training scedule for masters runner

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"The only question at this point is can I race well off this schedule..."

Give us an idea of what your past training weeks looked like?

zatopek3210 wrote:

Day 1 w/u 2 miles 4-6 mile tempo + 2-4 200's

Day 2 w/u 2 miles 10x 1 minute hard/ 1 minute easy. Will increase to 20x

...

Day 6 - 10x 1 minute workout

Repeat

I assume Day 7 is "off", or are you doing a 6-day cycle?

Glad this is working for you, Zat. Is day 3 frustrating? s

Previously I had tried... Easy-easy-hard and easy-hard-easy hard. The easy runs were 3-5 slow miles. Before I had also focused on mileage ranging from 30-70 miles. Now my goal is for my "hard' days to be quality and my easy days to be almost total recovery.

The biggest difference between now and the past is that now my easy runs are much easier. Now my easy runs are 0 and a 30 minute crawl. On my 30 minute crawl, I still feel tired but in my head it is totally ok to go snail pace. But so far I always feel better when it is time again to run "hard".

Yes, day 7 is a 30 minute walk

Day 8 30 minute jog

Repeat Cycle

Day 9 tempo

Day 10 1 minute hard/1 minute easy x 12

etc.

No, actually I enjoy the walk on day 3. I have not turned into a "walker" but there is something relaxing about going for a nice walk after two hard days. I just grab my I-phone and tune in a Seattle radio station and go for a nice stroll.

Go with what seems to work. I'm also in my 50s and only go into a week with a vague plan. Usually run 6 days a week sometimes 7. I will do workouts based on feel and keep an open minded flexibility about it. Your back to back w/os with longer recovery is based on reasonable theory. Super compensation and avoiding delayed muscle soreness.

Drop the speed work and work on increasing your weekly mileage. There is no reason at 53 you can't run twice the weekly mileage.

drivel's advice may be a bit ill advised without knowing what kind of racing you are doing. What distance(s) do you race?

From your schedule, you are getting 4 hard sessions in six days Including the loan run). That is a very good load of quality for age 53. If this schedule has resulted in you feeling better then it is good for you.

Continue to listen to your body and adjust your schedule as needed. you may be able to extend one of the 10*1 min sessions to 5*2 mins for variety (again, depending on your race goals.)

to me, your last sentence in the original post is the most telling. if it's more important to feel good in your training, then i would disregard any advice to change your training, since what you're doing is already working. for many masters runners, this is enough: good health, good shape, good training, and just being able to step on the line to race occasionally. i'm still racing at a fairly high level, but i get just as much satisfaction on a weekly basis from my tuesday night track workouts with my teammates, and am still happy to be running at the tender age of 46.

saw this quote on the facebook wall of one of the best female masters hurdlers around:

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

― Epicurus

on the other hand, high reward generally requires high risk, both in training and racing...

Thanks SOcal

I was injured for about 6 months recently and during the time off I often thought I would trade being able to be able to consistently run a strong 10 miles for never racing again. Meaning that the training and the fitness is much more important that being able to run some insignificant road race.

Drivel,

I was a big fan of mileage especially because it was partly responsible for my big breakthrough in my 20's. Many times I tried to replicate that breakthrough in my 40s and 50s but I wasn't able to physically handle it. I also was sacrificing the hard workout by focusing on just getting the miles in. I will try this approach for a while and see what happens in races.

Thanks Reezum

I race 5ks on the track and sometimes the road. I agree that 4 hard days in six days is pretty intense but with the two off it is doable.

Yes I think varying the runs, for example 5x2 minutes is a good idea. I will eventually experiment with doubles on the hard days and substitute workouts that work other systems. I think the key to it all is the two very easy days in a row.