50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Getting in a mix for early winter base phase, 51 miles of running (6 days), 1:15 on the bike trainer, and 1:45 xc skiing (classic). I did a couple tempo workouts with 5X 6 minutes (average 6:30s on the last 4) with short recovery on Wednesday and then 13.5 min, 10, min, 9 min at 6:30s pace on Saturday. The ski today was real easy, Level 1.

Moving to a PT who addresses endurance athletes like me for my balance issues which are better but need assistance.
M: 10/600/250) @ 7:55/11:30 pace

T: work got in the way - have I retire yet?

W: 8M @ 11:20 pace -subfreezing easy run

Th: 8M w/3.5-mile tempo @ 87.5% HR

F: treadmill- 5M

Sat: 11M zig zag loop @ 10:52 pace - faded last three miles on yet another hilly loop

small steps forward. Enjoy the week.

Greetings fellow 50+ers and welcome to the start of bowl season! 🏈

I’m pleased to report that a wish I made here last week came true! A change to my usual weekly schedule allowed me to get in an extra run and push my weekly total to 20+ actual running miles. Pace is still modest (read: slow), but it’s nice to know my fitness has recovered to a point not seen in many months. I’ll be doing some traveling for Christmas, so I can’t guarantee a repeat effort this week, but you never know. 😁

Mon: 59’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (6 x 1 on / 3 off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Tue: off

Wed: 58’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

Thu: off

Fri: 57’ CR w/ utility pole fartlek (4 x 2 on/off); body wt ex + med ball routine

Sat: off

Sun: 57’ CR; body wt ex + med ball routine

All the best!

I wanted to share my bad running injuries this year as a 49 year old and how I bounced back by end of year.

I have run for 40 years and this year was the first injuries that kept me from running. I sat out about 2 months, probably should have stopped before that. There were also several weeks in there I could barely walk or do stairs. I had acute sharp pain in both achilles plus bad metatarsalgia in the right foot.

I may be wrong, but I believe my foot problems started when I added an aftermarket insole cushion to the already soft Brooks Adrenaline GTS/Ghost. I think there was just too much movement for my feet. After my 2 months off I went to the more firm Brooks Levitate GTS with no aftermarket insole.

Over the last 4 months I noticed every week my feet feeling a little better. Now they're back to near 100% and I just did the Dallas Half.

I also kept up walking 0.5-1.0 before and after my run even after being healthy and I think that helped too.

I'm so thankful, middle of the year I really thought I was going to become a cyclist and swimmer. :(

Nice to see everybody and I hope you don't mind if I join the conversation. 55yo with about 20 years of running/racing experience such as it is.

After racing Boston in 2019, 2020-2021 were years of up and down with a chronic heel thing. You all know that story: volume drops, intensity drops, gut bulges (but not too much).

2023 was a healthy year and I did some good work, but I'm not my 2019 self. My plan for 2024 is to get back to my 2019 "age-grade" self. Part of my success and enjoyment of years past was having some people to give me advice and guidance sooo... Here I am.

I "raced" yesterday, and arrived at the finish line feeling the best I ever have at the end of a marathon... which is not a good thing. I went out too conservatively, brought it in too conservatively, after a training cycle that was...um... conservative. I feel like I have lost a bit of that "push it to the edge" mindset. I'm not sure I'm ready to lose that yet.

Anyway, I'll take a week off for sure and maybe two. The plan for the first quarter of 2024 is 5/10km focus with plans to race in February (maybe), March (probably), and April (already registered).

Nice to meet you all.

Getting hot here in Oz.

Mon. Hot and windy (40-50kph) 26 km mountain bike ride 1 hr 40 m.

Tue. Another hot and windy one. Had to run at 1.30 pm. 37 to 38 deg C. 1 hr 30 m covering 11.6 kms walking first couple then building into slow steady plod of 8 kms walked last 1.6 km rocky trails home.

Wed. 1 hr 30 m kayaking on the Loddon Canoe Trail. A bit spooky with constant thunder in the distance.

Thu. Out on some different trails 1 hr 26 m. Covering 11 kms, usual pattern of 2 kms hiking into jog to steady slow plodding for 8 km picked it up towards the end. Insignificant knee niggle so only walked a km post run then soaked in the lake.

Fri. 25 km mountain bike ride in 1 hr 30 m. Hot and windy again.

Sat. Hot again. Hiked 2 km rough trails then 8 slow steady running kms then hiked 3 rugged kms back. Knee was fine.

Sun. Drove out to Mt Korong. First visit. Guess what, I hiked the first 2 kms. Then steady trot around the hilly sandy fire road loop for the remaining 6.5 kms then turned around and ran a brisk 1.5 kms and a 1 km walk back to the summit trail head. A brisk hike up to the summit 1.2 km with about 250 m of elevation gain. A quick hike back down and a couple of km hiking back to the car. Good fun day but was pretty cooked by the end. Temps mid 30s C.

I continue on my slow non competitive path back to some semblance of fitness. I didn't manage anything very fast this week, never mind.

Simultaneous to my exercising my way back from weakened ankles that caused my balance issues, I am carefully and steadily building my running work to find that “edge push.” Small bites at first, as in a month of short repeats on the track, short hill repeats on a different day, and on my weekend runs trying to improve keeping up with my running group. That last one is a long work in progress.
When I race, I predetermine whether I’ll blast from the start or ease into the race, running faster later. Just as I learned 44 years ago when I started running, training my mind to believe in having that edge is gradual. It’s a challenge at 65.

Hi Coach Jeff ROC -- I chuckled to see you put "raced" in quotes. I know what you are talking about. When getting back into shape, I don't really "race" my first couple races. I sort of push but don't necessarily THROW IT DOWN. I've recognized over time, it is part of getting the mojo back. By the 3rd or 4th race, the miler mind of my youth returns and I'm going at it like I'm "killing snakes."

am, sorry to hear about the setbacks. The frustration is tough to swallow. Quick question, is Magnesium Glycinate in your mix? We all have our things that help battle setbacks, and that is one thing (of many!) that helped me through 2.5 years of achilles and plantar problems in recent times. Good luck going forward, you got a lot of friends pulling for you here.

Over here, I can report the past two weeks of 31, then 26 miles. Part of my slow build towards a March marathon.
This past week, family obligations impacted my running. Happily, I got in a 10.3 mile run with a negative split in the mix.

I did run in my club's "Last 10K" on Saturday. I've run the course 4 times in the past, and it's fairly fast. But on the starting line, our race director announces "We changed the course." Miles 3 and 4 were undulating hills! This drew sighs and laughs from the field.

I went out easy and attacked in the middle mile, passing a few. Mile 5 was my fastest and hung on for 6. Came away with a 48:07 effort, historically slow for me, but faster than my 50:22 of two weeks back on a much easier course, so I'll take it

Have a great Christmas and/or whichever holiday. My mixed family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas, so I get even more days to avoid ruining my run with too much sugar, booze and what have you!

grass jog 2.2km, 5x200m (runners) 1m rest between 45.5, 44.4, 43.8, 40.3, 39.4, 1.3km jog

stepups 50cm 3x8e/2x6kg, walking lunges 3x10e 2x6kg, hypers 3x15, walking RDLs 3x10e, sled 3x40m, seated and standing calf raises 3x10-15
tread 1.5km

@ MagicShoes and Big Red

I appreciate the kind words, guys. Enjoy the holidays of your choice! (Adding Magnesium somethingate to my Santa list... will it fit in my stocking? 🙄)

Currently the only supplements I take are calcium and iron, both in modest quantities, and D3/K2, in the quantity I've found I need to keep my blood D3 in the happy range. My husband started taking magnesium (glycinate or citrate) when he went through a bout of terrible insomnia, and he's been trying to convince me to take it for my RA-associated joint and muscle pain. I'm skeptical because I eat tons of nuts and nuts are supposed to be one of the best dietary sources of magnesium. I've tried taking magnesium a couple of times and it seems to upset my guts somewhat. But perhaps I should try again, at a lower dose.

I am 89 and my wife is 81 and we use Imuno 150 and we can do anything we did 30 years ago, and I mean everything. :-)

first track session since fractured ribs. Pretty poor sesssion, but good to get a 400m out of way.

3km warmup/warmdown 400m 75 seconds 10m rest first 200m (not timed) because forgot to put freelap transmitter back on, 8m rest 200m 33.2.

Looks like i will not get my goal 400m tme, but still aiming to get well under 70. Damn, the truth hurts.

I finally managed to do some jogging today, 31 days after I last ran. After inflaming a peroneal tendon running on uneven ground, then getting the flu, and then having a major flare-up of my rheumatoid arthritis, I finally started feeling healthy this week. I did several long walks at a good fast pace (13:45 to 14:20 per mile) and swam 1300 m three times, and today I interspersed some short jogging segments into my walk, probably about 1.5 miles of jogging. The ankle feels completely fine seven hours later, so I think that is now a non-issue. Now I get to start all over again building up my running, until the next setback...

amkelley,

Very glad to learn about your progress!

Regarding rheumatoid arthritis, after all your trials and tribulations what do you think was the factor that contributed the most to your recovery (even if it is not yet 100%)?

Your experience may be of a great value for many of us 65+ and beyond. PT procedures, medicine/drugs, special exercises, or your consistence in other kinds of sport (biking, swimming, hiking)? Or a combination of all?

I am four years into this group and just starting back running again after a very patchy number of years after Covid started. I love competing so when that was shut down I started another sport to improve at and feel some sense of being competitive.

In 2019 I was 49 and could still dip under 18 for 5km. I started back in October and immediately began doing the local park run as a tempo. Times were right around 22 mins and that has improved to 21.

Things are starting to click and I have managed a couple of threshold workouts in the last week. Should be able to sneak back under 20 soon.

Merry xmas to all.

Today 8am grass 2km warmup, 10x100m strides 90%, jog warm down)
3x20e walking lunges, 3x15e walking RDLs 2m rest

Hi all,

1 week post-marathon with no running. Having that 8-10 hours per week of running suddenly empty was great. I feel very rested. And all of my parts feel good.

This week I did lots of that "extra" stuff that I never seem to have time to do while training... stretching, foam rolling, some body-weight exercises, etc. Also, making a tentative plan for running/training for the first part of 2024.

I think I'll go out and jog around for 30 minutes later today. I'll start back towards daily runs next week. I'll ramp back up and begin "10k race training" (April 21 race) at the beginning of February.

Reading about others here dealing with injuries humbles me in a good way. You guys rock.

last night track, 2km warmup and 5x200m with 5 minutes rest 34.2 to 35 alternating front straight and back straight.