50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

61 miles of mostly moderate effort running for me as I was still absorbing the effects of my my 7/4 10K. I was pleased to get out and run all seven days this week and get the mileage over 60.

6 miles during Championship week, not USATF Masters but NJDC (National Junior Disability Championships) hosted in Rochester, MN this year. It is the development program for all Paralympic sports. Our program had kids competing in swimming, archery and T&F. I only had two qualifiers (I lead the ambulatory track athletes) to make the trip but can report they both became national champions! Our race chair kids also performed well. My son made his first trip and set the national record in the shot and meet record in the disc in winning his events. I'm glad we have a throws coach!

SUN- 0

MON- 3

TUE- 3

WED- 0, hurt

THR- 0, hurt

FRI- 0, hurt

SAT- 0, hurt

I somehow hurt my lower back on Wednesday morning- it's the same pain I experienced the week of the Azalea Trail 10K back in March. The pain was slow in developing and I think the injury occurred when I was assisting an athlete with warm up drills. I decided just to discontinue running for the week and focus on my athletes. The pain has lessened and I ran a couple with my daughter this morning. She said I looked awkward. Going to take it easy a few days.

RE: combining masters and youth meets. We have a 'state games' that does this and very few masters runners show because of abundance of kids. Those that do tend to run the 3,000 or 5,000 contested first and then leave. I However, the throwers do show up for this meet. Do note that track has never been popular here.

LUCKY- Peachtree was so long ago I now hardly remember. I was sub-seed and it took about 8 seconds to cross the line, even then it was a bit crowded and it took a few hundred meters before I found a rhythm. The course is somewhat gently rolling down for the first three miles and I was comfortable, to comfortable, in waiting for that climb at the hospital. I was good on that and was running paast folk that had been more aggressive at the gun. Mile five has a climb as well and I struggled a bit there before closing well on the downhill finish. Because of the rain the night before the park was a quagmire so I pulled off my flats and walked barefoot through the mud- which felt good!

WOC- glad you found the missing kid!

DrT- Is your new kid sleeping through the night?

Mike L- sorry your wife missed the meet. It's always a bummer when you miss your peak race.

Stay hydrated y'all,

Edgewood

Goal Race: NYC - Nov 3rd

Training week: 17 of 18

Congrats to all the masters racers last week.

Sorry to see MikeL post that his wife contracted food poisoning - that must be terribly disappointing when someone has trained for an event and something like that happens.

Enjoying some cooler temps right now due to much-needed rain here in Texas. Had a nice training week. Nothing like the paces some of you speedsters regularly post here - - but good for me and I always get excited when I hit a new goal. So here is my week of runs:

Mon: Group workout - 7 mi total: 5 x 800's at 3:25 to 3:20 pace with calisthentics in between each rep.

Tues: 9 mi easy

Wed: 8 mi with 10 x 100 m strides up hills

Thurs: a.m. - 9 mi easy; p.m. - 5K race (race report below)

Fri: 3 mi easy with dogs

Sat: 19 mi with 14 at MP (7:46 avg)

Sun: 8 mi easy with hubby

Race Report: 5K - Trinity 5000 Series Race (Finish time - 21:18)

My husband and I are participating in a 5K series this summer - every Thurs evening at 7:30 through Aug. Course is an out-and-back on a flat, soft-surface trail alongside the Trinity River in Fort Worth. I have not raced a 5K in a few years, so this is a new experience for me. This week we had a storm come through right before the race started, so more favorable temperature and humidity level for racing. I was shooting for a 21:30 - which would be over 30 seconds faster than previous 5K race in this series. If you McMillen a 3:20 finish time for a marathon, it shows that I should be running a 20 minute 5K. So, I still have some work to do - even with this result.

Went out at a reasonable pace and hit 6:50 the first mile and felt reasonably comfortable. I was concerned about going out harder because attempts during training runs for a 6:45 or better pace would leave me anaerobic. I just remembered MuddyGirl's guidance in an earlier posting to ignore the Garmin and just run at the level I am at. So, I tucked in with a couple of men for the next mile and stayed right at the edge -- but never went anaerobic (consciously not looking at my watch). Watch beeped for mile 2 and I decided to not look. Instead, I tried to just pick it up a tad around 2.5 mi and passed a few women that had finished in front of me in these series races in the prior weeks. So I felt that with my level of exertion, I was ahead of my prior 5K efforts. Watch beeped at 3 mi and I looked to see my overall time was right around 20. I knew if I could just push myself the last 0.1 (which actually ended up being 0.2), I would be close. Crossed the finish line at 21:18, so very pleased (and thoroughly anaerobic at this point!). Watch shows that I ran 6:42 for mi 2 and 6:38 for mi 3, so great for me.

Please note that a very fit mom, pushing a stroller with her toddler and 6 months pregnant, was right on my heels. We both agreed that it was a good effort for both of us.

Great race day for me.

Hope everyone is experiencing some cooler temps this week.

Grete - WELL DONE!! I hope this gives you some confidence. You might not hit the right pace during a workout, but you may find it in the race. I think you'll keep improving.MG

Edgewood, thanks for checking in. In general, the little guy is doing well. He sleeps through most nights from around 10-11pm until 5-6am, which is better than his father can manage most nights!

My week 125km total

Sun: am 26km (rolling to hill off road av 5.30) pm 6km E

Mon: am core, rehab (noon) 13km + 10 x 8sec hill sprints (pm) 6km E

Tue: am 5km surge (3.55/km) 5min rec jog, 6 x 1min hills, jog rec. pm 6km E

Wed: am 20km 5.20 (pm) core, Achilles rehab

Thus: pm fartlek (5.2km in total av. 4.09 pace for entire workout)

Fri: 6km very easy on grass oval.

Sat: am 5km easy, + 8km hill climb (HR 85-90%), 4km cool down.

Reading the news last night of Gay and Powell et al saddens me. My love for the sport is diminishing.

Good work to all of the colleagues on this thread with your training and racing efforts of late. Impressive and helps me get out the door in my quest to get fit again.

What was the synchronicity between your Garmin GPS and the course mile markers?

lucKY2b wrote:

Meanwhile, over here in Lexington, in what *used* to be the premiere 4th of July race in the Bluegrass, I'll have to admit that I exceeded my expectations by quite a bit (68-degree, overcast, drizzly conditions helped). I laid down a 36:56 10K; best I've felt in nearly 3 years. I'll offer more details in my weekly report Sunday.

Sprint.geezer wrote:What was the synchronicity between your Garmin GPS and the course mile markers?

I didn't wear a Garmin, I just marked my splits with my trusty ol' Casio. But a friend of mine, who see-sawed with me the entire race, did and his splits and mine matched pretty well based on how the race went down. The mile markers on the course are well marked and also well labelled on the USATF certification map. I'm guessing you're curious about the the half-way mark, which is not on the certification map, and I believe was way short (by 8 or more seconds). To get my halfway split, I just took my last 0.2 miles and divided that by two, which is still probably a bit short for the halfway time, since I was definitely faster at the end.

For completeness, here are my friends and my splits rounded to the nearest second (note: he and his son got there a little late, so he wasn't able to get within the first few rows, and thus crossed the start line about 3-4 seconds after I did):

Mine--548,600,614,602,554,544,115 (hand-timed)

His--553,551,613,551,609,549,114 (Garmin)

They caught up with me around the 2-mile mark, and we ran the third mile together, then on the fourth mile, he and his son surged well ahead of me, but on the fifth uphill mile, I just somehow found the strength to motor up that hill as he struggled and I caught and passed him and even his son. He ended up about 5s behind me, while his son really laid it on the last mile and put 7s on me.

Hope that gives you the info that you're seeking.

Very nice race, Gretehund! For someone who's "not raced a 5K in a few years", that's an excellent time, and I'm certain is just a starting point. Thanks for the race report. I enjoyed reading that. Just a note: it's hard to direct compare McMillen paces from Marathon down to 5K. I think those paces only show what you are capable of if you train specifically for that event. So a person who trains for a marathon won't likely hit the target pace in a 5K, and vice-versa. Others may have differing takes on that.

MikeL, I too, was sorry to read that your wife's race plans were scuttled. Hope there were no lingering effects and she's all better now. Food mishaps scare me.

As usual, a lot of encouraging stuff this week.

-Thanks for the race report, Edgewood. Peachtree is one of my bucket-list races.

-DrT, glad you're getting some rest (and some kilometers!). Don't get me started on Tyson Gay; he's an alumnus from my daughter's High School and a local "hero". Very disappointing.

-1500M, wow! I hadn't realized that you had shed so much weight. Arizona sounds like it's working out well for you. I find the same thing that summer is just not as conducive to eating, and when I do, its more fruits and veggies.

-I see that Alan B is a little late to the party this week, I'm really hoping that Rtype can find a way to get back into running, and it'd be nice to get another check-in from Alf T...it's been a few weeks.

If you missed it, there were a couple recent threads/conversations with Ed Whitlock:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5169664

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5285831

There is still no way that I could ever even attempt to do the type of training he does. I'm much too impatient.

There was one last thing that I wanted to add to my weekly report and racerdb can relate, I think. My daughter is now starting to see the benefits of a running way of life. These past few weeks she's come to realize that, as a stress release, none of her other "hobbies" come close to the calm she feels after completing a run. She ran 19 miles last week on 6 days, her new roommate also wants to run with her, and they are signing up to run a 5K in August. I've never pushed running on her, but I've tried to be encouraging with her fits and starts, so I'm thrilled that she has found this on her own.

Hope everyone is getting in some good training this week. It's really heated up around here; 90's and high humidity is making it hard to do good speed work!

Cheers!

Thanks lucky for the links to Ed Whitlock. Really liked the below response he gave when asked what he may have accomplished if he had focused on running earlier in life:

"I have no regrets, I have been happy with my life, if my running had gone better then lots of other good things in my life would not have happened."

What a great sentiment -

Thanks Muddygirl for acknowledging my effort. It is nice to have this group and I continue to find things in the postings that have been helpful for my training.

Gretehund, I reread my post from this morning and I have to say that it didn't come out the way that I meant it. I did not mean to qualify your race result in any way; it was a very nice result, period.

So let me try again.

In my inelegant way, I was trying to say that I think you are closer to your goal than you might even think. A lot of my friends who almost exclusively run half- and full-marathons, find it really hard to come down and race 5K's; they find the fast start and the intense burn very unfamiliar territory and difficult to adjust to and gauge correctly. It's a level and type of discomfort that they just aren't accustom to (and frankly, a lot of them don't like it, so they shy away from 5K's). For you to go out on your first 5K in a long while and lay down such a solid result AND to run it with negative splits is both remarkable and bodes well for achieving your goal. Kudos!

Edgewood, GreteHund, lucky2b, thanks all for the sympathies on my wife. She is fine, and she'd have been at the track if it'd happened only 24 hours earlier, darn! We were able to run a quality track session yesterday, so she's coming around, though we are both still dealing with some achy spots (her hamstring, my hip/glute/spine thing). Both of ours are much better, we just cannot ignore that we still have something to finish clearing up. She did complete 2x1000 and 4x200 while I did 3x1000, in WARM conditions, so we're progressing!

Thanks again!

lucky - I think your comments make perfect sense in regard to hitting a 5K McMillen time based on a marathon training regimen. The wealth of experience from you and the other members provides great food for thought for me and I welcome all the input. You are absolutely right - the intensity of the 5K is unlike anything I have experienced in longer distances and a very different mental event. Its almost like being new to running again....

lucKY2b wrote:

I see that Alan B is a little late to the party this week, I'm really hoping that Rtype can find a way to get back into running, and it'd be nice to get another check-in from Alf T...it's been a few weeks.

If you missed it, there were a couple recent threads/conversations with Ed Whitlock:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5169664http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5285831

There is still no way that I could ever even attempt to do the type of training he does. I'm much too impatient.

Thanks for those links to Ed’s latest convo’s. So inspiring. Besides his obvious genetic talent I think, perhaps, his greatest gifts are in patience and persistence. It sure is easy to get frustrated during injuries.

I have not posted much for the obvious reason that I aint runnin right now but I am hopeful I’ll get back to it. I’ve been working on “THE CONTRAPTION” (the elliptical) and doing weights alternating days. The thing’s surprisingly similar to running as I can hit 7:30 pace (8 miles per hour) and get my heartrate to 154 doing it. 10 mph feels a little easier than 6 min pace but its a damn good workout.

Please indulge a little soapbox comment......

Regarding the recent drug “scandals” that everyone is so hyped-up about I think those whining the loudest about the reputation and hit on popularity of track need a perspective change. Track, and running in general have been around since the first time two humans spotted food at the same time. That’s about 1000 centuries ago, maybe longer. Now THAT is the true depth and breadth of running.

And now, one million years later, some dare judge this same activity by the odious standards of celebrity or social networking popularity. Running is far more than some 14 year old pubescent worried about how many “friends” they have on facebook. Running will be around long after today’s superficial fads have decayed to dust. Stop worrying, Track and Field will be just fine.

Ok, off soapbox, have a good week everyone!

Returned home from doing errands this afternoon and found my oldest daughter had created quite the display (or trip hazzard). On the stairwell leading up to the split level 2nd floor are 26 pairs of running shoes! On the top step is a sandwich board style sign that reads "You know you live in a house of runners when..." While some have been moved to grass cutting and car washing service many are still in regular rotation by my wife, oldest daughter and me (the two littles kids aren't up to speed yet). Trainers, flats and spikes were all neatly arranged.

And yes we feed the beast as all but one pair came from an orange box.

Got lots of footwear y'all,

Edgewood

Edgewood, I think I have purchased non-NIKE's only once in 36 years of running, and those were a pair of Brooks racing flats with a "varus wedege"! Does anyone remember those? Talk about a dangerous heal, I cannot believe I raced 10 km's in those!

(love my LunaRacers!).

Mike Lundgren wrote:Edgewood, I think I have purchased non-NIKE's only once in 36 years of running, and those were a pair of Brooks racing flats with a "varus wedege"! Does anyone remember those? Talk about a dangerous heal, I cannot believe I raced 10 km's in those!

(love my LunaRacers!).

When you mentioned it, I only vaguely remember that campaign, so I googled it:

Seeing that ad, brought back a flood of memories (and not good ones.) I now recall that I did have a pair of Vantage-430's, when I was trying to deal with my tendonitis issue. The orthopedic doctor thought it was caused by a pronation problem, so he first had me try these, but it only exacerbated the problem. I was then fitted with special orthotics that also had no (or negative) effects. Cortisone shots, PT, etc. were also fruitless and ultimately I gave up running all together out of frustration. Although I've had my share of bumps in the road, I'm glad not to have had any tendonitis issues in the 8 years since returning to the roads.

Regarding current shoes: Yeah, I have a lot; a veritable cornucopia of brands and models. I can't say I have much commitment to Nike products, though. For me, most their trainers have a heal that hugs my Achilles more than I like (the Lunar series has been better in that regard). I've also shied away from Brooks for other reasons. Saucony, Asics, New Balance, Adidas, Puma, Mizuno, and, yes, Nike all have at least one pair of shoes in my active running arsenal, but my go-to trainers these days are primarily from Saucony and New Balance.

This is my favorite racing flat:

. Don't know what I'll switch to when I have to retire my last pair (This early version is nothing like current, ruined versions.) Why do shoe companies continually ruin/discontinue good shoes?

*************************

Week 111

*************************

A sweltering hello from the mid-south this week to my fellow 50+ runners (I know, Grete, we got nothin’ on Texas!) I realize I often start off with the weather, but it so often influences how I train. This week, I really suffered with the heat and humidity as the heat index was routinely in the upper ‘90’s. Not a lot of speed work this week, and the only day I got out in the morning was Saturday, but I did manage to log 46+ miles:

Sun: 7.6 verrry easy

Mon: 5 moderate (654 pace) + post-run + upper

Tue: 4.2 easy w/2.5 on trails (hiding in the shade)

Wed: 4.8 miserable miles + upper

Thur: 5.1 w/.7,.5,.3@535,525,515 paces respectively + post-run

Fri: 5 easy but w/649 last mile + upper

Sat: 14.8 total, 13am w/first 5.5 accel (737,718,655,630,619,306), then 1.8 @noon (to auto parts store and back)

The dew-point’s been above 70 degrees all week, which has made for sweaty slogging every day. On Mon, Tue, Fri, I ran around 8:30 pm; better than Sun, Wed, Thur, when I ran in the mid/late afternoon. Thursday, I felt I needed to do something faster, but not too much, as I was still entertaining racing Saturday. With 78 degrees and 86% humidity projected for race time Saturday, I just wasn’t feeling it, and opted to just go for a long run. I hadn’t done a 12+ miler since week 107, so it was about time. The 13 mile morning run was broken into two parts, a 5.5 acceleration run, a 20-minute break chatting with some running buddies, and a steadier 7:30-pace 6.5 afterwards. It was really starting to heat up for the 6.5 portion, and I started feeling a little light headed for the last mile. I drank more than a half-gallon of fluids afterward, but was still feeling a little peaked.

Our car has been overheating, too, so I was working on that after I got back from my run. With the fan unit out, I pulled the ECT sensor, and had to jog down to the Auto Parts Store to get a replacement (I counted that into my weekly total. Thoughts?) Unfortunately, after testing the fan and the fan relay, and now replacing the $10 temp sensor, the fan is still not coming on. Might have to take it to the shop, this after having to get a new fuel pump and water pump last week…..ugh! The car is turning 100,000; I think that’s like turning 50 for us runners….things start breaking down more frequently.

In the news: Kathy Martin obliterated the W60 World Mile Record in 5:42.62! (

http://masterstrack.com/2013/07/25185/

)How good is that time? Well, Leslie Chaplin had just a few week’s ago set the W55 American Record with about the same time. Great stuff! Any other results to report?

That’s about all I got. Still have chances of Thunderstorms everyday going into next week, but at least it looks like the temperatures will moderate by about 8-10 degrees. Woohoo! Hope you all had better luck this week.

All the best!

Good morning to all. I am up early drinking coffee (I always have 2 cups before my AM runs) before going to meet my son for our weekend run. I will be at 40 miles for this week if he doesn't make my heart explode on the run, which he always likes to push to my redline for the last mile or two. I was feeling good Tuesday and Wednesday and ran hard on my 8 mile loop running just a little bit slower than my PR for the loop each day. Of course it caught up with me on Thursday and I cut my mileage way back on Thursday, Friday and Yesterday because I felt so tired. However, if you are going to train year round for a lifetime, then sometimes runs should be about doing what feels good even if it isn't following the workout plan.

Another fine week of trail running plus extended my running streak to 20 days - no where near MF's streak but a nice little one.

Extended my runs by an average of 10 minutes so getting in more distance, my shortest run was 25 minutes and longest 55 minutes. Pace has picked up too. One of my routes has me running 800m on the track then heading out on the trails for whichever distance I choose as it is out and back. I finish each run with another 300m of the track as I enter through a gate at the top of the back straight. Several times this week I added a strong 400m lap to finish the workout, pleased the times.

Finally seeing some more wildlife, deer on several runs and a coyote now and then. Still very few snakes which is fine by me.

Have a great week!