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A Runner’s Truce with Age and Arthritis
It is all about adjustments
I am guilty of RWO on a regular basis. RWO? Yeah, running while old. I can’t help it. It’s what I do. But this old man hasn’t run in over two weeks and I’m not sure when I will be able to again. I recently ran a 12k trail race on some very steep hills here in Tennessee and one of my calves is now so painful that I can barely walk the dog.
This is the result of trying to race seven and a half miles of rocky trails and steep climbs when my most recent long run was six miles on neighborhood streets. I could get away with that kind of foolishness in my younger days. But I’m no longer in my younger days. I’m in my seventh decade and I was the oldest finisher in that race.
As we age, no matter how active we are, the stark reality is that we just can’t do the things we used to do. The aging process becomes the enemy of the athletic process. Throw arthritis into the mix and things really get tough.
But I refuse to surrender to age and arthritis. I am, however, willing to declare a truce. The fact is that I’m about to turn 69. I have arthritis in both knees, both hips, and my lower back. There was a time when it wasn’t an issue as long as I didn’t run over ten miles and kept speed work to an absolute minimum. But where’s the fun in that? I wanted to run more…
