50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Greetings fellow oldsters... Glad to be through another Michigan January. Completed a full 31 days of running with a 235 mile total. I an happy with that.

I entered a live race in Ohio scheduled for April (looks like they are taken COVID seriously and have lots of precautions in place). Shooting for a 20:15-30- maybe faster which would put me 80% age graded for 64y/o and 'faster' than my youthful times. I would love to run something sooner but just can't justify driving five hours for a 5k or 10k. Michigan is basically devoid of races.

This week went pretty well; 52+ miles plus with 7+ miles (didn't hit my 15% goal, but that is okay) being quality hill or mile to 5K race pace spread out over three my sessions.

Started my first weekly outdoor track workout on Wednesday (29 and sunny!) at University of Michigan's old Ferry Field track (where Jessie Owens set five world records and tied a sixth in a 48 minute period in 1935). Certainly did not exhibit WR speed but had a successful modified cut down workout with some speedsters from the Ann Arbor Track Club blazing the way. 200s went very well for coming at the end. This week he has planned 8x400 with 200 float/up tempo recovery. (This may hurt a bit-haha!)

I finished up the harder stuff with a good 500m hill workout on Friday and 8x400m long hill workout early this afternoon. Then did an easy four miles tonight with a friend who stops and runs with me on his way home from work.

I hope things keep progressing and I can stay healthy. Lastly, I finally got my weight stabilized at around 132 - maybe the low weight problem earlier was more a hydration issue? I still feel like I am eating all the time. Not such a bad thing I guess.

Until next time..hoping all conquer your niggles, stay the course, and be ready for whatever 2021 throws at us!

socalcush wrote:

trying to keep track of runs for the year in a more regular format. i've never kept a log, so i'll have to see how disciplined i can be in keeping up with this....

Well I'm 100% opposite... I've logged everyday I've ever run since 1975. Why stop now?

Today is day 109 Post Tenex op. Hit my goal last week of 21 miles in four runs. My long run of 7.5 went well. Ran 8:00 for the last mile which I haven't done since October. Felt good each run! Sticking to my plan of starting runs at 10:00 and progressing a bit through the run. I don't want to run any faster than 8:00 for any mile thru February and I should get up to 30 miles on four days running, as long as things continue as they are! All runs have been painfree though there have been occasional times throughout the day when a little pain creeps in. Mostly after inactivity or a long work day.

M: 4.01 Mile run in 35:46 [8:55 per mile] 911, 902, 853, 837

T: 10.95 Mile ride in 30:00 21.8mph

W: 5 Mile run in 45:28 [9:05 per mile] 947,922,902,845,830

T: 14.88 Mile ride in 45:02 19.8mph

F: 7.5 Mile run in 1:05:33 [8:44 per mile] 938,919,900,846,830,817,803, last full mile 8:00

S: 4.52 Mile run in 44:35 [9:51 per mile] 931, 1014, 1022, 931, 928 (took a couple walk breaks)

S: Off but shoveled snow for 50 minutes

Thats it from here. Shooting for 23 miles this week.

Have a good run,

Dave

So after reading the thread above, I searched a bit more information about this 62 yr old runner. She was a mid-d runner in high school and college, and placed 6th in 1500m at the national championship when she was in college. Ran her first marathon at age 24 (3:09), and then stopped running for about 15 years as she was raising four kids. She got back to running at age 40, and ran her first sub 3 at age 58 in her 80th marathon.

Here is her training as of Jan. 2020.

M: 90-120 min.

T: 120 min on hills.

W: 10km tempo or 1000mx7.

R: 180 min in the mountain.

F: 90 min on hills.

SA: 90 min on hills.

SU: race.

The total was about 500-600km / month at this point. But then she ran up to 800km / month last summer when she had no races. As a former mid-d runner, she probably has plenty of speed. So she seems to diligently work on her endurance by running a lot of volume.

Anyway, here was my week.

M: off.

T-W 10.7km.

R: 14.2km.(10:16-9:54-9:43-9:32-9:21-9:11-9:02-8:38)

F-SA: 10.7km.

SU: 21.4km. (10:43-10:22-10:13-10:03-9:51-9:43-9:33-9:25-9:11-9:07-9:00-8:38)

So instead of adding another lap to Sunday's run, I decided to add a lap to my Thursday's run. At this point, my plan is to add one lap to my long run every 4 weeks until April. My long run was 1:23 faster than the previous week, including 5 sec over the final lap. So I am still improving.

pretty cool interview of one of my native american calcoast masters teammates about promoting trail running in native american communities. pretty sure we've had a native american gentleman posting here occasionally--i suppose it could have been sheldon, but i don't think it was...

https://trailrunner.com/trail-news/sheldon-subith-bringing-more-native-americans-to-trail-running/?fbclid=IwAR2TDZjN6QEb-EEKtAoT5z2EHZC_OYY29v-TOSkWccHzFqsg28ziOkkkwQM

*Week 506*

Greetings, 50+ers! Just muddling through the start of February. Got out for four 45+ minute walks this week, nothing particular to mention beyond the usual. My plan of busing into work and walking home just hasn't panned out; the timing has just been all off.

Remarkable runner, RF Reader, that's a ton of mileage and just an astounding time for a 62 yo woman. Cush, nice interview on your Cal Coast friend, very inspiring!

I'm surprised that they are planning on holding USATF sanctioned indoor meets in Louisville starting later this month.

https://www.ktccca.com/events?schedule_id=7522

That's about it from here. Glad to see a lot of good training results from the previous week. I hold out hope for the few that are ailing. Keep your spirits up!

Spring and vaccines (for most of us) are just around the corner! Have a great week!

All the Best!

Tue = 4 miles with 3 @ 9:41, cold, windy

Thr = 4 miles with 3 @ 9:23 on treadmill

Sat = 4 miles with last one in 6:56

Sun = 4 miles 3 @ 9:23 on treadmill

I received my Maderna COVID-19 vaccine on Thr. That night my arm was really sore, much more than when receiving a standard flu vaccine. But overnight it improved very quickly and on Fri my arm felt about the same as a standard flu shot. By Sat the soreness was totally gone. I never had any chills, fever, or body aches.

I can now target my first race of 2021: a 5K for March 20th; that will be 2 weeks after my second shot on March 4th.

My goal is to try to keep it under 24. My trend in 2019 was to age-grade about 68% and that would translate to a 23:52. We’ll see, I’m just not quite as motivated as before. There are times when that “easy button” feels pretty comfortable.

Have a good one.

I received word the Eugene Marathon is going virtual for 2021. They gave you an option to postpone to 2022, but gave you only a week window to decide. I elected to try next year. That is now the fourth race I planned for, three entered, all cancelled in some form. One entry returned, one donated, and the last one postponed for15 months. This last one was perhaps provident in that I have been struggling in training lately. Perhaps my goals were a bridge too far.

Anway finished the week with 10 mles running, 3 walking, 2 hours spin biking, and 4,000 yards swimming. I can say my swimming has improved. Mid-week I took a day to review the past two months of training, mapped out a plan for the next months. I decided to focus back on a 1500m to 5,000m schedule, to change things up, and hopefully race mid-summer or fall. For the next six week or so, Mondays will be hill reps, Wednesday intervals or tempos, Saturday long run, other days cross training or rest.

Have a good week.

Igy

Happy February, 50+ers! This was the best week I’ve had in a long time with a total of 26.2 actual running miles. Today I snapped a string of six consecutive runs exceeding 60’ each. I might have made it to seven, but my legs were a bit weary today after several hours yesterday outside and on my feet at a public service exercise. The back has been good, so I’ll likely work the med ball routine again in the coming days. Life is good!

Mon: 67’ CR; body wt ex

Tues: off

Wed: 69’ CR; body wt ex

Thu: off

Fri: 66’ CR; body wt ex

Sat: off

Sun: 57’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (6 x 2 on/off); body wt ex

Best to most!

p.s. to my post on my calcoast teammate: sheldon is not himself native american, but grew up among the soboba, and one of his kids is married to a native (so his grandson is native).

my running this week--37 days down, 328 to go...

sun: 10 (hilly trails, took 90 minutes)

mon: 6

tue: am--6

pm--6: 4x800 (238/238/235/232), 4x400 (73/72/71/75)

wed: 7

thu: am--6

pm--6 @ 7 min pace

fri: 6

sat: 12 (10 @ 6:11--first few at 6:30, last 4 @ 6:00, helped pace fast girl coached by a friend)

i was pleasantly surprised with my 10 miler on saturday given that 3 weeks ago i couldn't run 6 minute pace for 3 miles. i'm not always quick in my return to fitness, but perhaps my good summer of training is yielding benefits in this regard...

carpe crepusculum,

cush

congrats on getting your first vaccine dose! Maryland has joined West Virginia and I think some others in expanding the definition of "teacher" to include college teachers for this purpose, so I'm now registered, but that means nothing much till they tell me to make an appointment. Not holding my breath -- the "eligible" exceed the "doses on hand" by an awful lot still.

pretty good week of training -- anything fast was done by feel as I had no access to measured courses/tracks clear of ice

M 1:25 with drills and strides

Tu 1:05

W 1:30 with 30:00 at half-marathon effort

Th 1:55 double

F 1:40 with 2 X (12:00 at half-marathon, 8:00 at 10k, 4:00 at 5k effort) -- 2:00 between reps, 4:00 between sets

Sa 1:55

Su 3:00 with pit stop halfway to change to warm/dry clothes, esp. socks after stepping in very cold slush puddles [wet heavy snow here this morning, not sticking to roads b/c 50 degrees yesterday]

have a great week. Go Chiefs!

Dave

50.2 miles

Wasn’t pretty

This week was good progress towards getting back to my regular planned training level. I managed to run all seven days although I felt pretty tired and slow on a couple of those days. 38 miles total -

M- 6mi 9:15/mi

T- 5mi 12:10/mi

W- 6mi 9:30/mi

Th- 4mi 14:08/mi

F- 6mi 9:14/mi

S- 6mi 8:33/mi

Su- 5mi 11:31/mi

Good running to all!

good training weeks around. my week was

Mo 7 miles very easy, tired legs from weekend running

Tu 1 h drills and jumps uphill

We 7 miles easy + 8x100 m buildups with slow jog back

Th 7 miles easy + 10×200m with slow jog back

Fr 7 miles easy + 8x100 m buildups with slow jog back

Sa 7.5 miles very easy in hills

Su 7 miles easy, got a bunch of snow

Next week will be too cold for fast stuff probably. Let's see how it works out.

Stay healthy

This was a rebuilding week as I started to claw myself back into more regular jogging. I slept OK most of the week and my Achilles started to feel better, but I’ve simply gotten so slow that covering even 6-7 miles takes a very long time. So I decided to settle for somewhat shorter runs while I try to get back into it. My week:

Mon: 5.5 mile jog, 10 miles on outdoor bike

Tues: 75 miles on bike trainer

Weds: 6.6 mile jog, 10 miles on outdoor bike

Thurs: 7.2 mile jog

Fri: 7.6 mile jog. Stepped on a sharp rock right on my Morton’s neuroma and that stung for the rest of the day, so decided to take the weekend off from running given the forecast of very nice cycling weather.

Sat: 32 miles on bike.

Sun: 32 miles on bike.

Almost 27 miles jogging for the week, plus 84 miles on bike and an hour and a quarter on stationary trainer.

dhaaga, good job getting the mileage in despite the bad weather. I do appreciate California this time of the year—calm, sunny, 37 at dawn going up to mid-60s this afternoon. Not to gloat or anything.

Igy, too bad about Eugene. That was going to be the first of your planned three HMs this year, right? Keep on training for the next one…

I don’t much care who wins the Super Bowl with Buffalo and Green Bay going out in the last round, so I plan to kick back and root for a competitive game.

amkelley,

I would like to do that, but lately it also takes me so long to cover the distance it is exhausting. So, for the next six weeks, I am going to cut back a bit, see if that changes my trajectory. My sense is that it is not the hard days, but the recovery days need to be easier. I have started too many recent key training sessions flat and listless.

Glad you are doing better.

Igy

Mo - 50 minutes on bike trainer, knee too sore to run.

Tu - Sa - 44 miles with two workouts (We and Fr). On We 1X 2:00 2X 4:15, 2X 90 sec at 5:57 avg., taking about 2/3 recovery time. Fr was 2X 3K tempo effort, avg. 6:18 pace.

Su - 2.5 hr xc ski, 40 mph winds, so pretty horrible in the open, decent in trees but snow was still slow. Bad/awkward fall at the end, so wrenched my shoulder a bit.

9:20 total.

Overall another decent week in 'Winter Wonderland' of Michigan (highest temperature while running this week was 30 degrees - today was a whomping +16:

51 mpw

M 6 easy solo run

T 8 Noon at U of Michigan track with some much faster younger guys- Sunny breezy 28 degrees: Two sets of 4x400 at 1:36 average 200 jog recovery (400 between sets) 4 more easy before sunset

W 6 with a friend at 6:15 p.m. after sunset with a headlamp little icy - went okay 8:20-*:30s, chatted and tip-toed over and around snow and ice.

T 8 30 degrees - heat wave! Planned as rest day but storm front blowing in tonight so today was a #2 hard day for the week while the roads were still clear(ish) Uptempo for 3.1, recovered, 2x800m 7:00 pace mostly on the shoulder of the road, finished with 2x150m (strides)

F Yep, it snowed last night -sidewalks are a mess - so country roads 9 very easy 20 degrees

S Another20 degrees and clear 6 easy with another younger friend. Maybe 8:30s could have been faster, usually don't time easy runs. Trying to keep easy easy

S Waited until 4:30 p.m. to run and let it 'warm up" to 16 degrees 8 total with a total of 2+ miles harder efforts with shorted recoveries .7/.6/3x400/2x150 strides.

Just over 15% harder miles for the week.

Next Tuesday schedule calls for repeat miles at UofM, but the forecast for noon is only 15 degrees. I have feeling this will likely be an effort based workout.

10 weeks until first scheduled live 5k race

Reading a good book borrowed through our inter-library program Peak When It Counts (Periodization for American Track and Field

[/u (1990)] by William Freeman - I think I read this when it first came out, as much of it sounds very familiar. In any event it has some useful information and suggestions, if any of you others can borrow it through your library programs.

Until next week, stay safe all....

Always a bit of a slog when I am on nightshift so it was just a "get it done" week.

Mon. 3.5 km hike 170 metres elevation gain. 45 mins.

64 min kayak session in the lake.

Tue. 4 km hike 120 metres elevation gain in 44 mins.

48 km hilly road ride, about 400 metres elevation gain. Rough out there with SW winds at 30 to 40 kph but gusts of 60 to 70. Took me over 2 hours.

Wed. 11 kms of hill running. 430 metres elevation gain. 80 mins.

Thu. 2.7 km steep hike 175 metres elevation gain. 40 mins.

69 min kayak in the lake choppy and windy.

Fri. 4 km hike 200 metres elevation gain 55 mins.

Forest mountain bike ride 1 hr 50 mins. Very windy again.

Sat. 3 km walk. Stopped 25 km into the 50 km drive home from nightshift to wake myself up.

10 km forest plod in the afternoon. 1 hour.

Sun. 4 km hike 120 metres elevation gain 45 min.

11.2 km forest plod in 67 min.

When I get home (about 9.30 am) on Friday morning I will be on annual leave for 3 weeks.

I am not really doing too much, so I thought I would post every 2 weeks as I switch my walk/run ratio. The past 2 weeks I walked 4 minutes and jogged 2 minutes unless otherwise noted. Trying to add a minute of jogging every week.

1/25 Monday - 5.37 miles 12’ 19” (20 minutes jogging), walk 1.4 miles

1/27 Wednesday - Lighter Jog 5/2.5 2.03 miles (7.5 minutes) 13’38

1/29 Friday - 5.94 miles 12’ 43” (21 minutes jogging)

2/1 Monday - Treadmill 4.85 miles 14’ 50” (22 minutes jogging)

2/2 Tuesday - Treadmill Walk 1.51 miles, Walk 2.23 miles

2/3 Wednesday - Treadmill 1.69 miles 5/4 13’ 29” (8 minutes jogging), 1.4 miles walking

2/4 Thursday - Walk 4.26 miles

2/5 Friday - 5.82 miles 12’23” (22 minutes jogging)

Overall, I feel really good. I lost 2.5 lbs. over the 2 weeks before the Super Bowl weekend and promptly put it all back over 2 days of overindulgence by binge watching the first season of the “The Terror,” the second season of it subtitled “Infamy,” and the final, most frightening of all the seasons, “The Chiefs Return to the Super Bowl.”

My wife “knows a guy”, so she got a vaccine downtown out of a taco truck on the corner of Decatur and K Street. She talked the guy into getting me a vaccine as he had a bit of a surplus as his Thursday Choco Taco order was mixed up, but I was quite unimpressed with his sopaipillas, so I was a hard no. Maybe I will have more luck with People’s Drugstore or CoOp Health. Thanks, Biden.

Seriously, my wife was able to get a vaccine through an authorized distribution, which I am grateful. However, I wish we could have a better more equitable distribution system for all Americans.