Geezerjocks
By Sean Callahan
Addiction?
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Tuesday, Dec 16, 2008
Yesterday, it was about 6 degrees in Chicago. The wind chill factor was almost 20 below zero. Overnight, it had begun to rain, which froze as the temperature dropped from a high of 51 degrees late the previous afternoon. The sidewalks and roads were a sheet of ice. Nonetheless, after getting the kids off to school, I put on a ski coat, knit hat and gloves and walked 15 minutes to the park district pool. Man, I was freezing as I walked over there. But I needed my fix; I needed to exercise. After a half hour of swimming, I felt like myself again. After missing two days of exercise over the weekend (because of Christmas obligations and the like), I was feeling really agitated by Sunday night. I think it was because I hadn't broken a sweat in 48 hours. Getting my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes a day is an addiction, but I'm guessing it's a good one.
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The cream
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Monday, Dec 08, 2008
Helga Sable, a Masters cyclist and cross country skier from Lake Tahoe, Calif., wrote to comment on a letter that appeared in the October/November issue of Masters Athlete. "I always enjoy reading Masters Athlete," she wrote, "but this time the article 'Battling Achilles' caught my attention -- especially the last paragraph." (In the last paragraph, GeezerJock Doc Allan Tissenbaum mentions that a topical anti-inflammatory cream has recently been approved by the FDA). Sable continues: "I have been using an anti-inflammatory cream from Europe for years and it was easy for me to obtain (no prescription necessary), as long as my daughter-in-law was an air-hostess. Now that she quit I go begging. The one I am using is called Voltaren Schmerzgel. Active ingredients: Diclofenac, Diethylaminsalz. The other day I rollerskied and had a slightly painful and swollen knee. I put on the Voltaren Cream overnight and again in the a.m. before my bike ride. Pain and swelling were gone, and I went biking again the following day. It works like a charm. I swear by that cream. It keeps you going in a non-invasive manner. If you have a friend going to Europe or in Europe, ask them to get you a tube. It's not expensive." Just thought I'd pass that along as a public service announcement.
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A broken bone
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008
I had never broken a bone, that I know of, until this past September. In my first session of a 13-week open gym near my home in Chicago, I jumped up to block a shot, got completely faked out, bounced off my opponent's back and landed on the floor. Somehow my foot hit the floor straight on, just the way George Blanda used to kick a football, and it really hurt. Of course, I played for another 45 minutes after that. As I walked home, though, I realized my foot was really hurting. After two days of icing it, the pain wasn't subsiding. An x-ray showed that there was a small chip of bone out of my big toe. The doctor instructed me to avoid impact activity for four to six weeks. I played golf two days later, but I generally followed doctor's orders. I didn't start running again until mid-November, and in the course of that stint on the sidelines I missed a 5k race I'd been training for (the Greater Chicago Prostate Cancer Run, Walk and Roll sponsored in part by Us TOO) and I couldn't play basketball. But even with a broken toe I could swim, so the injury helped me focus on achieving my distance goal for the year, 50 miles in U.S. Masters Swimming's Go the Distance program. I broke the 50-mile barrier on Nov. 29, more than a month early. Thanks to a broken toe. Now that I'm healed, I'm back playing basketball every Tuesday night that I can. I played last night. My toe felt fine. But my hand is pretty swollen today. I guess it might be broken. When will I learn to stop playing defense?
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Prostate cancer run postponed
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Monday, Sep 15, 2008
Yesterday, Sunday, Sept. 14, was supposed to be the Greater Chicago Prostate Cancer Run, Walk 'n Roll here in Chicago. But unusual rains and subsequent flooding (nothing like Ike's damage to Galveston but still bad) forced the race to be postponed until an as yet to be determined date in October. I know this postponement is a burden to US Too International, the education and support group for prostate cancer victims and their families, which organizes the race and uses it as a fundraiser. But maybe the delay is an opportunity for more of you Masters athletes in the Chicago area to sign up for the race. You can sign up by clicking here. I was pretty geared up to run the 5k race. In Masters Athlete magazine over the summer I had challenged any runners out there to see if they could beat me in the race, which really wouldn't take all that much: Less than 25 minutes for the 5k ought to do it. I trained pretty hard and did a mini-taper with the race in mind, so I wouldn't completely embarrass myself. So when the rain cleared up on Sunday afternoon, I went for a 5k run. It was cool and drizzling slightly -- perfect conditions -- and I ran my best time in years: 24:38. I plan to do even better in the rescheduled race. See if you can beat me.
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Half an athlete?
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Friday, Sep 12, 2008
Here's my column from the September issue of Masters Athlete. Hope you get a kick out of it. As this issue of Masters Athlete went to press, I was spending my evenings watching the Olympics on television. As I grow older, I marvel at just how much faster, higher and farther these athletes go that I ever have or ever will. Earlier this summer, I started doing some "speed" work. I hadn't run a timed 400-meter run in years. So when I starting running on a track near my house once a week, I was shocked at how slow I turned out to be. I'm getting slightly faster as I do this speed training more often, but my best 400-meter time is 82 seconds. Just how slow is that, you ask? Former Olympic gold winner Michael Johnson set the world record for the 400 meters 1999. His time was 43.18. That makes him almost twice as fast as me. But I'm 43 years old, so I probably should measure myself against Masters runners. I don't fare much better in that category. Enrico Saraceni holds the posted world record in the men's 40-44 age bracket: 47.81. My time of 82 seconds wouldn't set an age-group world record until the 85-89 bracket when it would shatter Roderick Parker's mark of 84.18. (Let's see if I can hold onto my speed until then). If I'm slow on land, I'm not much better in the water. In fact, I may be worse. I can swim 50 yards in about 43 seconds at my local park district pool. The world record for 50-meter freestyle is 21.50 held by Alain Bernard. That's even more humbling than it looks: Because he was swimming meters to my yards, he swam 4.7 yards farther that I did. On the plus side for me, I didn't have the advantage of either diving into the pool (because it's not allowed) or executing a flip turn (because I don't know how). Back when I played a lot of golf, I used to be decent. So maybe that's a sport where the best in the world aren't twice as good as I am. This year I'm averaging an 86. For discussion's sake, let's say that a typical round by a PGA Tour professional is 70. An 86 is about 23 percent higher than a 70. But I think it's more accurate to assess golfers' skill in a different way than just by comparing aggregate score. A perfect score in golf would be a 54 -- hitting every green in regulation and then sinking the putt to birdie every single hole. By that standard, a professional's typical score of 70 is 16 more than a perfect round. And my score of 86 is 32-over -- and once again, a pro is twice is a good as I am. I don't find comparing myself to world-class athletes as humiliating as maybe I should. Nothing is going to stop me from running or swimming or playing golf. Or from competing in triathlons, playing touch football or partaking in any game I get kick out of. Besides, if everyone who wasn't a world-class athlete gave up the games they play, the entire sporting goods industry would collapse. I like activity. Humans are hard-wired for activity -- whether we're any good at it or not. Playing games keeps us healthy and brings us together with like-minded people. Some of whom kick our butts, and some where we do the butt-kicking. I tend to like the latter a little better. One place where I can be as good as the typical professional player is on the free-throw line. While I was trying to decide how to close out this column, I went out to shoot a few free throws. I hit 61-of-75, or 81 percent. By way of comparison, the NBA champion Boston Celtics shot 77 percent from the free-throw line in 2007-2008. Now, I just have to figure out how to get fouled in an NBA game.
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Half an athlete, part 2
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Friday, Jul 18, 2008
Just this morning, I swam the 50-yard freestyle -- two lengths of my local Chicago Park District pool -- in 43 seconds. For me, that's going as fast as I can. The world record for the 50-meter freestyle (which is about four yards farther than the 50 yards I swam) is Frenchman Alain Bernard's 21.50, which was set earlier this year. He had the advantage of diving in and actually knowing how to do a flip turn, but essentially he swims about twice as fast as I do. Sometimes being a Masters athlete is a humbling experience. But you know, no matter how slow I am, I can't get enough of this stuff. I'm slow on land, too. In a previous column, I had bellyached about 400-meter world record holder Michael Johnson running twice as fast as I can. Well, I lowered my recent personal best in the 400 meters to 82 seconds (from 90 seconds), so I'm getting faster. And gaining on Mr. Johnson.
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Badwater
Posted By: By Sean Callahan
Posted On: Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008
Bob Becker didn't start running until he was 57 when he completed his first marathon, and he's barely stopped since then. Now 63, he is preparing to run the Badwater Ultramarathon beginning on July 14. The Badwater is a notorious 135-mile race in California, which starts from Death Valley (282 feet below sea level) and ends at Mount Whitney (8,500 feet). The temperatures on the floor of Death Valley can reach 130 degrees. On top of everything, Becker is a prostate cancer survivor. He's using the race to raise awareness of prostate cancer and to raise money to fight the disease. Checks can be made out to "The Richard J. Fox Foundation" and mailed to: P.O. Box 2065, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33303. For this race, 50 percent of donated dollars will apply to offset Becker's race costs. Once those costs are met, then 100 percent of any additional proceeds will fund the cause.
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