FitOldDog’s Training Diary (Day 103 of 221), Aortic Surgery To Lake Placid Ironman 2014 - Vascular Flow Field Adjustments Take Time

Arterial tree in the head of a rat, made when I was running a nose research lab - if you look carefully you can see the vessels supplying the eye, salivary glands, olfactory mucosa, and more. Such complex flow fields are carefully regulated. Cast made by Donald Joyner, my technical support and life coach for about 10 years.

Countdown to Lake Placid Ironman

Comment: My biggest challenge is the run, and I suspect that the extension of my abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft is influencing blood flow to my leg. Such grafts are essentially non-compliant (not very elastic, unlike normal arteries). Once I started picking up my run distance, especially off of the bike, I had some weird muscular cramps and ‘refusal to work’ in my left leg, which limited my run. I thus took off a couple of days, and now I have to train that left leg to readjust it’s blood supply to the needs of my muscles by carefully controlling my run technique. I also have to increase mitochondrial mass in my legs to optimize energy generation, which will use oxygen efficiently and minimize lactic acid production, which muscles do not like one little bit.

FitOldDog when he was 10 years old. Picture taken in Brighton, England, with his Mom, younger brother (Trevor) and sister (Marian). I’ve no idea who took the picture.

So you see that I’ll be doing to lot of short runs as I seek the optimal load to place on my legs and how to place it there. Just working with what I have, whilst attempting to avoid all and any unnecessary risk - some might say, “Don’t do Ironman races if you want to avoid risk!” But they would be wrong, as this degree of training controls my genetic hyperlipidemia and helps to keep my cardiovascular system in good condition.

Last day of easy week.

Workout: 2-mile walk/run, working on cadence, pace, and general leg happiness. Felt good, and clearly the two days off helped a lot.

It really is all about pace, adequate rest, and allowing for your age and other relevant issues, if you want to continue training for your favorite sport later in life.

Keep on trucking for as long as you can, I say.