50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

good luck in the Senior Games. Sounds like you've prepared well.

pretty good week for me except that I'm trying to ward off recurrence of plantar fasciitis. One of my friends has been unable to race since Feb. because of PF, so I'm thinking it may be contagious.

Monday 8 easy + 32:00 stationary bike --- new age group M55-59!

tuesday off

Weds. 9 with 6 X 800 (200 jogs) at 5k pace -- averaged 2:50 (2:52 intended)

Thurs. 5 easy

Fri 6 easy

Sat. 8 w/ 3200 (12:11) [2:00 recovery] + 1600 (6:00) [1:00] + 2 X 800 (3:00, 3:00 with 30s between). Intended 2 X 3200 at about 12:24 [1/2 marathon pace) but couldn't get the pace right. also pretty swampy [mid-80's with 70% relative humidity]. Overall drained feeling

Sun. 7 easy

Looking forward to watching Olympics by next weekend. Have a great week,

Dave

Dave,

Thanks. Good tempo running, great marathon prep training. I am sure you are familiar with the Strassberg sock. Eccentric calf exercise with straight and bent leg in addition are also good for PF.

Igy

Somehow managed to grind out 43 miles this week.

Highlight of the week was 8+ with my wife at an 8:12 average. What made the run cross over from comfortable to tough was a 7:30 mile 5 where we came up on a biking family of 8 that were just starting their trek. We passed them and upped our pace. The 11 yo was embarrassed and yelled at his family. They passed us back but then immediately dawdled and we passed them back again. Grandpa said 'you too are going 10-12 miles per hour." Ummmm. No. More like 8 or just under. I imagined he's told his friends that he rides at 10-12 pace so often that he's convinced himself that's how fast he goes. Well, I stopped us for a breather and to let them get ahead. I think I told my wife it was to let them get ahead. The last 2-3 miles at 8:10 pace got a lot tougher after that little surge. Overall though it was a very gratifying workout after a tough week battling the humidity.

Cheers

Ken.

My big event for the week was finally getting to run outside!!! I know its hot and humid, but it was wonderful to listen to the birds and feel the wind again while running. I felt like I was flying!

Now that my stress fracture is dealt with, I'm focusing on fixing my ankle that has hurt since February. I had an MRI that showed tendinitis (racerdh & amkelley I sympathize with you). I have arthritis and a bunion in my big toe on the same foot and roll my ankle out when I run to avoid pushing off my big toe. That has put extra strain on my tendons. In addition to pain when I point my toes, I've known something was wrong for a while because I just can't get any push-off from my right foot. That's probably why I ended up with the stress fracture in my left tibia and torn left hamstring last year.

My PT has taped my big toe to pull it out so I can push off. He's also given me exercises to strengthen my foot and ankle and will be giving me treatments that are similar to Graston to help the tendons heal. I know there isn't any quick fix and possibly no fix at all - but I'm doing everything I can to get stronger to take the stress off of the tendons. I can deal with the pain but not the weakness - that really hurts my speed.

My workouts for the week were:

M: 6mi AlterG @ 80%

T: 50 min biking

W: 5mi TM Pro 8:42 -> 8:00

R: 50 min biking

F: 5mi AlterG @ 80% .25H/.25E

S: 3mi OUTSIDE 2min H/1min E + 61min biking

S: Off

TOTAL: 19mi running, 2:41 biking

dhaaga - Congrats on moving up in AG. Looks like we share a B'Day.

Igy - Good luck at Sr. Games :-)

Hoser,eh - Glad your pain issue is better. Good luck with you back and enjoy N.C.

kaku - Good work on the 1ks. Good luck in your race!

I enjoyed watching the Tracktown meet on ESPN on Friday. Too bad it ended so late - I just couldn't stay up until the end. Wow, that sounds like an old person!

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Good Morning,

My first of two Senior Games races are next Saturday followed by another in two weeks. The track portion is first where I have entered the 1500m, 400m, 800m and 200m. The road portion follows where I am entered in the 5,000m.

Igy

Which two Senior Games?

Sorry, the Idaho Senior Games. Here they have the track and field events 8/6 and the road 8/20.

Igy

So back in June I finally decided perhaps I should see a medical professional about my Achilles tendon that refuses to heal. A few weeks to get an appointment with my HMO gatekeeper, a few more weeks fighting with the insurance company trying to get them to let me see someone whose opinion I might trust, a few more weeks waiting for my appointment with the guy they'll pay to let me see (who I have no reason to believe knows anything), and then an unexplained rescheduling of that appt. I am now scheduled to see an orthopedist on Aug. 22. This is how we ration health care in this country. (I understand it's a lot worse in other places.)

In the meantime, I managed to run a big 30 miles last week--10 each on Mon, Weds, Fri. But each time my heel felt worse afterward, so I always have to take at least one day off in between running days. Rode the bike about 32 miles each on Tu/Th and about 40 miles each on Sat/Sun. I really don't mind having to do a fair amount of cycling in the summer, but in another couple of weeks it will be too dark to ride first thing in the morning and then I'm sunk.

I guess I should be happy that I can run at all. I barely notice the heel while I'm running, but hours later it swells up and becomes quite painful. Maybe the answer is to never stop running...

dhaaga wrote:

new age group M55-59!

Welcome to the 55-59, Dave!

Had a real nice 68 mile week here.

Workouts included...

Tues: 10 miles in 66:08 with 5x CV mile with 1/4 jog rest (559.8,600.0,559.5,558.4,555.9) and then 5x30 sec @ 5:10 pace

Thurs: 10 miles @ 7:25 with 10x30 sec @ 5:19 pace

Sat: 15 miles at a steady 7:47 pace.

That's 8 weeks consecutive weeks between 61 & 68 with no missed days and no real bad runs. I've got a 5k on Saturday. I don't see why I can't be 25-30 seconds faster than I was in early June when I limped/hobbled into the Diemer 5K. That would get me close to 17:00 which would get me close to 91% AG which would make for a pretty good day... I'll taper down a bit this week and hope for the best!

Have a good week,

Dave

Week 269: 7 hours even in 7 runs. Mon - 45 min easyTue - 1 hr 16 with 3x hillWed - 30 min easyThu - 46 min easyFri - 1 hr 13 with 20 min tempoSat - 1 hr 45 with 48 min MPSun - 45 min easyAlmost a carbon-copy of week 268, just a little bump in intensity because of the more favorable weather. Week 270 should be similar, then a down week, then hoping to jump to 9 hours.@old guy II - Hang in there.@Ghost of Igloi - Maybe you can explain this for me: "16 x 100m shakedown, 2 easy, 2 good". You gave a sentence some weeks ago, but it didn't help me understand.@amkelley - Have you considered the Ed Whitlock plan? Instead of 3 days of 10 miles with 4 days rest, try 7 days of very low mileage and build up very gradually. It might work better for your injury.

Reboot runner wrote:

Grandpa said 'you too are going 10-12 miles per hour." Ummmm. No. More like 8 or just under. I imagined he's told his friends that he rides at 10-12 pace so often that he's convinced himself that's how fast he goes.

The bike is a great way to get a workout - attack the uphills, attack the downhills even more, until you run out of gear. The bike is also the best way to fool yourself into believing you are getting a workout when you are not.

SCgal wrote:

In addition to pain when I point my toes, I've known something was wrong for a while because I just can't get any push-off from my right foot. That's probably why I ended up with the stress fracture in my left tibia and torn left hamstring last year.

This sounds right and matches my experience. I eventually concluded that my left-side peroneal tendonitis was being aggravated by my right-side hip weakness.

Alan,

As a young man I was fortunate to have been coached by Mihaly Igloi from 1967-1970. On easy running days you finished the workout with what many today would call strides. Igloi called them shakedowns. The format was often 2 easy and 2 good, or some slight variation. The easy runs were done with a periodic dangling or shaking of the arm toward the ground. The good runs were at a interval or 5k pace. The aspect of Igloi training I find most interesting was the emphasis on form and cadence.

Igy

Writing this from 35,000 feet (via United wifi) headed back to Colorado from a visit to Maryland for my cousin's wedding. Summer scheduling is proving to be tricky, and we have a week of family vacation still to come.

Mon: 5 miles easy

Tues: 6 X 800 meters at 3:10-3:15, jog one lap for rests. 8.1 total with run to/from track

Weds: 6 miles very slow

Thurs: 9.3 miles at about 8:00 pace

Friday: travel day

Sat: 12 miles on the C&O canal path in Washington DC. So humid! I would not have been wetter if I had jumped into the Potomac. Some good miles at about 7:30 pace, then slower, but picked it up again near the end.

Sun: travel day

So about 40 for the week -- I'll take it. Still feeling like I'm on track and hoping for 3:15 to 3:20 at the Wineglass marathon on Oct. 2. I don't turn 50 until the spring, so this is my warmup for becoming a full-fledged member of the discussion.

@amkelley - Have you considered the Ed Whitlock plan? Instead of 3 days of 10 miles with 4 days rest, try 7 days of very low mileage and build up very gradually. It might work better for your injury.

It seems that almost any amount of running makes me sore enough to need a day off, but a longish run doesn't make it much worse than a very short run. So I'm working with a pattern of at least one day off between runs, but making each run count. I'll see if this is sustainable over several weeks.

I still don't get it. "16 x 100m shakedown, 2 easy, 2 good" is different from "8 x 200m shakedown, 1 easy, 1 good" in what way?

Alan,

OK, got it. We ran the shakedowns on the infield grass, going back and forth.

Igy

I am sure you are familiar with the Strassberg sock.

It seems this might be a good idea for my Achilles tendon issues also. I have been making a conscious effort to keep my heel flexed with the toes up as much as possible, but I can't control what happens at night. But some of the reviews of the Strassberg sock say that because it pulls upward on the toes rather than on the ball of the foot, it causes irritation of tendons in the toes. Any such experience?

amkelley,

I used the Strassberg sock for both bouts of PF and Achilles tendinitis. I never had any issues with irritation of the tendons of the toes. You can adjust the tension, and a slight amount works fine for the goal is to increase circulation in the foot during sleep. Eccentric heel drops are also helpful (on a stair, with heels hanging off, up on two legs, and down on one; do ten each leg, straight leg, and bent leg). I wear Birkenstock sandals as house shoes

Igy

Tough row To hoe...or so they tell us, at our age. Hang in there (not that you've heard that before). Hit my 1st 40 plus week of the year! Twelve on spin bike at Running HR and the rest on TM @ 1% ... ave pace @ 8:56 with 9.5 miles under 8:00. No workouts per say...next week a long T and a short T then take it from there,

Two 5 k's at end of Aug...would like to get in under 22:00 in at least one of them. Hard to stay healthy though at this f&*^%%$#n age (68)! I know there are competitions for beer miles , are there the same for say donut or twinkie or cheesecake miles? The staying running healthy is getting very, very, old! Bad genes, or OLD genes i guess!~!!!

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

amkelley,

I used the Strassberg sock for both bouts of PF and Achilles tendinitis. I never had any issues with irritation of the tendons of the toes. You can adjust the tension, and a slight amount works fine for the goal is to increase circulation in the foot during sleep. Eccentric heel drops are also helpful (on a stair, with heels hanging off, up on two legs, and down on one; do ten each leg, straight leg, and bent leg). I wear Birkenstock sandals as house shoes

Igy

Thanks, Igy! I may give it a try.

My "around the house" shoes, and also my usual work shoes (I'm a university professor rarely subject to a strict dress code), are retired running shoes from which I have completely chopped out the heel on the bad side. No pressure at all on the Achilles. However, it has occurred to me that these shoes have a fairly large heel to toe drop, and perhaps I should instead mutilate a pair of zero-drop shoes in the same way.

Anne (amkelley)

The Strassburg sock worked for my PF. I also had no issue with the toes. If you follow the included instructions you won't be able to sleep. Best to start at low or no tension and work up gradually.