50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

amkelley wrote:

I lived in Rochester from 1987 to 1999 while on the faculty at the U of R. I ran a number of races in Pittsford. Nice area.

I now live in a really flat area, but there is one short but quite steep hill just a mile from home and I used to occasionally do hill repeats on it. Then five years ago I blew up my right Achilles. I've recovered to the point where I can mostly run on level ground without trouble, but steep hills are a no-no. Just last week I decided I was bored with my usual running routes and I tried one rep of that hill. My Achilles has been decidedly more sore than usual ever since. Bad idea.

Well...some problems don't have solutions. Have you considered surgery on your Achilles? I don't even know if that's a thing for runners, but it's all I can think of. My younger son messed up his right shoulder at age 19 falling off a skateboard, and they repaired his shoulder using cadaver parts. His shoulder still isn't very good but I suspect he could have done more rehab work than he did.

I was Class of '76 at Pittsford Sutherland High school, so I was long gone by '87 when you blew into town at the U of R. Hey, did you know an extremely well-spoken English Dept. faculty wife named Natalie? Just a shot in the dark, that you would know the one person I knew who was part of the U of R faculty crowd. She wasn't a runner as far as I know. More of a fanatical reader. Can't even remember her last name; it's been 39 years. Nowadays people can keep up via Facebook etc.; back in the day when people moved on they usually lost touch.

Sure, Achilles surgery is a thing (see Galen Rupp and many other well-known runners). Early on I saw two orthopedists who both told me I needed it. I was unwilling to undergo such an invasive and slow-to-heal surgery except as a last resort, so I didn't. For the past two years or so I've had to take only minor amounts of time off from running as long as I'm careful about not running hills and staying off uneven ground. I think it's the right choice, versus something on the order of a year, at my age, to recover from surgery.

I was in chemistry, so I didn't know many people in English...

I'm kind of a dumb runner, but going back 4 weeks, I averaged about 8:15/mile at 55 miles a week, average elevation 5500-6000'. First mile is always about 9-9:30, then I kind of pick it up and roll with how I feel. Easy days easy (8:30s on trails). Hard days have an easy warm up and cool down and then I get down to business with faster running at mile, 5K, 8K 10K paced reps; tempos (cutting back on tempos some this month to focus on some more on speed training).

I’m posting my weekly summary a day early because I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a considerably more ambitious backpacking trip than my last one. Again I’m suspecting that we may get consumed by mosquitoes, but we’ll hope for the best. This week I racked up 68 miles in 6 days, all slow running (9:20 to 9:40/mile) but feeling pretty good. The prednisone really does seem to have the PMR under control and my general sense of well-being is returning even if my athletic performance isn’t. On Thursday I have an appointment with a rheumatologist who will, I hope, either agree with my diagnosis of PMR or come up with a reasonable alternative for which tests can be done.

It looks like a good time to disappear for a few days. It’s supposed to be bloody hot here--100 degrees or above. Near 8000 feet it should be roughly 25 degrees cooler, which is still hot for our heavily coated dogs, but I hope it’s still early enough in the season that there are lots of water sources to cool them off along the way. My university still hasn’t decided whether fall semester instruction will be entirely online or some hybrid mix and the promised low-occupancy reopening of the research labs has now been delayed until at least July 1, so I really can’t do any of the parts of my job right now. Time to head for the mountains.

All races in my area have apparently been cancelled (or “virtualized”) for at least the next three and a half months, the most recent victim being a small half-marathon I usually run in early October. It will be very interesting to see whether CIM is allowed to happen in December.

Happy running and stay safe.

amkelley, have a great hiking trip! Sounds like you had a very good week of training.

Totally different topic: a couple years ago I had my testosterone levels checked. I was wondering why I had no energy. Well, my testosterone levels were fine. I'm just getting old.

Today I went on a fitness website and got a list of natural testosterone boosters.

Some of these are things you can eat, some are things you can do.

Posted here in case some of you are interested.

Natural testosterone boosters

Onions and garlic

Protein

Lean beef, chicken, fish, and eggs are some of your options. Tofu, nuts, and seeds have protein, too.

Fish

Fatty kinds like salmon, tuna, and mackerel are rich with vitamin D. It's a natural testosterone booster because it plays a crucial role in hormone production.

Magnesium

This mineral blocks a protein from binding with testosterone. Spinach is packed with magnesium. Almonds, cashews, and peanuts are good sources, too.

Oysters

Oysters have almost five times your recommended daily dose of zinc. This mineral helps your body make testosterone. You can also get it in beef and beans. And it's often added to breakfast cereal.

Pomegranate

Start your day with a glass of this ancient seedy fruit's juice instead of OJ. It lowers levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, which helps raise levels of sex hormones including testosterone. And it can lower your blood pressure and elevate mood!

Mediterranean diet

A Mediterranean-style diet can help keep your weight in check and protect you from insulin resistance, which is related to lower T levels. And when your testosterone is low, your fat levels go up, which can lead to your body not using insulin well.

Minimize Alcohol

Alcohol may throw off many parts of your body's hormone system. Heavy drinkers can have shrunken testes, thin chest and beard hair, and higher levels of the female hormone estrogen.

Use Glass, Not Plastic

Bisphenol-A (BPA), found in some plastics, cans, and other food packaging, can mess with your hormone-making process.

Build Your Strength

Strength training boosts your testosterone. Be careful to not overdo it. Too much exercise can reduce your T level.

Get Enough Sleep

Daytime testosterone levels can drop if you get too little sleep.

Dean Karnazes follows a modified Paleo diet, which seems to work OK for him.

In case anyone is interested, here is an example of Dean Karnazes's diet in a typical day. The article I read is a few years old so maybe he has made some changes; I can't speak to that.

DEAN KARNAZES DIET (MODIFIED PALEO)

Pre-morning run

Coffee with flax milk

Post-morning run

Greek-style yogurt (full fat, no sugar added) with cashews, banana and blackberries

Eaten over the course of the day

Apples

Pears

Oranges

Food and hydration for long runs

Nut butter

Unflavored coconut water

Dinner

Large mixed green salad with avocado, olive oil, ground ginger and turmeric

Raw beets

Cooked sweet potato (the one vegetable eaten cooked)

Wild-caught sashimi grade salmon

Dessert

Greek-style yogurt (full fat, no sugar added), topped with olive oil and Himalayan blue sea salt

Charlie wrote:

Loss of elasticity is why older runners slow down and are more prone to injury. Old tendons store

and return less landing force energy which turns into impact force on the joints and muscles. That is why even though my running muscles are as strong or stronger than they were 20 years ago my times have slowed by a minute per mile. This is also why I run on the sand which does 2 things.... reduces impact force while increases energy needed to run so muscle/tendon/joint s are strengthened.

Pete Magill did a nice piece on this.

Quote: To improve recoil, you need to increase the energy it takes to stretch your tendons by strengthening the fibers that make up tendons.

Link to article:

https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20842237/recoil-runnings-superpower/

Hey Charlie...I tried the doing a lot of sand running/jogging for about 3 weeks. One day a week I would do something harder on road or track. When I went to run harder I felt very sluggish. I think it was a neurological thing where I got used to a slower cadence and not popping off the ground. How did you get past this? You are obviously doing something right.

Hi PTF,

Modulate Titrate as needed dial it in you might only use the sand for recovery runs You might need more hard surface stuff.

WAGs

Your leg muscles are tired as sand running takes way more muscle to do. So 3 weeks is not long enough to gain the strength kinda like adding mileage you feel tired as you adapt.

If you can find a sand dune running fast down the hill will help with turnover without the impact damage and is fun

Neural Muscluar

HIRT I swear by 4x30' ALL OUT Caution Gradual Approach is needed. 5 minute recoveries

as this is all about cp fuel/ neural muscularwake up not anaerobic stuff

Progression:

1. Standing up sprinting on a bike

2. Tread mill hills working up to 10 percent grade at current 5k race pace

3. Sand sprints 30 seconds

4. barefoot grass sprints 15 to 30 seconds

5 Full on the Track 15 seconds all out watch out as these working up to 30 seconds

This is a safe progression taking MONTHS and I still do different ones depending on how I am

feeling. For example the bike is really easy on the joints tendons and is a blast.

Most important thing is these should leave you feeling good with virtually no recovery days needed. Too stressful and you get the wrong hormonal response.

Last fall I noticed my lack of pop after a few months of nothing but sand that is why I set the 400 meter goal to get some pop back. This morphed into running an 800. My take away is I am going to always do 4x30 year round at least 1 per week.

Sten Ekberg oly decathlete was where I got the 30 second stuff:

https://youtu.be/EOlgg1Ud-UM

Charlie...this is very helpful. I see I didn't give the sand running enough time. I also...separately...did the all out 30 sec sprints (treadmill at 10%). I was feeling very good with them...but only used 90 secs recovery and worked up to 8 of them...while preceding it with 50+ mind of easy road running...so I think I wore myself out...as usual. Thank you very much.

Just watched a Youtube video of my high school teammate Pete Pfitzinger winning the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2waANko4YLg

Here is a sample of the expert color commentary from the last three-quarters of a mile:

"Once [Tuttle and Salazar] pass Pfitzinger, he's been out there for so long, he's not going to be able to come back. Psychologically or physically, he won't come back."

"Tuttle [now in the lead], very happy right now, he's got speed, he's a former steeplechaser, he's not going to be outkicked by anyone from behind."

"You see Pfitzinger concentrating, stuttering a little bit, it's hard, he's got to work his arms to keep his balance, just concentrating on going with Salazar and Tuttle, concentrating on their backs, hoping they'll pull him along."

"Tuttle, looking seemingly unpressed, and I guess he'll come away from this race looking toward the Olympics."

"Salazar taking the lead here...he has had to work hard to pull it out in just the last mile."

"Pfitzinger comes on and he's going to win it."

HAHAHAHAHA

How cool! Pretty lousy video but still great to watch.

That was a tough runner.....

Wasn't going to run today, but reading the news got me a little riled up and I wanted to burn off some tension.

Even though it was 6 p.m., still 90 F. and sunny at the track.

3 miles in 35:58, Brittle Master Shuffle (11:59/mile).

My target was 12:00 pace and I came pretty close, just glancing at my watch after every lap.

Not tired at all afterward, but sweaty. Some lower back pain.

Happy first day of summer to all Northern Hemisphere runners! Mopac: first day of winter for you??

PTF,

This video clearly demonstrates the difference between neuro-m and speed work . Full recovery very short intense . Feel great afterwards sleep good raises HgH / IGF1 with minimal cortisol increase. Which is what older folks need.

Notice just how hard the 20 to 30 second efforta are with 10 minute recoveries.btw this dude dropped a 7:58 3k a few days ago!

https://youtu.be/rPvYFmzn0Vg

Hi Charlie,

Thanks again for posting interesting links. The very slow jogging style is exactly what good runners are doing during the jog intervals of a track session. So, for beginners the trick is to exercise the right posture for a longer time. like it...

I am not posting my training because will be boring for the readers. It is just repeating for more weeks ramping up the long run.

Stay healthy!

Mon. 1 hr 30 min kayak on the Murray River, tough going upstream.

Tue. 2 hr 16 min mountain bike ride in the forests.

Wed. 11 km run with 600 metres elevation gain on Mt St Leonard. Good and muddy. 1 hr 30 mins.

Thu. 20.4 km run with 930 metres elevation gain. Good tough muddy run over the top of Mt Vinegar. 2 hr 40 mins. Felt good on the longest run of the year.

Fri. 1 hr 6 min kayak. Very easy session.

Sat. Steady 58 min road ride then additional 39 min mountain bike as it was getting dark.

Sun. Just a gentle 4 km shuffle in 26 mins.

Some nice long sessions early in the week.

I am 4 weeks into 5 weeks of my annual leave. We were supposed to be in Scotland.

*Week 472*

Salutations, 50+ers! Happy Father's Day to all you dads (of whatever ilk) out there.

Wow! So much discussion this past week. Sorry that I stepped away to work on some long-furloughed honey-do projects (that's the plan for this summer in which I'm not actually teaching, for once.) Thanks for the encouraging words from so many last week. I was hoping to duplicate this week, but got some kind of stomach bug late in the week that just made me feel run down. Still made it 21.5 miles of activity on 6 days, but more walking and only got 2 run/walk sessions in. One was 4x0.5 miles running like last week, the other was 1.0, 0.5, 0.2,3x0.1; paces about like last week.

I'll try to catch up on the reading of the thread, pretty cool stuff. Nice to see some impressive training by a bunch of y'all; props to you! Keep your spirits up to all that are in diagnosis/rehab/hiatus mode. I'm grateful we'll be able to spend some time with our daughter this afternoon (but still keeping our distances.)

All the Best!

Happy Father's Day Y'all.

Well Done To The Brooklyn Mile Folks. Day Three of Three in progress toeing the line for a MILE. They've raised at least $10k for NYC COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Hundreds of Women and Men have participated. And it's gone global. Stellar Masters Performances; particularly by M62 Dan King who smoked a 4:57 in Boulder, CO (altitude adjusted 4:52). And I thought I did good with my 5:27.6 here at sea level Portland OR run point-2-point on a bike path. I'll take it with a little more than 4-weeks to M60. It felt good to have my forearms go numb with 500 to go. Gotta make this occur more and more until the breakthrough happens = it starts later and later until it goes away. The next 30 days of track sessions are critical in order to drop to my goal of 5:19.99 at M60. Check it out. brooklynmile.com. It's not too late to register today Y'all.

Bring Back The Mile!

KP

Whew: Lots of information this week. Happy Father’s Day to the dad’s out there. I have 3 boys, a girl, and three granddaughters. My youngest son, who has juvenile diabetes, is moving out next week. I will be sad to see him move. Thankfully, the latest iteration of insulin pump (Tandem tslim with a hybrid closed loop) has, in a sense, replaced me as the safety-net after 19 years of doing that job.

Mon = 41 minutes elliptical

Tue = 4 miles with 3@8:20 pace (hard rain and cold out)

Wed = 45 minutes elliptical

Thr = 4 miles easy cemetery

Fri = Dumbbell workout

Sat = 4 miles rolling greenway, 3@7:42 pace, (7:42, 7:42, 7:42)

Sun = 4 miles easy

I’ve noticed in the last few weeks my right knee slowly becoming irritated on the elliptical. Friday was the last straw as alarm bells went off in my head that I needed to pull the plug. I’m subbing a dumbbell workout to give me something to do on non-running days.

In the past I’ve had a “click” in my right knee when I tried to ride a bike. Looks like the elliptical is just a wee bit too close to the bike for my knee’s comfort.

SAT I knocked 16 seconds off last week’s run on the same course with the same conditions. Not having dead-elliptical-legs probably helped. Being able to semi-comfortably hold the exact pace for the whole thing is a very good sign. I did it mostly without looking at the Garmin by focusing on 2-1 breathing and coordinating it with my cadence.

Don’t lick any doorknobs.