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| A typical 3K evening. The white tear drops are Km markers. 3 onwards is a walk |
I am running 3 km every alternate evening. Consistently for the last month and a half. The last 3K was at a little over 23 minutes. So what's the big deal? A few of my childhood school friends do much better than that !!! To me it's indeed a big deal. So big that I have decided to write a blog on the subject !!! I cannot remember being so fit and injury free for such a long period of time. And I am going to be 51 in two days.
I have come down so heavily with running related injuries in the past that I started believing it was a dangerous activity. I am an expert in injuries. Knees (every corner of it), calves, Achilles, plantar - you name it and I have suffered excruciating pain there for several weeks. The worst part about injuries is it throws your fitness regime completely out of gear. For me it is important because staying active is part of my diabetes management strategy.
Inactivity makes me insulin resistant pretty soon and only exercise makes my medicines more effective. Of course for diabetes management it is not necessary that you run. Even brisk walking is good. I have done it. But it's boring unless you are chatting with a partner, like my wife, in my case. But of late she has been lazy resulting in me missing my walks. Swimming is excellent and I have done that too but it can be very inconvenient, particularly in a city like Calcutta.
Running has its own charm for various reasons.
A. It is very convenient. You just go out and run on the road. It is free and it is just there. In terms of convenience only walking comes close to it. Swimming involves a lot of other things like you need a pool. You need to change your dress two times, take shower two times and worst of all you cannot swim in winter. At least not in our club that does not have a heated pool. Cycling needs for you to maintain the machine properly and in Calcutta it is not always very safe.
B. Running is macho. Not every one is a runner and most walkers quietly envy the runners. We have an old man in the Lake who is a regular runner even in his late 70s. I really envy him. Every single morning he comes running to the Lake. Greets every one with a loud "Bande Mataram ! Jai Hind!" To me he is the most macho man. We also had two sisters in the Lake who were consistent runners (I don't see them any more). Every time an elderly person goes running past me in the Lake, I feel good about him. I see a really old man, perhaps in his eighties, on the Red Road every morning at around 8.30 am. Rain or shine he is there. Just the other day I saw him getting drenched in blinding rain but running nevertheless.
C. You can modulate the tempo and intensity of your exercise very easily. In other words, you can push yourself quite easily or bring it down quickly too. Of course you can do it with any other activity also but somehow doing that while running is perhaps the easiest thing to do - just increase the speed. Simple.
D. You can reflect upon a lot of things when you are running alone. Particularly how your body is behaving.
E. It can bring your blood glucose level down almost instantly. Of course so can any other intense activity like swimming, cycling, weight training etc but the convenience of running isn't there.
But then running has its serious shortcomings too.
A. It is an extremely injury prone activity, particularly if you start it late in life. No one knows this better than me. Even the most elite of athletes suffer from injuries. The most recent and famous example is of Haile Gabreselassie.
B. It is easy to get bored. Particularly in a city like Calcutta where there aren't too many safe running routes from a traffic point of view. I dread looking forward to running along the same route when I start and feel very demotivated. In my mental map I can see the entire route, particularly the end point and I feel, "oh my God. Not again." I have tried varying the routes, changing direction etc. But for how long can you do that?
C. It is easy to over push yourself leading to not only injury to your joints but also to your heart. You can reach your maximum heart rate quite easily, particularly if you are new to cardiac exercise. So one has to know when to stop.
So how did I manage to achieve this seemingly impossible feat of running injury free for quite some time without signs of any serious injury so far and at the same time managing to stay motivated while running on more or less the same route day in and day out?
I think consciously or otherwise, this time around, I did many things that were right. I shall write my experience down so that it helps others in a similar situation.
I think consciously or otherwise, this time around, I did many things that were right. I shall write my experience down so that it helps others in a similar situation.
The Secret of Staying Injury Free
It may seem like a no brainer but the best way to stay injury free is to strengthen your leg muscles. This is very easy to say. But it is very difficult to achieve, particularly if you are in a hurry to hit the road. And this is what I ended up doing without ever thinking that I would take to running soon.
You will read about many theories like the need for stretches and warm up, the need for proper cushioning and right pair of shoes, the need for running on soft surface, correct form, cooling down, hydration etc etc. But the most important factor for me at least is - strengthen your core muscles, your hips, glutes, thighs and calves before you start running at an age beyond 30.
I had no intention to run this time. I had started exercising a few months ago. At home. Doing push ups and sit ups and some weights for the upper body. This was because my insulin requirement was going up gradually and I needed to intervene. After a few weeks I started getting my daughter to sit on my feet while I did my sit ups. Principally to make sure that my feet didn't move up off the floor. I did not know, I was unknowingly strengthening my running muscles. I thought I was strengthening my abs !!!
After this, one evening I decided to walk in the Lake. After a few days of walking I ran for a while. And I discovered I could quite run for 15 minutes !!! Next day I ran for 20 minutes. I was pretty impressed by the distance. It seemed like quite a long distance. Of course I got very tired at the end of it but I could finish it and wonder of wonders - while I was coming back I felt rejuvenated quite quickly. Almost ready for more. And most importantly I wasn't in any sort of pain anywhere.
This was some time in August 2015. Started in the week beginning August 8, 2015, to be very precise. I have been carrying on since. I run every alternate day. And I exercise every other day. Complete rest for a day. I also have a professional sports masseur who comes once a week on the rest day. While strength of the muscles is important, it is also important for the muscles to remain supple. At an advanced age, that suppleness is severely compromised, particularly for those not used to regular exercise. My muscles tighten up quite easily. I am sure it will go as they get more used to exercise but as of now I would rather get the masseur's help to stay fit.
Side by side with proper strength training, the other factors mentioned earlier are also important. If I had to prioritise which is the second most important factor, I would say cushioning. That is, proper shoes and socks. When we were younger - in school or college - we ran in our keds which had just a thin rubber sole. It is a shade better than running bare foot. We could get away with that because our relative strength and flexibility of the muscles was very good. Not so at this age any more.
I have a friend who runs regularly for 5/6 kms every evening. He has been running for a long time now. He wears quite minimalist running shoes. He gets away with it because his muscle strength is very good. Mine is not. So I have no hesitation in accepting that I need good running shoes.
Right now I am using two running shoes. One is an old pair of red Asics GT 2140 in size 7.5 (Euro 42) and the other is Asics Gel Nimbus 16 in size 8 (Euro 42.5). They are expensive shoes no doubt. But I have realised that spending money on good pair of shoes is important. Because bad shoes have brought me down repeatedly. It could have brought me down again this time too. But the strength in my legs saved me by a whisker. Read the story here.
Form is another very important factor for running injury free. Earlier I used to run with a slight forward droop in the upper body. I think this contributed to my injury and lower stamina. Nowadays I run with a straight vertical stance with the shoulders drawn behind a little. Like a marching soldier. I cannot prove it but it helps.
Stretches and proper warm up are important. You will read about that everywhere. Certainly they are. But I do very little stretches. A few for the quads before I start from home. I walk almost a kilometer or more to reach my starting point. That is good enough to warm me up. Also, I run in the evenings when the muscles are in any case warmed up. I do some stretches to release the tight feeling in the calves or shin splints. At night before going to sleep I sit for a while in Padmasana or Vajrasana. That also helps with the quads and calves.
Staying Motivated
This is a very important factor for me. I just cannot do anything without proper motivation. Running is no exception. The prospect of running down the same track used to leave me very demotivated. Again unconsciously I did something right this time that has so far kept me motivated. Very motivated, I daresay.
After a few weeks of running injury free, I decided to reward myself with a heart rate monitor and fitness watch. I did not know the subject too well at that. But I read it all up. There are many brands in the market at various price points with different capabilities. I zeroed in on the Garmin Forerunner 15 with heart rate monitor (read my review here). It has various useful features but the most important feature for me now is it keeps me motivated. How?
As it is I am quite a gadget freak. That is of course the reason why I bought it in the first place. But this particular gadget makes every run a different one for me and that is what keeps one motivated to go out again. How? Every time I run with it, I can analyse my run - both on the go and of course back home on the computer too. I can see the distance, time, pace and my heart beats per minute (it gives calories too but I just ignore that) and how they are changing. I wish they would include cadence too but then that is reserved for the more expensive watches.
While running I keep an eye on all these factors and see how my run today is better or worse than what it was the other day. What interests me most is how my heart is behaving with distance, time and intensity. Touch wood, it is improving almost every day. I know all these will perhaps reach a plateau sometime in future. And I will be running to a predictable and particular pattern. But I guess that will be yet another reason to push myself harder.
Stay Within Limits
That brings me to another very important factor for running injury free. You have to know your limit and stay well within them. Every time you break that limit you are risking an injury. When we were young our only limit was stamina. You stopped running when you went completely out of breath. But as grown ups, you will face situations where your stamina might trump over the strength of your muscles. You have to know those limits. Your muscles and ligaments will give way much earlier than your lungs and heart.
I follow these simple rules of thumb. Never push yourself too hard. Don't get carried away by your apparent success and increase the intensity, time, distance etc of your runs drastically. Go step by step. Like I ran 2.5 km for quite some time before hitting 3K. I shall stay at 3K now for a few weeks and consolidate my position there before pushing for anything more. Perhaps 3.5K. I know if I push myself a little I can easily do 3.5K tomorrow. But I won't. Let the body get used to 3K first.
Not only are time and distance important, the length of your stride and cadence are also important issues. Increasing the length of your stride is the most sure fire way of coming down with an instant injury of shin splints. And it is indeed a stupid error. Because increasing the length of your stride does not improve your speed really. Speed increases when you increase your cadence (the number of steps you take every minute). Try to increase that for speed but do that very gradually.
Last but not the least is the importance of rest. The muscles need rest. The joints need rest. I run every alternate day, so that the muscles and joints get the time to recuperate. Of course I do some light strengthening exercise on the intervening days. But that I guess is OK. Those are not too strenuous.
I don't know, I might also end up pushing myself too hard in the near or distant future. At this age there is a constant need to prove yourself to your own self. If that happens I might come down with another injury. I am hoping that I have that maturity now not to do that. One never knows, But as of now I am quite proud to be running 3K at 23 minutes. My ultimate target is to run 5K in 30 minutes. I shall be very happy if I can achieve that.
When, a few years ago, I started following a running programme and achieved running continuously for 30 minutes I was pretty impressed with myself. At the end of the programme I used to run 2.6 km in 30 minutes. If anyone told me that in a few years you would run 3K in 23 minutes I would have thought he was crazy. But here I am now. Aren't I?
You will read about many theories like the need for stretches and warm up, the need for proper cushioning and right pair of shoes, the need for running on soft surface, correct form, cooling down, hydration etc etc. But the most important factor for me at least is - strengthen your core muscles, your hips, glutes, thighs and calves before you start running at an age beyond 30.
I had no intention to run this time. I had started exercising a few months ago. At home. Doing push ups and sit ups and some weights for the upper body. This was because my insulin requirement was going up gradually and I needed to intervene. After a few weeks I started getting my daughter to sit on my feet while I did my sit ups. Principally to make sure that my feet didn't move up off the floor. I did not know, I was unknowingly strengthening my running muscles. I thought I was strengthening my abs !!!
After this, one evening I decided to walk in the Lake. After a few days of walking I ran for a while. And I discovered I could quite run for 15 minutes !!! Next day I ran for 20 minutes. I was pretty impressed by the distance. It seemed like quite a long distance. Of course I got very tired at the end of it but I could finish it and wonder of wonders - while I was coming back I felt rejuvenated quite quickly. Almost ready for more. And most importantly I wasn't in any sort of pain anywhere.
This was some time in August 2015. Started in the week beginning August 8, 2015, to be very precise. I have been carrying on since. I run every alternate day. And I exercise every other day. Complete rest for a day. I also have a professional sports masseur who comes once a week on the rest day. While strength of the muscles is important, it is also important for the muscles to remain supple. At an advanced age, that suppleness is severely compromised, particularly for those not used to regular exercise. My muscles tighten up quite easily. I am sure it will go as they get more used to exercise but as of now I would rather get the masseur's help to stay fit.
Side by side with proper strength training, the other factors mentioned earlier are also important. If I had to prioritise which is the second most important factor, I would say cushioning. That is, proper shoes and socks. When we were younger - in school or college - we ran in our keds which had just a thin rubber sole. It is a shade better than running bare foot. We could get away with that because our relative strength and flexibility of the muscles was very good. Not so at this age any more.
I have a friend who runs regularly for 5/6 kms every evening. He has been running for a long time now. He wears quite minimalist running shoes. He gets away with it because his muscle strength is very good. Mine is not. So I have no hesitation in accepting that I need good running shoes.
Right now I am using two running shoes. One is an old pair of red Asics GT 2140 in size 7.5 (Euro 42) and the other is Asics Gel Nimbus 16 in size 8 (Euro 42.5). They are expensive shoes no doubt. But I have realised that spending money on good pair of shoes is important. Because bad shoes have brought me down repeatedly. It could have brought me down again this time too. But the strength in my legs saved me by a whisker. Read the story here.
Form is another very important factor for running injury free. Earlier I used to run with a slight forward droop in the upper body. I think this contributed to my injury and lower stamina. Nowadays I run with a straight vertical stance with the shoulders drawn behind a little. Like a marching soldier. I cannot prove it but it helps.
Stretches and proper warm up are important. You will read about that everywhere. Certainly they are. But I do very little stretches. A few for the quads before I start from home. I walk almost a kilometer or more to reach my starting point. That is good enough to warm me up. Also, I run in the evenings when the muscles are in any case warmed up. I do some stretches to release the tight feeling in the calves or shin splints. At night before going to sleep I sit for a while in Padmasana or Vajrasana. That also helps with the quads and calves.
Staying Motivated
This is a very important factor for me. I just cannot do anything without proper motivation. Running is no exception. The prospect of running down the same track used to leave me very demotivated. Again unconsciously I did something right this time that has so far kept me motivated. Very motivated, I daresay.
After a few weeks of running injury free, I decided to reward myself with a heart rate monitor and fitness watch. I did not know the subject too well at that. But I read it all up. There are many brands in the market at various price points with different capabilities. I zeroed in on the Garmin Forerunner 15 with heart rate monitor (read my review here). It has various useful features but the most important feature for me now is it keeps me motivated. How?
As it is I am quite a gadget freak. That is of course the reason why I bought it in the first place. But this particular gadget makes every run a different one for me and that is what keeps one motivated to go out again. How? Every time I run with it, I can analyse my run - both on the go and of course back home on the computer too. I can see the distance, time, pace and my heart beats per minute (it gives calories too but I just ignore that) and how they are changing. I wish they would include cadence too but then that is reserved for the more expensive watches.
While running I keep an eye on all these factors and see how my run today is better or worse than what it was the other day. What interests me most is how my heart is behaving with distance, time and intensity. Touch wood, it is improving almost every day. I know all these will perhaps reach a plateau sometime in future. And I will be running to a predictable and particular pattern. But I guess that will be yet another reason to push myself harder.
Stay Within Limits
That brings me to another very important factor for running injury free. You have to know your limit and stay well within them. Every time you break that limit you are risking an injury. When we were young our only limit was stamina. You stopped running when you went completely out of breath. But as grown ups, you will face situations where your stamina might trump over the strength of your muscles. You have to know those limits. Your muscles and ligaments will give way much earlier than your lungs and heart.
I follow these simple rules of thumb. Never push yourself too hard. Don't get carried away by your apparent success and increase the intensity, time, distance etc of your runs drastically. Go step by step. Like I ran 2.5 km for quite some time before hitting 3K. I shall stay at 3K now for a few weeks and consolidate my position there before pushing for anything more. Perhaps 3.5K. I know if I push myself a little I can easily do 3.5K tomorrow. But I won't. Let the body get used to 3K first.
Not only are time and distance important, the length of your stride and cadence are also important issues. Increasing the length of your stride is the most sure fire way of coming down with an instant injury of shin splints. And it is indeed a stupid error. Because increasing the length of your stride does not improve your speed really. Speed increases when you increase your cadence (the number of steps you take every minute). Try to increase that for speed but do that very gradually.
Last but not the least is the importance of rest. The muscles need rest. The joints need rest. I run every alternate day, so that the muscles and joints get the time to recuperate. Of course I do some light strengthening exercise on the intervening days. But that I guess is OK. Those are not too strenuous.
I don't know, I might also end up pushing myself too hard in the near or distant future. At this age there is a constant need to prove yourself to your own self. If that happens I might come down with another injury. I am hoping that I have that maturity now not to do that. One never knows, But as of now I am quite proud to be running 3K at 23 minutes. My ultimate target is to run 5K in 30 minutes. I shall be very happy if I can achieve that.
When, a few years ago, I started following a running programme and achieved running continuously for 30 minutes I was pretty impressed with myself. At the end of the programme I used to run 2.6 km in 30 minutes. If anyone told me that in a few years you would run 3K in 23 minutes I would have thought he was crazy. But here I am now. Aren't I?
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