The key to a healthy old age is education. What do you see in this picture? When training young pathologists, I would sit them down at a microscope with a slide showing an interesting subject. Maybe a liver section or part of the brain. They would think they knew it all. They would think they were skilled observers. The lesson was about patience and not knowing. Your brain hides things. It's the only way it can ... Read more
As I age I realize how increasingly important it is to focus on balance and aging skills. There are four major balance systems in your body: https://youtu.be/0UrDduMawtI Inner ear - the key is hydration.Somatic sense - body-awareness training works for this.Vision - it's harder to balance with your eyes closed, so practice this.Mechanoreceptors on the soles of your feet - use safe barefoot movement on sand or ... Read more
A few years ago, I met an older man who had been an excellent runner most of his life, but was now severely overweight. I asked him why he no longer exercised. He replied that he had such severe claudication (pain on exercise) in his calves due to peripheral arterial disease (PAD) that he had even given up walking more than a few yards from his car. This is the wrong way to overcome PAD, as I well know, suffering ... Read more
Including aging? Believe you me, aging is the ultimate endurance sport. Just click this link. I have friends who can no longer run, or even bike, due to bone-on-bone knee damage. All due to lack of body-awareness (heel striking) while running in their 20s and 30s. I had two running-related knee surgeries myself, in my 50s, before I woke up, developed a low impact running style, and qualified for Boston two ... Read more
Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. – Bible, Galatians VI. Hey! I take good advice wherever I can get it. Body, mind and spirit hold hidden treasures, strengths you earned during a your life-time. The seasons come and go. An endless cycle. True for our lives and the garden. As a plant-based athlete, I really enjoy vegetable gardening. 10 years after running the Boston Marathon - Living in a ... Read more
In my humble opinion, both the condition doctors and podiatrists call plantar fasciitis and I call nociceptive foot pain (NFP), and the pain in the knee that sports physicians call iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) and I call nociceptive lateral knee pain (NLKP), are states of nociceptive or warning pain, and these problems do not lie in the location of their respective pains. The best approach is presented in ... Read more
Training is like building soil stucture in the vegetable garden. Your ability to rebound and tolerate challenges (or bad weather and bugs) will be a function of your base. This you create throughout life. In my garden, I use liberal doses of free compost from the town. For my training, I call on a lifetime of athletics, including more recently, 25-years of triathlons including my favorite, full Ironman. So glad I ... Read more
Running Biomechanics With progressive peripheral vascular disease, plus the underlying non-compliant (rigid, non-elastic) abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) stent graft, which also limits blood flow to my legs, my last Marathon, in Maine was a foot pain nightmare. Should I give up Ironman? F**k that. As The Martian said, "It's time to science the shit out of this." I love that movie, even bought it! Science fiction ... Read more
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