arthritis

Date	Place of exercise	Duration	Classic Sprint	Start time
18 Oct	Park	30 min	1:02.84	08:40
25 Oct	Park	18 min	1:02.81	08:27

          So, I had some meetings with a physical therapist. We talked mainly about my shoulder and she gave me some exercises which I have been doing.  The shoulder is nearly well, but not quite.  During our last meeting, I asked about my legs.  I asked if my pain could be caused by arthritis.  She gave me a very diplomatic answer:  “Well you are a couple days over 20.”

          She said arthritis is often worst in the morning and then throughout the day, the body gets loosened up. My pain is mostly when I’m running.  She suggested I run for only 15 minutes, and then I wouldn’t be out of breath.  The thing is, though, that I don’t run out of breath.  I could probably run for hours.  I’m in great cardiovascular shape.  It’s the muscles that are troublesome.

You can see above that I run the Classic Sprint in over 1 minute. My quickest time for the Classic is about 47 seconds.  I’m amazed that I am going so slowly. 

          The last couple times I’ve sprinted, I have been able to hear my footsteps.  They sound absolutely terrible. Clunk, clunk, clunk.  It’s as if I am running through think mud that nearly steals my footwear at every step. I used to think people watching me plow up the hill would remark to themselves how slow I was moving.  Now, I’m moving even slower, so they are probably feeling especially sorry for me. They are feeling sorry for me that a man my age cannot give up on the dream idea that I can run.