50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

I'm hoping to run the Canberra Marathon in April (we all need a goal, don't we?) It's a great course and well organised, friendly atmosphere. I might even be one the first 3 to finish in the 75-80 category! Hope you can join me.

31 miles running spread over four days, two days of indoor bike and one day of snowshoeing up a mountain. Lots of rain here is Seattle last week and this coming week, so outdoor running may not hit the goal of 30 miles, especially as Tuesday is blocked out for Alpine skiing and I may try to XC ski later in the week.

Strava tells me I was active for 358 days. 200 hrs running. 200 hrs cycling. 100 hrs kayaking. Averaged 35 kms running per week. My aim was to run 3 to 4 hours/30 to 40 kms per week which seems to be enough to have me pretty fit without many injury issues. Cycling wise I was trying to consistently get in 3 to 4 hours per week. Kayak about 1.5 to 2 hours per week. All those boxes ticked despite the fact I take a pretty low key "don't worry" sort of approach.

My goal was to be consistant with my modest training volume.

M61, 5'11", 185 lbs

I took 11 days off, trying to get past the latest knee problem. Then got out for three runs this past week. Unfortunately, with a mile to go on Thursday, sudden ankle pain. Another three days, off, and back at it today. So it goes! Last week:

DEC 27, 2020 - JAN 2, 2021

Sun - 4.0 miles (11:20, 11:19, 10:24, 9:54)

Mon - Off

Tues - 4.0 miles (9:49, 9:35, 8:40, 7:55)

Wed - Off

Thu - 6.0 miles @ 9:32/mi

Fri - Off

Sat - Off

TOTAL: 14.0 MILES

Happy New Year!

old guy II wrote:

'mopac, I see you are feeling pretty fit right now. When I get the feeling that my fitness is really coming along I always try to think about what I have been doing the last couple of months that seems to be working well. Sometimes it's pretty obvious what has worked and sometimes it's a bit of a mystery why things are going better than usual.

My methodology has been to just try to maintain a consistant volume and not stress the detail, pretty much run, ride, paddle as I feel. When the body is feeling good there are a few faster kms tossed in, a few more challenging courses etc etc. That has been the case the last few months.

I'm 7 weeks into recovery from the Tenex procedure to remove Haglund's deformity in my right heel. Decided to go for it after almost 2 years of pain and stiffness from Achilles tendinopathy, the pain was particularly worse in the fist 3-5 miles of every run.

Everything I researched about Tenex told me this was the way to go, but so far in my recovery I'm not so sure. 7 weeks may be too early but my pain level is considerable worse now than before the procedure. I can barely walk without limping because of the pain, especially in the morning. It does get better as I warm-up in the elliptical machine but it's never pain free just walking. The Dr. who did the procedure is saying this is expected in some cases and is putting me on PT at this point to hopefully help with the pain.

Received the first dose of Moderna vaccination today.

Didn't feel a thing and this is about 3 hr later. Did run 53 minutes this am before vaccination. Second dose in 28 days if I remember hearing correctly but cdc is following up on a government site you can choose to register and receive updates and reminders.

Cheers to yall.

Guess wrote:

Received the first dose of Moderna vaccination today.

Didn't feel a thing and this is about 3 hr later. Did run 53 minutes this am before vaccination. Second dose in 28 days if I remember hearing correctly but cdc is following up on a government site you can choose to register and receive updates and reminders.

Cheers to yall.

They aren't planning on a vaccine rollout until March here in Australia. We will be using a different vax.

There has been a bit of pressure to move a bit quicker as there has been an outbreak in NSW and subsequently a small outbreak here in Vic. (we had gone 61 days covid free in Vic) via NSW visitors at a restaurant. Yesterday there were only 4 new cases in NSW and only 3 here in Vic. so hopefully back to zeros by the weekend. All other States have been covid free for months. I imagine it will be mandatory for my wife and myself as nurses. Fluvax is mandatory for us.

Guess wrote:

Received the first dose of Moderna vaccination today.

Didn't feel a thing and this is about 3 hr later. Did run 53 minutes this am before vaccination. Second dose in 28 days if I remember hearing correctly but cdc is following up on a government site you can choose to register and receive updates and reminders.

Cheers to yall.

I got myself in the Moderna vaccine trial and got my shots at the end of August and end of September. After the first shot my shoulder was sore enough that night that it woke me up every time I rolled onto it. The next day I felt achy like I had the flu and was about 20 seconds per mile slower than usual for my run. After my second shot I had some mild soreness in my arm and my run the following day was about 10 seconds per mile slower than usual. No other symptoms. The study emailed me that they will try to get us back in before the end of January to unblind all the participants, allow the placebo group to be vaccinated if they want, and to draw blood to test for antibody levels.

That's interesting to hear. I got a flu shot for the first time this year, when it was mandated by my university. I had a hint of soreness in my shoulder for a day or two and nothing else. I guess the COVID vaccine typically provokes a stronger reaction.

I expect it will be a long time before I can get vaccinated; they're talking about giving some priority to "teachers" but that probably doesn't include university level, and at 62 I'm not old enough to be in any other priority group. All essential workers should get vaccinated before me. I can do most of my job from home and the part that requires me to be on campus involves minimal contact with other people.

I have my annual with the chemo oncologist in ten days. At age 70 not sure if that falls into a priority group. If so, I will report back.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I have my annual with the chemo oncologist in ten days. At age 70 not sure if that falls into a priority group. If so, I will report back.

Phase 2, I believe.

There is talk today of Australia using the Pfizer vax soon for quarantined returned Aussies, quarantine staff, air crew etc. They are worried about the new highly contagious variant. One new locally acquired case today in Victoria and 4 in NSW, just the 5 Australia wide plus a few returning from OS into quarantine. Mandatory 14 day q for anyone arriving from OS.

NE_Runner wrote:

I'm 7 weeks into recovery from the Tenex procedure to remove Haglund's deformity in my right heel. Decided to go for it after almost 2 years of pain and stiffness from Achilles tendinopathy, the pain was particularly worse in the fist 3-5 miles of every run.

Everything I researched about Tenex told me this was the way to go, but so far in my recovery I'm not so sure. 7 weeks may be too early but my pain level is considerable worse now than before the procedure. I can barely walk without limping because of the pain, especially in the morning. It does get better as I warm-up in the elliptical machine but it's never pain free just walking. The Dr. who did the procedure is saying this is expected in some cases and is putting me on PT at this point to hopefully help with the pain.

Good to hear from another Tenex patient. I'm at day 83 post Tenex. Sorry to hear about your pain level. I'm the complete opposite with the achilles mostly 100% painfree. There is some soreness at times usually after inactivity or a long day in work boots. But never no more than a 1-2. I no longer limp. I resumed very easy running (5 min jog) on Dec 10. I'm currently up to 3-1/2 miles every-other-day. The other days are on the bike or elliptical. 60-100 weighted heel dips every day.

My only advice is to be patient with recovery! I've been starting all my runs at 10:00 pace regardless of how good I feel. And Keep the Faith...

Dave

Good to hear from another Tenex patient. I'm at day 83 post Tenex. Sorry to hear about your pain level. I'm the complete opposite with the achilles mostly 100% painfree. There is some soreness at times usually after inactivity or a long day in work boots. But never no more than a 1-2. I no longer limp. I resumed very easy running (5 min jog) on Dec 10. I'm currently up to 3-1/2 miles every-other-day. The other days are on the bike or elliptical. 60-100 weighted heel dips every day.

My only advice is to be patient with recovery! I've been starting all my runs at 10:00 pace regardless of how good I feel. And Keep the Faith...

Dave

Hi Dave, thanks for sharing your experience, it looks like you are at 11 weeks post-Tenex now. I'm curious to know if you were feeling pain after 7 weeks and if you were doing any exercises or PT to alleviate it. Also, did you have pain running before the procedure? I researched a lot about the procedure and the majority of people I found had success with it although I did find a runner with a chronic condition like mine, who took a while to recover from his Tenex and ended up not helping at all, so I wonder if success rates has to do with chronicity and degree of pain level before the procedure.

'mopac wrote:

There is talk today of Australia using the Pfizer vax soon for quarantined returned Aussies, quarantine staff, air crew etc. They are worried about the new highly contagious variant. One new locally acquired case today in Victoria and 4 in NSW, just the 5 Australia wide plus a few returning from OS into quarantine. Mandatory 14 day q for anyone arriving from OS.

There is some talk this morning that with the new variants the phased rollout will be abandoned in favor of getting as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. Thought being getting ahead of South African strain that appears to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody treatments.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

'mopac wrote:

There is talk today of Australia using the Pfizer vax soon for quarantined returned Aussies, quarantine staff, air crew etc. They are worried about the new highly contagious variant. One new locally acquired case today in Victoria and 4 in NSW, just the 5 Australia wide plus a few returning from OS into quarantine. Mandatory 14 day q for anyone arriving from OS.

There is some talk this morning that with the new variants the phased rollout will be abandoned in favor of getting as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. Thought being getting ahead of South African strain that appears to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody treatments.

The hashed rollout is in place because of the current availability of vaccine. There simply isn’t enough to go around at this time.

* hashed = phased

NE_Runner wrote:

Hi Dave, thanks for sharing your experience, it looks like you are at 11 weeks post-Tenex now. I'm curious to know if you were feeling pain after 7 weeks and if you were doing any exercises or PT to alleviate it. Also, did you have pain running before the procedure? I researched a lot about the procedure and the majority of people I found had success with it although I did find a runner with a chronic condition like mine, who took a while to recover from his Tenex and ended up not helping at all, so I wonder if success rates has to do with chronicity and degree of pain level before the procedure.

Quick reply...

I never felt any pain during or after the procedure. I started the heel dips and foam roller on the calves after the boot was removed, about 3 weeks after the Tenex. I've dealt with my achilles pain for about 5 years. Some days were an 8-9 where I walked home after a few minutes of running; but most days a 3-4 where I could get thru the workout, but pain was always there. And I always limped. I slept in a night splint for years, took Aleve before workouts and races, and did heel dips most of that time. And lied to myself about how bad it was. An MRI last December listed Tendonosis, tendonitis, bursitis and a partial tear. I didn't know all of that could happen at the same time. My Tenex Dr called it achilles tendonopathy. Truthfully, I don't know the difference between all those terms!

Since the Tenex I no longer sleep in a splint, ditched my orthotics, pain meds are minimal. FWIW I'm 60+ and have been running/racing for 45 years. No injuries until I was 52. Started with a hamstring after the 2012 Monumental HM, the calf, knee then the achilles followed. Maybe it's all related?

Better get to work...

Dave