Age

[Longboard]

nature runner wrote:my mother

my mother died of massive heart attack on march 14th of 2010. No sign and no clue, it just happened.

Genes are powerful. At your age a calcium score ($300 not covered by insurance scan of calcification of coronary arteries) can be pricele$$. If you have inherited the genetic predisposition for coronary artery disease despite proper diet and exercise, it may show up already on the scan.

Many people say they'd rather not know, but a minor change in daily suppliments can make a big difference.

Sometimes a prescription statin even with good cholesterol numbers can make the difference between a sudden death in one's forties and a peaceful one at 101. Also, a 1/2 aspirin a day may be a good idea for you well.

Exercise is a great cardio event prevention, but it is minor compared to genetics.

I had fantastic cholesterol numbers, ate properly, was not overweight, not diabetic, non smoker, and exercised daily including regular cardio workout.

Since my father also did the same but had a heart attack while cross country skiing at age 70, as he had done regularly all winter for decades, I had one of the first scans done over ten years ago.

I take a statin as a result!

I not only inherited his genes for fitness, but for coronary artery disease too.

He's doing good for 89, but his coronary artery bypass graft surgery may have been prevented had scans and statins been available in time for him.

Well worth an hour or so of your time and $300.

 

[Nyal]

I am immortal. Ageless. The

I am immortal. Ageless. The beginning and the end. Eternal.

 

[Blind Boy]

Nyal wrote:I am immortal.

I am immortal. Ageless. The beginning and the end. Eternal.

You're also on drugs. Please share with the rest of us. arty:

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Ha!

Ha!

 

[DNEchris]

I'm 55, averaging about 70

I'm 55, averaging about 70 miles a week this year (mostly commuting) and have been running consistently for a little over 2 years.



I've been barefooting since the beginning of April this year and it now is about 60% of my weekly mileage - otherwise I use VFFs. I love the fact that running is, almost entirely, pain free (this past week was the only exception).



I ran a bunch earlier but it was never fun - now, it seems, I'm smiling with every step.

 

[ajb422]

 I'm 24. I've only really

I'm 24. I've only really been running since around May. I got sick of being stuck in the gym for hours and decided outside was better.

Then I got sick of shoes and discovered you guys. I've only been barefoot for a month or so now (with an only shod 2 week break in the middle when I went to the land of chip and seal and couldn't go barefoot). I'm loving it, but I still only do like 20% of my running barefoot and the rest in either my standard "boat anchors" or Nike Frees depending on day. I'm getting there though. I'm just not patient enough to knock down my mileage to do it all barefoot.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Welcome, AJB!

Welcome, AJB!

 

[twinkletoes]

Fun thread! Interesting that

Fun thread! Interesting that so many of us are late 30's to 50's. My running partner and I joke about being in better shape now in our 40's than we ever were in our 20's!

I'm 40 and except for shoulder problem that sidelined me for 4 solid years, I have been running since I was 12 or 13. Chronic shin splints knocked me off my HS cross-country team. (And also, I'm a very slow runner, preferring distance over speed, but my second half-marathon time was 3 min. slower than the first! That's just wrong!)

Ran a half-marathon in May, then shin splints reappeared in June- Fed up, I found an article about VFFs, bought a pair and ran 5 miles- Duh. My calves hurt like hell but my shin splints disappeared immediately. Read Born to Run and ditched my cushy shoes and orthotics for a pair of cheap flats (for long trail runs) and used VFF for short ones. Found this site and began integrating barefoot running about a month+ ago.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Shin splints wen't away

Shin splints wen't away immediately. Now how many times have we heard that? It just goes to show that the TSRs of today are what is causing people so much trouble. What do we do? We buy another pair thinking there is something wrong with us! When that doesn't work, what do we do? We get custom made orthotics from a podiatrist to fix us because apparently, we are broken. Twisted!

So glad you're/we're finally on the right path, Twinkle.

 

[Angie Bee]

I am 33 and have been running

I am 33 and have been running off and on, mostly off, for 11 years.

I have been barefoot running for almost a year and a half of those.

 

[Danjo]

Chris, your doing 70 mpw

Chris, your doing 70 mpw barefoot/vffs and you started in April?!!!! Excuse me while I bow down and worship you!!!!!

70mpw was the one that broke me this summer, and that was in shoes! Granted I did it in 4 days, instead of 7, but still! I'd be happy to make it back up to 30 mpw by Spring, and I started barefooting in July! And don't tell me that you do it slowly so it doesn't really count, because no one runs that far quickly. Well, at least not many people do. You are amazing!

Twinkle toes, my shin splints went away when I did cross country, then came back during track season, then went away again right after track ended. I guess they don't like the track? Or maybe its the temperature during track season? I dunno. We run a lot of the XC trails for track practice too, but maybe the ground is frozen or something? I'll probably never make sense of it, but I'm not planning on doing track again.

 

[DNEchris]

 Worship not Danjo - I have

Worship not Danjo - I have feet of clay!

Well, at least a calf of clay as I'm currently nursing a minor tear and don't expect to run for at least the next 2 weeks while it mends. I had been hoping to up the mileage with the coming of Fall but it looks like I'll be starting over in a bit :-sad:

I shouldn't have tried to run a 10K last weekend with a calf that I knew had been damaged a week earlier - I just thought I had rested it enough. Bummer!

Got my first DNF in 40+ years!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Wait a minute.  If I remember

Wait a minute. If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, I thought DNE meant Did Not Enter. Now you're saying you did enter, but DNFd?

 

[DNEchris]

 I thought I'd progress

I thought I'd progress through the alphabet! :tongue:



I might have entered 10 running events in the last 40 years - I only did this one because my company was sponsoring it. I was doing fine for the first 2 1/4 miles until my calf seized up, by the time I'd walked the 3/4 mile back to the start the first finishers were crossing the line. It was a great event though - I can thoroughly recommend Governor's Island as a venue.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I am so sorry that happened

I am so sorry that happened to you. Speedy healing.

 

[DNEchris]

Thanks  You too!

Thanks



You too!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Thanks too.

Thanks too.

 

[twinkletoes]

Thanks TJ,Funny but when I

Thanks TJ,

Funny but when I found this place, I knew I was on the right path!

Danjo,

You bring up a great point about the track and shins- interestingly, I kind of thought it was the speed work. I still think it was form though because when I ran track I had cleated flats on. Can't remember if I wore Adidas or Nikes for cross-country. Dude, that was 25 years ago and I suddenly feel old!

Seriously, now if I'm working on speed BF, VFFs or my flats, there's no shin pain- just other stuff like calves which I can work out with a baseball.

 

[jlcoty]

49 and just started bf

49 and just started bf running recently. Been a runner for the last 7-8 years or more. Walker for the 5 years or so before that. I absolutely love the feeling of being barefoot while running. read born to run and have been reading alot of bf blogs too for the last year. just taking it slow n easy progressing and now up to 3 miles . I might add as a kid we were always barefoot !

.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Welcome, Coty!

Welcome, Coty!