50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Greetings, fellow 50+ers. I hope you all have a great “National Senior Citizens Day” tomorrow!

This was the best running week I have had in some time. I still can’t run nearly as fast as I could even a few months ago, but the volume is continuing to come around. You can put me down for 16+ miles of actual running for the week! It’s been awhile since I hit double figures. To be fair, I was able to sneak in a 4th running day instead of the usual 3, but I would have hit double figures even without that last run. Recovery from the cancer treatments continues to go well. The right leg is improving slowly, but still exhibits some wonkiness. I have an appointment with the chiropractor this week, so hopefully she can work her magic. 🤞

Sun: 45’ CR; swim; body wt ex

Mon: off

Tue: 47’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (9 x 1 on / 3 off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Wed: off

Thu: 46’ running (2); body wt ex + free weights

Fri: off

Sat: 50’ CR; body wt ex

All the best!

And lest I forget, congratulations to all of the great races run by some of you and reported here. I hope some of that speediness can rub off on me! 🥇

Charlie, you wrote: "Orient Nice 5k. What was the 60+ winning time?"

Here are the times ahead of me:

1. 17:20 (61 y.o.)
2. 17:34 (61)
3. 18:02.17 (64)
4. 18:02.83 (60)
5. 18:18 (64)

Been a couple or few months. not sure if I chimed in after Indy mile but saw Socal Cush and actually met rdb in person after what, some 15 years maybe more. Nice job guys! Hope your health and healing go well into late summer.

My race went pretty well, we were missing David who had to cancel at the last minute and Jacob dnf'd due to a leg issue. I ran about as well as I could, but was hoping for a bit more of a kick over the last block. Would have helped because I had passed Fred, a former elite marathoner, but didn't see his bib because we were in a big pack. So he shot by with just 30 or so meters left. So a silver in 5:21. The age group is getting really tough.

Last month I returned to the Bix 7 and won the age group, I'm pretty sure it's an age record for the old and very tough race.

Following that, we had two weeks in Europe for our son's wedding, which was great. Now battling the heat and racking up some miles.

The oppressive heat and high dew point was to be replaced, starting last night with cooler air. Hasn’t happened.
Our cat wakes me up just before dawn. We go outside together, with me sitting on the bench with a cup of coffee. Too hot and too much thick air to do that right now. I think it’s called August.

I am now a month into my new/old running phase. Though the ankles are stronger from consistent PT work and the hips/glutes are coming along so that I can and run a straight line, after more than 60 minutes of running, the blood sugars are too high and the effort suffers. The joy of being a 64-year old Type II diabetic.

short hills. short track workouts. short recovery runs. one-hour midweek runs and the weekend 10-miler. weekly mileage is now 30-40 over 5-6 days. And, the mindset has changed. Change takes time, which leads to acceptance and new goals. Labor Day 5km race, anyone? Bueller?

M - 45:00 treadmill

T - 8(:45 uphill/1:30 down) - the dog at the top now simply watches me and his given up barking. Afternoon: 40:00 treadmill

W: one-hour run

Th: 5M - 8(300m/200 walk/jog). Afternoon: 40:00 treadmill

F: 45:00 treadmill @ a nice pace

Sat: 11M death march out and back in 86 degrees and 82 dew point. Ready to quit running on the way out and picked up :45 per mile on the way back. I’ll keep running.
I’ll miss running longer runs but, I can run and I can find short distance races while the specialists keep searching for a way to have my insulin work when I run.
Enjoy the week.

congrats on some really impressive results!

didn't take long for my marathon training plan to run aground. Had to cut long run short this morning due to hamstring giving way. Was iffy since about Thursday, so I'm not shocked but definitely frustrated. This has been off and on for about 15 years, and I know it takes time to bounce back. Good thing I hadn't actually entered marathon or other fall races, made travel plans, etc.

Back to patience mode, with no particular goal but rehabbing and taking it as it comes, no racing or speed work till it's much better.

happy back to school for all students and teachers out there,

Dave

Good rehab Dave.

Still here from time to time. Had a nice spring doing short and quick stuff. Eventually, came to the well known limit of my ankle. No worry. Time for an easy couple of weeks and in the meantime I am back to buildung up. Little bit north of 50 miles this week. Bit much for me. Will dial back a bit and see, where it brings me.

Best to all. Hope to a read a successful finish of Charlies special trial to the mile.

Greetings, fellow 50+ers! I hope you all enjoy this unofficial last week of summer. I, for one, can’t wait for some fall running weather.

This was a pretty good week for me with a total of 13 actual running miles across 3 sessions. After a “long” run on Tuesday, I paid a visit to my chiropractor to see if she could help with my wonky right leg. My next run on Thursday was surprisingly smooth and noticeably faster paced than anything I had done in months. I guess I should have visited her sooner! The only negative for the week occurred during yesterday’s run where the oppressive humidity caused me to take a walking break mid-run. Bring on the fall!

Sun-Mon: off

Tue: 57’ CR; body wt ex + free wts

Wed: off

Thu: 43’ running (3); body wt ex

Fri: off

Sat: 45’ running (2); body wt ex

All the best!

Posting here after a long time. Got a freak injury in January that is not healing. Done X-ray, MRI, seen a lot of doctors, PTs etc.. and the diagnosis is that they have no clue. The last doctor said that I can still walk and run faster than 90% of the people of my age, so I just have to suck it up.

Trying to figure out what helps and what I can do to keep my fitness. A speed session makes me unable to walk for a day and unable to run for 4 days. A threshold session makes me unable to run for 2-3 days. I can do easy runs shorter than 5 miles every day or up to 10 miles every second day. Cycling and elliptical are fine. I am doing core, strength and stretching almost every day, but I am not sure if it helps or not.

Currently I am running less than 20 miles per week, but I raced a 5K yesterday and, so far, I have only lost less than a couple of minutes with respect to before the injury, which is not too bad. Obviously,, today I can hardly move my leg, which sucks. If things don't get better, I am basically done with running.

What is it that hurts?

Probably the sciatic nerve is irritated. I have pain starting from the hip and irradiating below the knee after sitting for a while or driving. While running, the leg feels very weak: the hamstring is not firing and the glutes take over, but they rapidly get overworked and sore. This is why I can hardly walk after a speed session. All doctors agree that it is probably the sciatic nerve, but they have no idea why it is irritated as the MRI does not show anything abnormal in the lower back or the hips.

I've had good luck with the Precision Movement routines. You've probably tried everything and are weary of it all. But I'll put this here in case there are some clues. Good luck.

I suffer from sciatica from time to time (or, it least the symptoms are as described in the literature). Putting on shoes and socks results in pain (on the left side). Do exercises and hope they help things not get worse. Some 10-15 years ago it was enough to just hang on the gym bar as long as I could for 2-3 times a day (for a few days), and likely the spine compression stepped a little bit back and the pain went away. Now it is not enough...

Good luck and do not give up!

I second the benefits of hanging from a bar.

Haven't posted here in a very long time: Sciatic nerve problems can be a bad one 😬 - that's what I have amongst other chronic ailments (torn PTT, torn ACL, post-traumatic OA - hip, bad back).

This is what I get from decades of overtraining, running through injuries (self-medicating with OTC analgesics & NSAIDs just to get that race or workout in), too much speed work & always trying to race people in practice (compulsive behavior), and addiction to running for my primary means of cardio.

Now at 62, I'm regulated to one precious run day a week where I jog a few easy miles & hit some up- tempo/VO2max type intervals for old times sake. 😌

However, I'm at peace with myself doing spin bike HIIT workouts as primarily means of cardio now & weight training to put on some size on & prevent sarcopenia.

Given these significant injuries with numerous doctor visits & consultations with specialists, several MRIs, many PT sessions over the decades - I feel fortunate to run one day week (especially in the light of the fact that some of ths more accomplished runners & long time posters here can no longer at all).

Guys & gals - be smart with your injuries & don't try to run through them under any circumstances! And take time to enjoy & relish your running - it's a privilege and something weren't not guaranteed to have our entire lifetime.

Go health to everyone...

Greetings, fellow 50+ers and happy meteorological fall. I hope you all are enjoying your Labor Day weekend (where celebrated).

Things continue to look up for me. I finished August with 57 actual running miles which was my best month since March. Also, my average pace continues to improve. I am continuing with my “new normal” of 3 day per week of running. The extra day off really seems to help with my overall recovery. So, put me down for 14 miles of actual running for the past week. The week even included a bit of longer “speed” which felt great. Life is good!

Sun-Mon: off

Tue: 57’ CR w/ fartlek (4 x 440y on / 880y off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Wed: off

Thu: 54’ CR; body wt ex + free weights

Fri: off

Sat: 45’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

All the best!

Greetings all. I didn't check in last week, but I'm back after my second XC race of this season. It was a 4 mile very tough course that I have probably run 25 times in the last 30 years. It was an OK race for me in that I ran :04sec/mile (7:39/mi) faster than last year, and I ran well and felt good on the flat sections, but really struggled with the hills. To my disappointment, I think that my problems with the hills were about 75% mental. On reflection about the race, I just didn't want to commit to the effort level necessary to push up the hills at a better pace. Definitely something to work on as the season moves forward. Next race in two weeks is another 5k that is about 1/2 on the perimeter of park playing fields and 1/2 on a trail with some difficult footing, but modest elevation changes. 35 miles for this week-

M- 6mi walk

T- rest

W- 9mi with 4mi w.u., 5k time trial (7:19/mi), 2mi w.d.

Th- 2mi walk

F- 4mi walk with strides every 1/2 mi

S- 8mi with 2mi w.u., 4mi XC (7:39/mi) 2mi w.d.

Su- 6mi walk/run keeping HR at 120-130bpm

Good running to all!

This past week, the barking dog at the bottom of the street on which i run my hill repeats with great resignation just watches me, the tail moving just a little bit. My turnover on my paces on the track has improved. And, it's still hot.

M: hill repeats - 4M with 9(1:00 up/1:45 walk down)

T: 40:00 treadmill a.m.; 35:00 treadmill p.m.

W: 6M with 9(1:30 @ 7:40 pace; 100m walk)

Th: 60:00 treadmill

F: 7M @ 11:30 pace

Sat: 11M @ 10;06 pace

Enjoy the week

Ain't that the truth. I had to basically give up running about three years ago, 10 months after developing rheumatoid arthritis at age 61. I don't think it had anything to do with overtraining or running through injuries or anything--just an unlucky roll of the dice. I still do long fast walks (14:xx/mile pace), hike and backpack during the summer, ride a bike a fair amount, swim 2-3 times per week, and work out with weights at the gym, but I sure do miss running. I had no idea that the little local 8K race I did in February of 2020 would be (probably) my last race ever.