Time to run comes, time to do differently comes too. However, being totally free to run whatever I like is a great joy. Did moved away from conventional performance thinking 14 years ago. Now, it is about running and myself. Hilarious hobby before dawn.

Take care

Hi Charlie, saw your vid as #3 ;)

Did some uphill running today as well. It was a mud fest, Would love to have a treadmill. Tommorow, weather will probably too ugly for running outside. Damn, it is as it is. Orient has snow all the time. Greetings in this direction. Happy skiing.

welcome and belated happy birthday! sorry you've been dealing with injuries. Hope you'll continue to post -- your stuff is always insightful.

Not Done Just Yet wrote:

-After that? There are two local road mile races I have run the past few years, both in early September.

Can you give me info on these road miles? I believe you're in Southern Michigan, right? There's none close to me here in Northern Indiana.

Dave

KPdx wrote:

I'm registered for Miramar.

And, I see the 1500 is on Tuesday, May 17. I thought the meet ended on the 16th.

Smoove wrote:

This is sort of lame, but bear with me.

Not lame at all! Welcome to the devolution of the Masters Runner. All of of those fast times are just part of our resume now. I've been on these Letsrun message boards from the beginning. During that time my easy days from 15 years ago are now tempo runs today. Tempo runs from 15 years ago are times I can't hit in races today. Race pace for 5k 10 years ago is pace I can barely hit in the shortest of sprints. It happens to the best of us.

Welcome to the 50s. Just wait until you hit 60!!!!

Dave

Smoove’s first installment reminds me that I lost out on steady running in my 40’s in playing masters baseball and building my career and lost my 50’s running progress to a bad thyroid and peaking my career. Then I reached 58 years old, found the correct medicinal fix for the thyroid and walked away from the career, doing work I wanted and running as I chose. I chose wisely, slow and steady. Go Smoove.

M- third day of hanging out in the ER with my wife. Post-op sucks.

T- 10M: 6(800uphill; 1:00 rest; 800down; 1:00 rest) - stress will exhaust me, clearly. Another night at the hospital.

W- 60:00 treadmill. Another night at the hospital.

Th- 10M treadmill: last 2M @ MP. Another hospital night.

F- 60:00 treadmill. She was discharged!

Sat- 15M on the treadmill while she slept. Remember, for better or worse. And she’s worth my caretaking expertise.

70 days to Boston.

Enjoy the week. We will.