I’ll be 43 when I compete for the first time ever later this year :eek:
Re creatine, I used it again for the first time in years a short while ago. I felt bloated and slow, others don’t though.
Ncjay,
the first part of Tuesday doesn’t look like SE to me. Personally I would just stick to shorter stuff that day then on the other day do a longer runs of 80-150m (total 400 - 600m) with full recovery between.
How long do you consider full recovery? I did 3x2x120m yesterday with 3min between reps and 6-7min between sets. My legs felt like bricks on my third set. I figure I didn’t give myself enough rest.
Malik
It is a personal thing to some extent but I have seen (and use) 1min per 10m as a guideline. For instance my workout tonight will be 5 x 100m with 10 mins recovery between.
Right its acceleration work + SE1
The tuesday session is (in this order)
4x30
2x30 blocks
1x250 (SE1)
1x200 (SE1)
For sat I might do:
3x30
4x40 blocks
2x3x70
I might throw something in on thursday…
NYcjay,
this sounds about ok; not sure if you compete in 200 m, too, but try and progress those 70s to quality 100-120s (-150s perhaps, depending on what you’ve done in previous session). What you originally suggested about the repeated 60s is also good and helpful, but now you’ve got the 70s for that, I suppose…
Good luck!
Regarding recoveries and for the other posts, too, IMO, the longer, the better; progressively extend and leave room for quality, 2-3 of them should be great fun! 
I have a tough time adjusting to longer recoveries with speed work. I feel like if not gasping for air, then I’m slacking off. I blame my old coach for all the high volume low recovery work we did in the past.
I just have to teach myself that longer recovery is your friend :).
Thanks John and Nik!
I put this in the wrong place …sorry
I am a 51 year old who used to be able to run 1:55.7 800 at 17 years old.I have been trying to get fit the last year or so by a mixture of long runs and tempo track work I also work out in the gym doing core and light weights.I stopped running when I was 18 and thought it would be easy to get back into it,but it just aint happening.I can manage up to steady 8 mile jogs at about 8-8:30 mileing and on the track
I can knock out say 8x150 but it just feels forced and not relaxed and the recovery time after speed work is long.I would like to compete again but if I push it I feel I will pull somthing which I have done a few times.Any advice as I am determined to continue asI love the sport HELP!!!
Buzer,
what event do you want to compete in?
Thats a good question I was sort of waiting to see how I felt over different distances but I was leaning towards the sprints.But I do enjoy the long runs.
By long runs do you mean the 8 mile runs?
Are you looking to compete or is it purely to keep fit?
If I can get some reasonable times in training
then I will consider competing. I do train as if I will race at some stage but I am just not making the progress I would like.I have worked on conditioning before putting in the more specific stuff but I am finding that I have to leave about a week between speed work to let my legs recover.Is this normal for someone of my age in the first year back or am I being in to much of a hurry to see results?I am a coach and train some talented sprinters but when it comes to myself and at my age it is a different ball game
My suggestion would be to decide on competing and just go for it. Masters comp isn’t necessarily about winning (although that is nice) it is about getting out there and giving it a go.
If you haven’t been involved in competition for a while you will probably simply being in a competitive situation again regardless of how you do, I know I was. Comitting to a comp will also give your training an edge and help keep you motivated. I also found it helped me from overtraining as much, a problem I have always struggled with.
Last season I kept it to 2 high intensity sessions per week and never more than 500m a session when I was doing 100/200 but have stepped things up a fair bit this year as I will be doing 400 as primary focus.
you are right I am just a little scared of taking the plunge I think.Maybe by trying to get the times in training first is totally the wrong way round.Do you ache as much asI do after training god I wish I was 18 again 
Not as sore as that no but then I’m just a kid comapre to you at 44 
I have really become a fan of a long soak in the bath and am pretty vigilant about warmups and recovery.
The physical qualities of 18 - 25 maybe but certainly not the life hassles.
My suggestion would be to decide on competing and just go for it. Masters comp isn’t necessarily about winning (although that is nice) it is about getting out there and giving it a go.
I’ve been running Master’s track for 26+ years and enjoy the thrill of competing as John stated, no bigger thrill then to achieve your goals and run against former Olympic and College stars, besides we are the elite think of it that way, not many guys our age can do what we do and hopefully we are an inspiration to young adults. It’s all about health first and competing second, but keep it healthy by competing for and against yourself.
I started sprinting the 100 when I was 42 y/o. I did alright and with a team for the first 2 years and then left it do to work commitments etc. I switched to CrossFit for a few years to stay in shape but in 2009 was drawn back to track and decided to try again but work meant I needed to train on my own. Unfortunately some recurring calf and groin injuries always sidelined me for few weeks at a time. I eventually enter the 2010 World Masters Indoor Athletics and did make it to the finals in the 60m but tore my hamstring with 10m left in the final. I am now 50 and still not willing to pack it in. I seem to have a month or so of good training them again either a calf pull or slight groin strain. My current schedule which I got off this site is Su - Speed/strength, Mon- tempo, Tue - rest and stretching, Wed - speed/strength, Thu - tempo, Fr/Sa off -
Just wondering if it’s time to pack it in? I hope to do some races this year and was recently given the all good on my calfs. Warmed up for 30-40min today with lots of dynamic stretching and then started into some 60m technique runs and felt the slight groin tightness after the 3rd so packed it in went to the weight training session. Groin a little tight but I stopped early enough so layoff should be minimal. Sorry for the long frustrating rant. Just looking for words of wisdom or advice from other masters.
Trevor, have you had those injuries assessed or just let them heal themselves?
Would recommend a ton of foamrolling followed by stretching for many months then maintain your new flexibility and loose muscles with regular rolling and stretching but less of it.
Learn to do drills correctly before preceding into sprints - for some this can take months.
Just do tempo and some very slow jogging in the mean time till the above takes place
When your body feels ready to start some sprints - don’t - do Hills instead for a good 6-12weeks.
After which - you’ll be ready to sprint on the flats without much drama
You may find only 1 x week for your 1st year of the harder stuff will be all you need.
I have a 60yr old guy who can cycle 1km faster than everybody in our facility (except me) And that takes just over 1min.
So you can still perform at your age no drama at all. You just need to do the right work and balance it off with plenty of easy running (tempo and aerobic jogs) so you can neutralize the system from the harder efforts (otherwise you get really tight)
Ease into speedwork by decreasing tempo distance with increasing speed until you are hitting close to max v. For example, run 200 tempos, then slightly quicker 150s, then quicker 100s and so on. A sort of long to short approach. And keep up the easy paced longer tempo efforts for aerobic base/recovery.
I find dynamic circuits using body weight or light weights are better than max strength heavy lifts. For example, a set of squat thrusts, abs and press ups is better than developing whole body strength via olympic lifts.