Training at 40...

Yesss...I'ma be 40 this year..or more accurately, in about 4 months' time. In some races they put 40 in Junior Veteran category, in some races they simply group it all with Veteran. For the ladies the cut off age is 35. However I'm not too comfortable with the term "veteran". Overseas they call it Masters. Well, Masters certainly sounds better, right?

So, wht's changed in my training? Nothing much. In fact, I started 2016 with a run mileage of 123km, which is pretty high. The 2nd half of last year was pretty bad for me, with race cancellations, misses & injuries. So I began this year pretty hungry. & injury-free, alhamdulillah. So for a guy my age, I guess my training is pretty intense.

Running

Basically I run 3 times a week, covering anywhere between 30-40km a week. If I have a race on the weekend then it's gonna be 4 sessions a week. I do what all endurance atheletes do, or should do: I begin the week with intervals. My intervals range from 800m to 1200m, with between 5 to 7 repetitions (reps). Of course I start with 800m, then gradually work my way up to 1200m. On some days I'll do long intervals, 1x 3.2km, 2x 1.6km, 2x 800m, at different paces, to allow my body to adjust to changes in pace. I'm trying to run at a faster pace this year, around 4:30 for the kilo repeats. Intervals will train your anaerobic system, to train your body to operate in oxygen-debt. 

Next come the tempo. Tempo workouts are basically done at just below anaerobic threshold (AT), just before your body starts to produce lactic acid to combat the lack of oxygen in your body. The pace shud be hard but not race pace. For my pet event, the half marathon, I do tempos between 30 minutes to 10km. For tempos longer than 30 mins, I try to vary the pace, with the goal of getting a negative split. 

Then of course, the long, slow, distance (LSD). These are done on weekends, preferably on Saturday. for HM, I'd do LSD for about 2:30 hrs, or around 20km. This year I'ma try for full marathon in Penang, so I might do a longer LSD later in the year, around 30km. 

Weights

Late last year I bulked up so much that I got scared. The thing was that I was looking for a new routine to follow & I decided to follow Arnold Schwarzenegger's program, insipred by his talk during the GTP forum last year. But instead of making my body cut, it bulked up. I don't really know what went wrong. So in December I reverted to my usual routine & managed to cut my body back to where it was, proly even better than before. 

This year I'ma include some power workouts in my routine, Why? Bcoz I wanted to do the javelin again. I hope my shoulders won't give me any problems. For MAKSWIP track & field meet in April, I want to do both javelin & 10,000m, both requires very, very different training. 

I do switch between heavy & light weights every 5 weeks, with 1 or 2 weeks of rest in between. I don't really rest during the rest week, I do full body circuits with light weights, to allow my body to adjust to the previous session.

Weekly routine

My typical week will look like this:

Monday : Weights 

Tuesday : Intervals (after work), followed by basketball at 9pm

Wednesday : Weights

Thursday : Tempo

Friday : Weights

Saturday : LSD/easy run (if there's a race on Sunday)

Sunday :  Rest/Race

On heavy weight training weeks, I might find myself too tired after the Friday session, so I'll do LSD on Sundays. The key here is to have at least one day's rest every week & to listen to my body. If I'm too tired then there's no point to continue training. I also do proper warm ups & stretching before every session, as we get older our body will lose it's resilience & become more prone to injury. 

One thing I'm seriously considering now at the age of 40 is coaching. I want to share my experience & knowledge & help those who want to get serious in sports. I've began by coaching some of my friends on the road & track & I really hope to pick up from there. 

Life really begins at 40...

Livestrong, run stronger.