50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I'm up early because I rarely sleep well the night after a race. Too many old person minor aches and pains to rest comfortably. My XC racing is well and truly done after yesterday's USATF XC. While I finished with a good result (2nd 70-74), I haven't felt that bad in the first mile of a race in over 5 years. I was very close to stepping off the course after the first 2k loop, but could hear the words of my former masters coach in my head, who had an absolute rule that, "you finish what you start unless you are injured," and I realized that as bad as I felt, I still was at least 3rd in the age group at that point. Between 2k and 3k I finally started feeling better like it was normal race effort. I saw some people in front of me that I usually am ahead of and went to work to catch them. I got by them and saw 2nd place in my age group about 10 meters further ahead. I was closing on him and made a hard surge by to try and convince him he couldn't hang on to me, and then settled down to try and close the gap to 1st, which probably was about 150 meters. I didn't gain on my soon-to-be team mate, Rick, who got 1st, but I didn't lose any more time either.

I have done three 8k XC races in 8 weeks and they have gotten progressively slower. My Garmin data for the races shows the differences -

Average pace - 7:12, 7:18, 7:22

Steps per min.- 182, 180, 179

Stride length - 1.23m, 1.23m, 1.22m

HR - 168, 144, 140

1st mile - 6:54, 6:48 (slight downhill), 7:26

All that data tells me what I subjectively felt the last two months, that I was past my peak and losing aerobic fitness from too frequent racing and not enough recovery. So, no more racing until at least April and back to base building. I've finished the season winning my age group in all 7 local races and gotten a 3rd and 2nd at Club and USATF XC Nationals. That is the best racing season I've had since I was 60, so I couldn't be happier with the result although the conclusion was a bit ugly.

Good and Healthy running to all!

Looks like I’m the first person to wrap up the training week. Been working through my first minor injury in a long while the last two weeks. Weakness in my right hip. Think I figured it out and will be doing a marathon pace run tomorrow to see if the hip can handle it. I was overstriding in an attempt to reduce my cadence which is extremely high. Actually not sure that was the reason but I think a few months ago I was experimenting with stride length and maybe I developed a bad habit. My cadence did come down a little but probably not something I should have focused on.

03.01 Mon

run 7,3 mi 1:03:04 8:40/mi 118 bpm

treadmill 1:02:15 116 bpm

04.01 Tue

treadmill 1:20:03 117 bpm

05.01 Wed

treadmill 1:50:00 127 bpm -Around 20x30 secs at 3k effort + 10 min tempo

06.01 Thu

run 6,4 mi 56:40:00 8:53/mi 120 bpm

treadmill 46:16:00 110 bpm

07.01 Fri

run 6,4 mi 44:06:00 6:54/mi 148 bpm - 5.5 miles at 6:08/mi

treadmill 52:08:00 125 bpm

08.01 Sat

treadmill 53:05:00 115 bpm

readmill 1:00: 121 bpm

09.01 Sun

run 6,5 mi 53:06:00 8:13/mi 123 bpm

Coyote Montane wrote:

At the national level there is a 5 to 10 race Grand Prix for masters each year... It's a pretty big commitment to travel to more than a couple races a year although some teams have a travel budget.

I was very fortunate to join a team in 2015 that picked up the travel and hotels for the Grand Prix races. I went to Syracuse NY, Alexandria VA, San Francisco, Tulsa OK & Flint MI on their dime! But that all went away and I pretty much got away from the National Championship races.

Checking in after just lurking along doing what I do. Just starting my 48th year of running. Who would have ever thought??? Ended up the year in decent shape, a nice string of thirty 40+ miles/week streak, and 1775 miles for the year. Not a bad year considering where I was in 2020! I'm mostly healthy with my achilles issues all but gone. Had a high week of 56 miles so I'm getting more confidant about being able to handle a bit higher mileage. Last week kinda sucked though. It was bound to happen that I would finally get the China Virus. But my un-vaxed, strong, untainted natural immune system did what it was supposed to, did its job and got rid of the virus quickly. We were well prepared knowing this day would come and started our Ivermectin/Azithromycin/zinc protocol immediately. All the symptoms were gone in less than two days. This was in addition to my daily vitamin routine. My experience with the coronavirus? We were ready to fight it, kicked it's @ss and it ended up being nothing. Glad I finally got it and now in addition to my natural strong immunity system I have the antibodies. I didn't miss any work (I worked alone in an empty vacation home so there was no threat to spread it to anyone) but I did take 3 days off running just to rest my somewhat fatigued body.

Lastly, I decided to plot out some goals for the year. I think 90%AG at age 62 in my four primary races is reasonably challenging though somewhat attainable goal. Sooo...Here it is. It's just a dream until you write it down! 5:13 mile, 18:02 5k, 37:0810k & 1:20:48HM. I entered a big HM on May 27 so that's my first test. Then work on the shorter faster races after that.

Have a good run,

Dave

Greetings, fellow 50+ers. I hope your first full week of the new year was a positive experience. It certainly seems to have been for OG2…congrats on your silver medal!

The goofy weather continues here…18° one day, 50° the next, and a snow storm to wrap up the week. Yikes! My running went well for most of the week until Friday when I found myself running in near white out conditions. It wasn’t too bad, but at around the 4 mile mark I started feeling some tightness in my left calf/Achilles. I assumed it was related to running on a slippery surface, so I cut the run short and headed for the mothership. There was no improvement by today’s run, so I may have to take some time off. We’ll see. The curtailed running on Friday and today kept me a few tenths below my goal of 20 miles of actual running for this week. But I did get a “long” run in, so there’s that. Life is good!

Sun: off

Mon: 54’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Tue: off

Wed: 63’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (4 x 2 on/off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Thu: off

Fri: 45’ CR; body wt ex

Sat: off

Sun: 43’ CR; ice

Best to most!

OG2, Congratulatin to your hard earnt silver medal! Happy rebuilding for your next XC season.

My first week of the year was a vacation week:

Mo off

Tu 9 miles easy to moderate

We 15x120m very slight uphill with walk back

Th 9 miles easy

Fr 20x120m very slight uphill with walk back

Sa 9 miles easy to moderate

Su 9 miles easy

Have a good week, stay or get healthy!

I sympathize with db. Covid did a number on America’s psyche. I often think of my father-in-law climbing into a B-24 42 times to bomb the Reich, until he was shot down and spent a year in Stalag Luft 3, courtesy of Herr Hitler as he would say. In Boise there will be no running events from Thanksgiving to St. Patricks Day. The Boise State Indoor Track and events once hosted there a victim of fear and funding. The biggest loss coming to the area high schools and universities. The handful of masters that ran there were all getting older anyway. I really can’t see how it all has been worth it. I am skeptical if the running scene in the Treasure Valley ever returns to what it once was.

The lack of local races is a loss of a personal motivator. I suppose that may change with the YMCA St Patrick’s Day Run. I would really like to go to the Hayward Classic in Eugene, but as a matter of principal, I may pass if mandated Covid protocols persist. I am just tired of it, enough is enough.

Somewhat improved training week. Putting more effort in to gymnasium training with med ball drills, upping the reps in the weight room, and adding a couple of miles on the Concept 2 rowing machine. Ran five miles with some hills. Seemed like enough for this crotchety old man.

Have a good week.

Igy

Oh, congratulations as well to oldguy II. Great comeback. I saw RB and Cush had good races. I am sure others that I missed. Impressive, and good to see.

OG II, congratulations on your excellent performance!

Indeed, according to the resulting protocol and split times, your friend who finished 1st in your AG was 31 sec ahead of you just after 2 km, but gained only 10 more during the remaining 6+K. Moreover, you regained some seconds during the final kick!

Were you feeling bad in the beginning because of some "external" factors - bad sleep, insufficient or too premature warm-up, etc?

Anyway, bravo and have a good base training for the next few months!

OGII Congrates on a well executed season. Way to regroup after a tough start Saturday.

RacerDB methodical comeback is really inspiring example of how to overcome injury:

-be determined, smart and work hard.

Old Farte ACHILLES is like the LAD/widowmaker of the leg take extra care for sure.

Igy IMO best cross training, as long as it does not hurt, for us older runners is walking/hiking. I been doing up to 3 hours a day. The walking allows healing while preserving.

The virus exposed corruption,dishonesty and ineptness. The SILENT MAJORITY "woke" up!

I was surpirsed , RB ran well but got beat. Always interesting to see these new to me oldster rising up and throwing down.

My week

Training still in Recovery Mode

-Sciatica is 50 percent better using the doughnut cushion while rowing seems to have worked.

-Walking a ton with some easy riding and one hard hill climb on the mtn bike running/standing on the pedals.Mtn bike hill climb Progression at the same HR(144/LT) 31,29,27,25 minutes.

-Plans focus on getting healthy and fit. Still gonna run 3000 May 7th but it might be just for fun. Main goal is keeping healthy , fitness is a big part of that but can be overdone man do I know that. Summer of 2018 I was determined to dam the torpedoes full speed ahead sick and injured miserable outcome but I did learn from that one. There will always be another race.

congratulations! Great job of regrouping mentally after rough start to the race -- I at least find it difficult not to check out in those moments.

Good week for me of training around snow and ice and, thankfully, NOT getting stuck in traffic [unsure how big a story it was nationally, but just south of us in Virginia on I-95 this past Monday was horrible gridlock situation with some stuck for 30 hours or so]:

M 1:20

Tu 1:10 with 2 X 10:00 (2:00 jog) at half-marathon effort (just shy of 1.5 miles each)

W 1:00

Th 1:20 double with drills and strides

F 50:00 + 1:00 x-t

Sa 1:45

Su 1:15 with 6 X 3:00 hard (2:00 easy) -- patchy ice on track, so just did these by feel on sidewalk

Spring semester starting tomorrow with first 3 weeks on zoom.

Have a great week,

Dave

Greetings!

This week was a good one for me. Was still on holidays and could find enough time for training.

Switching back from comfortable 75F to (also very comfortable for skiing) 20-25F was unnoticeable.

The only off-nominal situation occurred this morning when my ski boot binding detached from the ski when I was pretty far from home in the forest, being already pretty sweaty/wet. To avoid catching cold had to run some 3 miles with my skis, poles and fixture in hands. Sometimes there were paths, sometimes just snow up to the knees.

Mon: AM – 60 min running with 2x1.5 km in the middle @CV pace (c.a. 4 min/km). PM – 20 min elliptical

Tue: AM – 40 min easy run, PM – flight back home from Egypt

Wed: 82 min skiing with 16 min @CV effort in the middle

Thu: 76 min skiing with 18 min @CV effort in the middle

Fri: 64 min skiing, all well below LT

Sat: 74 min skiing with 4x4 min @LT pace

Sun: 82 min skiing and some 3 miles of quasi-trail running.

Subtotal for the week: 498 min, quite high a number for me.

Now, as the vacation is over, the weekly mileage will inevitably drop by 30-40%.

Have a nice week

I'm about ten weeks into my return to running, with a 30.1 mile week. Includes 2 days off.

Today was 7.5 miles at 9:35 pace. I'm building volume as gradually as I can stand it! My 18 months of almost no running was due to overtraining so I'm being patient. This week I purchased my first Garmin to help motivate me, nothing like a new toy!

Mike F, thanks for the info on the 10-mile race in Sacramento on April 3. I'm thinking I'll be there. I'm near the Santa Rosa High School track and the Junior College track. I have not checked lately but they've generally be closed throughout this Covid time. I'm not quite fit enough for a trip to the track yet! The JC track is brand new so I look forward to getting on it.

Old Guy II thanks for the link to the Sacto 10-miler! And congrats on your 2nd place in the XC champs age group race. I've been where you are, running a race as your peak fitness fades a bit. Good luck in your training cycle as you transition to your next phase.

Dick Margarita wow that volume is impressive, and seeing what are doing is motivating my continued return to building volume to race fitness.

Have a great week everybody.

Orient wrote:

OG II, congratulations on your excellent performance!

Indeed, according to the resulting protocol and split times, your friend who finished 1st in your AG was 31 sec ahead of you just after 2 km, but gained only 10 more during the remaining 6+K. Moreover, you regained some seconds during the final kick!

Were you feeling bad in the beginning because of some "external" factors - bad sleep, insufficient or too premature warm-up, etc?

Anyway, bravo and have a good base training for the next few months!

After some time to think about the race, I think that it might have helped to have done a couple of close to race effort quarters in the second mile of my warm up, rather than my usual moderate effort continuous 2 miles plus some strides. Mainly, I think I have just hit that point where I am over-raced and my body did not react well to making that transition from the anaerobic push off the starting line to the steady aerobic effort of 8k pace.

You're an inspiration OG.

Excellent week for me, culminating in the longest run since late June 2020. 39 miles altogether.

M: 6 @ 10:49. LSD

T: 3 @ 11:29

W: 7 @ 10:44. Slow slog over a very hill course, second time in a week.

Th: 3 @ 11:18

F: 7 @ 9:46

Sa: 3 @ 11:29

Su: 10 @ 9:56.

On the long run, I took the strict John Kellogg approach and allowed HR to rise slowly, in a calculated way, with no explicit push at any point. Suddenly, in miles 8 and 9, I was flying along at 9:20 pace, which is brisk for me at this age, HR at 85% (157-58), and was breathing easily with zero accumulating lactate. Felt as though I could hold it another five miles. Zero tiredness in my quads, too--something that's been a lingering thing during this whole comeback. But this is what hills do for my training, once I've absorbed their training effect.

One curious thing, though: I WANTED to push harder, since things were so easy at that high aerobic pace, but biomechanically my body whispered, "Not today." Since I've registered several sub-8:30 miles at the end of progression runs in the past three weeks, that was surprising. But I feel fresh, not wiped out, so I'm happy to trust whatever wisdom my body's putting out.

Good training week ahead to all of you.

M62, 5'11", 184 lbs

Race Schedule and Goals:

Feb - 10-mile, 1:25

April - Half marathon, 1:45

May - Marathon, 3:30

JANUARY 3-9, 2022

M - Off

Tu - Off

W -- 5.0 miles (9:54/mi out, 9:19/mi back)

Th - Off

Fr -- 5 miles (10:14/mi out, 9:20/mi back)

Sa - Off

Su - 4.0 miles (9:53, 9:46, 9:47, 8:15)

TOTAL: 14.0 MILES

No "long run" this week, just kinda coasted along, dealing with weather, work and medical stuff.

OGIi - Very impressive racing season, congrats!

racerdb - Good to see you kick Covid's butt, and congrats on a superb comeback after surgery. Impressive goals!

Dave, aka Racerdb. Glad you fared so well with your illness. Referring to it as the "China Virus" though is disconcerting. All 5 of my children are adopted, one from Thailand. The students at her H.S. started calling her 'Corona Girl' 2 years ago, and it was really unfortunate. She is very shy & a bit introverted and the unwanted attention was a bummer. TIA. Stay healthy!

I come here each Sunday in search of inspiration and you guys / gals never fail to deliver...for that I am deeply grateful.

OG, my man, nice harrier execution...solid stuff...you do yourself and them Jamul Toads proud.

HERE are the XC Nationls resuts:

https://results.usatf.org/2022XC/

Note that my dear pal Elmo Shropshire won his division...85+...he is a great old timer but an even better musician. His song 'Grandma Got run Over By A Reindeer' remains atop the X Mas carol hit list to this day...great guy, and a role model on longevity for this here geezer.

My week wasn't sexy, but WAS steady. I registered my third consecutive 30+ mile week...something that I haven't been able to accomplish in a while. Surely down the road there is some 'payoff'. My highlight of the week was surpassing 113,500 lifetime miles the other day...counting stuff helps keeps me 'amused'.

That's all for now...gotta' get back to watch the slow death spiral of my SF 49ers in the second half.

your pal,

MF

MikeF. wrote:

My highlight of the week was surpassing 113,500 lifetime miles the other day...counting stuff helps keeps me 'amused'.

Man, that's stinkin' amazing! A few years ago I was thinking 100k might be possible someday. Not so much now. I ended the year at 82404.8 lifetime miles. I can't imagine running another 18000 miles!!!!

Dave

No way in hell am I going to reach 100k miles even if I run well past my 100th BD. My body just can't handle high miles but it can handle long hours of endurance training. 110k miles at 9 min mile pace that equals 15,000 hours and by my rough estimate, I'm at about 14,000 hours. If you can't compete change the rules!