50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Really, I’m up next? But it’s 9:30 p.m. ......... in Berlin.

There’s a great public 400m track about two blocks from where we’re staying. Lots of people are there every time we go there. I don’t mind running in and out of lanes dodging people. (Dodging bikes on the sidewalk, on the other hand....)

I’m not going to revive the “is walking running” debate, but here’s my week, and I’m fine with it.

Monday - no running, 1.7mi walking

Tuesday - no running, 1.6mi walking

Wednesday - no running, 9.5mi walking

Thursday - 8.78mi running, 4.7mi walking

Friday - 7.37mi running, including 20 minutes at T, 5.5mi walking

Saturday - 8.32mi running, 5.3mi walking

Sunday - 4.58mi running, 6.1mi walking

Today I did a workout I’ll probably repeat Monday and Tuesday: 3-4 miles at the high end of my “easy run” effort (which I define as 4/4 breathing). That will be my strategy for the first 3-4 miles of the Edinburgh half. My mile times were 6:13, 6:03, 5:47 on a closed track, and I felt great after.

Next time you hear from me, I’ll know if this strategy worked or not.

AMKelley, two words for ye: beet burger.

61 miles in 8:18 over 7 days

Workouts included 4X approx 1.05K reps, followed by 0.7K. These were at low 6s/mile pace to mix us up on measurements. Incrementally better than the previous week. And 21 min tempo on Saturday, hills in it. Did a few short speed reps at end of both workouts. 22K run today.

At the beginning of the week I was kicking myself for packing away the winter gear, but temps have moderated late week and I’ve been down to one topside layer for my last two outings. Knocking on wood as I report yet another 20+ mile week of actual jogging. I haven’t been sidelined by an injury for months at this point, though I’m a bit sore today. I noticed a little back soreness - likely from yard work and repairs done this week - just before stepping out of the door for today’s jog. It didn’t bother me much then, but it was quite sore later. Hopefully this won’t be the one to spoil my nice little healthy streak. Meanwhile the intensity has increased via some longer fartlek and additional post-jog exercises. Life is good.

Sun: off

Mon: 51’ jog; body wt ex

Tues: off

Wed: 52’ jog w/ fartlek (3 x 440y on/off); body wt ex

Thu: off

Fri: 51’ jog; body wt ex

Sat: off

Best to most.

M59

5'11" 179 lbs

Training status: Rebuilding

Goal: 15K in August (11 weeks)

May 13-19, 2019

M- 10 mins elliptical; 40 mins treadmill @ 5%

Tu- 15 mins elliptical; 35 mins treadmill @ 5%

W- 5.0 miles @ 8:53/mi

Th- Bike 25.1 miles @ 19.3 mph

Fr- 10.0 miles (trail, untimed)

Sa- off

Su- Bike 26.2 miles @ 19.4 mph

TOTAL: 22.1 MILES

This was my highest-mileage week since December. I'm happy with the bike efforts; I'm not a strong cyclist, and to average faster than 19 mph is a pretty big deal for me.

Weight is still a big issue. But here I am, drinking a Big Ditch Brewery IPA as pork chops sizzle on the grill. Discipline is a struggle for me. Still, it's the first summery day in these parts, and life is short.

Be well, friends.

KCgeezer wrote:

Today I did a workout I’ll probably repeat Monday and Tuesday: 3-4 miles at the high end of my “easy run” effort (which I define as 4/4 breathing). That will be my strategy for the first 3-4 miles of the Edinburgh half. My mile times were 6:13, 6:03, 5:47 on a closed track, and I felt great after.

Next time you hear from me, I’ll know if this strategy worked or not.

AMKelley, two words for ye: beet burger.

Dang, that's some workout. At my best, 28 years ago, a workout with miles in 6:13, 6:03, and 5:47 was hard. Now I couldn't sprint that fast for even 100 meters.

OK, so I guess I'll have to learn something about beets. I am very skeptical about most of these food fads but i'm certainly willing to keep an open mind. I have access to pretty much all of the scientific literature through my university, so if there have been any actual scientific studies on beets I can find them.

Good luck in Edinburgh!

Be careful...

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/do-beets-raise-the-risk-of-kidney-stones/

“They are quite high in oxalates and may promote kidney-stone formation in susceptible individuals.”

Are you susceptible to kidney stones? Almost no one is.

So add it to your balanced diet and don’t let random news reports scare you

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a good week.

A few quick comments on some posts:

Old Guy II – I really appreciate your comment “barely hanging on for threshold runs with my son” – I feel like that is my typical weekly experience : )

LucKY2b – Glad to read that you are getting back into your running… probably end of the semester helps!!

So… for my week – My son and I entered week 1 of our 2 week recovery phase… hamstrings finally loosening up toward end of week.

Sunday – 2.5 miles at a really really slow cooldown pace

Monday – a little of everything – 3 miles light jogging, a little bit of stationary bike, badmitten with my son.

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – 800 meter warm up; played basketball, Aussie rules football, and soccer with my son; 800 meter cooldown

Thursday – Rest

Friday – Rest

Saturday – 2.75 miles at a really really slow cooldown pace

KCgeezer wrote:

“They are quite high in oxalates and may promote kidney-stone formation in susceptible individuals.”

Are you susceptible to kidney stones? Almost no one is.

So add it to your balanced diet and don’t let random news reports scare you

How does one know if they are susceptible to kidney stones? I know a few people who have suffered through them and had no prior knowledge that they were at risk.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my brother is an example of this. He took a beet juice supplement with the hope that it would counteract his high blood pressure and allow him to get off his meds and eliminate their undesirable side effects. Guess what? It worked! Thanks to the beet supplement his blood pressure dropped to the point where he was able to get off the meds. Hooray!

But the story doesn’t end there. Suddenly one day he was in such severe pain that he couldn’t even drive himself to the hospital. When he was finally able to get treatment, an ultrasound (or whatever imaging technique is used for this) revealed he had a blockage caused by a large kidney stone. It was too large to pass naturally, so the doc had to go in to get it (I’ll spare you the details). No fun! The test results on the stone and his history pointed to the beet extract as the culprit.

Unfortunately the story doesn’t end there. The imaging results also indicated the presence of a second larger stone. It’s only a matter of time before that one causes problems and will have to be surgically removed.

As I wrote in my previous post, my point is simply to “be careful”. Yes beets and beet supplements help with blood pressure, but some people may experience a nasty side effect. Don’t over do it and be sure to stay well hydrated. Good luck.

Well, I have had a mix of good and some other. My last week was a high for the year of 31 miles, finishing with my KC Corp Challenge 1/2 marathon. More like 13.0 miles, as I am quite sure they marked the turn-around for a different course on this out and back. Anyhow, running only my 3rd run of the year over 10 miles, and it being my longest run of the year, approached it cautiously, esp. given that it's a very downhill first two miles and so very uphill last 2. Finished with a 2:13:27 for 6th place in the 65+. Sure wish they had a 70+ as three 70+ men beat me and I could take home a bronze medal then! Ah, well, that's racing, they were faster than me. Best part for me was that I finished less than 5 minutes before a deluge hit, with a lot of lightning, too, so I made a fast trip to the car. The toughest part? Either the last two miles, in which I had to walk briefly on the steepest parts (and not much slowdown, given the hills!) or the getting out of my car at home and being hit with a horrible hamstring cramp. So imagine one foot out of the car, one foot in, and rain coming down! Probably looked pretty laughable.

I don't like taking days off, so my last few days before the 1/2 were 3 to 3.5 mile runs. I started quite cautiously with an 10:38 first mile, and my last mile (uphill) was only marginally slower at 11:10. My best miles from 7 through 10 were 9:35 to 9:59, so I feel that, for the course, I ran quite even. Actually my split at 1/2 way was 66:36, I remember now, so pretty happy with my pacing. Only ran a 4 minute warm-up, given that my "long run" fitness is such that I wanted every spare milligram of glycogen I could keep. I did take a couple of Huma chocolate gels, which I think helped keep my brain functioning better when my body started saying it was getting tired, and so I was able to battle the fatigue pretty successfully. Now I just need to up my training with longer runs and those dreaded hills before my next 1/2 in October.

And anyone who can send positive energy and/or prayers to my lovely wife, please do. Last week her Mom fell and broke her hip at the Asst'd Living facility, so she was surgically pinned and sent to skilled nursing, not an easy recovery when with Alzheimers. So my wife is spending day AND night with her to try to add to her recovery safely. Exhausting! I hope to see her sometime yet this month, and this has seriously limited her fitness also.

So let me get this straight. You know a guy who took an extremely concentrated form of something that is risky for the 5% of the population that develops kidney stones, instead of simply adding regular old beets — in non concentrated form — to his regular diet, and he got kidney stones?

Amk stated that she doesn’t eat beets at all. I told her a great way to do that and you basically told her to stay the course because of a danger connected to taking a supplement that’s the equivalent of a shitload of beets.

KCgeezer wrote:

So let me get this straight. You know a guy who took an extremely concentrated form of something that is risky for the 5% of the population that develops kidney stones, instead of simply adding regular old beets — in non concentrated form — to his regular diet, and he got kidney stones?

Amk stated that she doesn’t eat beets at all. I told her a great way to do that and you basically told her to stay the course because of a danger connected to taking a supplement that’s the equivalent of a shitload of beets.

The link I posted was clearly in reply to another one advocating the consumption of beet juice, a concentrated form of beets. My post was simply a warning about a possible side effect. Why wouldn't you want anyone to know about that?

Mike,

Nice 1/2 marathon. My mother fell at age 93 and had the same pin in hip procedure. Recovered fine and was back walking, a dementia patient so she would forget to use her recommended walker. She kept falling to the point she became bed ridden the last 16 months of her life. Good thing is she had no sense of time. Best to your wife on this.

Igy

Inspiring posts by y’all this weekend. Thank you. Always lifts. Always educates.

My silence has been selfish as I spent 4 weeks with the right calf strain. Y’all all know it just takes time to heal. 3-6 weeks at our age. Anyway I’m out of the woods and still believe I can race Senior Nats in ABQ in 4 weeks based on last week’s training...

>40 mile week of volume

>3 mile tempo 6:59-6:49-6:42

>4x400 84-77 4x200 37-35

>2x800 2:39-37 3x400 80-76 2x200 34-33

Long way to go to have a shot at the medal stand - particularly at the old end of AGrp.

Nothing finer than racing though.

I know I know typically risky business but hey isn’t it just as crazy as Mike F running at Oh-3-Hundred to keep it going? Ooh-Rah right Mike?

best of luck to your wife. Caregiving is not easy to say the least.

just back from very enjoyable visit to our daughter in Columbia SC with side trip to the beach near Charleston. It's already quite warm there but still manageable/pleasant for running first thing in the morning.

M 1:20 + 30:00 x-t

tu 1:40 double

W 2:15 w/ a few random pickups

th 1:10 + 1:00 x-t

f 1:35

Sa 1:20 with 16 X 1:00 hard (1:30 recovery)

Su 1:30 x-t

have a great week,

Dave

thanks Igy, KP and dhaaga for your good thoughts and wishes for my lovely wife. Her mom gets the staples out tomorrow (can't believe those are still used!).

Still have some soreness, but we have rains here in KC all week, so won't be so motivated to try something hard (translate: crazy). Next race is the KCCC track 1 mile on June 3, recovery is key, but sure won't have any wheels under me like KP will!

My question, what do you all like to do your hard efforts in? If I am fit, I have several NIKE's, LunaRacers, Zoom Fly and Speed Rival (would love to try the Zoom Flyknit but I would get killed when I came home with them). If I am not in great shape, I'll go with either a Pegasus (still have some miles left on a pair of 33's) or a Brooks Launch 4 (I think they are about done).

My training is done in Brooks Adrenaline (the new ones use only a guiderail for stability and so I don't notice it) or Ghost or Levitate, NIKE Vomero, HOKA Clifton's or Speedgoat (for off-road trails). I might be a bit scattered! :)

Working in a run specialty store temps me greatly but also gives me knowledge of some lovely new options.

KCgeezer wrote:

“They are quite high in oxalates and may promote kidney-stone formation in susceptible individuals.”

Are you susceptible to kidney stones? Almost no one is.

So add it to your balanced diet and don’t let random news reports scare you

Oxalates are far more toxic and pernicious than merely causing stones (as serious as that condition is). They can penetrate and affect every tissue in the body:

High-oxalate foods should not be eaten. Period.

YMMV wrote:

KCgeezer wrote:

“They are quite high in oxalates and may promote kidney-stone formation in susceptible individuals.”

Are you susceptible to kidney stones? Almost no one is.

So add it to your balanced diet and don’t let random news reports scare you

Oxalates are far more toxic and pernicious than merely causing stones (as serious as that condition is). They can penetrate and affect every tissue in the body:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOTMJYbDQok&t=1827s

High-oxalate foods should not be eaten. Period.

0/10 ?That's bogus and you know it! It's amazing how you think you know everything about nutrition - well you don't!