50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Shane Healy

“I said, ‘okay Shane, don’t f*** up, whatever you do.” The following night, he began to wonder just what the hell he’d signed up for as El Guerrouj ripped through 800m in 1:48, Healy holding on for dear life out the back as he passed in 1:52. As the Moroccan powered to the finish in 3:28.92, Healy emptied his energy reserves up the home straight to come home 12th, smashing his personal best.

“Lo and behold, I ran 3:35.29 with shite preparation,” he says. “But the thing is: When my back is against the wall, I’ll produce the goods. I hope I can open people’s eyes to never ever give up faith, to chase your dream. Don’t ever give up.” …

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/arid-30904867.html

Alan55 wrote:

Seattle Grey Hair wrote:

I alternate running shoes, currently the On Cloudflow and the Newton Distance 8. I have never been a fan of soft or highly cushioned shoes.

Welcome!

I have the On Cloudflow too. I love them, but the inside of the heel tabs wore through in about a dozen runs. It looks really ugly. Pretty annoying considering how much I paid for that fancy "Swiss engineering". Are yours holding up OK?

The inside of the heel padding is starting to wear, but I not until I had over 350 miles in them. I am now up to 425 miles and it hasn't gotten much worse, so I'm not troubled. Probably in the next month I will replace the current pair with a new pair, wash these and use them as casual wear. They still look good and haven't broken down noticeably.

I am replacing them with the new, Helion foam black and white model with the increased traction and additional forefoot foam. I am very interested in the alleged improvements.

Charlie wrote:

Shane Healy

“I said, ‘okay Shane, don’t f*** up, whatever you do.” The following night, he began to wonder just what the hell he’d signed up for as El Guerrouj ripped through 800m in 1:48, Healy holding on for dear life out the back as he passed in 1:52. As the Moroccan powered to the finish in 3:28.92, Healy emptied his energy reserves up the home straight to come home 12th, smashing his personal best.

“Lo and behold, I ran 3:35.29 with shite preparation,” he says. “But the thing is: When my back is against the wall, I’ll produce the goods. I hope I can open people’s eyes to never ever give up faith, to chase your dream. Don’t ever give up.” …

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/arid-30904867.html

Charlie, great read! Thanks for that.

TUESDAY:

6:30 a.m.: 5 miles running at the track, slow and untimed, 82 F., sunny, humidity 70%.

5:30 p.m.: 2 miles running at the track, slow and untimed, 89 F., “feels like 95,” sunny, humidity 51%.

I have to run very slowly due to my hamstring. Probably a good idea anyway in this heat and humidity.

Celebrating our 37th anniversary today (Yahoo!) with a couple of walk/runs, total of 8 miles, in about 2:10 total, and dinner of her salmon specialty with quinoa and veggies. Desert will be chocolate cake remaining from her birthday of two days ago.

Speaking of birthdays, I happen to know that KP turned the big 60, so shout out to him, too.

Did someone say something about running? At least we are still moving and feeling good :)

Congratulations on the milestone, MikeL.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

“What I hadn't noticed was that entangled with it was another vine with leaves that should have been familiar to me: poison ivy. “

During the cross country season of 1972 I was running, and need to drop a load. Right when I was wiping my hinny my roommate yells “no.” Too late, a severe case of poison ivy. I went to the campus infirmary to get a cortisone shot, and that did the trick.

This is why I keep reading this thread.

Sean Wade vs Shane Healy 5000 who ya got?

Shane just ran 8:27 3000 world record M50 3000 8:41.

https://www.facebook.com/101722608017670/videos/584298255792973/?t=680

Wednesday, July 29, 2020:

- 2 miles walking

- Regular stretches (11 stretches)

- Upper Body strength (6 exercises, 1 set each).

- Back stretches (9 stretches)

- Lower Body strength (5 exercises, 1 set each)

Didn't do all I meant to, but it was better than nothing.

Charlie, thanks for the Dublin Track Club video footage. Looks like a cracking club if I may say so.

There was Shane Healy running a new 3K world record but the camera barely glanced at him or the group he was running with. Instead it was all about the leading group and their quest to go sub-8. That's all right; I suppose youth will be served. At age 50, Shane can no longer expect to be Queen of the May.

Charlie wrote:

Sean Wade vs Shane Healy 5000 who ya got?

Shane just ran 8:27 3000 world record M50 3000 8:41.

https://www.facebook.com/101722608017670/videos/584298255792973/?t=680

100% Age-Grade. Entering the Whitlock Zone.

YMMV

Shane Trains Super Hard . IMO not a good long term way to train but he is early 50s so twice as bright but half as long... Can anyone train that hard in old age?

Then there is Earl

Of course Earl Fee has had even greater longevity but at middle distance. Earl popped a 110 percent M90 400 89.x Hard to imagine a 90 year old man running a 90 second 400. So how does Earl train?

https://youtu.be/3_n6nu_CXXo

Charlie wrote:

YMMV

Shane Trains Super Hard . IMO not a good long term way to train but he is early 50s so twice as bright but half as long... Can anyone train that hard in old age?

Then there is Earl

Of course Earl Fee has had even greater longevity but at middle distance. Earl popped a 110 percent M90 400 89.x Hard to imagine a 90 year old man running a 90 second 400. So how does Earl train?

https://youtu.be/3_n6nu_CXXo

Earl is more of a true role model for me than Ed. He lifts, runs speed work, does a lot of pool work for his aerobic training. Maybe some walking too. In his 70s I recall he was lower mileage, maybe 15-20 max plus pool and weight.

Both these icons...Canadians, similar age, diferent events (except a little overlap at the mile), engineers, real gentlemen.

Charlie wrote:

YMMV

Shane Trains Super Hard . IMO not a good long term way to train but he is early 50s so twice as bright but half as long... Can anyone train that hard in old age?

Then there is Earl

Of course Earl Fee has had even greater longevity but at middle distance. Earl popped a 110 percent M90 400 89.x Hard to imagine a 90 year old man running a 90 second 400. So how does Earl train?

i would imagine training hard is a relative term. i assume earl trained hard to run a sub-90 at 90 years old, and from what i've read whitlock trained hard--you could even argue that his workouts/volume (2-3 hour daily solo runs) is harder on a relative scale than what healy does with a motivated young group, where the high intensity comes more naturally for a dude who ran 3:35 for 1500m back in the day. i haven't seen any science that says the hard miles i ran in my 20s have impacted the miles i ran in my 40s--obviously if i'd had a serious injury that would have impacted it, but i didn't, so at this point i could argue the hard miles i ran in my 20s have only positively impacted the miles i've run in my 40s and 50s. i don't think we're like cars where wear and tear follows a more linear progression; our bodies are regenerative, and are subject to lots of different variables.

anyway, i'm not trying to argue or dispute your claim (since only time will tell)--i have a vested interest in seeing shane continue to train hard and run fast since we're about the same age. i'm hoping we can train as hard as our bodies let us, knowing that the efforts can be similar even if the results decline...

that's my story and i'm sticking to it,

cush

socalcush wrote:

i would imagine training hard is a relative term.

cush

I think it is relative to the type of injuries folks have had. Soft tissue, mild tendon, and anything folks can get over with a few months off or even 6 months with intervention tend to be indefinitely sustainable. So how hard one trains is not the primary focus.

But based on what I have gleaned from two orthopedic docs I know, one a surgeon; any injury that requires surgical intervention is a red flag for longevity as that area becomes a permanent potential point of problems for the future. I personally know excellent runners younger than myself who have had various screws, plates, and transplants of other parts of their bodies put in their feet and knees. I’ve seen them fall by the wayside over the years.

I know folks just LOVE to point to people who’ve had both knees replaced and keep on running. This is the kind of inductive reasoning that people use to justify smoking cigarettes because, after all, Jeanne Calment smoked and she lived to age 122 and 164 days. Extreme statistical outliers are, after all, extreme by definition.

As I have posted in the past, some argument that endurance training can compromise immune system. My lymphoma, as well as other more notable marathoners: Mark Conover and Ken Martin. There is evidence that long term endurance training can lead to heart problems. Therefore more potential morbidities to consider than joint and tissue. I would say the motivation to train at a high level into one’s 70s and beyond, even if healthy, gets challenged.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

As I have posted in the past, some argument that endurance training can compromise immune system. My lymphoma, as well as other more notable marathoners: Mark Conover and Ken Martin. There is evidence that long term endurance training can lead to heart problems. Therefore more potential morbidities to consider than joint and tissue. I would say the motivation to train at a high level into one’s 70s and beyond, even if healthy, gets challenged.

Agreed. I am still getting over a personal friend of mine who dropped dead of a heart attack DURING an ultra at age 70. As far as I know he had no known medical problems whatsoever. One could make an argument that running actually shortened his life. Of course, who knows, he could have died at 40 without running......but still....70 seems young to me! Especially now!

Igy, were you drunk posting last night when you posted that picture of yourself with your pants down around your knees?

Bertrand wrote:

Igy, were you drunk posting last night when you posted that picture of yourself with your pants down around your knees?

We can't unsee that. like wtf, this thread has jumped the shark.