Another week on the back seat of life

training stats
mo 12/25 - sa 12/30: rest, pause, break, nothing, nil, none, naught, not a yard (damned!)

Folks,

This is the situation when a blog really makes sense as its purpose is to draw the surfers' attention and post pathetic lines asking everybody to pity (as long as there is no chance to impress anybody).

I have to cancel my start at the New Year's Eve Race. The flu is nearly gone but seamlessly followed by a sinusitis. I would be crazy enough to ignore all this but my knee is not. I now have to believe what I use to tell those who send emails asking for advice: There are always better times to come. New year, new run.

As I won't stand it to sit at home when my friends are running the race where I have taken part for 12 consecutive years, I will go and take some photos of happy runners and congratulate them at the finish line (don't be confused finding my name in the results - a friend will use my number).

All the very best for 2007 - keep on running. Thanks for reading and coming again. Hope to see you in London for the best of all marathons.

Body Inventory

Training stats
th-su 12/21-24: rest (ill)
we 12/20: easy slow jog, 10K, 1:12 hrs
tu 12/19: indoor bike, 1 hr


Sorry, folks, a sudden and severe flu caught me on Wednesday evening and I am not yet fully recovered. My hope is that the knee pain is only a side-effect of the flu and I will be able to run again when I feel well again.

Next year will be my last year in age group M50. You might have noticed that race fields in M55 are significantly smaller than in M50. I reckon that most of the disappeared runners didn't give up their sport optionally. And I wonder how long I will be able to keep to the roads and paths.

These thoughts let me make an inventory of my orthopedic challenges most of which are typical for runners. I start at the feet:

1. Flatfoot: Pain in the forefoot esp. on long road runs. Helped by orthotics and training foot muscels
2. Peroneus tendon strained: Pain on the outer side of the ankle, mainly caused by overpronating when running on uneven ground. Helped by orthotics and taping.
3. Runner's knees: Pain at the patella's back side caused by too much pressure on the cartilage. Helped by training the thigh muscles, taking gelatin and glucosamin, bandage, icing.
4. Arthrosis at both hips: Diagnosed by doc but no current problems. Pain infrequently after very long runs.
5. Tennis elbow: Strained tendons caused by overstress. Helped by couples of injections from time to time without success. Luckily I don't need the arm neither for running nor for making a living. Otherwise I would face a very big problem.
6. Shoulder tendon strained: No cause known, but very painful. Helped by surgery. Successfully so far.

Is this a typical list for a 53-year-old male? I console myself by realizing that most people sitting in doctors' waiting rooms don't do any sports. Luckily I have no organic problems and all vital and nice-to-have functions are working sufficiently.

But perhaps I should change my targets from running PBs to keep on running.

PS The German version of my Nepal Trekking Report is on line now. English one still to come.

Not a full come back

training stats
mo 12/18: gym easy, 1 hr
su 12/17: hilly run, 16K, 1:35 hrs
sa 12/16: rest
fr 12/15: run, 10.5K, 1:00 hrs
th 12/14: rest
we 12/13: run, 11K, 1:01 hrs

I apologize for not posting during last week. Most time sitting in front of the computer I was busy with updating the regional race calender for next year (www.laufen-in-westfalen.de) and worked on my Nepal travel report. The German version will be ready to go on line before Christmas and I hope to complete an English version until new year's eve.

I tried to restrict the number of photos but there will be still 178 ones to be seen. Hope some of the visitors will make it through all 7 pages.

Regarding my training stats I have to admit that I am not back to a mileage level I would be happy with. The calf strain is gone but I am still struggling with the knee problem. It is the first time for years that I am not able to run at my very best on New Year's Eve race. The 15K race from Westfalian town Werl to Soest celebrates its 25th anniversary thereof 18 which I took part in. It is a duty to run and I will do it even with a hurting knee.

Survived the Race

stats:
tu 12/12: medical checkup, indoor bike 300 watt
mo 12/11: gym, easy workout, 1 hr
su 12/10: race, 10.5K, 0:44:04 hrs (+3K warm-up)
sa 12/09: rest

Race day was a great day for sports in our town. Nearly one thousand runners, most of them school boys and girls, took part at what is called "Wittener Weihnachtslauf" meaning Christmas Run. The main event was crowned by some professional runners turning up. There were two German champions and one runner-up who took the lead in the race as a matter of course.

Further back in the middle of the pack I was on my way. Luckily the calf was free of pain just in time. As this is the local event where one has to show up I refused to serve as a pacemaker. I wanted to go as fast as I could. The decision to run on my own might lead to future regret: My two favourite running mates allied themselves and ran together. And how they did it! Both finished third in their age category and got an award. Now they know that they can do better on their own - no male needed any more.


Meanwhile I struggled along the 6 laps through our city. Finally it was great fun to sprint the last part, fighting with three fellow runners for the better place in the middle of field. The only drawback was: One of them was 12 years older than me, the other even 21!


This is how it looks when I am struggling. Don't worry, I did my medical check today and the doc allowed me to keep on running like this.

But he diagnosed a cholesterol level of very high risk. What means I will have to refrain from every kind of sweets until the next check. I should better have done the test after christmas!

Homage to Katie

training stats
fr 12/08: easy jog, 6K, 100m, 0:35 hrs
su 12/03 to th 12/07: rest


Wednesday eve we were out to meet Katie Melua on one of her few performances in Germany. Today and tomorrow she is in Amsterdam and then it's Paris.

Wednesday it was Oberhausen. I didn't know the place before. This "König-Pilsener-Arena" was a disappointment. The venue is fine for sports events or noisy big rock groups but it is totally unsuitable for a single little lady singing love songs.

The next disappointment happened at 8pm when Katie's concert was supposed to start. A group called The Stories appeared and wasted half an hour of our time. They were from Swansea in Wales what could have helped but it didn't. The next half hour was just waiting. Shortly after 9pm - the audience startet to get impatient - Katie on her own appeared on stage. And it didn't take to the end of her first song that she had caught the whole of the audience including me being totally in love. You might reckon that an old guy like me is resistant to this kind of emotions which should have gone long since. But I found myself being close to tears several times this evening. Maybe cos all is that long ago ;-) I enjoyed the whole of the 100 minutes Katie was singing. And I would have loved to hear her performing in a concert hall.

Calf news is good news. I stopped any kind of sports for a whole week and tried to jog easily this morning. There is still a small ball to be felt in the muscle but jogging was fine today. So I will try to take part in next Sunday's race. Certainly I am not in the state to go for a presentable result but it is the local event and sort of duty to be there.

Things that happen

sa 12/02: rest (race cancelled)
fr 12/01: gym 2 hrs

These things happen. And when it has happened you have to come to grips with it. I have to admit I struggle to get along with what happened yesterday.

I have been using the leg extension machine since I started to go to the gym about 8 years ago. Never happened anything like this. I didn't put on too much weight I think. I just lifted the weight with one leg only, that might have been the fault. At the moment I moved to leave the machine I strained my calf muscle severely. Very soon I knew that I was in trouble. I tried to stretch the muscle but this only worsened the situation.

Saturday morning it was still as bad as the day before. There was no question that I would have to cancel the race I had looked forward to being part of it. Even more I doubt that I will be fit for next Sunday's race which will take place in my home town Witten.

The good news is that J ran a really good race. Without the help of a pacemaker she started cautiously and felt strong during the final part of the course. The result was that she finished one minute faster than last year. Very well done, J.

Race photo gallery