Am I Just Too Old?

 If you've been eagerly awaiting the next post on this blog, I'm sorry that you have had to wait almost a year (I'm also worried about what you are doing with your life). For the most part, I've stepped away from writing longer pieces and I've started posting short videos on Instagram and TikTok (how cool am I?) I'm Oldmanintights on both platforms.

Anyway, I decided that I would post something today, mainly because I need to think a bit and writing is always a good way of helping me reflect. You might have some thoughts on what I have to say and I'd value any input.

Right, I have two main goals for the year, the 270 km Pennine Bridleway event in April and the 80 km Stanza Stones event in June. I'm also planning on doing the Pennine Bridleway 55 km in a week or so, but mainly as a recce for the longer one.

So, where am I with my running? The first thing to note is that a year ago, I was just recovering from pneumonia. That hit me pretty hard and I've still not got my breathing back to where it was before hand. I get out of breath pretty easily for a supposed distance runner. On the other hand, I've been working hard on my strength and I am generally stronger and fitter than I have been for a long time. I've not run any really silly distances for a. while, but I've found that I can keep chugging along in low gear for much longer than I was able to do in the past. The key word here is "low gear", while I seem to be able to keep going, I am much slower than I used to be, which gives me concerns about making the cut-off time for the Pennine Bridleway 55. 

The other thing to note is that both of my attempts at multi-day adventures ended up with me pulling out because of back pain. Iain Harris, my physio has been working hard to make my back work better and I've been doing a lot of strength and mobility exercises to make my back and hips function without pain. But...

So, let's talk about the last few days. On Saturday, with some friends, I planned to recce the last 50km of the Pennine Bridleway, from Ribblehead to Kirkby Stephen. However, the weather intruded and we were moving too slow to be certain that we'd make the last train home, so we broke off at Garsdale, after about 25km and got the train home from there. It was a great day out, despite heavy snow and white out conditions on the hills. I wasn't moving particularly quickly, but (apart from the horrible drop down to Garsdale), I felt good and could have kept going for longer. 

On Monday, I went for a couple of mile run around the block at home. This involves a good bit of steep climbing, but I felt good and was able to keep going, though I was breathing pretty hard. 

This brings us to yesterday, Tuesday. I got the train up to the Tyne Valley to meet my friend Dave who has just moved there and we did 25 km along the Roman Wall. Now, if you know the wall, you will know that the section around Housesteads consists of a lot of sharp dips and steep climbs, with very little flat ground. I struggled to keep up with Dave on the downhills as he has the confidence of a mountain goat, while I decidedly don't (though I have an excuse).  I also reckon that Dave's legs are at least three times longer than mine, though that may be a slight exaggeration. However, it was on the uphill bits that I really struggled. I was blowing hard on the steep slopes, but I know I can push through that (I did so just a day earlier). However, from the get go, I developed a pain on the right side of my lower back, which made climbing really difficult. At times I could hardly walk. much less keep up with Dave.

As we dropped off the Roman Wall and headed down into the valley, the countryside became much more rolling and my back eased off. After a while, I got into that zone where I was really happy and felt that I could have walked and run forever. That's my favourite bit of distance events, where you are really tired, but everything just seems to hit a sweet spot.

So, here is my dilemma. I've still not covered any really long distances, I am very slow and on the third run in four days, my back was pretty awful. Can I really manage a four day event if this is going to happen again, or should I give it a go, anyway? The thing is, I really love the long stuff and I don't mind a little pain, but if it gets to the point where forward motion is near to impossible, it is a tad difficult. There are all sorts of alternatives for the next few months, but the real question is whether I've come to the end of the line and should stop thinking about running ultras and just concentrate on having fun on the local hills. Then again, with the current state of my mental health would I run at all if I didn't have something to train for? I don't have any answers, but I'll be musing on this over the next few weeks.