50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

*Week 401*

Howdy, 50+ers! Thanks, y'all for getting things going; sorry for the late start again. Good to see some good training reports already today. Totally agree with people that I just need to get moving and get some consistency going, however, I'm still trudging through my winter of discontent. Only managed two runs this week: Wednesday and Thursday (3.1 miles each). My back finally felt good enough to run Tuesday, but I couldn't find a sufficient break in my disjointed schedule for the day to go (the crappy weather didn't help.) Would have run Friday and/or Saturday, too, but I didn't want a repeat of last week's back debacle, as I was seated in day-long meetings both days. I opted for two more 3+ mile brisk post-meeting walks, instead, to go along with last Sunday's walk, so all wasn't wasted. Thankfully, the promotion portfolio work has been completed; and hopefully, the projected continued sucky weather will eventually abate.

Echoing others' props to SCgal on the State AG Record! Very cool! Glad to hear the great news, Igy!

That's it from the rain-soaked Bluegrass. Hope you've had a good week and will have a solid week coming up. Who's doing National Masters Indoors?

All the Best!

lucKY: Sounds like it’s time to invest in a home treadmill. Really worth it.

Tue = 4 on TM with 3 at 7:30 pace

Thr = 3 miles easy road

Sat = 5K race. 11th out of 124, 1st M60. 23:50, 7:40 pace

Sun = 4 miles medium/hard TM

I had my 2nd race @ M60. The weather was very unpleasant. Mixed rain/sleet/snow and 37 degrees. The course was on our greenway which is almost universally flat. Except this one had a nasty little 40-foot hill at the 1.5 mark and then the 2.2 mark coming back. Very little warmup, but, again, at these slow paces (yes, I am fully aware of how slow I am) hardly seems necessary. I was happy with my pacing and how I felt. Just seemed to feel better and better with splits of 7:43, 7:41, and 7:36. Not much drama to it. I was picking off people who went out too fast most of the way. Except I heard these steady footsteps splashing behind me and slowly catching me. Dude passed and I saw he had grey hair and grey beard. So, he helped pull me along a bit thinking maybe this old-looking guy was in my AG. Turns out he was 40. HA!

To show how serious I was I wore a Pikachu hat, complete with the floppy ears. It turned out to be a bit of a…um…charge….as everyone was rooting for Pikachu!

So, I improved 8 seconds over last week and the courses were dead-on, 3.11 miles. The best part is I feel totally solid. That’s so nice.

Have a good week folks!

Still rolling along here. about 22 miles. Been running less because my quads keep tightning up. Feel good otherwise. Did a mile race in 6:25 today - got my heart rate to it's highest post PE at 192. Kicked well with a 41 last 200.

Michelle continues to kick ass - 2:29.96 age grades out to 2:08 and 88%

Looking forward to Winston Salem

SCgal wrote:

Maybe your USATF association keeps track of the records?

I don't know of any usatf associations near me...which is why I've been on a Michigan team for tne past 10 years...

L2b... I'm thinking I need a road trip to Lexington, a few beers at West End, and just talk you into running again.

Rtype: agree with the treadmill. I'm not apologizing for getting in quality workouts in all this shittty weather we've been having.

My week? Solid 55 miles. Tuesday strides at 5:50, Thursday 3.5 tempo at 6:31, today's 13 at 7:39... Finished strong in the low 7's the last 4.

This weekend's runs were really iffy to even get in. We had our 3 year old granddaughter friday night which always complicates getting my run in. (Just not important to anyone but me...) Turns out my wife wakes me at 5am Saturday saying our daughter just had a baby boy! Our 4th grandchild. Kind of weird because they just faced time with her before bed and nothing was going on. A lot happened after we went to bed! So we were busy this weekend. I was able to sneak in a long run this morning after my wife and Daphne went up to visit Megan this morning.

I decided against a race next weekend. Looks like March 9th will be my first run of the season.

With all that being said.... I'm happy with how I'm progressing. I think I'm in a good place for now. I'm gaining more confidence that this will be a decent summer and fall of racing.

Dave

Y'all are all so right about just putting one foot in front of the other every day. I'm definitely out of shape. Am grateful to not have a scale. But do have a mirror. And boy did it show when I toed the line completely unprepared at my one and only Indoor race this season at the wonky UP track. A screaming hammies 2:25. Case in point for sharpness, 2:18 on the same track last year. At least I was in a state of consistent pain/stiffness with a 72.5 and another 72.5. All in front of the high school kids I coach. I only hope I didn't embarrass them. I don't think so because they ran great and even greater four days later at UW HS Invite. Soph girl ran 5:05.55 for the mile. 3 boys ran 9:00, 9:03, 9:27 for 3000. Coaches Joy!

So I'm fat and out of shape. Time to do something about it, shitty weather or not. No More Excuses. I have all the tools, all the knowledge, and all y'all to inspire me. As you do more than you know every week. Thanks.

KP

Well Hayward Classic was canceled for 2019.

Flash Mile Today Presidents Day at South Eugene 11am

fine print show up and run -)

All these years of training every cycle I knew eventually I would become

OVERDONE FRIED INJURED SICK NEEDING TIME OFF.

That sucks !

Is this time is different ?

Is fast and healthy possible?

Hey Charlie Brown wanna kick the ball?

Too soon to say but Niko-Niko , MAF and bare foot soft sand is my game plan.

http://www.championseverywhere.com/niko-niko-pace-gentle-path-success/

After 16 weeks most runs at MAF building from 20 to 40 minutes a day I feel good.

Charlie wrote:

Well Hayward Classic was canceled for 2019.

Flash Mile Today Presidents Day at South Eugene 11am

fine print show up and run -)

All these years of training every cycle I knew eventually I would become

OVERDONE FRIED INJURED SICK NEEDING TIME OFF.

That sucks !

Is this time is different ?

Is fast and healthy possible?

Probably not fast with a significant injury history...especially not into middle-age. Healthy - definitely with a clean, healthy diet (organic & well balanced), the right supplements and non-weight bearing cardio & plenty of strength training. That's the easy part for middle-agers who are motivated in seeking optimum health & longevity. The problem is for some of us we want to run because it's fun and to compete because that's a big treat. But for a high-impact activity like running - if you don't have the good genetics against chronic injuries, and general wear & tear, you can't train which means you can't race. And if you can't race there's no glory and we just become another sad story. ?

I'm throughly convinced (as well as the emerging scientific evidence on this) that there's a strong genetic factor that prevents injuries. I see too many guys & gals my age and older (I'm late 50s) that can train consistently (and that's the key - consistent training as you get older) without sustaining any injuries or minor injuries that can be rehabilitated quickly.

I've been running for almost 35 yrs and sustained quite a few minor injuries as a highly competitive younger runner that were never debilitating or required much downtime. But over the last several years nothing but major injuries (torn tendons & muscles) requiring major downtime and literally hours a day of aggressive rehab (it's enough to make you want to the throw the towel in and take up underwater basket weaving! ?). I'm now dealing with a grade 3 distal hamstring tear sustained while doing speed work in prep for an upcoming spring race (6-8 wks...if I'm lucky). So, another torn muscle to add to the many others...all in the name of wanting to run.

I'd just like to also put in a congrats to SCgal for the state record. The site that matters in checking out such records to me is

www.staterunningrecords.com

. The State of Franklin Track Club deserve a big congrats for maintaining/supporting it, and their webmaster transferred a large amount of Missouri records for me to get the MO single age records up and running. I do have posted age group records at

www.mararunning.org

and at

www.kctrack.org

, but the single age records seem to get the most attention from runners around the state.

Not trying to blow my horn on this, but for anyone visiting any of the states where these records are kept and posted, the staterunningrecords.com link is a real treasure and certainly hope it's kept up by the SFTC in the many years and records to come. Keeping up the records requires only a couple hours a week on average, but some weeks can mean 5 or 6 hours to review and update (such as on "Turkey Trot" weekends).

As someone who is approaching age 68, I do wonder who will step in for me when I need to step away and put my own house in order.

Can I just say how unfortunate it is that the KC Track Club has decided to change its name back to KC Running Club, which means that it shares the first TEN LETTERS with KC Running Company??

Shoveling out my driveway on Thursday, so that the granite guy could wheel in the new countertops ... and then shoveling it out all over again on Saturday ... constituted my cross training for the week. One day snowed out entirely, so just 33 miles but 20% medium/hard. This week, provided things return to normal, will be 46 miles and 9% medium/hard.

I'm getting used to doing things on a 9-day cycle. I like having two easy days between harder workouts, but it means I really have to think in terms of "what I did this fortnight" rather than "what I did this week."

training post-tallahassee has gone well, but not sure of racing plans yet. was considering virginia beach 8k, but it'd involve too much travel and missing an early season track meet for coaching, and it's hard to expect my athletes to be committed to every meet if i'm not. i'll probably stick to some local sunday road races--there's a local road mile in march, as well as the brea 8k, which was the national championships for that distance for a couple of years, and both these races would provide a nice lead-up to carlsbad in april. not sure as of yet whether i'll hit the track at all this season; i'll see what the next month brings me...

i read the niko niko article with great interest--i was completely unfamiliar with this philosophy, though i've anecdotally heard many examples of great runners who've logged in slow miles for the majority of their miles. i'd be curious how effective this training would be for 1500/5k distances, where your slow twitch is less relevant. i've also found that as my racing times have slowed with age, it seems my recovery run paces have slowed even more. it certainly seems like i'm logging in a lot of niko niko miles recently--maybe if i ran longer distance races i'd see the benefit, but it hasn't seemed to help my 10k/8k cross country results, nor my 5k road races. i've also found that the slower i run, the less biomechanically sound i am, as opposed to what the article professes.

good luck to those training for and running masters indoors--i'm jealous of those of you who have local indoor meets to both watch and participate in, even though my relationship with indoors has always been a little love-hate...

carpe crepusculum,

cush

We race because it's what we do. Finishing first or last is immaterial; toeing the line and feeling the energy and trepidation flow through our body as we gaze ahead, feeling confident in our training and giving it our all, regardless of outcome, we laid it all on the line. Crossing the line knowing we have expended our last gasp of air, and then congratulate our fellow competitors knowing they gave it their all. There is no finer sensation competing against oneself, and giving it your best that day.

Each and everyone of us inspires the other, regardless of outcome.

We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I chose the easy path to the same spot 5:52 Bam!

Next year I am hoping to increase participation. Winning the Inaugural Presidents Day Flash Mile was a great honor;)

End of last lap video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XENnJjhrdGb1NhlizfZm1gvJFhZNz4xU/view?usp=sharing

Oops try again

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Id7qMgou6DO-eVHUWzlbc3xnpmywbB4A

Greetings and salutations to a fine group of runners. Just getting started here; thanks to KPdx and SCgal for their words of wisdom and inspiration on such a fine forum to discuss running. Recovering from quintuple bypass surgery after being revived three times via AED devices after a race gives new perspective to enjoying the sport that I love. The recovery is hard as there are few who will recommend competitive racing for someone with my history. Raced the 8K XC Championships the other week after bleeding for 6 hours the day before, and then bleeding again during the race. Not a great race result; although, ecstatic to toe the line with some of the greats! Such is life when you're on extra strength blood thinners and other medications and your nose will not stop bleeding. There are still issues to work through, and I plan on competing at the Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships in two weeks and competing far into the future. Working through a serious hammy/glute issue, so track work tomorrow could be difficult. Gym work today, and 300 meter repeats tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

amkelley wrote:

I may have to plan my longest runs as multi-loops passing by the functional drinking fountain at the dog park several times, particularly if the weather ever starts to warm up. That sort of sucks but i'm not willing to carry a useful amount of water, nor to spend the time pre-run to cache water bottles out on the course.

I do my "long runs" on a 1.78km loop course at a local park. I store a drink bottle (or two) in my car, and take drink as often as I need (which is every 2-3 laps in summer, every 5-7 laps in winter). In summer, I also store an ice bottle in my car to cool the back of my neck during the drink stop, and pour the melted water on my head during my final stop. There is another advantage to this approach. In case something happens and I cannot keep running, I have less than 1km to walk to get back to my car.

About fueling during marathons, I ran the first five marathons with only Gatorade / Powerade that the race organizers provided. Then on my 6th marathon, I failed to eat big breakfast that I normally eat. (I eat big breakfast all the time, whether I am running or not.) So I decided to take a chance with the gels provided on the course. (At mile 9, 15 and 21.) The race itself didn't go particularly well. But I discovered that I was very good at eating gels while running, and my stomach was perfectly fine with it. So I started taking gels at every marathon even after eating big breakfast. Does it make any difference? Probably not, given how the first five marathons went. But apparently it does not hurt.

So here was my week.

M: off.

T-SA: 7 miles.

SU: 12.2 miles.

I did a "pick-up" at the end of 7 miles run on Thursday, but only 8:15 for the last mile, and 8:06 pace on the last 1/4 mile. I find it hard to run fast on the new treadmill my gym introduced about a year ago, and I am still getting used to it. So for the moment, I am going with the effort level rather than the pace for this little pick-up.

Sunday's run was 11 laps of the loop course mentioned above. 10min for the first lap and 8:23 for the last lap (about 7:32/mile pace). My longest run since August and the fastest finish since August as well. So I consider this as progress.

Congrats on the record. Quite an accomplishment.

socalcush wrote:

i read the niko niko article with great interest--i was completely unfamiliar with this philosophy, though i've anecdotally heard many examples of great runners who've logged in slow miles for the majority of their miles. i'd be curious how effective this training would be for 1500/5k distances, where your slow twitch is less relevant. i've also found that as my racing times have slowed with age, it seems my recovery run paces have slowed even more. it certainly seems like i'm logging in a lot of niko niko miles recently--maybe if i ran longer distance races i'd see the benefit, but it hasn't seemed to help my 10k/8k cross country results, nor my 5k road races. i've also found that the slower i run, the less biomechanically sound i am, as opposed to what the article professes.

cush

Been doing niko niko, MAF and some traditional easy for the last 4 months building from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Also 2 5k tempos 80 percent mhr reserve and 3 sessions of repeats(4 x 400) with long recoveries.

The deal is running slower than 60 percent mhr is considered junk by most of the current training methods.

Ed Whitlock never endorsed any methods but he did most of his runs much lower than 60 percent of mhr and still had very good speed down to 1500. So who knows but for me so far so good as in I am running about the same mile time and feeling much better no aches or pains every run is about as hard as going for a walk!

Welcome wregI4! You have lots to contribute here so it's great to see you posting. I'll be at Indoor Nationals too running the mile and 3,000m but I'll need the most support when I try pole vault, shot put. and weight throw. Don't laugh too hard!

Dave,

Here's the link to your Indiana USATF Association:

http://www.indiana.usatf.org/

. I thought maybe they keep track of Indiana running records. As far as I know, the SC records are maintained by people who volunteer and may have nothing too do with USATF . Maybe Indiana has the same setup?

Glad to hear you're back in the groove.