50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Injury-Prone Old Stiff wrote:

Dick Beardsley running high-mileage and racing marathons on bilateral knee replacements...

I believe he was posting on this thread a few years back ... after the knee surgery.

Coyote Montane wrote:

My wife was top 5 in that race (Buffalo Subaru) a couple times and I ran 1989-91...

Small world. My wife also ran that race in 1991 (before she and I had met). She did well in her age group, although not quite the caliber of your wife and amkelley.

You guys were distracted by the women.

I ran close to 19 in that race. No wife, no girlfriend around. Drank a ton of beer with my friends and got ourselves tossed out of Coles. But, damn those were fun days.

1989 was a solid year.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

socalcush wrote:

by the way, igy, make sure you make perry forrester suffer on your backpacking trip--we need him in shape for the 60s team in lexington this december so we can try to win the 50s and 60s team age groups at clubs...

socalcush,

Perry, my son and I depart Monday for the Queens River Loop. He fared better than I did two years ago. He was up in the morning for runs before and after our trip. I slept in, but will try to do better this year. The loop is close to 40 miles and should take four days to complete. He tells me that Holcomb is quite the task master and has already stated the fall goal, but I will let him know there is an underlying purpose to our trip"to drive the uphill."

Igy

Noted. It's good to know who your friends are.

Here is an interesting device that just might give you more insight into where your needs improvement points are . I am not spending 500 bucks on this at least not yet.

https://athletictimemachine.com/2015/12/20/an-idiots-guide-to-using-a-muscle-oxygen-sensor/

unencumbered wrote:

You guys were distracted by the women.

I ran close to 19 in that race. No wife, no girlfriend around. Drank a ton of beer with my friends and got ourselves tossed out of Coles. But, damn those were fun days.

1989 was a solid year.

Nice! Are you still competing? My wife remembers Coles. Is it still there, do you know?

On the subject of diminished quality in local road race performances -- Back in the '80s I was interviewed bedside by the local newspaper after nearly dying from heatstroke (following an unseasonably warm 10K). I told the reporter I hadn't been training at all, and was just looking for sub-40 minutes.

To put that in context for the average reader, the reporter wrote, "40 minutes for a 10K is considered the dividing line between jogging and running."

That was 1986.

I'm 49 - looking forward to turning 50 in October. Going to Boston for XC nationals.

I'm in good shape for me - I ran 17:41 for a rolling 5k last week.

I'm going to try a lower mileage training style this fall - Something like that run less run faster book. Using rowing as my cross training.

Seems to be working for me:

This summer I took off running for the most part and trained and competed as a rower...and ran just as fast after rowing season as I did before. (although I did run 20 mpw all summer on top of 30-40 rowing miles)

In other words, rowing got me in just as good shape for running as did running. And I wasn't always achy and creaky. Plus I'm pretty sure I can run a much better mile now than before.

I think the reason is that 37 years of aerobic training has given me a base I don't need to tend to all that much. If I can build some more muscle strength on that base, I think that will work at 3k-5k as well or better than the 50 mpw I traditionally run.

The other piece is that I feel so good running just 4 days per week. I feel bouncy and fast and young...while when I run 6 days...I'm creaky, it takes a mile or two to warm up and I feel the opposite of bouncy.

So I'll try this...except I like running so I'm not sure I will want to run just 4 days.

What I'm hoping is NOT happening is that 20 running plus 30 rowing is a lot of miles and that is what got me in shape...and I'll fade now. We'll see.

Hey you wouldn't happen to be one of the Brews Brothers in the Upstate NYXC series would you? I think we've crossed paths then and after and you were like a 14:00+/- 5K runner, and I never broke 15. Great days though. Hope to be at Syracuse Festival of Races 5K not this year but next for new age group.

unencumbered wrote:

You guys were distracted by the women.

I ran close to 19 in that race. No wife, no girlfriend around. Drank a ton of beer with my friends and got ourselves tossed out of Coles. But, damn those were fun days.

1989 was a solid year.

Coyote Montane wrote:

Hey you wouldn't happen to be one of the Brews Brothers in the Upstate NYXC series would you? I think we've crossed paths then and after and you were like a 14:00+/- 5K runner, and I never broke 15. Great days though. Hope to be at Syracuse Festival of Races 5K not this year but next for new age group.

unencumbered wrote:

... 1989 was a solid year.

First 30 finishers were under 20 minutes in 1989 (4 mile race), including John Tuttle and Craig Virgin ...

Coyote Montane wrote:

Hope to be at Syracuse Festival of Races 5K not this year but next for new age group.

2017 is the last year for the masters 5k champs in Syracuse. I haven't heard where they will be in 2018.

Dave

Great weather- almost no wind at all. Temp hit 90 by end of workout this morning. 103 today's high.

3 x 100

550m- 63 flat pace (86.6), 100m walk: 200 in 31.2 That was tough.

2 x(2x 150) :30 sec rest between 150's

21.7, 21.84 - 21.45, 22.81

2 x 200 Surge runs. Relax first 100 then change pace.

16.05/14.85 (30.9)

15.86/14.29 (30.15)

3 x 50 meter start on curve.

Total: 2000m speed.

16 months to 50! Although I plan to sneak into a Senior games race in the 50-54 division next summer. Anyone know how that works? They just DQ me from awards right? I still get the qualifier I believe for the national games in 2019.

Skate,

Great workout. If you turn 50 before 12/31/2018 you will not have to sneak.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Skate,

Great workout. If you turn 50 before 12/31/2018 you will not have to sneak.

Igy

Thanks. Yes, a few days before end of 2018

16 months from now is before 12/31/2018. It's not rocket science.

Saturday

August 26, 2017

- 6.19 miles running on treadmill, 2% incline, 9:42 mile pace (one hour progression run, 5.1 mph to 7.3 mph)

- Hip stretches

- Basic stretches

- 100 pushups, 50 situps, 50 dumbell curls each arm (20 lbs)

- Iced left foot

*************************

Week 325

*************************

Salutations, 50+ers! Once again, you guys are posting more than I can keep up with. Lots of nice memories shared, along with discussion of how the average fields has declined as the number of charity races has exploded. I still remember back in the late '70s, we'd have some local 10K races up in Madison, where they'd hand you a numbered Popsicle stick and a T-shirt when you finished, and those that weren't through within the hour (probably even less) didn't see a finish chute, as they were already tearing down.

After the fairly impromptu trip to West Kentucky to view the eclipse (which was spectacular, I might add) I was pretty far behind schedule and needed to hunker down and get some things done at work and home. Gave it another go Thursday, running 4.3 miles, and we're almost there. Still some discomfort post-run on lateral motion, but no decreased mobility (ie-swelling); I can finally draw my calf fully up against my hamstring, which I've not been able to do up until this week. I certainly empathize with all you that are having mishaps this summer.

So my hope is that this summer of discontent is over and as I turn 58 this coming week, I'll start a new year chapter with renewed motivation to continue working on my hip strength that'll keep my knee functioning; dropping this weight that has exploded to 178 lbs; and be ready to roll come December for Club XC Nationals here in Lexington. We've already got our 50+ team together, and thanks to a couple of fast buddies who have just crossed the half-century threshold, I'll look forward to being the slow guy for once.

@D.G., welcome-interesting approach. I'll be curious to see how it fares moving forward. I think I've mentioned before that a local PT who specializes in working with runners told our club that his one advice for runners is to "do something else." No, not give up running, just don't have running be your sole activity. These days, yard work has been my "other" activity.

@57yo-your rapid decline in the mid-50's sounds about like me. I think Coyote Montane is right, and more attention in the kitchen is required.

@coming your way, post away. Good training with a keen interest in keeping it going into your 50's are what matters most. Socal Cush has been posting for a while and hasn't yet turned 50....but he's getting close.

OK, that's enough rambling for someone who hasn't done much of late. What's going on in your world? Looking forward to reading any race reports, especially from Racerdb and Cush on the Masters 1 Mile.

All the Best!

No races for me, unless you count racing from a visit to Texas ahead of Hurricane Harvey. I was in Houston for business and left two days before the big guy hit. Good luck to those folks who are dealing with it, the news reports sound pretty grim.

I have been trying to up my game in the training department as I read everyone's posts. I'm still doing my usual 3x week 5 miler but adding strides on the end. I'm up to 3 striders of approximately 100 meters each. I'm trying to get my legs used to turning over faster than my usual slog pace. I've also joined a friend who used to be a personal trainer for some upper body work once weekly. I want to do this just to mix up my training and add a little fun variety. Of course my arms feel like they are going to fall off. Once weekly lower body lifting and a yoga class round me out. My weight is dropping slowly but surely. But slowly, very slowly. I remember as a teenager I would skip dinner and wake up 2 pounds lighter. What happened to that?

A good week, though I did have to cut back a bit on Monday due to the elevated heat index. Also some slight calf cramping during the fartlek, so I backed off and it subsided.

Sun: off

Mon: 48' jog, swim, 0.75 mi walk

Tues: golf (ride18), 90

Wed: 53' jog w/ some utility pole fartlek, swim, 0.75 mi walk, body wt ex, med ball routine

Thu: golf (walk9/ride9), 88

Fri: 54' jog, body wt ex

Sat: off

Best to all!

Cole's? Funny hearing stories of this'esteemed' watering hole Allen1959 and unencumbered...was there just once but it was quite 'memorable'...just not the next morning. It was where we celebrated after the 1984 Olympic Trials Marathon (Buffalo to Skylon)...the one where Pete Pfitzinger charged back and caught both John Tuttle and Al Sal for the win...exciting race...fun bar.

This past week was a good one in that I recorded my highest weekly tally of 2017 with a whopping 44 miles...used to be able to fart that many miles in a week...uggghhhhh.

Nothing fancy in those miles...still in management mode as we decide a course of action for my worn out foot. The podiatric surgeon wants to fuse the navicular with the cuneiform whereas I want to avoid surgery altogether...even if it means not being able to compete and instead just 'run for fun'. The frustrating thing is that I cannot run on any sort of uneven surface....hence the reason most of my mileage is done on the high school track. Oh well...the upside to running endless laps on the track is that every day I get to come 'flying' out of the final turn and outkick a Steve Scott or a Sebastian Coe...last Wednesday I duked it out over the final 1000 meters with famed Flemish gardener, Emil Puttemans...in my pea brained track nerd head that is ;)

Wishing everyone a fantastic final week of summer...train don't strain.

your pal,

MF