In today's July 4th 4.5 mile race, I had a surprise win in the Master's division (40+). Only held an 8:55 pace, so there clearly weren't any gifted older runners, but at 53 YO and 82 degrees and no longer running distance, I'll take it!

I switched from marathoning to sprinting about 18 months ago, and as my 5K time has gotten slower, I've noticed that my max heart rate has gone up. My top racing heart rate was about 180 two years ago. Last July 4th, I peaked at 188, and this year I peaked at 192 (2 weeks after a 100m PR). I've lost 1 - 2 minutes off my 5K, but the max HR now goes 12 - 15 bpm higher at "redline." Pretty good evidence that the sprint training has changed the max intensity level, while reducing endurance. There may be something in here for the younger runners to learn, like be sure to put some max effort sprints into your regimen.

I'm 54 and just retired from "long" distance running after about a decade of Spartan and trail racing. My knees had had it by the end. I, too, have returned to sprinting - it's more in line with my mental and physical makeup anyway. It feels good to get some 'pop' back.

AggieLAX said:

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I'm 54 and just retired from "long" distance running after about a decade of Spartan and trail racing. My knees had had it by the end. I, too, have returned to sprinting - it's more in line with my mental and physical makeup anyway. It feels good to get some 'pop' back.

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you are supposed to be doing bandera in january!

I am. It will just be a sufferfest for me.

are YOU doing Bandera in January?

aggiespartan said:

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are YOU doing Bandera in January?

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Which race is this?

Interested in what your sprint workouts look like.

I loathe distance running and will run a mile around the block occasionally just to do something. If I am gonna do cardio to supplement my Tonal lifting it's my rower or zone 2 walking.

I am almost 46 and sprinted in HS and love doing that over anything else.

aggiespartan said:

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are YOU doing Bandera in January?

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Undecided *



*really depends on what K decides to do. She's given me a lot of leeway this year, so she has priority for whatever is after I do BFC.

Great work OP!

I've come a long way with running. I love it. I wish that could give me the whole fitness picture, but it doesn't. Really, the bang for your buck comes with weight training, and runs usually no more than an 5k.

Pahdz said:

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Interested in what your sprint workouts look like.

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It's very, very basic right now.

I started back up at the end of April and have been doing mostly Flying Sprints and Push-Up Starts. On days when I don't go to the track, like this morning, I do sprints on my treadmills (SkillMill and SkillRun by Technogym) combined with other exercises on the strength-speed continuum (French Contrast Method).

Here's and example from this morning:



This workout consisted of 3 rounds of:

Vertical Leg Press x3
Tire Broad Jumps x3
"Sled" Sprints x11 yards at 40#
Band-Assisted Jumps

My knees are trashed so I use the tire and band to take some of the stress off of them.

Not shown: 75 minutes of mobility prior to defend against injury.

Tex117 said:

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Great work OP!

I've come a long way with running. I love it. I wish that could give me the whole fitness picture, but it doesn't. Really, the bang for your buck comes with weight training, and runs usually no more than an 5k.

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I had about 20 years of racquetball. Never needed to lift a weight with that sport. Then a couple of years of HIIT, which made me stronger, but I gained too much weight. Then long distance running, which dropped the weight . Now sprinting, which has put 10 lbs back on. I'll probably never lift weights, but I do mix resistance training in, and now plyometrics. I've found no use for actual weight training; I just seem to benefit way more from intensity and athletic movement.