50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

rdb, thanks for the shoutout. Good training on your part and good luck for your half training.

Windy, cool day for the half. Course was moderately hilly, but only major hill is in the first 2 miles, and after that it's rolling, then flat for the last 4 miles. Had a lot of turns but it was a fair course, reminded me a bit of Crim 10 mile.

19:20, 38:18, and 58:02 for 5, 10, and 15K. Great to help us win team title and to get above 90% age grade once again.

Impressive. Great running.

Kudos to all you racers, slow and very fast! Wow.

Congrats CM

Not bad for a 64 year old hobby jogger;)

Probably coulda put together a 3 man M65 relay team and give ya a run for the money.

Training change doing a daily mini cp type effort feels really good. For instance last 2 days I did 2x10,2x20 then 30 second sprints on the poweroff treadmill. Really gives me a nice feeling with zero need for recovery so a daily boost.

Cold War, Stagflation and Idiots running the show here is an oldie that gets it right:

Ran more than anything else last week, so I'll throw this up here. Bad knees as usual.

Sunday: 2.5 hour mountain bike ride in the desert.

Monday: 2 mile hilly run in a park.

Tuesday: 1 mile run on a dirt track.

Wednesday: 2 mile run in a hilly park.

Thursday: Five laps of straights-curves on a dirt track, trying for 18 second 100s, and failing.

Friday: Lifted.

Saturday: 3 hour single speed bike ride on a MUP that's pretty flat. Not quite 40 miles, but spinning like mad.

It is all relative 18 used to be relaxed now it would be 400 pace;)

3/21 Week 4 of 8 Grade 8.99.

Two workouts PLUS add daily sprints on poweroff treadmill 2x10,2x20 and 1x30 seconds full rest energizing!

Tuesday zone 3ish about 140 HR but in the SAND 21 minutes 5x on std course with 10 seconds rest left hamstring felt fine whew!

Friday Track neuromuscular and a bit cardio tried out DFs half size smaller perfecto! usually between 9 and 9.5 , the size 9 DFs always felt way to big like I was gonna trip over the tip even replaced the pins with needle pins also landing felt kinda off like too far back. The 8.5s felt way better.
Workout
2x 5x 200 barefoot 100s out and back on grass Rest of 60 seconds most in 23/23 with a couple faster 5 minute jog between sets
5x200 on track in DFs most in 40 with a 41 and a 39 Rest was about 60 seconds except the last one I took an extra minute to rec from tightness not effort.

Relieved that old age has not yet crushed my speed! I was a bit worried but it is just taking longer to adapt to terra firma vs poweroff mill.
Big differences are less impact force and harder push off on the power off mill.

3000 May 7 Goal / Expectations have not really changed . Will be very happy with 11:15 -- 11:45.

My wife's been playing "Hard Rain" a lot lately (Rolling Thunder Review version)...

Hi runners,

Spring is here. Beatiful days. Still cool mornings around freezing point.

Trying to level up to 3 workout days:

Mo 7 miles very easy

Tu 30 min jumps and drills uphill, 6x60m uphill

We 7 miles easy

Th 12 km easy to steady, 6x100m with jog back

Fr 4 miles recovery on dead legs

Sa 5x800m with 400m jog, starting a tad slower than 10k pace and getting a tad faster than 10k pace, 3x200m fast with 5 min walk

Su 90 min recovery pace in hilly area

Have fun, stay/get healthy!

I give you my Sunday best: I miss Spring Training and I was there just last weekend. Running on the desert floor in the morning, standing and chatting while waiting for a brunch table, sitting in the shaded warm dry air at a ballgame, fine dining in the evening. Never in a hurry.
At 63, not a day goes by that I do not forget I have entered that aging zone. Our bodies are complex machines which eventually need minor or major tweaking. And those tweaks are usually out of our control.
Had a very long and productive marital discussion about our Boston trip. She is slowly improving with stamina but not in time for the trip. We’re looking at renting a wheelchair to relieve exhaustion from standing, etc. every decision has unintended consequences.
Did I mention I am running Boston 2022? 🙄 a big deal to me cuz my first Boston back in the early 80’s was over an hour faster than I ran to BQ for this edition. Over two decades passed from my fourth Boston to my 2017 BQ. A dead thyroid will do that.
First week of gentle taper:

M- 80:00 treadmill @ 13:00 pace avg

T- 10M @ 8:40 pace, just above MP, with progression from 10:15 first mile to 8:20 last two miles - nice

W- 65:00 treadmill @ 13:30 pace avg

Th- 80:00 treadmill @ 11:25 pace avg

F- 45:00 treadmill @ 13:35 pace avg

Sat- 19M @ 10:03 pace avg: 10:31 pace out; 9:32 pace back into an ugly north wind

Of course, I also take up my time with pondering full retirement. We shall see.

enjoy the week

Btw: should we start upvoting each other? Sounds somewhat ridicilous. On the other ha d feedback is considered valuable?

M62, 5'11", 179 lbs
Age 23: 16:05, 2:40:30
Age 43: 17:10, 2:56:03
Age 58: 18:58, 3:07:23

Weeks to Half Marathon: 6
Weeks to Marathon: 9

MARCH 21-27, 2022
M - Off
Tu- 4.0 miles (9:11, 8:57, 8:16, 7:37)
W - Off
Th- 18.0 miles @ 8:28/mi avg
Fr - Off
Sa - Off
Su - 5.0 miles (10:30, 10:43, 10:53, 9:55, 8:02)
TOTAL: 27.0 MILES

Starting 20 hours before Thursday's long run, I took three doses of ibuprofen to reduce pain and inflammation. That made a huge difference, so I got a better gauge of my fitness. Very happy with the 8:28 pace.

The 18 miles were fairly even paced, but I pushed the 11th mile at goal marathon pace (8-flat). Well, it's not likely that will be actual MP ...

Run well!

good luck in Boston. Sounds as if your training is coming along well.

ok week for me, still nursing hamstring strain along, so almost all slow:

M 1:00

Tu 1:15 with drills and strides

W 1:00 + 1:00 x-t

Th 2:10

F 1:20

Sa 1:05 + 1:00 x-t

Su 1:20 with 20:00 at marathon pace + course marshal for a race in which ZERO runners got lost

have a great week,

Dave

Dear Allen,

I do not want to be impolite. However, want to be clear as well. Taking pain drugs for running is a spiral down to worse. We are old slow hobby joggers! Please overthink.

BR Newbi

I seem to still be on the recovery roller coaster from my mid-Feb virus. I ran well last weekend, but then have felt slow and tired all this week. Next Sunday is the Masters 10mi road championship in Sacramento. I have thrown out all expectations and really don't have any idea of what kind of pace I'll be able to run. There is a really strong field for the 70-74 age group, and I think it would have been challenging to make the podium at my fittest, and I am far from my best fitness right now. I can't get fitter before next Sunday but I can get more rested. So it's going to be a few easy runs and strides this week and cross my fingers. Hopefully, the competition will pull me along to a good effort and I'll get some idea of where my fitness really is now.

Good health and good running to all!

One of my running friends was a habitual over the counter pain medicine user and ended up with a several day hospital visit.

Thanks for the word of caution. Indeed, I have been reluctant and judicious with the ibuprofen.

I have decided to risk relying on it once a week for ten weeks in order to run the upcoming marathon with my son. I have no competitive goals beyond May 29.

Greetings!

Uneasy time for me here. A week ago, a pain started shooting from the lower back region down the left leg through the knee and further down. I thought it was smth like “hernia
nuclei pulposi”. Visited a doc twice, a week ago and today. Today he said that it was likely a hip arthrosis, at least ruled out spine and tendons. So, I have to figure out now what exercises are the best for me to help alleviate the problem. I am already taking pills with glucosamine + chondroitin so this support is already in place.
This problem does not prevent me from easy runs, 8 min/mi every second day is not a problem (2 days per week was skiing with no problems at all at any speed). But quality
stuff like 5x1k faster than 4:00/km or 40-45 min @LT pace or 20-25 min @CV pace will result in pain and long recovery, which is unacceptable. Also, the ski season will be over the upcoming week, so I think I will use an elliptical trainer instead (which appears a poor replacement).
Feel upset because this winter season was good in terms of mileage. Some 25+% percent increase vs the previous winter. 700+ miles on skis. Thought that I could translate this aerobic capability into good time @10k if some quality speed work is added in April-May. Now all this is in question…

As for the week:
Mon: 7 miles, 5x1k
(2’ jog in between) 4:03 average. Leg was limiting, cardiovascular system felt/worked perfect.
Tue: easy recovery run 4 miles
Wed: 71 min skiing, moderate, no hard segments
Thu: 5 miles easy run (7:55 – 8:05/mi)
Fri: 6 miles easy, mostly 7:55 – 8:05/mi and in the end only ran 1.5 km at 6:42
Sat: 72 min skiing, 6-7 time hard from 2.5-3 min (shallow) uphill
Sun: 55 min elliptical

Happy and injury free running to all!

"Without struggle, there can be no progress."

-Frederick Douglass

Seems a fine notion for this thread.

I too took two steps forward, one step back this week.

30 miles including a solid 8 mile progression run and a track session of 4 x 100 + 8 x 200. Within said workout I hit seasonal bests a both distances.

However, 'agressive' stretching on Friday left me crippled on Saturday and today.

You'd think, that as I have not been a stretcher almost ever these past 50+ years, that I'd know better. 113,827 lifetime miles and still make knuckleheaded mistakes apparently.

Taking a couple of days to get fat and (hopefully) happy with easy treadmill jogging...and then back at it again when the body gives me the green light to do so...and not a second sooner.

Hoping all of your 'owies' dissipate this week and that the stopwatch works in your favor.

Your pal,

MF

M. 43 min kayaking with a couple of hard kms.

T. 25 km mtb in 70 mins.

W. The steep singletrack session from previous weeks. 4 x 300m 18% gradient, 4 x 110/115m 25% gradient plus another 100 m effort at 27% gradient. All up 5.4 km in 1 hr. 520 ish metres elevation gain. Plus 10 min ellipticaland 10 min row.

T. 25 km mtb in 73 mins.

F. 43 mins bouncing around in the kayak on a lumpy lake.

S. 2 h 14 m 38 km mtb ride.

S. 15 km run. 90 mins. 2.5 km downhill jog, 7.5 km climb up steady gradient (270 m elevation gain) then 5 km easy downhill run.