50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Did the cardiologist suggest a 24 or 48 hour Holter monitor? You could then run your hard effort then. Perhaps you have something going on with exercise induced asthma, though, too. I think I'd continue to pursue what is happening, medically. That isn't normal.

Still struggling with a sore lower back. Going to see a PT in a week and a half, that is supposed to be a very sports-oriented clinic. Did my first 3/4 mile run today and it got stiff again afterwards. Boy, even that 8 minute run felt wonderful, but am very concerned about why my back isn't better, even with nightly stretches, etc.

Hope everyone's having a good long run or rest day! I remember those days (long run) well. 62, 6'0", 193. I'm wlaking four days, hard eliptical for 30 - 40 min (hr 127), weights 3 days. I feel good and everythings normal. Really missed the running and took up writing, wrote first novel, found a publisher. Big week coming up for me. Book launch party this Wednesday, book available October 1 (Amazon etc). Think some of you all might enjoy; two marathoners, one an Olympian and one that wants to be and the miles that take them to a second chance to race and life. Good reviews. Hope you enjoy and motivate for your fall racing!

https://indiereader.com/book_review/racing-shadows/

https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Shadows-James-K-Dill/dp/1627202420/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=racing+shadows&qid=1569066569&sr=8-1

*Week 432*

Greetings, 50+ers! The end of this SACS accreditation build-up is upon us. The visit will be this Monday-Thursday; hopefully, they'll find what faults they want to find and leave the rest and we'll be left relatively unscathed. We've got issues, to be sure, but I'm confident we'll come out with mostly a slap on the wrist and a few issues warranting action plans (some of which are in the works, already.) I'll be so glad when this is over and we can (knock on wood) settle back into a more normal pattern.

As with the last few months, running has been on the way back burner. I did get a few good walks in, and even on Tuesday, I ran a full mile and some 100m strides. We did our Tuesday track workout on the Red Mile Harness Race Track. It's a firm dirt surface with a slight canter that's precisely 1-mile around. We'll have our Bluegrass Mile there a week from Friday; it'll be fun! As for my Tuesday mile, I was glad to actually complete my paltry 8:06 mile, in which the second half was at 7:30 pace, but boy was I gassed. It's going to be a long road back if I can manage to keep my knee intact.

Like I said, I've been over-committed at work, so really not been paying my due diligence to what y'all have been up to, hope it's been good. I'll read through today to try and catch up.

Have a great week! and as always...

All the Best![/quote]

PS-Badger football is looking good! Wolverines....not so much.

Good morning from fall-like southwestern Idaho. This week I hit a wall of fatigue Wednesday morning and backed off my weekly goal for a few days. Nevertheless I still managed 33 Igy miles, and kept my plan to increase my cross training volume.

Monday: AM- 7.5 miles in the foothills with 8 x 300m hills at interval pace: PM- 2 mile walk

Tuesday: AM- 55:00 spin bike; core; 3 sets weights; PM- 1,000 yard swim

Wednesday: 1 mile easy (really tired so shut it down)

Thursday: 1,000 yard swim

Friday: 55:00 spin bike

Saturday: 5.5 miles in foothills easy/walk

Sunday: off

Next week I plan to get in three doubles early in the week and race a 5k on Saturday. My energy levels are back so should be doable.

Have a good week.

Igy

Week number 1 ?

An epiphany came to me while slogging in the sand!

A dune like spice moment. Running in the sand is my spice.

A voice said LOWER THE BAR

A few weeks ago I did my mile time trial the last 2 laps were tough felt weak no kick but not out of breath.

Gotta do some speedwork but that is exactly what Van Aaken says NOT to do.

This week I did a CV 5000 in a good time 20:07 but once again felt weak over the last 800. I did the math and needed a 2:56 to get under 20 but my legs just said no my lungs and heart were fine just cruising along.

Gotta do some speedwork but that is exactly what Van Aaken says NOT to do.

So I was going to crank but the mind said dial is down LOWER THE BAR.

New 5k 5000 goals are sub 20 instead of sub 19. Since I did the 20:07 at CV effort this should be pretty easy and that is what I want this year easy on the intensity and long on the volume same with next year.

WAG I could get down to around 18:30 but this would be brutal and leave me beaten up and destroy my aerobic base so instead I am taking the long road. Maybe it works out over the long haul or not but it is the road I choose to follow.

Lowering the bar feels really good and keeps me on track trying Van Aaken which btw is pretty much what Ed was doing just more volume.

RF reader, too bad your half-marathon didn’t go as you’d hoped. I’m not so sure about needing longer runs. For many years when that was the longest distance I raced, I almost never ran beyond 14 miles and didn’t feel I lacked stamina at the end of races. But we’re all an experiment of one, and extending the training runs a bit may help you.

Charlie, I’m with you on the Popeye emulation.

Allen53, nice set of 5K’s and good luck on getting one under 19 next year! I was happy to get under 24 myself this year as a slow F61.

KCgeezer, interested to see how the higher mileage works for you.

Cavorty, on the computer from 7 am to 10 pm sounds brutal. I hope you take lots of breaks.

lucKY2b, I hope the accreditation visit goes well and you can get your mind off that and back to important things like running!

Igy, nice week of mixed training. Makes sense to shut it down when it really isn’t working.

This was a planned lower-volume week for me because of travel to the east coast.

Monday: about 6.5 miles easy, feeling quite washed out from traveling the previous day and having to run at what felt like 2 am on my body clock.

Tues-Thurs: 7.5 to 8.5 miles each day, feeling progressively stronger each morning. The area around my hotel was definitely not flat, and as I’m accustomed to running on a completely flat landscape, the constant up and down really kicked my butt at first. But by Thursday I was enjoying the challenge of attacking the uphills and rolling the downhills.

Fri: 10.2 mile run and a gym session off 5 hours of sleep after getting up at 5 am Eastern time and getting back home at 11 pm Pacific. Felt surprisingly good.

Sat: Slept 9 hours and woke up late with my heel very sore. I must have slept on it wrong for a very long night. I obviously needed the sleep but trying to run seemed unwise, so put in 30 miles of rolling hills on the bike and called it good.

Sun: Slept well and heel felt fine, so did a “medium long” run, 17.4 miles in 2:38 (3:58 marathon pace). Everything felt fine—a good effort.

About 58 miles for the week. Marathon in 6 weeks. I’ve planned two more 20+ mile runs, 1 and 3 weeks from now. So far all systems are go.

I could just about cut and paste my running log from the week before this one and it would describe this week. Total mileage for the week was right at 50 again.

M- 7 walking with strides

T- 8 hills 9:18/mi

W- 7 walking with strides

Th- 8 hills 8:55/mi

F- 7 walking with strides

S- 6 trails with my son 9:18/mi

Su- 7 walking

I have a 5k XC race next Saturday so I plan for this coming week to stay really easy on the pace but keep the mileage at the same level. The race course is relatively flat (and short, I got 2.99mi on GPS last year) with about 1/2 of it on grass perimeter of playing fields at a park and 1/2 on a dirt trail coming off the edge of the park. I ran 6:52/mi pace last year and I hope to do a little better than that next week.

Good running to all!

mopak: Nice they unblocked Australia from posting!

Allen Bennett: How's it goin?

rlb: Hope you are doing well. The fastest 'jogger who likes track' on here...ever...

SpikeZ: It would be good to hear from you again.

TU: 5 easy road

TH: 5 easy road

SA: 5 with 3 at 7:56 pace

SU: 5 easy

20 massive miles

It’s taken me a while to “digest” the increase from 4 to 5-mile runs. I’ve found it really does take a full 2 miles just to warm up enough to “run”; as in anything under 9 min pace.

I’m gradually increasing the pace of every run and slowly turning Saturday into a bit of a workout. I planned 8:30 pace for SAT but I just kept the same cadence and somehow or other my pace kept getting faster. This was a good test of my calf muscle and as far as I can tell it’s good to go.

Have a good week folks!

good luck with site visit -- at minimum it will be a relief when it's over!

I had a fun week in late Summer heat/humidity:

M 1:45 double

Tu 2:00

W 45:00

Th 2:00 double

F 2:00 with hill repeats [not treadmill as usual, but trails -- total of 15:00 uphill time hard, a little over 2:00/rep]

Sa: 45:00 + 1:00 x-t

Su 1:30 back and forth from volunteering at a kids' race

I guess no different from other youth sports like soccer, but it was funny seeing the very wide range of seriousness/competitiveness among little kids this am. Some were warming up and looked as focused as pros before toeing the line; others took breaks to walk, check out the distracting playground off to the side of the course, etc. I said some sort of encouragement to a little boy about to take on an uphill stretch and got "I'm only here for the gummi's" in response.

have a great week,

Dave

This was a hard week of training for me. My workout intensity is starting to ramp up for my fall races and I'm feeling it today. I've got an Olympic distance triathlon next week (1000m swim, 28.5 mi bike, and 6.5mi run) so I'll be cutting back a little and I hope I'll feel more pep by then.

We've finally had temps in the 60s in the morning with lower humidity so I actually was able to do my track workout this week in daylight. I usually run before sunrise with a headlamp to beat the heat so that sure was a mental boost.

Sun: 24mi biking @ 17mph, 3062yd swim

Mon: 6.3mi Easy

Tue: 6.2mi Hills, 2700yd swim

Weds: 7.0mi track (1600@7:50, 1200@7:36 mi pace, 800@ 7:30 mi pace, 400@7:15 mi pace)

Thu: 17mi biking @ 17mph, 2500yd swim

Fri: 5.5mi Easy + strides, 22mi biking @ 20mph

Sat: 9.0mi @ 8:57, 2500yd swim

Totals: 33mi running, 63mi biking, 10,762yds swimming. Have a great week everyone!

An “Experiment of One"

A little rambling......Until about a week ago I was planning on transitioning to some fall cross country racing starting this weekend. Then I received an email from a race director where as a lark I submitted a $0 entry fee application to an inaugural road mile race; The Foundry Mile in Albion Michigan.

The event was conceived and put together with only a month's notice and they accepted the top 15 fastest PB/PRs. I had just run a so-so race at the USATF Master's mile and was looking for a another race to redeem myself (in my eyes) and go under 6:00 which for a 62 y/o = my youthful PR of a rather sluggish 4:43 when I was 24.

I got accepted with the 14th fastest time - haha!

So I changed up my normal routine dialed back my miles on Thursday and Friday. This is something I usually do not do! And gave it one more shot to dip under 6:00.

The race was on a fast course with a finish along a parade route (so there were 'spectators', very organized, great swag, and the weather cooperated. The next oldest person was 31 (he had the 15th qualifying time) and we ran together for the first 1/4. Then I was able to give a push acceleration and make a break. The next oldest person was 26 (the others were 22-26) and he ran ran a speedy 4:09 and won a whooping $1,000. - second place was $500 and third was $250 - same awards for the separate women's race.

I didn't win any cash but did manage a 5:52 high which age grades to a 4:38. I feel relieved that those harder speed workouts and many, many, many 6x150 meter strides throughout the week finally paid off.

So... somehow I managed in 2019 to just barely break the 80% level in both the 5K and the mile. I wasn't hoping to achieve that until sometime next year and am now ready to build (hopefully) to the next level.

To cap off a near perfect week, this morning I ran our local running store Fall training 10 mile run which loops outside of the city and hits farmland and lots of dirt roads. That gave me 52 miles total for the week. I will have to try an remember weeks like this when things go badly. They don't happen often.

I hope others had an equally successful early Fall week.

“A few weeks ago I did my mile time trial the last 2 laps were tough felt weak no kick but not out of breath.

Gotta do some speedwork but that is exactly what Van Aaken says NOT to do.”

Charlie,

Your comment rings a couple of thoughts. I think a lot of the benefit of Dr. Ernst Van Aaken was “the small frame and big aerobic engine” concept. I believe it is a component of Al Sal’s philosophy and you see it best displayed by NOPs two current female stars. Also, Daniels and Tinman correctly point out the problems of dipping into the anaerobic side too frequently. This past week I made a similar comment on the Sprntgeezer sub-20 5k thread. I could see my own performances suffer this summer after an extended period of intensity. Two of the deadly toos, these being “too much intensity for too long.”

Igy

This was another positive week on Recovery Road. There are still a few niggles in the calf, so I’m not ready say it’s 100% but it’s close. I even did a B2B on Wed/Thurs. There was a total of 16+ actual jogging miles broken down thusly:

Sun: off

Mon: 42’ CR, body wt ex

Tues: walk w/ the bride

Wed: 43’ CR, body wt ex

Thu: 39’ total

Fri: off

Sat: 45’ CR, body wt ex

Feeling your pain, L2B, regarding the accreditation. Been there, done that too many times.

Best to most!

Greetings, No running for last 6 days left calf Achilles aching, numbness. So cross training riding spinning bike 30min and lifting weights 3 days. Calf started feeling better Saturday & today. Will continue until no pain during every day walking. Hope everyone football team wins. Falcons lost to Colts. Have a great week. Oh and excited to watch iaaf world track & field championship. Go USA.

Thanks to everyone who told me they double — I hadn't realized so many of you did that. It encouraged me to do it. And I think I've hacked it. Wednesday morning, Thursday evening. Those are both opportunistic times, almost every week, where I could throw two 30 to 45 minute sessions in. And that got me to 60. I didn't even need a very long long run.

Charlie wrote:

A voice said LOWER THE BAR

My voice says "don't get hurt" but same thing I s'pose.

amkelley wrote:

About 58 miles for the week.

Trip or no trip, I can't believe I logged more miles than you. Thusly:

Mon - 8.9miles (8:25 pace, progressive)

Tue - 6.8m (8:35 pace)

Wed - double including 4400m of mixed track intervals, 10.2miles

Thu - double: recovery + TM, 9.6miles (8:37 pace avg)

Fri - 7.25mi (8:21)

Sa - LR with 40' tempo, 11.28mi (7:12 avg)

Su - 6.21mi (8:04 oops not recovery pace)

Anyway, an 8:12 pace average over 60.2 miles, 15% hard/medium and I totally could do this all fall.

KC : Not exactly.

Don't get hurt is like your boss saying don't work too hard without reducing your work load

Lowering the bar is lowering the workload

NDJY: Nice Job!

Igy: I lowered the bar and immediately raised my enjoyment.

Rtype with PM ScoMo over in the USA at the moment I guess they decided to lift the sanctions on me rather than risk another international crisis lol.

Actually it seems that getting a new phone and phone plan with a different company did the trick.

My week.

Monday. 15 min indoor rowing followed by 3 x up my new improved Roo Hill track, 3 km in 38 mins. 260 metres elevation gain so not as easy as it sounds. Stopped at the lake on the way to work and paddled the kayak for 30 mins. A tough slog in choppy water and cold gusty winds.

Left the car out of town and walked and jogged the rest of the way. 3.5 kms in 25 mins (wearing scrubs).

Walked and jogged back to the car 3.5 kms in 25 mins after work (10.30 jogging the streets in scrubs lol).

Tuesday. 15 min indoor rowing followed by the same 3 x Roo Hill in 39 mins. Then on the MTB for a steep 9 km ride in 36 mins.

Same routine into/ from work 3.5 km each way. Slower, 27 mins for both.

Wednesday. 3.5 km slow shuffle 26 mins. down to the "servo" (gas station to you guys) to get the paper, and a toastie. Walked the 2.5 km home.

Busy day doing property maintenance at an investment property. Afternoon ride on the MTB 18 kms with 360 metres elevation gain including the Mt Ida Tower track in 11.46, my new 60-64 best and just off the 55-59 best I rode a few weeks back. I stopped on the way home and ran up the "Hard Way Track" 560 metres and 160 metres elevation gain in 9 mins. Walked back down to the bike and rode the 7 kms home.

Thursday. A gentle 2.5 km jog to the servo 16 mins. After my toastie and carrying my newspaper A slow and easy 3.7 kms up the back way and then down Roo Hill and home. 30 mins. Then 15 mins of indoor rowing.

In the afternoon I ran the 3 x Roo Hill session in 36 mins then a brisk 11 km loop on the MTB. A quick rinse under the shower threw on some decent clothes and jogged up to the pub, 900 metres in 6 mins, to have dinner with my wife and her pals.

Friday. Afternoon session of kayaking on the lake 47 mins. Our pelicans are multiplying.

Stopped at the One Eye Forest on the way home andtrotted a very gentle 13 + kms in 1 h 19 min.

Saturday. Gentle 2.6 kms to the servo for the paper ( no toastie today) 17 mins. Then another easy 1.4 kms in 9 mins to a property for lawn mowing.

Went out in the evening for a hilly 8.5 kms in 1 hour with about 12 uphill efforts of varying lengths and steepness. 220 metres elevation gain.

Sunday. Another gentle jog to the servo 2.3 kms in 16 mins then 2.1 kms in 14 mins to pick up my mower and a 1.5 km slow jog pushing the mower home.

Afternoon run 3 x Roo Hill and 3 x Pannells Hill then scooted down an untracked gully and climbed back to the top of Pannells Hill 4.8 kms (and 460 metres metres elevation gain) of slogging in 1 hour. Hiked down off the top then scrambled back up a dry water course. 300 metres distance and 80 metres elevation gain. Took me 8 mins. Then I jogged a gentle 1.5 downhill kms home.

I probably accumulated a fair few kms for the week. Pretty easy stuff just keeping the body moving and trying to stay fit.

I have my annual 4 Peaks Race coming up first week of November. I think this will be my 34th. I have shelved ambition and will just be happy to finish the 4 days of mountain racing in one piece.

Interesting Vaporfly 4% experiment.

Work pressure prevented the start of the aerobic base today, so I settled for another quick "short five" (4.6).

Thursday with wind 0, I did the loop in 32:22 (7:02 pace, and about 15 seconds quicker than I've managed for a long-time), HR average 142. Hard work, and felt pretty rough in the afternoon afterwards.

Today Vaporfly challenge: same loop, 7 mph wind - 31:51 (6:56 pace - 6:55, 6:51, 6:56, 6:58 - 4:10 for last 0.6, 6:58 pace). Second half is 70ft rise and had wind against, so pretty even or maybe even picking it up a bit. HR average 133.

So in Vaporfly - two days later slightly, less good conditions, 30 seconds quicker with 9 bpm lower HR average, and felt better afterwards.

Although HR average was lower, it did get a higher peak apparently briefly touching 167 (higher than I thought was max). I had been struggle to get past 150ish, but must have been a consequence of injuries limiting form.

I did a 3 mile LT before I got injured at the end of June and that was 6:50 per mile, so getting close to back to there.

I think if I can get back normal ankle function and do some of the things I haven't done in the last 6 months or so - aerobic base; hills; speedwork; I could see knocking 10-15 seconds a mile off this.

DANG...there are some good workout sessions recorded by y'all this week...whoa!

dhaaga, when is your 50 mile JFK trail race??

I totally just barely hobbled about these past 7 days...while I am just 16 miles shy of 111,000 lifetime, I had a cruddy 'off' sorta' week of just 20 miles...the balky foot that is awaiting surgery started barking at me 8 days ago...fortunately I have another bandaid cortisone shot scheduled for this coming Tuesday...I did, however, manage a decent 4 mile progression run on the track yesterday that concluded with a sizzling 7:58 and then a 7:43...HOPING to 'race' 5,000 meters on the track in 2 weeks time...'hope' being the operative word.

Question, as the World Masters Athletic Championships only take place every two years, and, as they do happen again next summer in nearby Toronto, who intends to compete there? In what distances and which age groups??

Wishing everyone a week of great health and improved fitness.

your pal,

MF