50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I had my best masters year after a bust in a marathon prep. You have a tremendous base, use it for shorter events when things clear up.

Game Changer?

Nice diagram showing the MOA for the Chloroquine in a nutshell allows zinc into cell which blocks virus reproduction.

https://youtu.be/U7F1cnWup9M

D.C. folks, has anyone run the Abebe Bikala Peace Day Marathon? It’s Sept. 12 and I’m starting to think that would make an excellent marathon debut for moi.

The sponsors of our 4/4 half not only did a makeup date (8/29 yikes), they offered three options for transferring our fees, very nice. I moved my entry to a November half.

Like a lot of folks on this thread, I doubt anyone here is going stir crazy at home, or feels let down by the cancellation of spring races. I mean, we’re not getting any younger, but I’m not going to stop running because I don’t know when my next race will be.

PTF, are you selling melatonin?

I haven't run that particular event, but certainly familiar with the course (back and forth on canal towpath, which is hard dirt and basically flat). Looking at results last year [multiple start times, both half and full marathons], it seems quite similar to a towpath marathon [overlapping, though not identical, courses] i ran in September. Based on that run, and knowing that the race director for the september event [Jay Jacob Wind] is very experienced at putting on events like this, I'd say you can anticipate....... --good organization, clear communication, accurate course and timing, etc. --no frills --no or few fans -- it's not impossible for someone who accompanies you to come down and watch, but you won't be passing big crowds of people, marching bands, etc. etc. --can get confusing as to whom you're racing -- besides the half and full, you'll have a good number of runners just out training on towpath. Zero idea whether september races will be happening, but if it is on then it could be a good option for you for running a fast time provided you get lucky on weather [can still be hot and humid here in september -- that is the same weekend as a half-marathon i run each year that is muggy/oppressive maybe 50% of the time.] best, Dave

KCgeezer wrote:

D.C. folks, has anyone run the Abebe Bikala Peace Day Marathon? It’s Sept. 12 and I’m starting to think that would make an excellent marathon debut for moi..

.....i meant that Jay Wind is the director for the Bikila marathon KCgeezer asked about. as soon as i hit send i realized "the september event" was ambiguous.

Anyway, while i'm multiposting, my training last week:

M 2:00 double

Tu 1:30

W 1:20 with hill repeats

Th 1:50 double

F 1:25

Sa 1:05 with 5K track solo time trial (19:10)

Su 1:20

one more 9-day cycle till i start tapering for nonexistent marathon!

happy spring and stay well,

Dave

*Week 457*

Greetings, 50+ers!

Well, that was the Spring Break that wasn't! Daily Skype meetings, doing some training for remote instruction, finding online resources, answering instructor questions, addressing concerns, transitioning classes; all done remotely, of course. It's not going to be ideal, but we'll limp through the semester as best as possible. You picked a good time to go on sabbatical, Dave.

I did manage to get out 6 times this week, 4 walks (1 short and easy w/spouse) and 2 Run/Walks for a total of about 21 miles, so up from last week. First Run/Walk was on the track, where out in lane 7 I ran 1/2 lap, walked 1/2 lap for 3 miles and walked a final mile afterwards.--run paces started around 7:00/mi and quickly went down to about 6:00/mi for most of them. The second Run/Walk was yesterday, in which I did 8x(2:00 run, 2:00 walk). Here the run paces were a little slower (around 7:30/mi) with a little less break in between. Sad with where I'm at, but happy with recent trajectory. Weight is still an issue; being semi-sequestered and spending so much time on the computer trying to work things out for remote instruction and communication isn't helping. We'll get through this!

So it goes here in the Bluegrass (and pretty much everywhere, I'm guessing.) Glad everyone is keeping their motivation not knowing when or where races will happen again. Stay Healthy!

All the Best!

German watcher wrote:

PTF, are you selling melatonin?

No.

Took my first break in awhile. Just walked 17 miles. I worked from home, calling clients and making a few portfolio changes, answering questions. I anticipate the long hours will continue for another week or two. Our office is closed for at least another week, perhaps several more. In the interim I will remote-in thru mid-April, perhaps into May. I see this period as the culmination of my advising career. Provident that one of the biggest financial events in history takes place six months before my retirement. In my business the long days come in times like this, the preparation begins well in advance. Fortunately this is my third Bear Market, the previous two being the Technology and Housing Bubbles. In my view, Covid-19 was the pin that popped the most overvalued stock market ever.

Wish everyone the best in these challenging times. Stay safe.

Igy

German watcher wrote:

PTF, are you selling melatonin?

Nothing being sold by the author of the article either. Also, nothing being sold in any of the 101 references cited throughout the meticulously researched paper.

It always helps to read what you are commenting on...even a little.

I ran about 30 miles this week

M – rest

T – 9.9 miles out/back on creek trail. 42:16 out, 1:20:10 at finish. Final two miles I caught a pair of bikers. They worked to keep ahead of me and I chased them & passed them with .5 to go. Couldn't resist the temptation. Ran this workout in Next%, wanted to blow off some steam.

W – 4.1 easy

Th – 10.4 medium>hard over hills in woods. Popped out of woods loop 30m behind a local club rival. Chased her without actually trying to catch her, cat/mouse. She knew I was there and threw it down.

F – rest

S – 5.3 easy

Su – rest

My right foot hurts today, feels bruised below the ankle. I stupidly ran hard twice this week too close to my recent marathon (Including last Sunday, I ran hard 3 out of 5 days).

We have our 18-year-old lad back from college and 14-year-old highschooler cooped up with us! I was blowing off steam with the hard running and now I need to take a few days off. I certainly know better from experience! Sometimes when I am out running, I can't resist the bait of going after a challenge.

Ripley, sorry to hear that your excellent race fitness has no race to run, and the same sentiments can be expressed to so many posters here. It is frustrating, just for starters. Kcgeezer, here's hoping that the Abebe Bikala Peace Day Marathon goes ahead in September.

Dhaaga – that is a fine week of running!

Am - I'm curious as to whether you plan any particular test of fitness, simulated race or hard workout with your current fitness?

Stay healthy, keep fit!

This was my best week in some time coming within a few steps of 21 actual running miles (no fluff). And the niggles have mostly evaporated, especially the nagging hammy which felt great this week. Still no speed/fartlek as I want to make sure that hammy is close to 100% for that. Today’s run was a bit chilly thanks to sub-freezing temps and a cold win from the north. But the forecast calls for 6+” of snow in the area tomorrow and more on Wednesday, so I was happy to get out today. There’s nothing like winter running in the spring!

Mon: 51’ CR; body wt ex + medball routine

Tues: walk w/ the bride

Wed: 54’ CR; body wt ex + medball routine

Thu: off

Fri: 55’ CR; body wt ex + medball routine

Sat: walk w/ the bride

Sun: 52’ CR; body wt ex

Best to most!

PTF Thanks, interesting article and site.

Good week 6 days of 40 minute slogs picking it up here and there plus one hardish run

Hardish was a combo LT/FR/5k workout in the sand faster than expected.

Warmup

Hilly loop in 12 minutes

Workout:

LT :

Hilly loop time 8:49 which is a good time but was doing 2 laps in 18 so not bad after a month of daily sloggng. Reinforces my training method.

FR:

10 minute recovery slog

5K effort:

Hilly loop started after the 2 roller coaster hills of above hilly loop

5:01 vs 5:44

Thought about doing 4x200 and might if I get the urge.

Goal keep raising the bar was break 70 now I am shooting for

breaking 63 at 63 for 400

Ripley, I sympathize! I can’t believe that only two weeks ago I was looking forward to running a marathon next weekend.

The constant drumbeat of impending doom has really started to get to me. Early this week I started having trouble sleeping. I slept 6 hours Monday night, 6 on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday. Under 5 hours is definitely not sustainable, and by Friday I was stumbling around in a total mental fog. Interestingly, though, running at a slow pace still felt good. I finally started sleeping better Friday and Saturday nights (8 and 7 hours), and I hope I’ve turned the corner.

Since there seems to be good evidence that running really hard depresses the immune system at least temporarily, I’ve canceled plans to run a solo marathon time trial on the weekend of my cancelled race. I’m going to drop down to maintenance mode for a while, at least until there are some races on the horizon. This week I piled up 72 miles but it was all very slow and included no long runs. I think this is the new normal for a while.

I’m a professor and department chair at a research university, and I and my colleagues spent much of the past two weeks madly scrambling to switch over to entirely remote instruction with basically zero notice lucKY2b, I know what you're going through). Then Thursday evening came a shelter in place order for the entire state, and Friday and Saturday were spent sadly shutting down the research labs for who knows how long. I’m now paying graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from a grant to do research that they can’t do without a lab, and watching their careers, as well as those of all of my younger faculty colleagues, hit a brick wall. It’s all very depressing. I suppose we will eventually come out of this but I can’t see any way that the timeline is less than many months and perhaps a year or more.

Personally, I’m in pretty good shape to ride this out. My job is not likely to go away any time soon, I have a nice big house in which my husband and I can rattle around when housebound, and we can still go outside to run, bike, and walk our dogs. And so far, we are both healthy.

Stay healthy and sane!

A good running but disappointing lifestyle week for me. Last weekend our planned mid-April trip to New Zealand to see our son and his family was officially scrubbed. Monday, our son who lives locally texted that he and his wife had upper respiratory infection symptoms and were self-quarantining for 14 days. Wednesday he reported that they had teleconferenced with their GP and was told that unless symptoms got severe or you answered yes to one of the magic questions, "have you traveled internationally" or "have you had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19" they would not be tested. He texted yesterday that they were starting to feel better. For the foreseeable future I am trying to just get out and cruise around at a comfortable pace.

53 miles for the week -

M- 7mi walk with strides

T- 8 mi hills 10:01/mi pace

W- 7mi walk with strides

Th- 8 mi hills 9:56/mi pace

F- 7mi walk with strides

S- 8 mi hills 9:24/mi pace

Su- 8 mi hills 9:31/mi pace

Good health to all!

I've got a lot of good training over the last few weeks. About three weeks ago I raced a 5 Mile XC and did very well.

I think my plan now is to train for a fast time in a road 5K the last Saturday of April then get back to my best events under 5,000 meters on the track.

This past week, on Monday and Saturday, I ran 16-milers. I'm living on a family-owned property with private roads to the main roads so it's easy for me to step outside the door and just run.

Outside of running, I've been so busy and then boom, places have shut down.

I always like to have a goal. I'm in my best running shape since 1987 and was planning/expecting to finally break 1:30 for the half in late April. Now that the race has been postponed to October, I'm going to do some shorter/faster workouts for a few weeks and run a track mile with two also-masters friends on the weekend the race would've taken place. Wouldn't want to extend the cycle much longer than originally planned for fear of injury, but this'll give me a nice goal to aim for and give me permission to take a couple of down weeks afterwards. Don't think I've run a mile race since the Carter Administration, and my fastest split as a grownup is probably a 5:58ish first mile of a 5K, so I think I've got a pretty good shot at an adult PR if I don't get injured.

Mon. Quick half hour kayak session.

Tue. 75 min road bike ride. Solid effort.

Wed. 8 km run with 4 x400 metre hillreps then 3 kms tempo.

Thu. 85 min lake kayak session very windy and choppy. Then a cruisy 5 km trot on flat sandy trails.

Fri. 90 min mountain bike ride.

Sat. Fast 30 min mountain bike the 20 min kayak and a hard hilly 6 km run in 30 mins. Hitting sub 4 min km pace for last (mostly downhill) km.

Sun. 12.4 km easy trail run.

Left toe still niggling. All races cancelled.