Masters Weekend Runs and Races

Boston tapering for me too. Legs not feeling bouncy yet, though. I did just 55 miles this week, a drop of about 50% from preceding weeks. Hope I'm not overtapering :-)

I'm inspired by the great running in London & Rotterdam. Hope Boston will be just as good!

Maurits

Greetings fellow Masters from the soon to be hot San Joaquin Valley,

I managed a good solid 60 miles with one fartlek of 2X 3-2-1 min with 1 min recovery this week. Also put on a singlet and racing flats for the first time in eight years and raced a two-mile on Saturday. I ran a two-mile for fun about a month ago and got bitten by the bug to race again. It has been too long since I last felt that wonderful feeling of "I'm going to puke" just before the gun goes off.

A question for so-cal runners: is the Striders Meet of Champions a decent meet that will have a competitive 3000? How about Vicki's 3000? I just want to get a good idea of how well these two meets are organized and how competitive they are before spending $50-75 just in fuel alone, not county race fees and food before heading south down the 99. Any info would be much appreciated.

Hope everyone has a great week of running and racing.

Mr Ed wrote:

Who has run at Eugene before? I'd love to hear thoughts on the experience. Take care!

AHHHhhhh Eugene...all time personal bests at both 10,000 meters and marathon in Eugene (both set there 28 years ago)..returned in 2006 as a 50 year old to run the mile...nothing like the inspiration of Eugene.

As a venue for spectators i.e. upcoming Oly Trials, nothing compares...as one who has traveled all over the Euro circuit, World Champs, Oly Games etc, the best of the best from a 'fadom' stance is Eugene...was there for the 1980 OTs (and many a meet since) and am so psyched to go back for OTs in just a few weeks time.

In a nutshell, should you have the opportunity to actually compete there at Hayward Field, it is an absolue MUST do! I promise that you will never ever regret it.

MF

Vicki's 3k past results here:

http://www.sbrunning.org/resultsTop.htm

It's a very low-key race. People self-seed into several heats. Entry fee of $8. Feels more like a time trial. The track @ SBCC rocks. Great surface, wide turns, short straightaways, and the beach is across the street.

If you go, hit up the Minnow Cafe across the street at the breakwater for breakfast burritos or Sambo's on Cabrillo Blvd for pancakes afterwards.

Thanks for the info on Vicki's 3K. My favorite part of racing is always breakfast afterwards!

Mike Fanelli,

I'll be in Palo Alto for meetings on May 12-13, and I was thinking of coming out a day early to get a good run in on Sunday the 11th. If there's nothing else going on, I'd be game to join you for a long run.

A few of us are running the Striders Meet of Champions 3000. The meet director indicated she's willing to change the start time to 9:15 AM, and a half-dozen of us so far (with more still deciding) will be there (including two masters from out of state who want to get qualifying times for that OT 3000).

Speaking of the OT 3000, no date or race time has yet been given to Mark Cleary, who heads up these exhibition races for masters.

Shorter Than Frank - great to hear the foot's still feeling good! Amazing that you ran as well at Carlsbad as you did given the training (or rather lack of it) forced upon you by the injury. Looking good for some track races! You should think about the Striders meet too.

Okay, had a tough week, as weeks after races always seem to be. Carlsbad really kicked my butt, and it wasn't until yesterday that I had a decent workout.

Didn't get into the Mt. SAC Relays 5000 (Olympic Development/Open heat) this coming weekend, so that bummed me out. I'm the 9th alternate, which means there'd have to be a pretty big flu bug going around (or American would have to keep canceling flights). Still, I'm training as if I'll somehow get the call. If not, it'll only help for Austin the next week.

Everyone have a great week!

Sarah - great to see you are running again!

Anyone on the master's thread doing the T.R.A.C.K. Live Meet in Las Vegas in May?

SoCal,

Thanks for the SMOC 3000 info. I too was thinking of coming down for that race in hopes of getting a qualifier.

Which airport is best to fly to - LAX or Burbank or Orange County? If the race gets moved to the morning, I'll have to fly down the night prior.

Running for me has steadily improved over the past 6 weeks, after 7+ weeks off. It feels a lot harder coming back after a 2 month layoff than it did just two years ago. My first race of the year will be Zippy's 5k this weekend.

JM

If you're going to stay near the Cerritos track, where the meet is being held, then LAX would probably be your best bet, since you can just hop on the 105 and zip east to the 605, which you head south on for a mile or two (or something in that neighborhood). If you're staying someplace else, well then one of the other airports might work better for you.

And trust me: you WANT this race moved to earlier in the day. By the end of May, noonish in So Cal can be absolutely brutal. If we hit a hot spell, you don't want to be running in 100 degrees under a blazing sun. Even mornings are hot (the last couple days have been a reminder of how god-awful it can get), so the earlier the better is the way to go. Frankly, I wish she'd move the race to 6AM! But I'll settle for anything before 10. ;-)

And FYI, anyone in So Cal (or willing to visit) looking for a good time in a masters 3K should think about this meet. Myself, Danny Martinez, Christian Cushing-Murray, and a few other members of Fluffy Bunny and Team Runners High have already decided to run there, with a number of others also on the list. Should be a wide range of performances between 8:30ish and 10 minutes (and, of course, slower).

For those of us in the Northeast, our best bet looks to be the Boston High Performance series. The schedule is still being arranged, but Kevin Curtin said that they will be running a 3k at the May 18th and June 7th meets, and maybe May 24th.

SoCal Pete wrote:

And FYI, anyone in So Cal (or willing to visit) looking for a good time in a masters 3K should think about this meet. Myself, Danny Martinez, Christian Cushing-Murray, and a few other members of Fluffy Bunny and Team Runners High have already decided to run there, with a number of others also on the list. Should be a wide range of performances between 8:30ish and 10 minutes (and, of course, slower).

Good morning,

Late to the round table this week. Spent most of the day yesterday running a Team Relay (masters) through the trails and woods around Mt Si. Our 5 man team (avg age 48) won by 20 minutes over the youngsters on a most delightful 58 mile jaunt. Of course, followed by exceptional micro-brews and various deli items which made it all the worthwhile!

Unbelieveable High School marks at Arcadia! Very impressive stuff. My son broke the 2 minute barrier Saturday getting his first win in a High School Invite. Dad & Mom were very proud, especially when he got jostled around throughout but kept his head and moved at the right time. It was our first meet above 45 degrees!

I like Hall's chances for a medal at the Olympics. What a competitor.

No place like Eugene to run! Can't wait to see the new remodel.

70 mile week.

Monday 3(4 x 200)

Weds 4 x mile

Sun About 12.5 miles total at 5:20 pace on two trail legs.

Cheers,

tony

Good week of mileage. Spent the first half recovering from half-marathon on the 6th. 16:19 for 3 miles on Thursday which felt relaxed. Saturday very hilly 5K in 18:00. 17 hilly yesterday.

Waiting for a nice strong of warm weather here in the Northwest.

What is the qualifying time for the OT 3000?

A steady 49mi this week while letting some minor tweaks in the legs settle down. I definitely felt better at the end of the week compared to the beginning.

I surprised myself by getting in 41 miles this week.

Congrats to racerdb; he mentioned running a marathon relay in bad conditions, but forgot to say just how well his team did. I was out there jogging along the course, and can attest that the weather was miserable. Since I wasn't racing - just watching the first runners come through and then cheering people on - it turned into a really-pretty-enjoyable 10 miler. There's nothing like looking at the faces and body language of marathoners running INTO the wind with another 7 miles to go, while you're running WITH the wind and are almost home, to make you think, "gee, I'm feeling pretty good after all!"

Do you and your son run intervals together? I'd think you are not bad training partners.

Olddirt wrote:

What is the qualifying time for the OT 3000?

The qualifying time is 9:35. I'm guessing it'll take something faster than that to get one of the 12 spots.

Here's the link:

1500Master,

We could actually help each other at this time (him improving, me slowly falling apart) in our workouts. Running together doesn't happen much when the High School season is in full swing. The only day would be Sunday. That is my long run day and his weekly day off though. Maybe this Summer.

cheers