50+ Weekly Training Thread

2:14:21 .02', no big whoop . Age 49.

Sun, 11/22: 10 miles. First five @ 7:00/mile pace, last five @ 6:30/mile pace. Joined my usual Sunday group for the last ten of their final 20-miler for the Cal Int'l Marathon.

Mon, 11/23: usual OFF day.

Tue, 11/24: one hour easy run around the woodchip trails on the Nike World HQ campus. Maybe 7.5 miles?

Wed, 11/25: 6 miles with first two easy, last four at tempo pace of 6:15/mile.

Thu, 11/26: 8.8 miles easy around Lacamas Lake. One lonely, very wet run!

Fri, 11/27: cross-trained for one hour. 30 mins. intervals on LifeCycle followed by 5k on rowing machine in 21:04.

Sat, 11/28: 6.5 miles easy (untimed) on Lacamas Heritage trail

Weekly total = ~40 miles. Weight work Mon. & Wed.

Marathons: I've run 15 marathons in my 29-year "career" as a runner. First one was in 1981 at the Chicago Marathon. I started waaay in the back and slowly worked my way through the field a bit to finish in 3:25. In 1982, I ran five marathons, including two a week apart. Broke 3:00 for the first time that year.

I've run Chicago 2x, the Lake County marathon, Third Olympiad in STL, Detroit Free Press, Twin Cities, Royal Victoria, Boston 4x, NYC 2x, CIM 2x (incl. my Masters PR of 2:43 there in 1999). My lifetime PR is 2:41.

My 50+ PR is 3:00:30 run at the 2008 Boston Marathon.

do re me wrote:

2:14:21 .02', no big whoop . Age 49.

Am calling BS

Look here (page 14) for the fastest Americans of 2002

I see no one named do re me, do you?

First marathon: Leatherneck Marathon, Tustin CA, 1981. 3:25. It was also my first race. Never did a 5K or 10K prior to the race. Age: 28. Had a cig in the parking lot before the race, and after the race.

Best marathon: Napa Valley Marathon, Napa CA, 1985 or 86, I forgot. Time: 2:43:10. Perfect race, perfect conditions.

Worst marathon: California International, Sacto, CA, 1989 or so, I forgot again. DNF-ed at mile 14. Was in the best shape of my life, but tweaked a hammie doing a 2 x 1 mile speed check the Wed. before the race.

Best marathon over 50: Cal International, 2005?, Age 50 or 51, Time: 2:58.

Progression: 3:25 to 3:08 (Tiger Newport Beach), to 2:54 (Tiger N.B.), to 2:50:29 at CIM. Failed to qualify for Boston (2:49:59 was BQ) by 30 seconds. Refused to appeal. Couldn't break 2:50 in the next 3 years. Finally broke through with a 2:48, after BQ was eased to 2:59:59. Then small increments to 2:43.

Just random miles this week including a Turkey Trot 5k.

First Marathon was the Dallas White Rock Marathon in 1977.

I ran 3:25:44 when I was 18.

Best Marathon: 1981 Lake County Heart Marathon in Illinois.

I ran 2:48:36. It was my eighth marathon trying to get under that 2:50 barrier for Boston. No Zip Zip I feel your pain, I missed it by 7 seconds in 1980 with a 2:50:07.

I have done about 50 marathons, although I don't think I ever trained specifically for one. Sort of like last month when I jumped into two marathons. Those were my only 50 year old marathons, so my 50+ PR is 3:22:44.

BHRR1 you'll be going under 3:00 in your next race! BS was brutal weather this year and you are still getting faster!

Jeez, I feel like a slacker. My first marathon? That would be my next one, should it ever happen. Have run a few HM's but am more of a 5K type with the occasional 10K.

36 miles for the week, cutting today down to 4 due to cumulative fatigue. Did a set of half mile intervals Monday, easy Tuesday, and celebrated my 62nd Wed. with 6.2 miles (62 miles, 62K or 62 laps too much - 1K/.62 mi. too little - 6.2 mi. squeezed into an eleven hours stressed out work day = just right). Thursday, got up early to go over to my mother's place and throw the turkey in the oven before setting out for an hour run through the old neighborhood. You know how everything seems smaller when you revisit places from your childhood? Well, it doesn't apply to the hills.

Monday;10K, 62 mins

Tuesday;7.5 miles, 63 mins.

Weds.40 mins. on catskis

Thurs.TT 5 Mile, 34:12 in Red Green attire

Fri. annual physical inc. EKG stress test. 15 min on tread mill

Saturday;10K loop.52 mins.

The Marathon: A Love-Hate Relationship

1972. Paavo Nurmi. 3:39. Hot day, total meltdown at 22miles.

1977.Grandma's. 2:46 ? What was so hard about that.???

1978.Green Bay 2:39.

1979.Boston.2:36. Man, those streets were memorably hard.Sore! for weeks.

1980.Boston.2:32. GrandMa's2:29. Detroit Free Press 2:27:20

1981. Grandma's 2:26:00(PR) Two weeks later ran a hot day 2:35 @ Rockford ILL. This was patently stupid and put me out of commission until October(3 months off)

1982-83 Hit a plateau at 2:32's a couple times.ran Pike's Peak in Aug'83 4:19XX ( I think). Retired for 19years. Marriage, work, children.

2004 Paavo Nurmi(again)4:29. ouch.

2006 Whistlestop 3:10 (50+PR)

2007 NYCM 3:20

2008 Chicago 3:58

2009 Chicago 3:38

Total 57 marathons, 3@ 50 Milers

It's been my dream to run sub 3 as a 50YO, but I'm starting to think a dream is all it may ever be.

The Marathon has offered the opportunity to laugh like an unbridled child. It's also made me question my sanity, along with the tears of self doubt and utter disgust.

Never, has it been boring.

26 miles this week on 45 runs. Also added 2 walks of 45 mins. Finally feeling good training after catching some bug the end of Oct. Takes a long time to bounce back from illness or injury at 50 as I'm sure you guys know.

I've never run the mileage needed for a good marathon. Ran my first one a year after college in '82. Was on 2:55 pace but walked in the last 4 miles to finish in 3:14.

3:10 in 1983.

2:59:55 in 1985.

2:58 in 1988.

3:10 in 1995.

3:06 in 1996

4:00 in 2008

28 miles in 4 runs.

Sun- 5 ez

Tues- 5 ez

Thur- 9 incl 6 short hill sprints, most of the run was easier pace with our local club.

Sat- 9 miles with 4 in 26:15 and then 4 more in 25:50. This was done running with a guy who was doing 10 on an out and back course. My recovery (a mile slow jog) was while he continued from the 4 mi mark to the turn around and back to the 6 mi mark, where I started the second one.

No marathons, but I do run with guys that are usually training for them. No Zip (one of the posters here)has a number of younger guys that he runs with/coaches and they are doing a lot of something every Tues, Thurs, and Sat, so I usually have someone to do my harder runs with whenever I want to run hard, though I usually end up doing just part of their workout. They run 15 to 25 miles on about every Sun as well, and I've never joined them for that one. This group is known locally as the "Hampsters". Years ago when I asked Why, I was told that hampsters do the same thing over and over...and over.

Healthy running to all!

I used the Thanksgiving day holiday to up the mileage a bit to 42 as well as to give me some leverage against the holiday feasting.

7 with 3 moderate effort long hills

4 easy

4 easy

4 easy

8 mostly easy with a few faster miles

7 4 easy and 3 moderate effort miles

8 on trails and grass

I don't have good records of all the marathons I ran, but they were mostly my last year of college running and the first five or so years after graduation. Here are the ones I have times for

Penn Relays 1977 2:28:16

Boston 1979 2:34:41

Johnstown, PA 1979 2:26:21 (PR)

Boston 1980 2:31:25

Marine Corps 1981 2:42:03

New York 1982 2:34:39

I know I also ran the Champlain Valley Marathon and the Charlotte Observer Marathon somewhere in there but I don't have the times. I also suspect were one or two others that I can't recall. By 1983 family and work precluded any more marathons. At present, I'm happy with 30-40 miles per week and racing 5K, so there will be no over 50 marathon times for me. Maybe when I turn 60 though...

The 16 hours of walking was 4 less than planned.

A cold and rainy turkey day resulted in a goose egg.

Legs feel springy.

RACED a 5 year old half a block.He won but I was closing.

Never finished a Marathon.Made a half hearted effort to run the 98 or was it 99 Motorola in Austin.Dropped out halfway which was just across the river from the finish.

A nothing-to-write-home-about week except for a flare-up of a pain in the left Achilles tendon on Thanksgiving morning. 30 minutes today at the Rockies, but ran out of gas.

Marathons: Only 2 (plus DNF in a scorching 1984 NYC):

1983 NY: 2:29:13.

2006 NY: 2:48:10 (at 50, 3rd AG).

Also, I just posted a thread on the crowdedness of marathons. If you've done one recently, why not chime in?

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3322030

410 minutes for the week

6x2 miles tempo, 800 easy between today - total 16 miles

3:30 Dayton Ohio, 1982 I think, was the First one.

3:03 1983 Cleveland which put me hundreds back from the front. That time would put you in the top few dozen today.

3:09 Columbus. Went out at a 2:37 pace for the first ten miles and nearly hallucinated toward the end. Sounds at normal volume became painful.

3:15 1985

I started training about 6 weeks before each of the above races and truly thought that I was working hard for a marathon, even though all runs were at easy pace.

ACL reconstruction 1987(touch football while drinking beer); no marathons for next 17 years

3:20 2002 Columbus

3:12 2003 Buffalo

3:03 2004 Hamburg

2:59 2005 Austin and Chicago

2:57 2006 age 47 Austin

3:04 2007 Toledo - may have been best race - horrible conditions

20 marathons total

medial meniscus tear late 2007 and surgery 11/08.

Comeback attempt in 2 weeks in Huntsville, Ala. on 51st birthday.

Managed 30 miles this week in six days...mostly mired in foot pain...will x ray tomorrow...ugggghhh

Like driske, love/hate affair...started marathoning at a young age (hmmm, think that has anything to do with my funky feet)...wish I knew then what I know now re: exercise physiology, fueling etc...there was no GU or cytomax...remember carbohydrate depletion and loading?...and the shoes we raced in were like slippers (Nike Eagle, Brooks John Walker RT1)...120 mile training weeks...crazy crazy times... no regrets(just damaged feet)

1971 DNF

1972 3:36 Philly (HS sophmore)

1974 2:46:20 Philly

1977 2:46:19 1 second improvement Palos Verdes

1978 2:32 Paul Massson

1979 2:26 San Fran

1980 2:25 (PR) Nike OTC

Followed by another dozen or more in the upper 2:20s to lower 2:30s...moved up to ultras (3:05 50 K - 16:40 100 miles) and then all the way back down to my track and field roots...1500/mile...officially marathon retired until 60th birthday...otherwise my wife would kill me (if she kills me at 60 I'll already be three quarters dead ;}

MF

bad week here - knee is no better or worse than 3 weeks ago. MRI this week. Hopefully that will say something.

Debut - Denver 1983 2:35:49

Peak - Rawhide (also 5000') 6 mo. later 2:34:24 (I got ITBS and stopped doing marathons for 16 years

50 - Anchorage 2008 2:54:02

59: I had posted this question on last week's 50 plus forum, so I'll put it here too.Have any of you 50 plus runners noticed that having a scheduled rest day each 7th day of the week helps with recovery, or especially, with improved race times? This assumes you still get the mileage in on the other 6 days of the week. Thanks.

This is a fun thread.

When I raced my first marathon the world best was the 2:15:16.2 run by Abebe Bikila in Rome in !960. There were less than ten marathons annually on the continent. Women did not run and men under 21 were not allowed in the Boston Marathon. There were no gels, no gatorade or GookinaidERG and many runners drank very little water unless it was very hot.

Last week I wrote that my first marathon took place on Labour Day 1961 and was billed as the Canadian and North American Championship. A couple of years ago Patti wrote that John Kelley told her that the weather that day was "Brutal". I struggled home second (first Canadian) in 3:01.

About 7 months later I flew to Chicago to run in the first Annual Windy City Marathon. It was March and there was a snow storm the night before the race so we raced on a 2 mile stretch along the waterfront. The temoperature was in the 30s and there was some slush and a little ice on the road. 15 runners started and 9 finished. I won by 5 minutes in 2:31:16.8 which made me the fourth Canadian to run under 2:32. I never got warm in that race.

Six weeks later I was in Boston for the Boston Marathon. What an experience! There were only 181 male starters and no women. There were the same big crowds as there are today. In those days times were not as important as running to win. I went out with the leaders. I found the helicopter overhead a bit disconcerting. There was a flatbed truck and a bus travelling along with us. The eventual winner who ran 2:23:48 kept looking back and talking to a reporter. I heard the name Kelley several times. By the ten mile mark the 3 others in the lead pack were beginning to lose me. I had run just under my best ten miles. I was alone for most of the the rest of the race. I later found out where Kelley was as he driffted by me cutting the tangents beautifully at about half way. Also, another runner came up to my shoulder on the hills but that woke me up and he dropped off. I saw no other runners after half way. I remember thinking several times that I was done and I wanted to quit but that I could not do so while in the top ten. I came 5th in 2::31:49. (Arne Richards was 47th in 2:58:16)

Three weeks later I was in bed with a 101-102 fever from a severe case of mono. No one in our household had a car but we were lucky as doctors in those days made house calls. I was out of work for a month and then I worked half days and naped and started my comeback in the afternoons. It took months to gain strength and another while to regain confidence.

My next Boston Marathon race was the 1964 version. There were 369 entrants. There were no women. It was won by Vandendriessche in 2:19:59. I ran 2:57:25 and placed 66th. That race was the beginning of the Canadian Marathon Boom. Five runners from Ontario ran under 2:30 and placed in the top 12 nearly pushing me out of Canada's top ten. (Eric Segal ran that year finishing 63rd in 2:56:30).

My next Boston Marathon was in 1967. Two women ran that year (Robert Gibb ran 3:27:45 and Katherine Switzer ran about 4:20). Dave McKenzie won in 2:15:45. I was 23rd in 2:30:26, my best Boston time and second best marathon time.

I was not back to Boston until 1971. By now there were 877 starters and 588 broke 3:30. Sara Berman (3:08:30) won over two other women) I was 25th in 2:31:07.

My final Boston Marathon was in 1974. By now there were 30 women in the race. Miki Gorman won in 2:47:11. I was able to run a mile or so with Miki. I finished 414th in 2:53:53. Neil Cusck won in 2:13:39 and 1266th place was 3:24:10 What a change since 1962!

The only time I broke 2:30 was in 1973 when I was second in the Orange Marathon. I was given a time of 2:28:22. My last marathon was in 1987 in Palos Verdes at age 51. I ran 3:28:47. After 26 years 44 completed marathon (with 6 additional DNFs)and two 50 K races I stopped running marathons. It was great fun competing and watching the tremendous changes in the sport. I have a lot of great memories! I have made many many friends!

[quote]BHRR1 wrote:

Hey Guys, hope all is well. Thought we'd start a day early this week. Over 60 miles here, mostly slow stuff. Opted out of the turkey trots.

Topic of the Week: Marathons

What was your first marathon and time? And your best marathon and time? And what was the progression? How long to do your best? Also what's your best over 50 marathon?

First: Cleveland, 2004, age 48, 3:30. Then 3:10, 3:09, 3:07, 3:06 x 2, 3:05 x 2, 3:03 x 3, 3:22 HEAT in Chicago, 3:56 BONK in Boston, 2:57, 2:56, 2:58 (Boston), and 2:52 at age 54 in Chicago 2009.

I did an easy 40 miles this week to recover a bit for an upcoming 10k.

My one and only marathon effort was in 1985 at Palos Verdes at age 35. I went through 20 miles just under 2:10 and did the last 19k in 1:15 for a 3:25. I have not been inspired to try another one since then.