June 13,  Monday,  Noon

  This morning my I-MAD was 0.  First time ever!☺

  I- MAD is an index I created for myself to measure my chronic early morning Achilles tendon discomfort.        0= No Discomfort

A sad realization that I take from this event is that I have not run for 35 days.  It took 35 days of not running for my Achilles tendons to stop hurting in the morning!  Really?    Now, I have also been rolling and stretching the hell out of my calf muscles for the last 2 days. This certainly can be a contributing factor, but the discomfort in my Achilles has been decreasing on a daily basis since I stopped running.  Now, it becomes apparent that if I never run again I will not have Achilles tendon issues.   and what do I do with this information? There is no chance that I’m going to stop running.  I am enjoying this experience too much.   It has made me feel empowered, and I know I am in better physical condition and in better overall health.  Plus I’m having way too much fun writing this blog,  and I have nothing to write about when I don’t run.  and so that is off the table.  But I must realize that running causes discomfort. Yes, running causes discomfort. So I must be willing to live with the discomfort to get the benefits I just mentioned. But it does seem that a rational plan is required to accomplish the benefits by minimizing the discomfort.

Now one of my stated goals for writing this blog was to share thoughts for +70RUNNERS about training successfully while achieving  those wonderful benefits.  I hope I have accomplished some of that in the past 3 months.

My latest piece of brilliance is supported by an article I re-read today from Dr. Mirkin’s newsletter about going slowly.   Yes +70Runner and anyone beginning to run again after a long hiatus, start slowly and go slowly!    I apologize for the seeming  Simplicity of that thought, but it cannot be emphasized enough.  The body will gradually adjust, and what is slow will gradually become faster but will still remain slow in its relation to the impact on the muscles.

 Does this mean I will never run fast again?  No!  I love to run fast.  But I have to keep it under control.  I am still planning to run very fast at the  Nationa Seniorl Games in the summer of 2017.  It begins September of 2016 at the New Jersey Senior Olympics.    I am totally psyched!

Below is the link to the  research.  It takes I minute to read.

Be careful my friends.  And fast!     LOL