50+ Weekly Training Thread (for week ending 12-Dec-2010)

Man, our 50's thread hasn't been doing very well. Think we should just move over to the regular Masters thread?

I ran 34:32 and ended up 4th in the 50-54 at Charlotte. Overall happy with the race but really kind of pissed that I wasn't as tough as I had to be the last 400. Ran well most of the way, actually thought I had a shot at winning around 4-1/2 miles. Tuttle & Sheeran were both right in front of me within reach, 10-15 seconds at most. I think I lost a bit of ground mile 6 though... Coming down the home stretch I thought I was finishing pretty good and had 3rd place wrapped up. But Norm Larson had me in his sights and blew by with about 150 to go. I had no idea he was there. I reacted and we were shoulder to shoulder but I just didn't have it the last 50 or so. Damn...

Haven't really set any goals for 2011. It would be nice to get under 16:00 for 5K though.

Time for my end of the year break. I'll take some days off, get in some easy runs and start re-building after New Years.

Dave

nice job, racerdb. for me, saturday was quite an experience, as i had never been to a championship race like that before. (it was also amazing to toe the line of the 50-mile trail championship just a few feet from the likes of tony krupicka, scott jurek, meghan arbogast, and the other elites, but that otherwise felt like any ultra, and charlotte was something else entirely.) i was quite happy that the masters women's race went first, because after i was done i could just enjoy the show!

although i went out way too quickly (6:06 first mile), i held my position throughout -- almost. i got outkicked by a younger woman at the end; that didn't surprise me. however, i was disappointed that i couldn't hold on indefinitely after being passed about a mile earlier by another nancy who is in my age group. it was fun, though, hearing a double dose of "go nancy!" even though i knew only half of it was meant for me, courtesy of the wonderful GVH guys. the final result was 3rd F50 in 24:12.

highlights of the weekend for me: (1) watching the other races and being blown away by the depth of talent at all age levels, (2) getting to know my GVH neighbors, enjoying their hospitality, and cheering for sharon moore as she received the top women's age-grade performance of the day, (3) meeting muddy girl -- thanks for finding me and sharing a cooldown and cheering session, and (4) sharing a brief, aborted flight and too much subsequent time in the philadelphia airport with lori kingsley, who ran a fantastic race (thankfully, we both made it home sunday night, although for me it was 8 hours later than planned).

as for the question: goals for 2011. i guess i'd rather think in terms of plans than goals, because i tend to enjoy the journey more than the goal-setting. if all goes well, my first race will be the hartshorne mile, second will be a southern cal 50K in february, and third will be the bull run run 50 miler in april. i guess you can tell where my heart really lies! from there, i'll play it by ear and see what looks like fun, but i suspect i'll do at least one more 50 miler (or longer?) and also give xc another go next fall, especially with the USATF masters 5K race taking place so close to home.

happy trails, all, and happy holidays, too.

Wow Racerdb, great job. Enjoy the break over the holidays.

Likewise NLS. Looks as if you had a great race and a great week.

I continuted with my buildup this wee. I was out of town for several days and enjoyed running in downtown Miami. Although I must say I was a little surprised by how cool it was for part of my stay there. Here was my week:

12/6 90 Mins

12/7 90 Mins After a warmup, 4 15 Min segments at 70% - 80% effort with short recovery. Cool down

12/8 90 Mins

12/9 90 Mins Easy first 45 mins then steady at 80% - 90% effort for last 45 mins

12/10 90 Mins

12/11 120 Mins

12/12 90 Mins Steady 70% effort the whole time.

Total: 660 Mins.

I was happy to get my long run up to 2 hours. I felt very good almost the whole way. However, I was running out of energy that last 15 minutes or so. But I think thats the point of the long! My training plan over the next several weeks is to keep my total time running in the 630 Mins range while extendeng that long run a bit more, adding a medium long run during the week, and continue to cautiously bump up the quality.

As for 2011 plans. I like a combination of race and process goals. As for race goals, I would like to get a modern day PR in 1/2 marathon this year. Something between 1:30 and 1:35 is possible I think. I am planning a 1/2 marathon on April 10th. So, I will see how that goes and adjust my training and goals accordingly. As for process goals, I want to focus on consistency, endurance and stamina in 2011. My long term goal is to run a marathon under 3 hours within the next five years. So, this year is focused on developing a resiliant base.

I think maybe a lot of us old folks are taking a bit of down time or easing up for the end of the year. I combined a cold followed by some minor surgery to extend my post-XC easy period for at least an extra two weeks. 31 very easy miles last week. I am trying to get back to about 55-60mpw of moderate base work for the next month or so.

Rtype wrote:

\This pales in comparison to AK-52’s weather including some weeks of 20 below so, although I’d love to whine about the “cold”, it’s all relative isn’t it? I’m working to increase my miles and thus, my aerobic ability during the winter and my next race will be in April of 2011.

Topic: What are your goals for 2011? Mine is the magical 6 minute pace for a 5K, 18:38. And, as always, to stay healthy!

racerdb was that a national masters race? 34:40s and 4th is just wow, as was your competition! Nice job. Also, good job nolonger.

Yes, the 2nd week of our cold snap wrapped up with -30 or so yesterday. I stayed inside. But we did get a bit of a respite on Saturday when things miraculously warmed to -3, not bad for a 15K xc ski race.

Did battle with the top 2 women on the UAF ski team for most of the course, and outsprinted their top woman over the last 100 m. Considering what I've been through over the past year+ this is almost a miracle. Ended up 16th overall, ~9 min behind the guy who got 4th in US Nationals last year, and 1st in AG/2nd 40 over...

Best of all though, was that this was a skate race, which are harder on the knee, and it held up even better than expected.

For the week:

M-Easy 45 min (-18 F)

T-AM core and weights (1 hr), PM 1:50 skiing (-8 F)

W-easy 4 mile run AM (-22F), threshold intervals (3X 9.5 min) and 1:15 total ski (-6 F)

Th-ski 1:40 (-15 F)

F-off/my throat was raw from all that cold weather

S-15K race (-3 F), 3.5 mile shake out run

Su-AM indoor cycle (1 hr, but I was dogging it), and then PM 30 min core and upper body

totals: 8:40 aerobic training/racing and 1:30 upper body--a good week in spite of the cold.

For next year-continue getting better and stay healthy throughout the year. Just saw doctor today and he was encouraged by improvement over the past 2 months, with no intervention or even meds.

Will totally revamp training program in 2011, and I'll probably only run 3X or 4X per week and do a lot of cross training (cycling, pool running, rollerskiing).

Goals incl. 17:30 5K, sub 36 10K, and 1:20 or faster for half marathon, my favorite distance. Might do Mt. Washington if the stars/planets/moon line up.

AK-52 wrote:

racerdb was that a national masters race? 34:40s and 4th is just wow, as was your competition! Nice job.

Yep...2010 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships

Dave

70 miles in 7 days. Going for a 10 day 100 mile micro cycle. All slow base miles for now but feeling stronger on day 8 than on day 6. All outside in Omaha, Saturday was fun with 50+ gusts of white out snow, Brooks Wanganui Fleece you bet.

Maybe Lincoln Marathon or Fifth Third River Bank 25K in the spring and Club Cross in Seattle for the winter.

Nice racing everyone, giddyup!

Little late to the party this week. Been busy getting all my finals graded and final grades posted. Thankfully, that's done, and I can get back to building some base over the winter break.

Great job at Club Cross guys. Awesome races, racerdb and no longer stressed! Great end to the racing season; Looked like a blast!

Nothing like AK-52's weather around here, but I pretty much wimped out and took advantage of the indoor track that is open for faculty and staff during the noon hour. It's an oversize 5-lap to the mile track (in lane 5), so I ran there most days. 5 miles is about all I can handle without going crazy, and I have a hard time keeping it slow and steady; it's a track, gotta move! So I did some on/off repeats, some progression running and some cruise intervals. In the end, I got 40 miles in for the week, with a few 5:30 miles, and a 10 miler (outside) Saturday.

As to the question: Main goals are to get my legs back to running shape, then hopefully get the weekly mileage up to over 60/week, and take another stab a improving my speed while trying to stay healthy. If I can get myself into the mid-16's for 5k or low-35's for 10k, that would be icing on the cake.

Get some great runs in over the holidays, hopefully with some friends and family....and save room for dessert. :-)

Good race Racerdb! Most of us would love to just be able to see our division leaders at 4.5 miles into that race.

This week- 36 miles in 6 days, all slow except for;

Tues- 3xmile

Fri-hill reps.

2011 goals; to stay healthy and run XC next year.

Good running to all!

Rich

Good race Racerdb! Most of us would love to just be able to see our division leaders at 4.5 miles into that race.

This week- 36 miles in 6 days, all slow except for;

Tues- 3xmile

Fri-hill reps.

2011 goals; to stay healthy and run XC next year.

Good running to all!

Rich

Great job to all of those who raced this weekend. I decided to take a couple easy weeks after coming down with a head cold over Thanksgiving and feeling run down since. 16 miles on 4 runs. I was going to complain about the 15" snowfall followed by single digit high daily temp but AK-52 has shown that i can't use the weather as an excuse.

2011 goals- tough to put on paper. Races don't excite me anymore. Maybe its time to forget about training and try to get out every day.

I'm taking the week off.