Liz, instead of taking two days off, try a nice brisk walk on it and see what happens. Shin splints generally come from the ankle on up (the dorsiflexor muscles). That said, if as soon as you start to walk and there is discomfort, bag it and then take the time off. And then if it really is shin splints, there are exercises for it. Just my 2 cents. Spareribs

I'm 54 and have never stopped running. However I stopped racing for`several years mainly due to recurring injury/illness. I have stayed healthy for most of a year now and have gotten back into racing. I picked up WAVA tables ostensibly to encourage myself. However, I've found that by any
measure I am running much slower than I should after adjusting for age.

I'm now running ~ 40 miles/wk with a track workout every week. I'm pretty fit now. My non-speed work training times keep improving but my extremely poor leg speed does not seem to change. My PRs were 2:49 mara; 1:20
1/2 mara; 35:35 10k; 16:50 5k. I recently ran a 23 min 5k!

My track speed work is terribly slow, but worst has not been improving despite weekly sessions. I do 8 x 400 w/200 jog and am doing 1:40! Half-mile repeates are slower than 3:30. Worst, these times seem absolutely fixed over 6 mos. of track work. It seems these times should
have improved more dramatically than distance times because speed was something I had not worked on at all. Has anyone else experienced similar? Based on the data I've seen, my times should be ~ 20% slower than my prime, but they seem stuck at ~35% slower.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

cuchulain9

I would run easy for several months and cut out the speedwork and keep running easy until you begin to feel strong. Sounds like you are beating your head against a wall. It sounds like you are not recovering. You might even considering running every other day for a time and then gradually add back in days as you feel decent again. We all slow down. You can't avoid that. Injury and illness can be a big indicator of not recovering. At 54 it is tough to go do what you did in your 40's.


Good Luck!

Raider

6.35 today... foot really sore. I wish I could figure out the triggers for the pain. During the run I tried taking one liner out, leaving the gel one in that helps alleviate PF. A mile later I took the PF pad out and put the other liner back. Finally gave up the quest for my 'regular' 7.1 and turned up the goat path for my 6.35 route. I've got to remember to look back to the days I wished I could do 1 mile and take today as a victory. Sunday catching up to me in the form of sore glutes and tight hams... a good sore though.

I tried on new shoes this weekend and came home with some Brooks with lots of support, rather than the asics I usually prefer. Brooks just felt better.... in the store. As I laced them up for a run I realized they are so much heavier than my asics--so i have not used them yet in case I want to return them. Question: is the extra weight of the cushioning better than running in lighter shoes? Almost seems like a disadvantage to add that much extra weight. I know we're talking ounces here, but the difference is very noticeable. Thoughts from the pros? glidegal

Cuchalain,

Advice from Spareribs and Sun Raider seems to be consistent with what I observed when I commented on your thread:
"So far as training, you are running too fast for your current condition, both for your track workouts and ?easy? runs. I can?t stress this enough. If I were in your position I would either knock off the track workouts for a while, or if you do like to go to the track, just do cruise or tempo intervals when there...
Here is link that can give you an idea of correct training paces. It?s good that you have a benchmark 5k to base them on. As your race times drop, so will your training paces:
http://runworks.com/calculator.html[/URL" target="_blank"> "

Most of us have been down the same road. I know that I have, so I'm not throwing any stones. Things are really different when you get up into the 50's.

http://This message has been edited by Jim24315 (edited Apr-24-2007).

Tuesday - Sunny, 65 Degrees & Windy

7.07 Miles 54:16 - (7:40)

8:05, 7:48, 7:52, 7:34, 7:34, 7:30, 7:15, :20

HR - Avg 139 / Max 156

Feeling fully recovered from the marathon. I've got an easy 4 miles on Wednesday, moderate 6 miles Thursday and Friday Intervals: 6 x Fast 440s, run at 5K minus 15 sec. We'll see this pans out.


------------------
My User Profile[/URL" target="_blank">

"Keep on Running"
Bob

Ribs I took a look at my short term goal races with May 6th (5K) and May 27th (5Mile) being the ones I felt were of the most importance to me.

I have had pretty good luck using the training programs found here on Cool Running with some slight adaptations and I don?t always stick right to the number on miles as I often add a few extra miles for both quality and quantity.

Anyway with these races being such a short time out after Boston I figured I would plug myself into the 5 mile program since I know the competition will be pretty stiff at that race and the 5K is three weeks sooner and I?m pretty confident that I should do well in the law enforcement age group (50 ? up) and I don?t mean to slight any other officers out there, I am just going on what I have seen the past few years around here.

I have also looked at CATZ?s training programs which use ?Fartleks? on many of the days that the Cool Running program uses ?Intervals? and as we know they really are very similar just less structured. So I believe that the Intervals are placed here to help me increase my training intensity without overtraining or burn-out and to aide in the prevention of injuries often associated with repetitive endurance exercise.

I hope this answers your question, as I have stated I am still a relative newbie and I?m learning and constantly tweak my training according to what I read both here and from the any books I can get my hands on. And of course I am constantly talking with my running buds here in Maine.

PS if you, Fred, Jim, Raider, DH or anyone else has any suggestions believe me I am all ears!

------------------
My User Profile[/URL" target="_blank">

"Keep on Running"
Bob