Starting over

At 45 I really started to enjoy running. I'd been doing it on and off over the years as a way to stay fit and help maintain a healthy body weight. But when I joined a running group and did some training, there were big improvements and much fun had chasing PBs. However, an unfortunate fall in August 2010 resulted in a serious tear of the right calf muscle (medial gastrocnemius),  and running came to a grinding halt. When the tear was finally healed, what followed was years of frustration with a mixture of poor running ability and eventually full blown (bilateral) proximal hamstring tendinopathy. Probably enough to put many a person off running for good. However, once you have that running bug, you can't shake it and you will do whatever you can to run.

Fast forward to 2019, I'm still managing the tendinopathy, it's unlikely to ever really go away. I can thank age, menopause, genetic predisposition and whatever other hidden factors there are, for contributing to having dodgy tendons. Poor running ability and fatigue have also lingered and caused much dismay. Fortunately, research in the exercise physiology field has become more focused on the physiological differences between men and women and between young women and post-menopausal women. Dr Stacy Sims has published much on these topics and is really starting to get some momentum in the athletic community. Finally, an explanation for feeling like crap and struggling as a runner. It's great to have new tools to work with to convince this body that it can still push itself and run hard! The good news is, it all seems to be helping! I'll blog more about this in future posts.

Gungahlin parkrun 13 April 2019 - age grade 74.77%

This is a new blog that will focus on running after menopause i.e. beyond oestrogen.  PBs based on time, now seem out of reach, that window is likely gone. However, age-grade PBs are there for the taking. The best age grade for 2019 so far has been 74.77% at my local parkrun, that was for a time of 23:35 over the 5km course. Interestingly, this is my best ever age-grade in a parkrun event (my parkrun PB was 22:38 in 2013 @ 72.31%). My all time PB for 5km was 20:59 on the track when I was 45, with an age grade of 74.9%. The good news is if I can run 23:35 again when I turn 55 in June, then I will beat my previous best age grade %. From there the question remains, can I crack 80%? Let the games begin.