50+ Weekly Training Thread (for week ending 2-Jan-2011)

Real quick before the Bears-Packers kickoff...

I was able to run 7 days this week. Hamstring still a 3-4/10 on the pain scale but tolerable. Managed 60 decent miles. Jumping right into my annual 1000 miles in the first 100 days schedule. It sets the tone for the year!

I'll probably keep on doing what I've been doing. 70 mile weeks with a 'smart' mix of tempos, long runs, track work and easy days. Seems to be working. But I will be more diligent with my daily stretching & drills. I seem to be having more little nagging, not quite injuries, these days. Probably should be a little more proactive and not wait until something goes wrong!

Go Bears!

Dave

I got in 52 miles in 7 days this week, mostly running some hilly areas. This year I am trying to be a little more focused on volume, and staying on the high side of 50mpw. Speed improvement comes easily for me, endurance not so much.

Racerdb wrote:

Real quick before the Bears-Packers kickoff...

Go Bears!

Dave

OK, Dave, I'll bite. GO PACK! ;-)

Pretty solid week although all of it pretty easy running.

Mon.115mins. Tues.90mins. Thur.55mins and 70mins. Fri.55mins (42deg Celsius). Sun.96mins plus an hour of hiking. Also, wed.60min mt.bike.40min kyak. Sat.2hr mt.bike.

No great new ideas for me. Last year I missed out on doing a good build up to the April start of my trail/xc season.

This year I hope to ensure that doesn't happen again.

Happy New Year all! Haven't posted in awhile, had to detach. It's been 5 months of no running. The good news is I started feeling a bit better a little over a month ago just before I decided to go to physical therapy. The PT helped even more. They stretched me out real good and gave me lots of strength training exercises. I'm able to walk some distance now with no pain which I couldn't do before. I'm going to continue building up walking miles and keep doing the strength training and stretching. Soon I'm going to try some laps in the pool which also was a problem before. If all goes well I may go for a test run soon. I still have some minor pain so I dont want to rush things. I'm hopeful that the worst is behind me but the real test will be the running. If I can run then it's the loooong climb back. Fingers SO crossed.

On the topic. Something different this year? I hope to run. That would be different.

Great job lucKY2b keeping things rolling.

BHRR1!!! Great to hear from you. Sorry that you've had such a ride, but it sounds like you are on an upswing. Good luck with that! ....patience and persistence.

A bunch of people have helped to keep this thing rolling, so I'm not going to take credit for that.

Great to have you back! Consider my fingers fully crossed.

great to see you back here, BHRR1, and good to see that things are heading in the right direction once again.

for me, the last week of 2010 was one of new tweaks, too much time on the roads (vs. trails), and my one trail run was less than lovely due to loads of punch-through ice, some of which attacked my achilles tendon (it's doing okay now, though). leaving the details aside, it sums up as 50 miles in four runs, with one run including 12x 45s hard, 45s easy.

this week will include one indoor track workout and another go at a barton hall mile in preparation for hartshorne two weeks later. anyone else here planning on coming to ithaca to join in the festivities? (remind me, and i'll bring some ricola to help soothe the barton hack in the immediate aftermath of racing in that bad air.)

what am i planning on doing differently this year? not much, really. i'll get back into racing long (keeping the mantra going of "easy, light, smooth"), but also try to be diligent about continuing the habit i've been pursuing of not foregoing workouts. mostly, though, i'll try to keep injury at bay. wishing everyone the best of health and happy legs.

nls, your year in competition was stellar. Kudos and may you remain fit and healthy in 2011.

BHRR1, Good to hear of a recovery bearing fruition. Make haste slowly and may 2011 get you back on your former track.

My own stats for 2010 included a decent Birke(for a mediocre skier). A June 10K that was 5 minutes slower than 2009's run on the same course. Then a July sprint tri, that buckled my ailing left arch. PF was the underlying cause, and it had been haunting me for over a year.

I'm back to running 10 miles a week. Supplemental training via bike/ski/pool have hopefully hastened recovery, and maintained some base level fitness.

I'll be turning 60 in May. What'll I do different? Not sure at this point, but you can bet I will be working my mileage back up to the point where I once again have a legit shot at getting back on a few age group podiums. There will probably be a greater component of crosstraining in the blend than previously.

Happy and Healthy 2011 to all!!

Like Dave, I'm trying to boost my mileage as it appears that the only sure way to fitness for me is miles. MIles lead to a slimmer me, which, in turn, means a faster one. I think I did around 60 this week, with mostly 7-8 milers, but a 10 miler to start the week and 13 today.

I was thinking of those of you with snow covered trails this time of year. Ordinarily ours are muddy and slippery, but still accessible and run-able. The last few days have been very cold (mid-20s to mid-30s) which has meant that the mud as frozen - mostly into a rutted surface which just screams "potential ankle roll". As a result, I ran cautiously on them, taking permission from Max King who advised in a RT article - it's better to walk over uncertain ground than to risk turning your ankle and having to walk all the way home. I even did half my run on Lief Erickson, a gravel service road, something I never do.

I am working on strengthening my gluteus with some exercises and spikez sent me some stretches to use.

I was going to do the USA xc champs in Feb as I've run the last 10 of them, but might skip it as my current shape makes it silly to spend money to go run them. We'll see.

Nice to hear that "Barton Hall Hack" still exists. I have very fond memories of the place, but I'll never be a miler, so won't ever do Hartshorne.

thanks for the kind words, bushman.

and, muddy girl, you might want to stick a few sheet metal screws in the bottom of a pair of old trainers to use on the icy surfaces. google "screw shoes" for matt carpenter's instructions. they won't protect you from ankle rolls, but will lower the probability that you'll go down. winter trails sans snow can be treacherous in myriad ways, so it's wise to be cautious.

Thanks NLS. When it is icy here, there isn't much you can do. I did run in a pair of spikes a few winters ago when it was really too icy to safely run and I investigated getting YakTraks, but ordinarily it is just wet and muddy here (with 33 degrees and raining being the epitome of suffering in the PNW).

The trails can get so sloppy sometimes that even I get frustrated and tired of slopping through it, so the frozen ground is really unusual. I am most worried about turning my ankle as my lower leg still isn't quite strong enough to resist it completely.

My poor fingers, which I frost-nipped (if not completely frost-bit) when I lived in MN, start stinging from the cold (and wet) pretty easily now. So, the last two days I packed along some "handwarmers" so they didn't hurt so much.

I can't imagine trying to run on trails in Ithaca. Back when I lived there, even the roads were deeply snow covered. I remember well trying to put in 20 milers running north and west of campus (in what was the boonies) and just slogging through deep snow. Fun times. (and even those winter memories pale beside the horrors of 11 years of winter running in Minnesota!)

Happy New Year everyone!

The last week of the year ended up being my biggest mileage week of the year at 49 in 6 days. That points up the topic: what I will do differently this year.

One of the biggest frustrations this go-round in running is injuries kept me from doing what I know works for me: run more miles. I had to settle for 25 to 28 miles a week and make it very high quality to compete.

Whether its orthotics or just getting a couple of years of healthy training under my belt, the second half of this year I’ve been able to slowly creep those miles up.

Historically 10 mile runs have been the “Goldilocks” distance for me; not too short, not too long…you know…just right. I’ve been excited to begin to knock those down and feel good. Fings crossed for 2011!

I have to say it’s been inspiring to hear the race reports posted; good stuff; and here’s to many excellent races for us all in 2011!

Happy New Year. 33 miles this week after a 25 mile week last week. Ran every day but it was all pretty slow. I'll probably keep my mileage at 30-35 mpw until the snow melts. This year I need to work on my flexibility (hamstrings, lower back) and hopefully speed. Started yoga over the weekend and I have a long way to go.

Good luck staying healthy this year.

Happy New Year 50+s. NLS and MG, I enjoy the Ithaca/Barton banter, as we also lived there some 20 yr back. Winters were mild compared to what we face now, and that's a mixed bag. Great skiing--running not so great for 6 mo of the year.

The knee continues to progress.

M - 90 min weights and indoor circuits (-30s outside)

T - 50 min classic ski, recovery effort

W - AM 3.5 mile run; PM, 5K classic race, with 20 min warm up and 20 min cool down

Th - 1:10 ski (skate)

F - AM 4 mile run; PM 60 min classic ski

S - Downhill ski

Su - 26.2 mile skate ski on hilly terrain: 2:46 (avg. HR was 127), a good workout.

What will be different this year? As a masters I've done best with more mileage, but don't think the knee is going to hold up with that anymore. Last summer things broke down after just one 50 mile week following a 2.5 month build up. So once snow melts the plan is just 20 to 30 mpw with a lot of cross training, esp. cycling and rollerskiing. I also won't be doing much track running or racing--maybe just an outdoor mile, which is part of our local series.

40 miles in 5 days, letting the good work of the last month soak deep into the mitochondria before bumping back up to the 60-70 range.

Of note this week was my first time on an Alter G treadmill, pretty incredible experience.

And that summarizes what I will do differently this year. Appropriate reductions every 4-5 weeks to maximize the benefits of the hard work, not worrying about maintaining x miles/week.

Holiday running adventures- Put on the Jingle Bell Run on 12/24 benefiting the Open Door Mission with clothing/blanket donations. Also put on the Hair Of The Dog Run on 1/1 benefiting the Food Bank of the Heartland. The holidays remind me to give something more back to the community.

I missed a week of posting so I will include it here. Overall I have had a good couple of weeks. I took advantage of my time off over Christmas to rest and recover more. I also renewed my acquaintance with my super-secret recovery elixir, Samuel Smith's Chocolate Stout!

As for what I plan to do differently in 2011: TRAIN

12/20 90 Mins

12/21 90 Mins, alternate 15 mins easy/15 mins @ 70% effort

12/22 90 Mins

12/23 90 Mins, easy 45 mins/45 mins @ 80% effort

12/24 90 Mins

12/25 60 Mins got up very early to get this in before anyone else got up!

12/26 120 mins

Total 630 Mins.

12/27 90 Mins

12/28 90 Mins, first 45 mins @ 70% effort after I got rolling, 75% - 80% effort coming back for a nice neg. split

12/29 90 Mins

12/30 90 Mins easy for first 20 mins then progressively greater effort over the rest. Picked up the effort level every 20 mins.

1/1 60 Mins

1/2 120 Mins

Total 630 Mins.

Eventually I will get around to redistributing the time I spend running so I am keeping the total the same but also including a couple of longer runs during the week. Right now however I am enjoying the regularity of the 90 mins/day.

I hope everyone has a great 2011!

oops, skipped 12/31 at 90 mins

Do differently? Work on strength--lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups. My basic speed is not "just there" anymore.