50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

happy 2022, everyone.

enjoyable last week of the year for me:

M 35:00 + 1:00 x-t

Tu 1:20 with 5 X 3:00 hard (2:00 jog)

W 1:30

Th 1:30 with drills and strides

F 35:00 + 1:45 x-t

Sa 1:00 with parkrun (probably 3 miles) tempo 20:11 (3rd OA, 1st age graded)

Su 30:00 + 30:00 x-t

Tomorrow I start a 10 X 9-day cycle of training for cherry blossom 10-mile 4/3/22. Based on a schedule I used to prep for 10-mile time trial in november '20 with which I was happy.

in the 60's here in DC area today but projected to be in 20's and snowing tonight, so maybe winter is finally arriving.

have a great week,

Dave

Climbing back in with a 27.6 mile week. Easy to medium effort.

Now I have 5 weeks at 15 - 17 miles, and 3 weeks at 20+ miles. I guess this is a (very gradual) buildup!

Happy New Year all around.

M62, 5'11", 183 lbs

Race Calendar:

12 Feb -- 10 Miles

24 Apr -- Half Marathon

29 May -- Marathon

DEC 27, 2021 - JAN 2, 2022

M -- Off

Tu - Off

W -- 5.0 miles (10:32/mi out, 9:08 back)

Th-- Off

Fr -- 10.0 miles (8:50/mi out, 8:39 back)

Sa -- Off

Su -- 5.0 miles (9:32/mi out, 8:34 back)

TOTAL: 20.0 MILES

Very happy to average sub-9 for Friday's "long run." I finished that run after dark in dense fog. The canal path was recently groomed, so no tripping hazards. Nice!

Another highlight of that run was coming up on another runner. Unusual in this rural area, and nice to be able to "catch" him. Chatted a bit, and it turns out he's running the same May marathon as I, although for him it's a month after Boston.

I'm still aiming for 3:30 in May. My past experience is that on 20 mpw I'll need to be able to maintain MP for 15 miles in training. I'm a long ways from that now, but there's still nearly 5 months to go.

Interestingly, at 45 mpw (my normal volume when competing seriously), I've only managed maybe 8 miles at MP in training. Taper plus race-day magic make up the difference!

Happy 2022!

Happy and healthy 2022!

Mo 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Tu 30 min jumps and drills uphill, 6x60m uphill, 2x150m uphill

We 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Th 4 miles easy, 10x100m buildups with jog back

Fr 7 miles easy, 5x100m with jog back

Sa 2 miles WU, 8x300m uphill with jog back, 2 miles CD

Su 90 min very easy on dead legs

A happy and healthy New Year to all. I finished 2021 with 2019 miles (I should have done two more miles to match the numbers) and 8 XC races in 16 weeks finishing with Club XC. Now I need to start 2022 with one more good XC race next Saturday and then at least a 12 week break from racing to rebuild some base. My 2022 training goal is similar mileage to this past year, but with more cross training strength work added through the year. My current 2022 race plan is USATF Masters road 10 mile in April, Carlsbad 5k in May, the Dipsea race in June (if I can get in) and then our local XC series from late August to early November, and finish with Club XC in SF.

This week was more easy run recovery with 25 miles total. Pre-race taper starts tomorrow with a little work on turnover rate and as much easy running as feels right.

Not sure from your user names how many of you are 58 year old females, but that's me. New here. I don't run as much or as far or as fast as you all. I got 674 miles last year, 1004 in 2020. 10 mile long runs are my favorite but right now trying to build up mileage to 20/week and then beyond. Just did a nice 4 and making a pan of brownies to dig in to later. Greetings y'all.

Welcome, and making a pan of brownies is near the top of my to do list after my XC race next weekend.

I've lost my touch with the brownies. Not. Very. Good.

[quote]old guy II wrote:

My current 2022 race plan is USATF Masters road 10 mile in April, Carlsbad 5k in May, the Dipsea race in June /quote]

Old Guyll cool to note that Carlsbd is SO late thos year...instead of early March, late may...intriguing, for sure :

https://carlsbad5000.com/

your pal,

MF

Called orthopedist and couldn’t get in until January 20th.

I can walk better on my left leg now. The pain is behind the knee and along one side.

Probably just tendinitis.. I was going to cancel the appointment but did not.

I dragged myself around for 3 miles and will continue to do so every day until the appointment.

When I first get out of bed I have to support myself for about 10 or 20 steps then the pain and stiffness is reduced quite a bit.

I can move along at a pain level of about 4...

Looks like no 2000 mile year this year ha

I’ll be back

MikeF. wrote:

[quote]old guy II wrote:

My current 2022 race plan is USATF Masters road 10 mile in April, Carlsbad 5k in May, the Dipsea race in June /quote]

Old Guyll cool to note that Carlsbd is SO late thos year...instead of early March, late may...intriguing, for sure :

https://carlsbad5000.com/

your pal,

MF

Mike, I haven't talked to anyone in the race organization yet, but I assume that the logistics of getting the permit and putting on the race required that much more lead time this year. It will be interesting to see what kind of a turnout they get and how that will affect a decision to return to their historical 1st Sunday after Easter date, or stay with the May date.

Welcome, GMone. It's nice to have more women on this thread. I'm 63F, a decent age-group runner until March 2020 when (apparently unrelated to the pandemic shutdown) the wheels came completely off with an autoimmune disease finally diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, followed by what is tentatively diagnosed as runner's dystonia starting in June 2021. Currently the RA is somewhat under control but the dystonia is really kicking my butt. On good days I can jog slowly 4 miles or so but on bad days I can't run at all, and walking more than half a mile or so is a challenge. At least I can still ride a bike, and I keep hoping to find the magic bullet that will return me to being a runner.

My week:

Mon: 70 min bike trainer, gym including 20 min on stair climber

Tues: 1.1 mile jog, 45 min bike trainer, gym, 15 mile bike ride

Weds: 75 min bike trainer, gym including 15 min on rowing machine

Thurs: 1.1 mile jog, 41 min bike trainer, gym, 19 mile bike ride

Fri: 1.1 mile jog, 42 min bike trainer, gym, 45 min bike trainer

Sat: 45 min bike trainer, gym including 15 min rowing, 15 mile bike ride

Sun: 1.1 mile jog, 48 min bike trainer, gym, 19 mile bike ride

The left leg is doing better on the leg presses in the gym but my running and walking continue to deteriorate. Maybe time to try something different.

Brownies sound good. I believe it is impossible to ruin brownies.

Robert E. Lee

look into the peroneal / fibular nerve.

best,

MF

Greetings everyone and welcome to GMone.

Been a couple weeks since I checked in.

Quick updates and overview from 2021:

- The biggie; I turned 65 in mid December.

-Finished 2021 with 2,493 miles and no missed days. More importantly , no injuries.

-About halfway through the year, I lowered my weekly mileage to 40-45 per week and strove to keep the 'quality work' at 15-20% . This is not (was not) an easy task.

-I discovered the benefit of Parkrun. The local course is 90% on dirt nature trails has been a reglar mud-fest some weeks. BUT...it gives me a chance to do a decent uptempo workout.

- Had some okay races and just barely making the WMA 80% grade in the mile and 5k. Managed to get a mile road race in under 6:00. Let's see if I can do that again this year.

Winter eather here in Michigan has turned, well ... Wintery. Today 18 degrees and icy/snowy. So back to the parking structure at the local university for some repeats.

2022 Goals/Hopes/Aspirations:

-Get through the year or at least to mid August healthy enough to reach my 30 year 'streak' of three miles a day.

-Get under 6:00 for the mile again

-Hit 80% age graded level for the 800m-10K ( I think this may be doable as I was in stricking close in 2021)

-Attend the USATF Masters in Lexington Kentucky in July in the 1500m

-Meet some silly personal place/time goals in three of four local races.

-Continue to work on my core strength. I think this really helped me throughout 2021.

-Begin some volunteer youth coaching (starting this Monday) with a local group. They are mostly sprint oriented, but it seems that have never anyone work with them who has has distance experience. Could be interesting AND may give me access to a tiny indoor track a two times a week before or after practice for some ice free strides at least.

Until next time, hope all stay safe and healthy.

Mike F -

I'm curious, where is the USATF Masters road 10 mile?

Welcome to GMone!

So far,so good, Happy 65th! I'm behind you by 2.5 months... a new age category beckons! Good luck with the 6:00 mile goal.

Cheers,

Steve aka Big Red

Bid Red the 10 mile championships are in Sacramento in April if I am not mistaken....by the way, have you had luck with access to Sonoma County tracks of late?

With regard to the race calendar, maybe it would be interesting to some of the gents and ladies on this thread how things work in other parts of the world.

Here in Central European part of Russia, there is a series of races organized in a fashion like a “season cup” in skiing (both alpine and XC), biathlon, and some other sports (e.g. car racing). That is: some 25-30 events are identified early in the year where the participants may get points depending on the result, age and distance. 15 best results count finally and points accumulated.

The equalizer between age groups is obviously based on one of age-grading calculators. It is trickier though to define how many points to be given for different distances. Of course VDOT calculators do exist, but the organizers defined a table where the preference is given to longer distances. E.g., 10K/40min and HM/1:29 are somewhat equivalent in terms of “VDOT” calculator, but an M65 gets about 1000 points for the latter, while less than 800 for the former (and for the full M it will be 1400+). And though this approach throws away 5/10K guys like me, I find it fair enough.

Interesting that the overall champion for 2021 is a 67 y.o. lad who logged 13 HMs (all between 1:27 and 1:33) and 2 30Ks from mid April through early December (plus ran 5-6 shorter XCs that did not count). The overall second is a 36 y.o. and the third is 53.

Of course clubs compete too.

I find it a bit crazy to take part in so many races in a season (and unbelievable to remain injury free), but iron (if not titanium) 50+ and 60+ humans still exist…

After taking a few down weeks following CIM, I started picking training up last week:

Mon: 10 miles at 7:08s

Tues: 5x 3'/2'/1' progressive fartlek for total 30'. 3s avg 6:14 / 2s avg 5:27 / 1s avg 5:10. Total 10.5 miles

Wed: 10 miles at 7:15s

Thu: 10 miles at 7:05s

Fri: 5x mile with 60" recovery 5:39/5:41/5:33/5:34/5:24. CD I latched onto a group doing a tempo and added 20' at 6:10s (not my smartest idea). Total 12 miles

Sat: AM 8 miles at 7:07s. PM 4 miles at 7:55s

Sun: 22k (13.67 miles) at 7:05s to ring in the New Year

Total 79 miles for the week

Heading to San Diego this week. Still on the fence whether I'm actually going to race.

Big Red wrote:

Mike F -

I'm curious, where is the USATF Masters road 10 mile?

Steve aka Big Red

It's on the calendar as April 3rd in Sacramento.