Ok, I walked my hilly 10k course in 1:27:52, which is the fastest I’ve finished this course since October 2024 (when my knees went). So, that’s progress, right?
The middle line (faint) is my all time average, and the red segment is the period over which most of my below average performances were: the later ones. The bottom started to fall out last fall right about the time I had a knee setback. I’ve recovered somewhat but not all the way back.
And that is how it usually goes: I have a stable period, get a setback, start up again at a lower level and get better, but never quite to where I was before the setback.
My marathon performances show this. I started in 1980 with 3:33 and did 3:48, 4:24 (showed up fat and out of shape), long period of morbid obesity, then 1998: 3:55, 3:46, 3:45, 4:26 (hot), 3:38, 3:40, 3:57, 4:44 (walk), 4:04 (walk jog; shin splints) in 2002.
Then came the walking period (mostly longer) but 5:12 in 2004 to 5:28 in 2009 (knee surgery in 2010).
The post knee surgery period was a disaster: almost 7 hours in 2012 (walk), 5:44 run/walk (2013), 5:48 walk (2015) 5:52 run walk (2016) then 2 slow walks (2018, 2019) in 6:14/6:42.
I have not been worth a darn since 2009. But there it is. And now: I had the lumbar setback in 2020-2021 and it took a long time for me to recover and..I am not sure if there is another marathon in me. I wonder how normal this is.
Life of an old goat 