May 16th, Monday,  After midnight, so really Tuesday!

My sore left foot is healing slowly and steadily.  I have accepted the reality that my foot is going to take two, three, maybe even four weeks to totally heal.  I don’t like it, but I have accepted it.  What I didn’t expect was that it would create a blogging crisis.  I reasoned that I would be able to find interesting and exciting things to wow my loyal readers.  What I have realized, however, is that all I want to write about his running.  I have also realized what a prominent role running and blogging has been playing in my total existence for the last two months.  Planning  workouts, and carrying them out, and then talking to myself and anyone else who chooses to read about the effects, the joys and the problems of those workouts has been exhilarating.  I have also realized how lucky I am at age 73 to be able to function physically and mentally in a sport that I  so enjoy.

Wednesday I will be back in the pool, on the bike and in the weight room for sure.

I will mention two running related items.  The first is that I’m planning to attend the Somerset County championships tomorrow afternoon at Hillsborough to watch some very talented  athletes compete.  I look forward to an enjoyable afternoon meeting old friends and watching some good races.

The second is the reports I am getting from Liberty High School about the distance athletes I became so close to in Cross Country.  They are having a very nice season and I’m  looking forward to reconnecting with them for The Fall season .  The most prominent among them is a fine sophomore, Matt Duffy, who had a special  meet  on Thursday and Friday at the Ocean County championships.  Matt ran a 4:22 fot 1600 meters and a 1:57 in the 800 meters, two extraordinary PR’s.  I’m excited for Matt and for the upcoming cross-country season.

Stats –

I-Mad – 2

AmHR – 54BPM

Weight – 154#

Sleep – 8.5 hours

Workout – healing, rolling, blooging, housework, blah! !

Restless on a Sunday

Now it’s all about the wrap.

May 14th, Saturday,  2 p.m.

• This tape job has been on for about 24 hours now.
• The constant ache has disappeared.
• Walking has become much more comfortable.
• The area is still  Point tender

Will maintain for 24 hours more.

I will be heading to Princeton soon to check out a new pair of Kayano 22.  My friend and former athlete Brian Harris is the manager at Pacers Princeton running store.  I expect that he can hook me up. @pacersprinceton.com

Stats-

• I-Mad-   2.5
• amHR-  54B PM
• Weight-   154. 6 #    ( not running for a week = plus 3#)
• Sleep-  9 hours
• Workout-   resting, healing

May 13th, Friday,  2 p.m.

Visited Dr. Greg Bordiuk this morning for consultation regarding my sore foot.  The doctor says that I have a strained muscle along the plantar facia on bottom of my foot.  He made no mention of stress fracture at all.  After feeling around the area he seemed pretty positive of his diagnosis. The doctor put a tape wrap on my instep.  I have not had my foot wrapped since way back in college days.  He says to leave the wrap on for two days, and if I need another one to come back.  Since the tape has been on, I feel a constant dull ache in the area that has been hurting all along.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  It didn’t ache constantly before it was taped.  I will follow the doctor’s instructions for the next two days if the pain does not become too bothersome.  Dr. Bordiuk says the usual time of healing for such an injury is two to four weeks.

When I asked him about causes for this injury, he responded that the usual cause is lack of support for the foot.  He suggested maybe a pair of more supportive running shoes.  I am considering buying another pair of Asics Kayano shoes. The doctor says he actually has a pair of Asics Kayano 21 and that there is a new 22 Model.  My last pair were number 17.  I don’t know if I mentioned the problem I had with my Kayanos.  Asics was very helpful and very supportive when I told them of the deterioration of the material inside the heel of the shoe.  I actually sent two pair back to them for which they  sent me 2 new replacement pairs.  But all three  of the shoes on both feet suffered this breakdown of the material on the inside of the back of the shoe.  For that reason I stopped buying them even though I loved the support they gave my feet.  So, I may give it another shot now that they have introduced 5 new models since I last tried them.

My personal experiences with taping  and distance running;

I experienced some lower leg injuries during my college running days.  We had a very fine trainer at Seton Hall University who was an expert at taping.  I can’t remember his name now, but I liked him a lot.  He taped many people on many different sporting teams.  He taped my foot many times.  Each time the tape felt great for about 15 minutes and then started to ache.  After running for more than 20 minutes the tape always came loose and I had to rip it off.  It was  completely ineffective.  I have had the same experience with Runners who have received tape jobs from trainers while I was coaching.  Perhaps for an explosive event like the high jump or pole vault these procedures have a positive affect.  But for distance runners I’ve never seen any benefit of tape.

Regarding my current injury I have no intention of running while this tape is on. The doctor told me not to engage in any running or even  long-term walking while the tape is in place.  Its design and purpose is simply to support the area so that the muscle is not injured further while I am healing.

PS- I am very happy and excited to announce that the National Senior Games Association (NSGA ) has accepted and posted my blog their official site.

Stats –

I-Mad – 2

Weight – 153#

a.m HR-  54BPM

Sleep – 8 hours

Workout – none, healing

May 12th, Thursday,  about midnight

Just finished playing cards with the boys.  Almost forgot to blog today because I have not been running or doing any workout.   I have not missed a day of blogging since I began early in March.  I didn’t want to end my streak.  However, I do not wish to bore the reader with nothing to write.  So here is a simple injury update.

Sore left foot continues to display pain when walking.  Area is still tender to the touch and has not improved in six days.  I have a doctor’s appointment Friday morning and will report afterward.

May 11th,  Wednesday,  10 p.m.

Err on the side of caution.

After working out in the clubhouse; swimming, biking, and running in the water,  my foot hurt even more today.  I took another day off and did a lot of reading about stress fractures and stress reactions.  The article listed below gives a comprehensive overview of the newest research on Bone Stress Injuries.  BSI is the new phraseology  for stress fractures and stress reactions.  The authors of the study prefer to look at bone injuries on a Continuum of the bones reactions to excessive stress.  Wolff’s law states that a bone that is subject to stress will experience breakdown and then recover stronger than before the stress.  However, if the stress is repeated before the bone has completely healed the bone will begin to developed a stress reaction.  This is not damage to the bone structure will cause some swelling and pain in the area.  If the stress is discontinued the bone can continue healing and the pain  will disappear.  If the stress is continued even further, the bone will develop a stress fracture which is a break in the structure of the bone.  This approach concludes that pain, not time, is the key element in recovery from a bone stress injury.  Pain is the barometer that indicates whether the bone has fully recovered from the stress placed upon it.  So the athlete can use pain to gauge the progress of recovery.  The first stage is to remain totally stressless until there is absolutely no pain for 7 days.  After that the athlete can begin walking and normal daily activities until that can be done for seven days without pain.  In each stage of recovery the seven days of no pain as the key factor to determine whether to move to an increased level of stress.  One could move from walking with a few minutes of jogging,  walking and jogging 50/50, to finally  all jogging if along the way that pain does not return.  This is in keeping with Dr. Mirkin’s recommendations that I take off completely until my foot is totally pain free.  I plan to follow the BSI recommended programs until I can get back to full running.

All runners, please be aware of pain in your lower leg, especially plus70runners.  A day or two of recovery can save a lot of anxiety and stress.

The bone stress injury model: a new way to deal with stress fractures and stress reactions in runners

I am getting a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to verify my diagnosis.

Stats –

I-Mad   – 1

Am heart rate-  54 b. p.m.

Sleep-  9 hours

Weight – 153#

Workout –  rest

May 10th,  Tuesday,  10 p.m.

?

Well, it looks like I’m off the roads for a while.

My foot has been hurting me since the end of the race on Saturday with no relief in sight.  My first belief was that I had a cramp, but it never went away. So I began to believe that I was suffering some form  of plantar fasciitis.  I contacted Dr. Mirkin and explained my symptoms and circumstances.  His response was quick. He thinks that I have a stress fracture of one of the bones in my foot.  Over the last two days I have come to agree with him.  My pain is very specific.  The area is point tender.  The pain has not decreased at all in three days.  Another thing that makes me believe it  not plantar fasciitis is that the discomfort is no greater in the morning after sleeping.  It’s just the same as it is all day. That is one of the common symptoms of plantar fasciitis, that early morning pain.  Dr. Mirkin’s recommendation was that I stay off my foot for 3 weeks.  He says ride and swim but do not run until the pain has completely disappeared.

Today I did get to the clubhouse after being off for 2 days.  I rode the bike for 20 minutes, swam for 25 minutes and ran in the deep end for 10 minutes hanging on a noodle. That appears to be the extent of my workouts for 3 weeks. I do intend to do some work in the weight room with the machines and some free weights.  I recently read an article that suggests for older folks a good weight lifting routine is to complete 10  very slow reps with a lightweight.  Research Studies have shown that has the same effect of doing heavy lifts quicker on strength gain.  I will test it out  for a while .

I moved my membership start at the Centrestate fitness center to June 1st, so I will have access for the entire summer. They have that new zero gravity running machine that is the only one in the state of New Jersey that I can use. That should help me to come back a little more cautiously  from my injury.

So life goes on.  Fortunately,  I have my new PR and I was not planning any races for a while anyhow.

PS – I just did some research on a concept that is new to me known as the stress reaction.  I have heard reference to this from which Rice Refi not long ago and I thought maybe I was in that situation now.  I’m going to do some more reading and I will let you know what I found out tomorrow.  It seems that the stress reaction is designated as a first stage of a stress fracture.

Run healthy my friends!

Stats –

I–Mad   – 1Am heart rate  — 54 BPM

Weight –  152 pounds

Sleep – 9 hours

 Workout –  stationary bike 20 minutes, swim 25 minutes, floating Run 10 minutes

May 8th,   Sunday around noon

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Had a wonderful 11 hours sleep last night.  Really needed that.  I don’t have any races planned for the near future.  So I’m going to back off and relax.  I will try to take advantage of the new membership in the center State Hospital exercise facility.

I have been experiencing a lot of pain in the left foot since the race.  I can’t explain what it’s all about.  All last night and this morning it was very difficult to walk.  It’s not anything to do with the Achilles tendon.  I hope that it is not plantar fasciitis. That’s a condition that I had maybe 20 years ago while I was still teaching.   Haven’t had that sensation in a long time.  But plantar fasciitis is difficult to manage, a genuine pain in the butt.  This doesn’t really feel like that.  It’s on the right side of the arch  just forward of the heel.  It hurts when I push off on my toes. The general feeling is like a bruise, as if I stepped on a rock while I was running.  I felt no pain at all whIle  I was running, but after the race it felt like there was a cramp in my arch.  I thought I would walk it off and things would be fine, but it has persisted this morning.  I am tempted to use ice on it but have lost faith in ice.  Since I stopped using ice on my Achilles  they have seemed to improve  dramatically.  So I am  putting heat on this morning and being very careful.

Training for Hills

I need thoughts on this subject from anyone who would like to contribute.

Yesterday’s unexpectedly weak experience on the hill has gotten me to thinking.  I have always believed that if a distance runner is aerobically fit, Hills would not be an issue during a race.  I think the question needs to be asked;

Do you have to train on Hills to run Hills successfully in a competition?    and

How does this apply to the plus70runner in particular?

(I don’t know why this machine is capitalizing the word ‘Hill’ every time I say it.)  LOL

I’m thinking that having reached the 25-minute range for a 5K that I need to reevaluate my goals  and my training.  I was very happy with yesterday’s performance clearly.  But the experience on the hill made me think that maybe I am reaching the upside limit for the kind of training that I’m doing. I’ve never attempted Hill training because I didn’t feel that I was a serious Runner who needed to do that kind of work.  Now I believe that if I want to go to another level, in the lower twenties,  I would have to elevate  my training.  I will have to do harder workouts, probably longer workouts.  I thought this would just come naturally overtime, and I could just enjoy the whole experience. Maybe that is the attitude I have to take and not get too crazy.  However, I do remember running a 5k two years ago being so impressed by a 70year old guy that ran 25:30 to win the + 70 division.  I am now that guy!   How much additional stress do I want to put my body though?  This should not be so difficult.  I am having a great time training, competing and writing about my experience.  Responses I get from old Runners and new friends give me a reason to wake every day.  As you may have figured out by now I don’t have an answer here. But talking about it helps me to put things in perspective. So today is a healing day, a resting day and a thoughtful day.  The sun has appeared in New Jersey for the first time in a week.  I am planning to enjoy it.

Stats –

The only stat I can report today is that my I-MAD was 0!   That’s probably the first time I could report that in many weeks.  The variable is I did not take very definitive steps this morning when I woke up because of the pain in my foot.  So I will say 0 with a grain of salt.

May  7th, Saturday,  6:30 p.m.

I have to like the outcome of today’s 5K race. I reached my goal which was to break 26 minutes and have a 25 in front of my finishing time. Official time was 25:46.23.

Had a little trouble sleeping last night but was up on time.  Had a coffee and some toast and left for the race by 7:30, which was the plan.   Arrived in time, things were a little slow at the site, not easy to find the check-in area.  I did begin my planned extended warm up on time.  I was well bundled for the 50* day. The conditions were actually quite excellent at 50* with no wind and a cloud cover.  I completed my warmup with a series of one minute pickups at 8:50.  Then I went looking for the starting line which seemed very elusive.  I have to say this was not the most well organized event I have ever attended.  Well, it turned out that the 5K race was not scheduled for 9 a.m. but for 10a.m. . Yikes!  So I had to reevaluate my warmup.  I went back to the car with a half a bagel and a juice.  Rested inside for 40 minutes to stay warm.  Got Back to the racing area at 9:50, still unable to find anybody who knew where the starting line actually was.  Eventually people started gathering at some site and by 10 o’clock there may have been 30 people there with no sign of a  meet directoror officials.  People came strolling toward the start for the next 20 minutes. Somewhere around 10:20 a guy showed up and said that he was going to start the race by saying , “On your mark, get set, go.” Now there was an official timing System and they did a pretty good job, but it was not very impressive, the whole setup.

Despite all these things, I remained confident.  My legs feel good, my warm up was good, and when the go word was shouted I begin in a relaxed fashion.  Since this was not a very competitive race, I was up near the front right away with the first 15 runners.  My concentration was on my pace which was around 7:45 to 7:50 for the first mile, very comfortable.  Second Mile was a whole new story.  I hadn’t realized how much of the first mile was on a gentle down slope. So in the middle of mile two  I turned a corner and saw a substantial hill.   In checking my Garmin watch after the race I discovered that this was a 55 meter rise, pretty significant.  So my mile time for the second mile was somewhere around 8:35.  That left me at about 16:15 for 2 miles, a little bit off my goal. Not to mention I was pretty banged up by the hill.  I have not run  any Hills on any workout anywhere!   In the third mile I can’t say that I actually went into the Black Box.  I approached it, I peeked in and then I stayed on the perimeter.   I ran a decent 3rd mile around 8:30 and final  .1 under one minute. The whole time came out to be 25:46.3, well within my goal!

After the race I learned there was an award ceremony and that I had been the top finisher in the “old guy” category, that is anybody from 60 to 99. Turns out I was the oldest guy in the race but I beat all of the younger 60 year old types. Another interesting development was that one of the prizes for the race was a 3 month membership into the hospital connected Fitness and Rehab Center. This is a state-of-the-art high quality all the bells and whistles fitness center. It has every machine known to man.  It has two pools, saltwater.  One of these pools is a heated rehab pool, the other is a lap pool.  There is a running machine which completely and totally simulates the running motion including the knee Flex.  You can do a full stride from back kick through leg extension. The gentleman that signed me up told me that it is the only one in the state of New Jersey.  So on days that I don’t want foot strikes that would be a great place to get a full range of motion workout. I will try this stuff out and see how it works.  I’m hoping that I don’t get talked into doing a weight program.   I have a meeting with a trainer and a nurse on Monday to do orientation and work out a so-called training plan. All this came as a surprise to me so I’m still trying to process it.

So Thursday off put me in a good position, my warm-up plan worked, and I had a really nice morning running a low-key race for PR. Tough to be that. I did come away with soreness in my left foot at the very bottom of the foot. Not sure what brought that on, but I need to take a day or two to let that recover I think. But the good news is no Achilles issues, no calves issues and my right quadricep was totally quiet before, during and after the race. All in all a very nice Saturday morning.

I-Mad –  1 this morning

Am heart rate –  52 BPM

Sleep – 6 hours

Weight -150 after the race    Another adult low.

Workout –  nice warm up of two and a half miles, plus another half mile, +5K @ 25:46