This is not a post about running; it is a post about NOT running and the frustration that goes with it.
At 65, my body is definitely not what it used to be. I logged what was perhaps the best marathon time I ever ran close to ten years ago when I was 55 one a tough hilly course, a sub-4-hour effort - 3:52:21, which had me break into the list of top ten male finishers. I ran 6 days out of a week's 7 back then, logging an average of 10 kilometers a day and doing 15k's and half-marathon distances on weekends. It seems those days are long gone, simply memories etched in ink on the pages of my logs and in posts on this blog. I do not think they can happen again, though I wish they would.
Since I started running again after the lockdown restrictions last years were lifted, I have been averaging 7 minutes and a half pace per kilometer when I used to do 5 to 5 and a half minutes on average. The distances I ran became shorter, the runs less frequent - 5 days in the week, at times just 4. But even as the mileage dropped, it made itself felt: the bothersome twinge, which at times become immobilizing pain.
Last January, while going for a 10k, I suddenly felt a pain in my left buttock and was forced to stop before I could even hit halfway of the 5k mark. Sciatica aggravated, I thought. I have been feeling some twinge in the sciatic area for a while now, but this was something else. There was a stabbing pain with every step of my left leg; I had no other option but to walk all the way back home.
I tried to run again after resting for a week, but the pain was still there. After several days of rest and stretching routines, it felt better so I tried to do a 2-kilometer jog-walk, walking and jogging for a kilometer and jogging the other kilometer back home. I reminded myself patience pays and to just trust the process.
Over the next few days, I upped my running distance from 2 to 3 and then 5 kilometers. I also graduated from jog-walk combinations to full jogs, all untimed, all slow. In the weeks that followed I was able to log 15, 20 and 25 kilometers of weekly total mileage. I was somewhat elated, though I wished I could go faster. I told myself good things take time.
It seems I may have gone back running too early.
An out-of-town engagement gave me additional rest days which I thought would mean better running when I got back to it again. To my frustration, it was not to be. On May 29, while out for a 6k run, a near-stumble seemed to have over-stretched my butt and thigh muscles again and I was back to finding running a bit bothersome again. this time it caused a pain in the groin area. My planned 6k became a cumbersome 2k jog-walk.
I am back to square one again, frustrated, but I guess I can blame no one but myself for being the impatient, stubborn old dog that I am.
A lot of physical changes happen to the human body as we grow older. It does not happen overnight but as time moves on, we feel the effects. I guess one feels more of it at 65 than at 55. Still, at 65, I believe I still have the capacity to run well. It is just a matter of being able to adjust, come up with a routine that is best suited for my age and ability. I am still looking for that.
Or am I just fooling myself into believing I still have it in me to come up with good runs, good distances, good times?
Frustrated as I may be with what has been happening to me lately, I definitely do not want to give up; not now, not for this stubborn old dog.
