6 days a week at 60

... and I find speed is an issue as well.

Set more attainable goals.

1:32 will be a tough one.

on my 60th birthday,

i'm going to drink 60 beers

then go for a 60 mile run

it's the only way

Ah quit showin off boy.

Joe,

1:32 sounds absolutely doable, especially with your 1:11 background (does not matter that
it was back in 1994). And your plan with a weekly tempo, hills and long run looks optimal. Perhaps the only thing that might raise a point is 1 year only after the “re-start”. But maybe you are a quick starter.

Writing this because I re-started too at 60, but being rather a mid-distance runner (5K and 10K) was building up slowly and went sub 20/5K in a year and sub 40/10K in two years only. My first attempt on a HM was at 65 (1.5 years ago) and though I felt not good during the last 5K (because of a low mileage training profile) was able to make it to 1:27:20 (had 1:11 in 1982).

So, you definitely have a potential to make it to 1:25 or so. Good luck!

Are you lifting at all?

6 days/ week at 60 is tough. Cross train more.

Agree.

It's probably not bad advice, although at 65 I was doing 6 runs a week and getting ready for World Senior Games had a spell of 12 days in a row, alternating EIM sessions with recovery runs of 3 or 4 miles.

That said, I've been running more or less continuously since I was 15.

Just what I have been doing: ten miles a day, every day (I struggle with depression and running helps). One day a week a hard eight mile tempo. Starting at about an hour or an hour one but ending at high 55 or low 56 eight weeks later. One week taper. The last three years I’ve run 1:29 - 1:30 for the half and I’m 68. Only race once or twice a year and the rest of the year I average eight a day and almost never miss a day. Best of luck on your comeback.

I think this is a challenging goal, but not unreasonable at all. I will turn 68 next month. A couple of years ago I ran 1:34 on a fairly different certified course 13 hours after running the road mile event in 6:03. My youthful PR and a half was only 1:18:30 (full Mary 2:47). Find a group of younger runners to train with. Mix up your sessions with at least one long run one tempo and one hard run. Consistently keep your mileage at between 45 to 60 miles a week if you can handle it. Find the right course on the right day and go for it!

What are your current race times at shorter distances. I will be 60 in several months as well and my 10 mile best is 53 from 1991. But I have been involved in running for over 43 years. How many runs per week have you been doing? How far, pace types of current workouts. I need more information before I can advise a training plan. Good luck

I don't see how 1:11-1:18 guys are still around 1:30-35 at 60. That makes no sense unless they lost weight from their prime.

You might break 1:35, but that should be about it

If "speed is a problem", do some speedwork. It doesn't need to be structured track running, just find some flat ground and try sessions like 12 - 20 x 1 minute on/off; 20 x 30 secs on/off; 6 - 8 x 2 minutes with 90 seconds recovery. Do one of these each week along with your easy runs, tempo etc. and your speed will improve. These speed sessions shouldn't be flat out but at (2 mins) or faster than 5k pace and working on good form and turnover, all recoveries very slow jog (or walk if you prefer).

I coached an athlete who won WMAC 60-65 female 5000 & 8k XC in Goteberg. Two broken thresholds a week plus a long run. 10 miles of thresholds per week. 4 x 200 on occasion at the end of thresholds. Easy mileage in between. Pool day once a week. Cross training when she felt she needed it. She did specific work once a week the last six weeks, but if you’re training for a half, I don’t think you need it. Stick with it and stay consistent. If you were a 71 minute guy no reason you can’t break 90 at 60, unless there’s an underlying health issue.

It can be done sparingly like during a build to a half, and then have periods when you’re running 3-4 days a week.

Agree with a bunch of the advice others have given:

1. Recovery becomes more important with age. Unfortunately that means 3 hard/long efforts in a week may be counterproductive.

2. Cross training becomes more beneficial as you get older, as it allows you to absorb more hard efforts but still recover.

3. Speed (like 400m speed) goes away no matter what, so things like drills and repeat 200s become more valuable.

4. Ditto for power, so lifting/core is important.

Just my two cents. 4:19/9:00 back in the early 80s, but still 4:26 and won a USATF 50k in my 40s and ran pretty good times until 55. Then got an arrhythmia that fäörked me up, which seems pretty common.

Everyone is different, that is for sure but conventional knowledge for distances longer that the 5k is that we are talking about simple training plans. Just put together many miles over a long period of time, then when you can handle it gradually start putting in stuff like intervals, strides, hills, (and tempo although I have no idea what you or anyone else "thinks" that is). Lots of coaches say that you really do not have to do anything real hard at all for these distances and yet almost everyone does that! I think the reason for that is that none of us were chosen to play football-basketball-baseball, and so we think we have no talent and have to be grinders. Actually, there are characteristics that a top distance runner is born with. And no you do not have to be born in East Africa. (If they have an "advantage" it's that they are able to starve their way to championships.)

At 60, 135 is about 118 age graded. You get about a min and 10 secs.

One of the better pieces of masters advice I received is to not do the last rep. The risk reward ratio is very poor. The marginal gains you chase will be more than offset by injury.