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art
1903 Posts |
 Posted - 05/23/2009 : 09:50:51
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I'm in the same position, time off-wise. At 58, it's a struggle to just not lose ground. Extended time away from running definitely takes a toll. I spent a couple of years kick-biking instead of running recently, and I couldn't believe how much speed I'd lost. But since my racing days are over, I've only myself to compete against, which makes things much easier.
It's tempting to mourn all that lost speed, just as it's tempting to mourn lost youth, but it's a suckers game in the end.
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crk
124 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2009 : 11:10:48
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| I am 50, and didn't start running until age 44, so I have no speedy days to look back on. lol I love to collect stories about runners in their 80s and 90s even. I want to do this my whole life! |
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altherunner
Canada
511 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2009 : 11:24:44
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| I was having foot pain a couple of years ago that was most likely tms, but I started "chi running", a different style of running, that is much easier on the feet and lower legs. I was also riding my bike on my off running days, and I fell off it one day and the pedal stuck in the top of my foot. My foot became swollen and purple, and I iced it, but I was still able to run a couple of days later. A month later, I was at the doctor, and mentioned about my foot, which still looked kind of lumpy, and he determined I had broken 1 or 2 bones in it. He did not reccomend treatment or re-breaking and setting them. I have been sold on Danny Dreyer's chi running ever since. |
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Garth
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2009 : 16:44:13
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I've been a cyclist since a teen, I'm 44 now. I didn't ride for 4 + years from giving in to the pain before I decided enough was enough. I have times with pain, but ride through it. The mind games can be intense.
I'm not as fast as I was. I don't have the endurance I had. Yet....... I don't need to ride as fast now... or as far. I do what I can for now. I can take a day or two or three off now, and know I'm okay. I could never do that before.... I HAD to ride. There was no letting up to heal. I was always over-training.
I now take the time to see the view of where I'm going. I can stop anywhere..... for the view.... or for no particular reason. I could never do that before. So..... what I may "think" I've lost ..... I've actually gained because I enjoy riding a bike more than I ever did, because I truly appreciate being able to do so. Even a 20 or 30 minute ride.... inconceivable years ago..... is so much better than no ride at all.
"Time"..... robs us of the here and now. Life is lived in the present. |
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crk
124 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2009 : 16:59:29
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| To Al - I LOVE Chi Running. Fantastic stuff! (But I still get fake -ie tms - pains.) Chi Running helped make my stride feel more natural and "swift." Lots of people say "you shouldn't try to change your stride." Let them speak for themselves! I changed my stride and I do very well with it. |
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crk
124 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2009 : 17:00:49
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| To Garth - great thoughts about living in the present. Run (or bike) your course, don't let it run you! |
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cfhunter
119 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2009 : 13:54:22
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sounds like my husband...signs up for a race, pain in ITB hips and back.
Event day? Not a pain in the world.
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cfhunter
119 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2009 : 16:32:05
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 p.s. Chi running was difficult for me to master a year ago...I think a different frame of mind was in order. Perhaps I have it now since taking up biking for balance...
Do ALL "runners, bikers," have a tendency to overtrain and overdo?
o we REALLY need the lesson of injuries and fake injuries to slow us down?
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crk
124 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2009 : 19:36:46
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quote:
Do ALL "runners, bikers," have a tendency to overtrain and overdo?
o we REALLY need the lesson of injuries and fake injuries to slow us down?
I don't believe so. In fact, I would say that our species is capable of FAR more physical exertion than most of us even come close to.
The pain isn't there to slow us down. It is there because we are psychologically damaged. |
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cfhunter
119 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2009 : 06:33:06
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| I was kind of "picking on myself" in that last post...saying "Why can't I slow down without my brain trying to make me think there was something wrong? In other words...what am I afraid of?" |
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Garth
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2009 : 07:45:17
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I was all set to give an answer of a bunch of fears I have as to why I won't slow down at times. Then simplicity struck me..... fear of the present moment. It doesn't matter what that moment may be. It's a fear of being with m-e me.
How much energy is wasted thinking of what was(the past).... and what will be(the future)? It's ingrained in our human belief system. The present moment is not prized. It's often not, what am I doing.... but what am I doing that for? .... implying that the only purpose of my current action is something in the future!
Take running or cycling or whatever we intend to do at some point.... maybe even right now, for instance. We set a goal, in our minds.... of how far we may go.... how fast... etc. We have in our minds already an expectation, one we may or may not meet. I often fear being stranded from running out of energy or my bike breaking down.... and no way to get home.
I don't know the future.... I don't know what will happen. I can't predict my next breath, let alone how far I can ride, or how I'll get home. I do take the present moment for granted. I find myself trying to live my life for the next moment.... instead of this one right here. I feel anxious about it. When things don't go "as planned"... I feel angry, as my mind's view of what should would or could have happened.... did not!
So.... what do I do with all that? I breathe. Breathing is the most overlooked, yet most profound act I can ever, ever.... EVER do! It's my center point... where life really is. I let the crap go..... and that's easier said than done. But, one moment at a time of letting go, is the start. Just as a building starts with one brick. I imagine myself at Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side..... watching the flow of water from the cliff. To the right is the future.... it's what's coming......or what I "think" is coming because I can't really see what's in the flow of water. To the left.... is the past..... water that's gone over the falls and downstream. I'm right here.... somewhere in the middle... the present... watching it all take place. Can I jump in the future and see what's coming in the flow? No, not really, as it's not even close so how can I jump into it? Can I jump into the past flow? ..... No, not really here too as it's so far away it's impossible to reach. That leaves me to right where I am. Observing the whole flow. I don't have to try and jump in, in fact to do so is detrimental to my health as I would exhaust myself trying! I hold my ground. In the present. Sometimes I may get wet... but I'm still ok. I may get cold.... but I'm still ok there too. My mind may want to run and hide, but there is no where to hide from itself..... so I hold my ground again.
This is an analogy for which maybe someone can relate to. I don't have a label for it..... maybe a living meditation I guess.
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hsb
149 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2009 : 08:04:24
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I think you're right GARth. The present moment...... all my thoughts right now are on the future ..... this hip/itb/piriformis stuff is making me think about the marathon training i am to start in one month. how can i start the training if i hurt so much now? how can i take off 2 or 3 weeks to see if the pain will go away and then have to start from scratch with the training? does all this sound familiar. i soooooo much do not want to take time off with the pains. I have been trying to run and ignor the pain, but the mind goes to those above thoughts. it ain't that comfortable running w/the hip pain. i try to tell myself that i've won this battle before and i can do it again. it ain't working so well this time. my inner conflict is whether to take the time off or not. maybe the hip will feel better if i do, then i start making deals with myself-if i take 2 weeks off of running and there is no discernable improvement, then i go back to running full bore and know it's tms. can any of you guys relate to this .... any advice?
thanks |
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ssb
Canada
3 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2009 : 07:15:41
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| Yay! Sorry for reviving an old thread; I just wanted to say I'm new around here and am SO happy to have found some good dialogue from runners with TMS. I identified with so many things I just read. Thanks, everybody! |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2009 : 12:52:18
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| I have been running on/off for 31 yrs. What Art said many messages back about the inevitibility of decline is true, of course, but it is different for everybody and the pace of decline can be slowed by keeping fit. At 55, I can't really say I notice much decline. In fact, I have been running more, doing more tough races than in many years. And since I have a more well-rounded workout now, with weights, running hills, doing 14-ers, I'm probably in better shape overall than 20 yrs ago. For me, running and keeping fit is probably the single best thing I do for myself. |
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crk
124 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2009 : 09:30:03
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| Read Born To Run if you think you are too old to run well. To be sure, statistics show that people can run faster in their 20s than they do in their 50s. But there is so much more potential for running in "old age" than our culture allows. I am far more fit at nearly 51 than I was when I started running at 44. |
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Texasrunner
USA
60 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2009 : 09:14:54
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At 55, I agree that decline is very slow, and need not be anything to worry about. On the TMS front, I beleive that us runners certainly have plenty of TMS "injuries." They [injuries] love to re-visit old injury sites, and seem to attack when you are in absolute peak shape. For me, the danger is that after running pretty much pain free for the past five years, I forgot about unconscious rage and TMS, and now here it is again, this time in my left upper hamstring/butt. So, I am "re-programming" myself, and forgetting about all of the media nonsense that reinforces the idea that we are endlessly susceptible to injury. Here's an e-mail Dr. Marc Sopher, one of Sarno's greatest supporters, sent me today:
"We are not fragile. WE ARE NOT FRAGILE!!! Everyone has been condtioned to believe that running is traumatic and should result in pain and injury. Utterly ludicrous." |
Edited by - Texasrunner on 11/09/2009 09:16:43 |
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vicky
5 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2009 : 16:42:44
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I so want to be able to run!! I never have - I've done other forms of excercise, and I do love walking now - but, I'm 53, a bit overweight. I let myself believe I had a 'bad back' for a few years, and also had a lot of other symptoms that I've got through with the help of the books and this board. Still have physical symptoms that can put me into panic, so of course I have to be TMS aware. But I envy you runners so much, to have a fit body and be able to run freely must be such an amazing feeling, and also such a great way to release stress.
Trouble is, I believe I haven't got the body of a runner (if there is such a thing?) for instance, my legs are quite short, and my body feels heavy (and felt like that even when I've been the correct weight). Also, a fear that's playing in my mind is hearing a couple of people saying they have got chronic bronchitis from running (which sounds like another TMS symptom).
Any thoughts would be really useful - do you think some people are natural runners, or is it possible to become a runner?
(And I too LOVE the Born to Run book!)
Vicky |
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Any runners? Or would be?
