50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

MikeF, we are practically neighbors! My track of choice is the Santa Rosa JC on Mendocino Ave, but it is being resurfaced just now. They are almost done. It would be an easy matter to pop up to Healdsburg for a few repeats.

My email is steve (dot) lafler @ gmail.com

I'm taking a couple weeks to recover and then I'll be out east visiting family, so I'll be ready to run by about March 25. Let's set something up, looking forward to meeting you.

Cool Big Red...catch up upon your recovery and East Coast visit...am originally a Philly guy and my bride is from Scranton...where are your East Coast roots?

MF

Feeling a bit more optimistic about my future running these days. Achilles pain is basically gone. Though I haven't been running except for a few very short test runs. There is an occasional twinge of pain...not sure why. I may begin a few short runs next week and ease back into into it.

Absolutely enjoyed the marathon trials with old running friends at a local pub.

Just a personal note. A long time running friend of mine just completed 40 years and one consecutive days of running on Sunday. At 65 hes one of the fittest guys I know! On Monday he went in in for a procedure to clear some blockage around his heart. He missed his first day of running in 40 years! Sadly while there, he was also scheduled for a quintuple bypass in the next week or so. No workouts for at least 3 months. Which just goes to show we can't run ourselves healthy.

That's it for now, have a good run!

Dave

6DS5

PS: My new tag is 6DS5... 6 decades of sub 5:00 miles. First in 1975, last in 2017. I know it looks pretty darn grim right now but a goal is just a dream until you say it, right?

Hey Mike F, indeed we can connect when I return from travel.

I grew up in Western Mass, went to high school near Boston, then ran for UMass Amherst.

My uncle (Dad's brother) lived in Scranton in the 70s, we'd visit.

Congrats and well done Big Red. Marathoning after 60 is beyond my comprehension the training/buildup then racing 26.2 is just amazing. AMK as well and Allen59 and CM and Dhaaga 50 miles and RF Reader and the OG Allen yeah I follow(ed) all of you guys very inspiring.

OTOH I am totally content to moving down in distance as that is where I enjoy and belong.

But I do enjoy slogging up to 60 minutes a day. I am leaning towards 400/800 never raced either one so looking forward to this new adventure.

I took a break from posting and cut way back on running after getting a positive on my cacs to reevaluate risk cause ect. Happy to say dam the torpedoes and full speed ahead. If I drop dead on a run you can be assured I died a happy man doing something I enjoy.

Back up to 45 minutes a day os sand dune slogging

Plus one or so workouts rotating thru the following:

1.HIRT 4x30 seconds full recovery

2. 4x400 in the high 70s full recovery

3 Unstructured 40 minute steady run ezr than LT

Gonna hold off on racing until after a few more tests which is ok by me at 63 I was wanting to

build base and strength leading up to new age group.

Statin wise 5mg rosuvistatin/crestor every other day has dropped my non HDL cholesterol to 103

with HDL about 60 so good numbers no side effects after a month.

The other day I was thinking “what’s up with Charlie being AWOL?”

Yesterday ran first race of the year- a 4 mile race- ran it in 27:23- good for 3rd in age division and 94th overall out of 3000. The guy who won the thing overall ran in the recent Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta. He ran 20:08.

Course was fairly brutal as everyone knew it would be. Nothing but hills- either up or down- never even a flat stretch of 1/3 of a mile or so. In the last mile about 6/10ths of it was uphill. Could never get into a rhythm but that's to be expected on such a course.

What I possess in a good fast stride (for this age) I lack in sheer power. Have to work on that- lesson learned.

Nice running Allen53. I ran two races in Atlanta in my mid-50s when my son was in grad school at Georgia Tech. I found the rolling terrain a challenge.

Good week of improved training times. Body composition continues to improve. Funny how that works?

Monday: AM- 2 miles easy; 2 x 1,600m interval pace @ 8:12, 8:08 / 800m easy; mile easy; PM- 3 mile walk

Tuesday: AM- 20:00 spin; PM- 15:00 spin; core; 5:00 walk

Wednesday: 2 mile easy; 1,200 tempo pace @ 6:10 / 800m easy; 800m interval pace @ 3:41; mile easy

Thursday: AM- 20:00 spin; PM- 3 mile walk

Friday: 800m easy; 4 x 100m alternating 2 easy, 2 good

Saturday: 2 miles easy; 4 x 100m repetition pace @ 23-25 / 20m walk; 200m walk; continuous 3,000m run = 500m repetition pace + 2,000m interval pace + 500m repetition pace @ 2:22 + 10:06 + 2:21 = 14:49; 1,000m walk

Sunday: off

Happy racing and good health all.

Igy

Weekly report, coronavirus panic edition.

I had planned a 10K on Saturday, but I took the CDC’s advice that elderly people like me should hide under the bed for the time being…Seriously, I was so busy this week that by the time I got on the web site to enter, online registration had closed and there was no guarantee that I could still enter on race day (entries were capped). I decided I didn’t want to drive 90 minutes each way and possibly not be able to run. Instead I stayed home and tried for a “medium long” run at a faster pace than usual and had a good result.

Monday: 10.6 miles

Tues: 11.1 miles

Weds: 10.4 miles

Thurs: 10.5 miles

Fri: 7.6 miles, still considering racing the next day.

Sat: 16.5 miles in 2:25 (8:47/mile or 3:50 marathon), running well to the end.

Sun: 9.6 miles easy.

76 miles for the week. I don’t know whether a 10K race would have been better marathon training than what I did. I always find it harder to go fast than to go far. But what I did felt like a good workout.

RF reader, nice job getting the HM back under 1:40—and the age group win. If you think there’s a big dropoff in the depth of the field between 50-54 and 55-59, wait til you hit 60!

Racerdb, that sounds encouraging…I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Nice running on a tough course, Allen53.

Igy, good to see your continued improvement!

Good health and good running to all.

*Week 455*

Greetings, 50+ers!

To start, congrats to Big Red on the BQ...and thanks for the nice race report! Props, too, to RF reader on the AG win last Sunday and thanks for the associated race report! Kudos, Allen53, on the fine 4-miler and report! Glad to see that a few that have been on the IR list are feeling more optimistic about returning to full training (can't say I'm quite there yet, but you give me hope.) Glad to see Charlie posting again!

For me, I was hoping that I'd made it through the winter unscathed. As you may recall, I was completely knocked out last winter from some lingering virus that took me months to recover from. Seems that whatever I'd gotten last week festered in the background and morphed into something more serious. I blew it off on start of the week, but by Tuesday, I was starting to feel signs of the creeping crud settling in. By Friday night, I was in bad shape and Saturday and last night were rough; lots of coughing, sneezing, almost threw-up, nasty headache...but I WILL get my walks in. Still managed about 22 miles of walking, with one run/walk session last Sunday. It was a good one for me, too: 20x(2:00 walk/1:00 run) covering 5.5 miles. I still did hills on Tuesday, but only walking...got 300ft elevation gain over 2.8 miles. Got long walks in Thurs-Sat (brisk walks Fri and Sat) to finish the week. Overall, I'm OK with the week, just wish I'd made it through one winter without something dragging me down. C'est la vie.

Soldiering forward! Hope everyone has had a good week. Grateful for the reports, especially race reports! Good luck to anyone going to Baton Rouge for USATF Masters Indoor Championships...stay healthy!

All the Best!

Welcome back to your awesome role in advice-giving and insight Charlie.

To all,

I am looking forward to hitting the road next week to enjoy yet another experience racing on the track and "breaking bread and wine" with friends for life. LSU Indoor Nats that is. Fingers crossed the event dos not get canceled and everyone shows up. 1500 Sat - 800 Fri for me.

Who from this fine thread will I be so lucky to meet there?

KP

Good luck at indoor nationals KP...you making either of the masters miles in San Francisco in April?

My week was a good one...just 28 miles, but finished Wednesday's track session with an 83.66 400...fastest in 3 years...then on Saturday, 5 miles on the track on 40:22 (8:30, 8:14, 7:58, 7:57, 7:43)...so, a nice balance of speed and endurance. Am lacing them up for a 1 mile rust buster in 6 weeks time.

Hoping that your week was swell.

your pal,

MF

Allen53, congratulations on what sounds like a solid race. This past week I decided it was time to take an adaptation week, which sounds better than "I felt tired so I didn't run much". When I ran Tuesday morning I felt like I had no energy and cut the run short. Then Wed., Thur., and Friday I still felt tired so I didn't run. Saturday, I ran with my son and felt pretty good on the run. This morning I did a very easy 4 miles. Next week I'm going to try and get in some consistent easy to moderate efforts with a little speed on Thursday and then do something of a taper week the following week leading into the Carlsbad 5k.

Good running to all!

old guy II,

Still looking to join you at Carlsbad. I am a little concerned that Covid-19 may force a change of plans. I am in the cohort that are advised to reconsider traveling. On the other hand, less people traveling, cleaner planes, and sterilized facilities. Planning to fly to San Diego 3/16 so I have a week’s window,

Igy

The week which was

Mo 7.5 miles and 5x50 m flying (100m)

Tu 2 x (8x90 m hill drills and jumps + 2x40m)

We 7.5 miles and 4x50 m flying (100m)

Th too tired after 9 consequtive days

Fr 7.5 miles moderate at 7.30 min/mile

Sa 25 diagonals on artificial turf with jog

Su 7.5 miles hilly easy run

Sunday afternoon some beers are helping to cope with sore muscles.

have a good week, stay healthy, and cheers from Germany

Charlie,

Welcome to the 400/800 m fun (grind) house.

running regularly 60 min is great for fitness and weight.

However, I am a believer in strength for running fast MD. love to do everything which makes my knees rubber.

Looking forward if you could share your ideas and journey to 400/800m.

Always happy to see your creative and knowledgable ideas, content and links.

Whish you patience and health... and FUN while running fast

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

old guy II,

Still looking to join you at Carlsbad. I am a little concerned that Covid-19 may force a change of plans. I am in the cohort that are advised to reconsider traveling. On the other hand, less people traveling, cleaner planes, and sterilized facilities. Planning to fly to San Diego 3/16 so I have a week’s window,

Igy

Igy,

I'll send you an email with the directions for the secret best parking area for the race, where most of the Toads park.

My week was:

M – F Rest

Sun - Today ran 9.4 easy>medium to the 7.5 mile mark, then my legs told me to chill. Feeling the fatigue from last week's marathon.

Dave / 6DS5 Great to hear Achilles' pain is gone. Sorry to hear about your pal needing the bypass. It's instructive! Also, the decades of sub-5 miles is an amazing accomplishment. I first got under in 1973, and the last time was 2001 (the year my son was born – ha ha, no sleep.)

Charlie thanks for props, I am also inspired by AMK, Allen59, Dhaaga, RF Reader and Allen. The weekly reports buoy me up. Not to mention our more middle distance oriented cohort!

Have fun with the 400/800 business! I doubled mile relay/half mile a bit in high school when not “miling”. Quite an anaerobic challenge.

As for marathon after 60, my motivation in part is that I never tried the event until last year.

Allen53 – Excellent race over hills. Whew.

Igy, nice work hammering away at fitness.

amk – The Saturday workout is money in the bank and a real thumbs up indicator of fitness. I am curious about your taper plan from 3 weeks out, as you are volume oriented? You are primed for an excellent race day.

LucKY – Here's hoping for a better week coming up! Take good care of yourself.

KP – Good luck at the Indoor Nationals!

MikeF – Some good quality work there. I'm of course curious as to details of the meet where you will run the mile?

OGII, I am right with you on an “adaptation week”. That is smart training, keeping the eye on the big picture.

Good running and best wishes to all. It's a weird time with the Coronavirus on the move. Stay healthy.

I’m back too! My scheduled down time ended mid-week and now my legs feel mush fresher. There has been some quad DOMS related to gearing back up after the scheduled break. Also the right hammy is still acting up late in my runs. But overall I must say it was a much needed break. So I am now in the process of gearing back up with the hope of getting back to my typical daily distance later this week. I think I’ll lay off the fartlek until the hammy gets back to 100%.

Sun-Tues: scheduled recovery break

Wed: 31’ CR; body wt ex

Thu: walk w/ the bride

Fri: 42’ CR; body wt ex

Sat: off

Sun: 46’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Best to most!