50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Charlie wrote:

Health is the foundation , running is the roof.

Excellent advice.

Cush, that is indeed quite a streak you have going and I hope you'll be able to keep extending it, but also continue to gain satisfaction from reaching other goals once that one is gone.

amkelley wrote:

Charlie wrote:

Health is the foundation , running is the roof.

Excellent advice.

Cush, that is indeed quite a streak you have going and I hope you'll be able to keep extending it, but also continue to gain satisfaction from reaching other goals once that one is gone.

that'll be easy: my sub-5 streak began the same age as my sub-6 streak, and so when the sub-5 streak falls by the wayside, i can focus on sub-6. my sub-7 streak began a year earlier (1981), so at some point that'll become the streak. after that one is broken, i guess i can see if i can find an old (but younger than me) hicham el guerrouj, and challenge him to a race to see if i can add to my 2-0 streak against him...

i, too, like the above quote, though in my life it seems it could be more accurately compared to health is the tire, and running is the rim--neither goes around without the other, but when the tire's flat, the speed suffers...

I saw a documentary on Hicham El Guerrouj recently. It showed him jogging and reminiscing his career. I think you can take him.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I saw a documentary on Hicham El Guerrouj recently. It showed him jogging and reminiscing his career. I think you can take him.

Hoping you are kidding.

Redemption Race yesterday morning > from poor performance at San Diego Nats XC 5k 20:50-something > to a way better feeling, effort, and time at Run Like Hell 5k 19:11 two weeks later. Not as fast as Charlie’s great redemption 5k 19:02 but I’ll take this one and chalk it up as a building it back aerobic base tank for the big M60 Age-Grp year coming in 2020.

Keep preaching the lower the body weight the faster the clock reads y’all.

KP

KPdx, congratulations on the improvement and the race. I had a very good XC race yesterday, 6:43/mi pace for 6k for a 26:02. My splits were 6:28, 6:49, 6:50 and 6:46/mi pace for the last 0.8. I knew my first mile was a bit too fast, but I wanted to see how hard it would be to hold on after a fast first mile. My answer was difficult but not too difficult. 45 miles for the week with -

M- 7mi walk with strides

T- 8 mi hills 8:54/mi ave

W- 7mi walk with strides

Th- 8 mi hills 9:49/mi ave

F- rest

S- 2mi w.u., 6k race, 2 mi w.d.

Su- 7mi walk with strides

Good running to all!

Is today race day for AMK? I could not find a marathon race in Ca today .

Nice racing KP and OGII!

Week went well as I eased back into running after a 2+ week recovery not injured just taking it easy...

Speed

800 after a ssr Short Slow Run cause I felt like it 2:51 pretty even not all out quick recovery yet exhilarating.

36 minute progression in the dunes on a hill x 4 10,9:30,8:30,8 work the uphill cruise fast down the hill

I like this one.

Base

Slogging barefoot dunes x 3 days

Added A New One that I am excited about Uphill(10 percent grade at 3.6mph) Treadmill Slogging x 2 days

Continues with the theme of down regulating impact up regulating muscle while approximating the bio mechanics of running.

Commentary on the fast shoes with a two word summary ABOUT TIME

Next up should be shoes with low impact midsoles that do NOT return energy

for training of course kinda like stablity and convience added to low impact

Altitude runs are slower and everyone accepts this well slower shoes that let you increase miles and

run hard in training then you put on the springy shoes and race.

Good racing gents. I planned a recovery week the last six days, but circumstances made it a little less so. Colder weather will be approaching this next week (mornings in the teens to low twenties) so took four days off work to prep the yard and house for winter. Trimmed bushes, bagged leaves, cleaned gutters, washed siding/windows, pressure washed the garage and driveway. Whew! I was pretty much finished by Friday save another 20 x 50 gallon utility garbage bags of leaves yet to fall. In the past I would have tried to run through this physical labor. Instead I skipped any exercise until Friday hit a 3 mile walk, and Saturday a 4 mile walk/run. I will probably do the same today after breakfast, and ease back into my routine.

Igy

Congratulations on your nice races, KPdx and old guy II!

For several weeks I’ve been dealing with what seems to be a persistent low-grade sinus infection. After crashing out of my long run last Saturday it got worse, and by Thursday it was bad enough that I started an antibiotic, and I now feel a lot better although I still have some sniffles and congestion. I really hope to be over this before next Sunday’s marathon.

I managed to run all seven days of the week, mostly easy, and piled up 71 miles with a longest run of 13.8 miles on Saturday right at goal marathon pace (2:05, corresponding to a 3:57 marathon). That wasn’t terribly hard but it wasn’t really easy either, and there's no way I could have turned around and done another one back-to-back. I’m counting on a week’s taper and race day adrenaline in the hope of holding close to 3:57 marathon pace for a full marathon.

The current forecast for race day is calm, dry, and sunny with a low of 43 and a high of 76. It will feel lovely at first, but the temperature will rise over 20 degrees between start and finish and the course doesn’t have much shade when the sun is high, so the last part of the race will get hot. I’ve run the half-marathon there many times and often it’s overcast, foggy and/or drizzly. No such luck this year—there’s no precipitation or even cloud cover anywhere in the 10-day forecast.

Happy and healthy training to all.

nice work. i do treadmill walks [slogs] sometimes as cross-training, and 10% is serious business. very hard [at least for me].

good Fall week of trying to train on short rest b/c up too late watching the World Series. The Nats have them right where they want them -- 2 out of remaining 3 on the road, and road team is 4-for-4 so far.

M 1:40

Tu 1:30 double

W 2:30

Th 1:00

F 35:00 + 1:00 x-t

Sa 4:00

Su 1:00

Mostly on trails Saturday, with zero falls. Of course, I did walk a bit in one section with a lot of moss-covered rocks, downed trees to crawl over, etc.

have a great week,

Dave

[quote]Charlie wrote:

Added A New One that I am excited about Uphill(10 percent grade at 3.6mph) Treadmill Slogging x 2 days

Continues with the theme of down regulating impact up regulating muscle while approximating the bio mechanics of running.

Reference your low-grade sinus infection - could that be from some of those fires? Watching the news, it sounds crazy in Cal right now with all those fires. ? Who would want to try and run outdoors let alone just go outside with all that smoke. Some years ago I thought about moving out to Cal for retirement (I live in New Mexico), but I'm glad I didn't.

Is Cal burning to the ground? wrote:

Reference your low-grade sinus infection - could that be from some of those fires? Watching the news, it sounds crazy in Cal right now with all those fires. ? Who would want to try and run outdoors let alone just go outside with all that smoke. Some years ago I thought about moving out to Cal for retirement (I live in New Mexico), but I'm glad I didn't.

I can't blame the sinus problems on smoke from the fires. So far my area (Merced) has had negligible smoke. I'm pretty far from any of the fires and it's all a matter of how much and which way the wind blows.

M60, 5'11", 174 lbsOct 21-27, 2019 M-F Off S - 4 miles @ 8:26/mi Su - Off I carried my running gear to work every day this week, planning to run at lunchtime, but never managed to schedule a long-enough break. At least I got out yesterday. Pushed hard, but "hard pace" is getting slower and slower. An old running buddy will be in town in a few weeks, and convinced me to race a local 5K. November 16, I'm gonna shoot for sub-25. My weight has been steadily increasing -- another couple pounds this week. A lack of self-control, and lack of miles. My goal is to maintain 170 -- 10 pounds over "race weight," but historically what I've been while reasonably fit. Knee pain continues. Every step of every run, and most every other moment, too. Wakes me at night. Trying to just accept it. Hamstring has been tender since July -- no clue what that's about. Hip bursitis is extremely painful whenever I pivot or twist, but no pain at all running in a straight line. Welcome to age 60, I guess! My wife is 64, and has pretty much given up running because of hip bursitis. For months she got up at 4:30 a.m. to do a PT-prescribed routine, but experienced minimal improvement. Tough to maintain that level of dedication with disappointing results. Meanwhile, I really need to get back to my strength and stretching routine, but week after week goes by, and I'm not making it happen.

amkelley wrote:

I managed to run all seven days of the week, mostly easy, and piled up 71 miles with a longest run of 13.8 miles on Saturday right at goal marathon pace (2:05, corresponding to a 3:57 marathon).

Good luck next weekend! Amazing volume, once again. What's your plan for the next six days?

Have a great week, everyone.

*Week 436*

Greetings, 50+ers! Uncharacteristically late today, and completely out of touch (regarding the board this week.) It's a travel day; we're in the airport waiting to fly back from Phoenix/Sedona from a family visit. My report is the same (4 days of mostly walking save a few strides), but the scenery has been different, including a nice Red Rock hike yesterday. Knee has been so much better, debating on when I can start doing some continuous running. Taking it slow.

Boarding shortly; talk with y'all later. Hope you've had a great week!

All the Best!

lucKY: Glad the knee is better and safe travels!

Allen1959: I honestly believe you can get better. Remember the great Ed Whitlock would take a whole year off at a time and then come back and set more world records!

TU: 4 medium road with 3 @ 9:27

TH: 3 easy on road

SA: 5K Race: 7:32 pace (7:32, 7:34, 7:33, 6:50 and change pace), 1st, M60, 19th OA out of 173

SU: 4 easy on cinder greenway

First race since June of this year. I expected about 7:35 pace at best and thanks to near perfect weather I went a bit under at 7:32. 55 degrees, cloudy, no wind.

I took off a bit fast in the first 400 or so to get away from the crowd. 170 people on a 10 foot path is tight. I slowly settled in, slowed down and watched the Garmin tick down from 6:40 pace to about 7:30 pace before I started working to keep it there. It felt super slow as I felt like I could have easily over-cooked it I felt so good. At mile two I was still feeling pretty good. From there I picked it up a bit, passing a few folks. I felt good, basically the whole race; which is not usual for a 5K. The calf problems have disappeared and the foot problem was not evident either.

Considering how little training I’m doing for fear of re-re pulling a calf muscle I was pretty happy.

Run smart everyone!

“Allen1959: I honestly believe you can get better. Remember the great Ed Whitlock would take a whole year off at a time and then come back and set more world records!”

Believe that as well. Perhaps not marathoning, which is not so bad.

I will be running the 4 Peaks event startingthis Saturday for the 34 th time.

A fairly low key week but a good final hitout yesterday (sunday).

Mon. 1 hr 15 min kayak.

Tue. 2.8 km running steep hills 550 metres elev. gain 1 hr 15 min. This was made up of 1 x full hard way track 550 m long with 150m elev. gain. Then 5 x up the last section 200 m long 80 metres elev. gain. Loose rocky technical trail. I have to deviate a bit on the descent for safety.

10 mins rest on top then a gentle 3.5 km downhill jog in 20 mins.

Wed. Morning jog to get the paper, a drink and a toastie and jog back home. Total of 5 kms at 6.30 per km. In the evening an easy 45 min mtn bike ride broken by a gentle 2 km jog.

Thu. Morning jog as per previous day but returned via the track up to Viewing Rock for a total of 6 kms at ave 7.00 per km.

Easy road bike ride 15 kms in 38 mins.

Fri. 55 mins of easy hill work inc 6 x Suicide Hill all done at 75 to 80% effort (290 metres long 52 metres elev. gain quite technical).

Sat. Morning 15 mins on the indoor rower. 2.5 km jog to get the paper in 17 mins.

Evening 5 km jog in 29 mins.

Sun.. 11.5 kms of strong hill running on Staffords Lane. 1000 metres elevation gain. 2 hrs 10 mins.

I was able to finish this off with 5 x 100 metre (20% gradient) hills at a good strong springy effort.

I had hoped to to be under 75 kg before 4 Peaks. This morning I was 75.5 so not too far off.

Because of some chronic hip and knee issues I have had to restrict any faster flat running. The issue gives me no grief on the steep technical stuff.

I am not too sure how my diet of nearly all steep stuff will pan out. I may be found out on faster sections of the race.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

“I honestly believe you can get better. Remember the great Ed Whitlock would take a whole year off at a time and then come back and set more world records!”

Believe that as well. Perhaps not marathoning, which is not so bad.

Thanks, rtype and igy. Obviously, I'm still sort of keeping a toe or two in the game. The 5K in three weeks will be the first time in years that I've raced with no pressure to hit a time or place goal. That'll be enjoyable, I think.

My out-of-town pal was a decent DIII runner, and competitive on the local road-race scene into his 30s (15:00 5K). He's 51 now, and only runs 3 miles, 5 times a week. He still enjoys the races, despite not even breaking 20:00 this year. I can be content with that approach.

Maybe. For a while.

BTW, I was remiss to not congratulate the racers this week and last. I keep up with everyone's reports, and remain amazed and inspired by the folks here!

Best thoughts to MikeF with the fires in his area.