50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Good running amkelley. It took me five days to notch 18 miles running and walking, but that was triple the previous week’s distance. I finally shook my upper respiratory infection. I wanted avoid any antibiotics so missed about fourteen days and gained back some of the weight I previously lost. I did complete my carpet cleaning project so accomplished something away from running. Oh well.

Igy

*Week 400*

Greetings, 50+ers! Sorry for the late start; with my wife not able to use her left arm (and she's left handed), my honey-do list has gotten quite a bit longer. It will be so for another month. And now our internet has gone out, so I'm hot-spotting in to get this posted.

Another century of weeks in the books, and sorry that I'm still not getting the consistency I need to advance my running. Only 3 runs (Sun, Tues, Fri) in the 3-4 mile range and 8:20-8:50 pace range, but did increase my longest continuous run (no stopping) to over 30 minutes. I had planned to do a fourth run Saturday, but tweaked my lower back again; this time from too much sitting. I spent all of Thursday reading and analyzing promotion packets and then sat in a marathon meeting Friday with the Promotion Committee deliberating on the packets. When I got home, I went for my 1/2-hour run, but was dead tired when I finished and fell asleep poorly on the sofa. Woke up and could hardly sit up my back was so tight. Then yesterday morning was a struggle just to get down the stairs. I tried to stand for as much of the day as I could, and I did get out in the evening for a 2-1/2 mile walk. Today it's starting to feel better, but I'll still probably only walk. It is pointing out the obvious, though, that my core is weak, and I really need to get working on that. Thankfully, only one more week of promotion committee work.

Thanks for the reports from Tallahassee last week and props again to all that ventured to the Sunshine state. No sunshine here. We continue to get bouts of rain keeping the ground pretty saturated and keeping my sump pumps always well primed.

Hope that you all have a great week! Look forward to reading your reports.

All the Best!

good luck with the promotion files. those have moved past me for this year, but i'm in a busy season re graduate student admissions.

M 1:00 + 30:00 x-training

Tu 45;00

W 45:00

Th 1:50 double incl. 16 X 1:30 (1:00 recovery) at 5k effort (approx. 400m each, but a little hard to say b/c running in lane 5 or 6 to stay out of the way of track workout our field hockey team was doing at the time)

F 1:00 + 1:00 x-t

Sa 1:20 + 1:00 x-t

Su 1:30 + 1:00 x-t

a little flat this weekend -- I think the track workout thursday took more out of me than expected.

have a great week,

Dave

A solid, if unspectacular, week for me. There were no weather postponements, though I did cut yesterday’s jog a little short to escape the wind chill. The extra layers really make me a sluggish jogger on these coldest days. Anyway I came up a lap or so short of a 20 mile week, so no complaints. Had a bit of a scare when I woke up Monday with some soreness in the upper medial area of the thigh. Thought it might be a groin issue, but I was able to work through it on Tuesday’s jog and it was completely gone the next day. Phew. No golf.

Sun: 49’ jog; body wt ex

Mon: walk w/ the bride

Tues: 52’ jog; body wt ex

Wed: off

Thu: 50’ jog, body wt ex

Fri: walk w/ the bride

Sat: 46’ jog; body wt ex

Best to most.

@AMK Marathon Marathon Marathon exciting cause them things are the beast of running and I enjoy and respect any one in our age group going after one.

This year Goal break 6 in the mile before the end of the year.

Long term Goal keep breaking 6 in the mile every year.

My week was a "planned" down week. Took off 4 days. Funny thing is first couple of days off I really feel run down with minor aches and pains then around day 3 I get energized day 5 was time to run.

I like doing stuff like 4 x 400 without really pushing it Fun Stuff!

Also enjoy a 10 or 20 minute temp in the dunes barefoot so that is what I am going to do

Feb 3rd 5 miles easy

Feb 4,5,6,7 OFF

Feb 8 20 minutes barefoot dunes easy felt good hour later jogged over the the high school track thinking about 5k tempo at 6:20 or so. Warmed up with a 1:52 400 then

1:32 HR 136 jogged 200 Hey lets do 400s

1:27 HR 156 jogged 200

1:23 HR 162 jogged 200

1:17 HR 180

Glad I did these.

Plan is to just maintain enjoy and look forward to one race may be 3 or 4 ;) this spring

I managed to get in another 50 mile week that was not quite according to the training plan but finished in an entertaining fashion. I started off with some moderately hard running, got tired and took a rest day, and then caught up on mileage with a longer run Saturday and a 5K "race" this morning.

M- 8 hills 8:35/mi ave

T- 7 walk with about 150M stride every 1/2 m

W- 8 hills 8:00/mi ave

Th- 7 walk with about 150M stride every 1/2 m

F- rest

S- 12 hills 8:24/mi ave

Su- 8 mi with 5 w.u. 8:43/mi ave, Valentine 5k 22:01 (7:41, 7:00, 6:40, 0:40)

The 5k was a team activity where the Jamul Toads "toadipede" was revived after about a 15+ year hiatus. We had 13 guys, including one former AR holder and a couple of former college AA's, none younger than 52 (and none older than me) connected by a fabric costume looking like a geriatric centipede. We managed to complete the race with no accidents and no dropouts. A good time was had by all. There was minor grumbling about the fact that the front of the toadipede broke 22 minutes but the rear did not. After some post-race beers there was discussion of doing the 10K next year.

Checking in after a busy week at work that prevented me from posting about Tallahassee. My race went OK there. I felt like I was running tired but finished 3rd in my AG in 30:24 behind two great runners (Sabra Harvey, Jeanette Groesz) from Portland. That's right where I should have finished and I was 30 seconds faster than in 2018 so I was happy. What I was disappointed with was that I had the exact same retching issue right before the finish that I did in Spokane. I've got too figure that problem out. Sorry I didn't visit longer with CM and that I didn't get to meet Cush.

The best part of the Tallahassee trip was watching the women's open race. It was a stacked field with pro's like Molly Huddle, Shelby Houlihan, Stephanie Bruce, and Kellyn Taylor all trying to see what they could do. Shelby ran a great race and smoked the rest of the field with a blazing finish to win by a lot. I love watching the pro's race at Club XC and at XC Nationals and I wish we had more opportunities to learn from them.

Yesterday, I ran a hilly 10 miler with a goal of breaking the SC state record of 1:25:29. My plan was to just hold an 8:30 pace and see if I could finish strong. For some reason, I felt good and actually had to hold myself back. I'd run this race twice before so I knew where I'd be mentally challenged on the hills and where I could pick up time on the downhills. I ran with music for the first time, since I knew I'd be running most of the way by myself, and I think it really help me to keep an even pace. I knew I was ahead of the record at the half-way mark and pushed the second half of the race to finish in 1:22:15 (8:13 pace). I guess I'm becoming more of a half-marathon type...

Sun: off, driving back from Tallahassee

Mon: 10.1 Long run, 1700yd swim

Tue: 7.1 Easy

Weds: 8.0 Track (3 x mile @ 10mi pace), 2200yd swim

Thu: 5.0 Easy

Fri: off - too much work

Sat: 13 including 10 mi race

Next up for me is Indoor Nationals. I'm signed up for the mile, 3000m, pole vault, shot put, and weight throw. That will be interesting!

Nice 19.9 miler amkelley. Couldn’t a gone just 0.1 further?

lucKY: Wishing you and your wife speedy recovery.

Tue = 4 miles on road with 8X1 min push & 2 min jog interval

Thr = 3 miles easy rails to trails cinder

Sat = 5K race. 22nd out of 154, 1st M60. 23:58, 7:43 pace

Sun = 4 miles medium/hard push rocky trail

I had my first race as a Sexagenarian. The biggest challenge was the weather, as it was about 29 with a 10mph breeze. I get cold easily so I wore 3 layers on top and tights, which I hate. It was surprisingly crowded with 154 people in the 5K and 185 in the 10 mile. The groups ran together until the 3-mile mark. I did almost no extra warmup as I had to park about 2/3 of a mile from the start, which made staging clothing and prep difficult. Plus, at these paces, frankly, you don’t need much warmup. The course had 12 turns.

I just set my Garmin for AVE Pace and kept it around 7:44. The first mile is fairly flat and I was picking through people, children mostly and hit 7:41. Mile two was about 75 feet downhill and I let the hill do the work knowing we’d be coming back up it, and hit it at 7:37. I felt totally fine finishing uphill at 7:54 for a 7:43 ave pace. There was only one other guy in my AG so the term “win” is relative. No tweaks, pings or wheezing in the cold air. I feel totally 100% solid.

The last three weeks I’ve been running totally flat sections with no turns at about the same pace. So, maintaining that pace with some turns, cold breeze, picking through people, and a small hill was a pretty decent improvement. My last race, in August, was 16 seconds per mile slower….so I’m heading in the right direction!

Have a good week folks!

Rtype wrote:

Nice 19.9 miler amkelley. Couldn’t a gone just 0.1 further?

Here's the story. I'm a dinosaur who doesn't run with a GPS or anything. I usually plan my routes ahead of time using Google Maps, and when it's a training run (so I'm not completely mentally trashed) and on familiar ground, I have no problem remembering all the turns in the route I've planned. But yesterday I had to make a couple of small adjustments on the fly, using streets to avoid parts of a bike path that were flooded from the overnight rain. I thought that the adjustments were roughly equidistant but when I remeasured the route I actually ran it came out 0.1 short. I was a little bummed by that, but figure it's still 20 miles rounded to the nearest mile...

Rtype, congratulations on a fine race your first time out as a 60+!

I hate tights too, and I'm pretty sure I would have raced in shorts under those conditions, but I'm reasonably cold tolerant for a warm-weather denizen.

amkelley wrote:

Rtype, congratulations on a fine race your first time out as a 60+!

I hate tights too, and I'm pretty sure I would have raced in shorts under those conditions, but I'm reasonably cold tolerant for a warm-weather denizen.

Thanks, and reporting 19.9 instead of 20 takes a high level of integrity.

Upcoming goal races - USATF 8K and World Masters 8K XC and half marathon next month

Got a good week following the travel and race last week

71 (okay, okay, 70.9) miles in 9 workouts. Three on the treadmill due to scheduling (get it done early)or extreme cold and wind -9 ambient and -20 windchills mid-week. But 50 of those miles were outside, on the snow, and most at sub freezing temps. Yeah, yeah, I know. Getting soft at 60.

Workouts included some so-so threshold reps on Wednesday (3X 1 to 1.1 mile at 6:22-25 pace (muddy course), and some pickups; yesterday had best workout in months with 7X 800 in 2:56 average (1 min recovery) and 3X 300--elevation 5500', may be an nth tier geek of a runner but what the heck I'll take it; and 16.2 mile long run today (kind of cold out, 20 F, for the first hour or so) avg. 8:01.

One thing I find about this message thread is how much I glean that winds up being useful in my own training. Here are some recent nuggets ...

So, I did this yesterday, and I must say I felt as ready for a race in 14-degree conditions as I could possibly have been. (That's 14F, Mopac.)

I did too, Igy, because I need to do something other than the 5K. Yesterday I guessed wrong on pace, again, wound up running alone for most of the race, drifting from my 5:45 goal in the first mile to 6-something at the end, when I was caught by the top female finisher.

It's an intense, unforgiving race. Plus, it's all I've run for three years. It's time to try something else. One of KC's premier half marathons is coming up in nine weeks, so I'm going to do that, using a Matt Fitzgerald plan.

Thanks RF. I'm converting the Fitzgerald plan to a 9-day (hard-easy-easy) cycle. I'm going to take a cue from you and make one day each cycle a cross train or rest day.

And then two weeks after my half, I'll pace my wife in the city's biggest 4-miler. OGII, I'm going to give her this as something she can do as often as she feels like it. She has never done speed work and is just learning strides.

I had to look this up ... I knew it wasn't Caddyshack:

KC Geezer,

As in most things you learn more from the struggles. I am ruminating about my first post treatment CT Scan. The scan is Valentines Day with the meeting with the oncologist President’s Day. Valentine’s Day now has a different feel for us. Not bad at all; actually more meaningful. My wife and I learned the name of my disease that day a year ago. I really don’t think I have scan anxiety or what they call scanxiety. I have formulated an approach however. Like one’s approach to a big race. After February 18th there will still be bills to be paid, professional responsibilities to be handled, household chores, etc. In my years coaching I made that point to the athletes before a big competition. Life will go on regardless of the outcome.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Life will go on regardless of the outcome.

Yeah, I know. Wife and I had biopsies that came back positive exactly one year apart, that was almost two decades ago. She got treated quickly and efficiently, and I had ... a journey. This weekend she was like, "You got outkicked at the finish by a 23-year-old." So, I get her point. And yours. It's the same point -- perspective, man.

Hey, I forgot to mention that after months of being on various pharmacies' waiting lists, I walked into a Walgreens this week and scored a Shingrix shot! Now there's a win.

amkelley wrote:

Fortunately the stars of weather and energy aligned with me Saturday morning, and I ran 19.9 miles in 2:58 (3:55 marathon pace).

I wish I could have a training run like this, even for once. I could never run 20 miles (or 19.9) at my marathon pace, and probably never will. If I could run the second half of my 20 miler at MP, I consider myself for ready for a race. Of course, each runner is different. But this is pretty impressive.

My week.

M: off.

T-SA: 7 miles.

SU: 11 miles.

I avoided freezing rain outside, and did my "long" run on a treadmill. I did a modest pickup at the end, but only about 8:20/mile pace. Still, the longest run since September and 46 miles was the most volume since September as well. So I consider this as progress. Now I hope to add a bit of quality in one of my midweek runs.

Rtype wrote:

Sat = 5K race. 22nd out of 154, 1st M60. 23:58, 7:43 pace

Have a good week folks!

I just wonder if the 5k races in the US are ordinary races or is the habit of parkruns also finding it ways to America?

From Norway I also wish You all a fine week!

Afterword:

I am 58, having 2 weeks holiday at Las Playitas, Fuerteventura, the Canaries, very nice summerweather, planning to do my first ever two 40 miles/weeks in a row, first week done, and all is fine, I saw someone running 19.9 miles at 3:55 marathon speed, I did the same saturday, except just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), but I will get the same milage and tempo, eventually.

SprintTriathlon wrote:

Rtype wrote:

Sat = 5K race. 22nd out of 154, 1st M60. 23:58, 7:43 pace

Have a good week folks!

I just wonder if the 5k races in the US are ordinary races or is the habit of parkruns also finding it ways to America?

From Norway I also wish You all a fine week!

I can only speak for the mid-Atlantic area of the US but unfortunately we are about 10 years behind the parkrun scene. It took mopac (AUS) to explain to me what the heck parkrun even was! We do have a great deal of 5K's to raise money for various causes. I think smoking cigarettes and doing narcotics seem to be the primary pastime in the mid-Atlantic...

How about someone from the left coast? parkrun?