Pain and Progress

Meet @ged70marathon on Instagram, my new alter-ego for 12 months as I try for a marathon at 70. I'd be delighted to get followers to encourage me.

I concluded my previous post with the hope that I would manage a couple of 5km runs by this one and I'm delighted to report a couple of 5's and a 6 over the last two weeks.

Suffering some knee pain which is not from running but from another interest - Dry Stone Walling.  I volunteer with National Trust and every Wednesday I am to be found repairing walls. The most recent job was on an steep slope and working up ladders and all the up and down and bracing trashed my knee and my right Achilles isn't at all happy. Lots of wearing a knee support and being careful not to twist it.

A gorgeous sunny morning today for 5.82 km. At the moment while nursing injuries and getting fitness back I am walking 2 minutes and running 4. A great benefit of running is getting out of the house and seeing sights; Bramall Hall looked stunning in the sunshine.

 

Holiday and Recovery

The two weeks following my last post were spent trying to get my back fit enough for a sailing holiday. I have never paid so much attention to recommended heat and exercise routines. I went for one short run but decided that avoiding antagonising my back was primary so stuck to walking.

The good news for my wife and me was that it worked and we returned last weekend from 2 weeks sailing in the Ionian Islands, Greece.

Now sailing sounds bad for your back though healthy and active. It actually involves a lot of flexibility work moving around the boat but very little leg work other than standing and bracing. It was around 35C most of the time so walks rarely went further than a taverna for an evening meal. Basically, my legs were hardly used for a fortnight!

Returning home, my back was miraculously improved but I was suffering shin and calf pain and my right Achilles was complaining violently.  Early in the week, a fast walk to an appointment led to lower leg pain that lasted 48 hours but I returned to my dry stone walling with the NT on Wednesday and have done a few light indoor bike sessions, and this morning I finally feel something like normal.

This will be one of the challenges of a Marathon at 70, aches and pains, recovery and adjustment are not what they used to be when I was younger.

So, here's hoping that I will be able to report a few 5Ks in the bag for my next post.

A False Start

Well, that didn't start well!

Sunday 1st May I ran the Alderley Edge Bypass 10km and it went really well.  I had intended walk/run intervals but in the event ran the whole distance and finished in a very pleasing 1:00:37.

All my training is done alone but I got talking to another runner who was on her first 10km and ended up pacing her to the finish and helping her meet her target time which she was delighted with. It was a good exercise for me as it is the first time I have tried to hold a conversation whilst running and I was very pleased with my breathing control.

I say I paced her to the end but actually I probably ran a better race for it myself because I was being very positive and steady for her and it worked for me.

The following Thursday, I did my back in; an old injury which has plagued me for many years.

So this morning was my first run for 6 weeks. 3.2km with intervals walking 2mn and running 4mn. Lungs seem to have forgotten how to process oxygen, I have some pain in my right knee and my right Achilles is complaining.  But my back seems ok.

It'll get better, onward and upward!

Introduction - 26 Miles at 70, A Dream

In May 2012 I was little over 1 year from reaching sixty years old and I decided to try to mark the occasion with a better than 60min completion of the Great Manchester Run 10K (story at Sixty min at 60). Before then I had last run in 1976 in a 1.5ml cross country race for leaders in a south Manchester scouting event.

Well I did it, and thoroughly enjoyed the day. What I had expected to be a one-off experience resulted in me growing to love running and since then I have completed several 10Ks, a Half Marathon for my 65th birthdays (story at Ged's 65th Half), and I regularly enjoy my local parkrun.

So, now 10 years on, it's my 70th birthday which is a few days over a year away, and I have a dream of celebrating it with a full marathon. For now it is a dream but, in that dream, this blog will culminate in my posting a time for a completed marathon.

hashtags #26at70 #MarathonDream