First thousand miles on foot...

[petemeads]

This morning's 5km parkrun  took me to 1003 miles on foot (walking, jogging and running) since my first outside walk after surgery 11 months ago. The time was disappointing, 24:02, because I have been running a bit faster but then I did run a hard 5 miles on Thursday as well so was probably a bit under-recovered.
On the cycling front I have only just passed the 700 mile mark and I don't think my original aim of 1000 on the bike in my first year is very likely!
Climbing indoors has been going well, up to V4 when the problem suits me, but outdoor opportunities have been somewhat limited this year, hoping for more next year.
Just found out about Darcy Bussell (ballet dancer) had a BHR last year - anybody know who her surgeon was? She managed to get hers done before the blanket ban on women - lucky or what?

Pete

[shoraztri]

Hi petemeads,
Mate that still a real slick 5km time. I wouldn't be to phased about being "slow". Some days are faster than others, and I'm sure you will keep progressing.Only 11 months Post operation , so with more time in the future to come, I'm sure you will be whittling away at under 24:00. Steady as she goes there, will bring the results. I think we all want better improvement, but learning to wait is the clue.
[size=78%]Cheers, [/size]
[/size][size=78%] Kiwi Boy Down Under.[/size] [/size][size=78%] [/size]

[toby]

Hi Pete,
Re your question about Darcy Bussell's surgeon. I don't know for sure but reckon it would be Professor Cobb(my surgeon), as he did an HR on Craig Revel Horwood last year too (a dancer and judge on the same tv programme), so she would have seen the fantastic recovery he made.
Well done on your achievements-really impressive!
Best
Toby

[Tim Bratten]

Way to go petemeads! Did an easygoing 10k, myself, with the dogs this evening.

[MattJersey]

Toby, it was McMinn who did Craig Revel Horwood: http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/blog/?p=881


Either way, impressed Bussell's had it done. Further arguments for the procedure.

[petemeads]

No Matt, the story you linked to identifies Professor Cobb as the expert surgeon as Toby says. I am impressed that he was prepared to take on such a high-profile woman for resurfacing, he must be very confident in the BHR and his own abilities!

Cheers,  Pete

[toby]

Pete, just to clarify Prof Cobb uses the Adept Resurfacing device.

[MattJersey]

Apologies.


A vote of confidence in the procedure when bigger names than mine go for it. They probably read the whole articles too, unlike me!


Presumably the Adept remains an option for women and smaller folk like me.

[petemeads]

Update: yesterday set out for a long run at a steady pace and got back home having done 13.2 miles in 2h 1m.
Considering the last half-marathon race I did was 4 years ago at just under 1h 58m I was very pleased. The last 4 miles were slow, as expected, but apart from general stiffness (due to age, mainly) I feel OK today. Not sure how this will affect the 5k race on Saturday...

Now in my 51st week post-op, wondering what to do to celebrate the anniversary!

[shoraztri]

Hi petemeads,
Great work on that run. Good to see that you can crank it out ,in a compeditive time , considering the Age you are at. Pretty awesum result i reckon.
Think you gunna "fly" in the 5km run. Cheers.

[Arrojo]

petemeads, great job on that half marathon!  Not sure how old you are, but have you heard of age-grading?  It's quite possible that your 2:01 is faster age-graded than the 1:58 you ran 4 years ago.  It's important for us older runners to recognize we are going to slow down just from being older and not attribute it to the resurfacing.

As best I can tell I am the same runner I have always been, once accounting for the age curve.

[petemeads]

Hi Arnie - good interview on the other thread!

Yes, I am very aware of the WMA age-grading system, and parkrun issues a Grading score as part of the weekly results which allows girls & boys of different ages to see just where they really stand as athletes in a diverse pool.

My best historic performances (63:20 10 miles, 1:23 half, 2:54 marathon) all sit around 73 - 74%, my best halves as a 59 year old were just under 1:38, for the same percentage near as dammit. Never been a sprinter, fastest 400m was about 65 seconds, but fastest mile was about 5:20 - same as you. I seem to have aged along the appropriate curve, despite a few missing years of relative inactivity, such that I should expect to be able to hit 73% still - which means a 23 minute 5k! Stuck above 24 mins at the moment but working on it...

Yes, 2:01 now is better than 1:58 four years ago, especially that was racing and the recent run was jogging! Aiming for sub-1:50 if I do race another half...

Cheers, Pete (just turned 65)...

[shoraztri]

hi petemeads,
A good topic that you are talking about = WMA Age - Grading system. I am keen to find out about it and the % of drop-off in speed vs age and times, curves, etc.
Can you help us out there, or point me in the right direction. [Am just about to turn 64yrs] I only do 10km as a Max Run, [[Olympic Tri distance] and not into Half marathon, Marathon etc.
Cheers mate,
 Kiwi Boy Down Under.

[petemeads]

Hi Kiwi Boy down under!

Try http://www.runscore.com/Alan/AgeGrade.html for a very complete story about age-grading by Alan Jones, the creator of the current WMA tables.

I have been using WMA Grading calculator by Howard Grubb, based on Jones figures, as it is easy to use and matches the parkrun data very closely.

How is your season going?

Pete

[petemeads]

Update at 17 months - just managed to get my 5km time down to 23:07, which equates to 72.5%, and working towards my local 10km race around the town on May 15th, just before my 18 month anniversary-and-a-half (sesquianniversary?). Today's result is effectively my best performance (in percentage terms) over a proper, full-size, 5km as I never raced over such a short distance when I was a younger runner.

I have stopped keeping totals of miles covered on foot/bike etc - some of my training is in the gym nowadays and treadmill/static bike miles seem a bit like cheating, feeling much easier than road miles. Just returned to running 400m intervals as speed work - only six at the moment with 60 seconds rest - but already feeling the benefit. Natural hip is not so keen though...

Looking forward to the summer!

[shoraztri]

Hi petemeads mate,


Great too see you trucking along nicely and reaching those goals. That 23:07 for 5km is "pumping it " thats for sure.  .
All the best for the up coming summer and the racing.
[ Im "parked up" for winter now down here]
Cheers mate,
Kiwi Boy from Down Under.

[shoraztri]

Hi petemeads mate,


HUMBLE apologies for not replying to your post back in January,  [size=78%]regarding the Age Group tables. I followed your posted Link and read thru on it. I ended up a bit confused, however I will spend some more time on it , to see how I rate, so to speak.[/size]
[/size]
[/size][size=78%]Cheers, [/size]
[/size][size=78%]Kiwi Boy Down Under.[/size]

[petemeads]

Hi Kiwi Boyo,
Thanks for the encouragement!  Your 22 minute 5k equates to 75.55% by my calculator, better than I ever managed over any distance as far as I know. And I never did the swim and bike bit!

 I use www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html for these calculations.

Cheers, Pete

[shoraztri]

Hi pete,
Thanks heaps for getting back to me and the info., plus the Link.
Is interesting reading and handy to know how I shape up, so to speak.
All the best for ya future training, racing and results.


Cheers,
Kiwi Boy.