Moving On
This is a continuation of my account recovering from a torn proximal (upper) hamstring attachment. It follows the content of the Senior Distance Running Essentials (SDRE) series, which explores how our bodies function as we age. The watchword of the series is we are each “Experiments of One”. In that spirit, I’ll continue to observe and learn about what it’s like to return to competition after nearly 10 months of not putting the hammer down.
The facts are the facts: I am 75; have logged just 350 miles since January 1; and have only begun running anything approaching race pace during the past month. It feels like being at Square One in spite of not having missed even one day of aerobic exercise (mostly water running) during the time away from racing. In this post, I will include times and pace, not to call attention to my own running, but to provide context. Your starting point (plus or minus) may differ, but the challenges we each face are probably more similar than different.
First, most of us seniors find a disruption in our running seems inevitable. Thinking back, I’m not sure I’m injured more now than in my 40s and 50s, but I do find the recovery is longer. I expect we all find that, and exercise science research supports this notion. The two key reasons cited are cumulative damage to tissues and longer time for repair processes to unfold. As with many runners, my hamstrings (alternating between sides) have had recurring issues. For years, I have stretched and done the basic strength training prescribed in SDRE. Nevertheless, this has been a returning cycle. I can try to deny that or accept and work with it. The prudent approach is the latter.
So, as planned and noted in my August 9th post, In Our Blood, I did run the Bobby Doyle 5 Miler last week. This was a USATF-NE Grand Prix race so the best runners of all ages were there. My stretch goal was an 8:00 pace, a 76% age grading. After many months away from racing, that seemed feasible. It was not to be! After the first 7:48 downhill mile, which we gradually gave back, reality set in. In part, this was due to feeling the hamstring a bit from the start, leading to an ongoing tug-of-war between picking it up (not that I wasn’t feeling the pace – I was!) and not wanting to aggravate the hamstring. My best mile over the next four was 8:25 and I finished with an 8:23 average pace, a 72.5% age grade result, finishing third in my age class. Granted, it was in the mid-70s with 98% humidity but, nevertheless, this race was a good wake-up call.
The question I am asking myself and which many of you may have or will have to ask, is how much and how fast I can expect to come back. I am using age grading to gauge this. Since my early 60s I have used an 80% age-grading as a benchmark. Since 80% is considered “national-class,” I see this as a laudable goal. In 2019, my last year full year of racing before the pandemic, I ran at least 80% in 12 of my 14 races. The pandemic of course set everyone back, though I still averaged 25 miles per week in 2020, 2021, and much of 2022.
The current age-grade tables, last updated in 2020, are based on the most recent world records for each age at a particular distance, with some interpolation to eliminate outliers. This, then, is considered a 100% performance, with 80% essentially eight-tenths of that. Thus, if 100% for a given distance and age is a 6:00 pace, then 80% would be a 7:30 pace. Pretty straightforward. But the tables used to calculate age grading percentages do not shed light on the injury history of those who were responsible for establishing the 100% standard. Maybe they had avoided injuries for the months or years preceding their record runs. No way to know.
It gets back to the golfing analogy – “playing the ball where it lies.” In my case, I have another test coming this weekend at the BHZ 5K in Weymouth. It’s a Pub Series race, presented by New England Runner magazine, ensuring a strong contingent of runners of all ages. My goal, once again, is an 8:00 pace, which would be a 75% age-grading — an improvement from the 72.5% at Bobby Doyle. We shall see. Regardless, it’s good to be back out there giving it a go. Maybe 80% performances will happen again, if not in 2023, then in 2024. Maybe not. That is the conundrum we senior runners face as we move through the maze of injury and rehab in our advancing years.