Longevity is my goal

I have been having stiffness and cramping in my hamstrings, hips, and ankle for the past few months. It started as stiffness after runs over 18 miles or so, and has now become cramps and pain after more than 9 or so miles. I tried taking a break from running for a week, and then two weeks, but it didn't completely alleviate the pain during or after running. Since I am scheduled to do the Pasadena Marathon in November, and do not want to take a complete break from running before the marathon, I decided to go to a sports exercise physiology clinic for some help.

Even though I am a very average athlete, I chose to go to Phase IV because I had heard a lot of good things about them. Apparently, they service a lot of serious (i.e. Olympic) athletes. On Friday, I went for the initial consultation meeting where they described their program and services, and I described my needs and goals. I am scheduled to have a full body structural assessment by a physical therapist this coming week, and over the next few weeks will have a gait assessment, VO2 max assessment, and follow-up training over the next 4 months.

One question they asked me was 'What goal are you working towards?' They mentioned that some people have goals of completing a specific race, or climbing a specific mountain. At the time, I didn't have any particular goal in mind besides alleviating the pain.

On my Saturday morning group run, I ran with a 71 year-old (Charles) who is on the second round of doing 50 marathons in 50 states. By second round, I mean that he has already completed the initial goal of doing 50-in-50 and is doing another 50-in-50. He has 12 more marathons to go before he has completed 100 marathons in 50 states. He has already done over 120 marathons in his lifetime. I asked him how he kept himself from burning-out and he said that he always runs races slow, and always looks forward to the next race.

After running and talking with Charles, I realized that longevity is my goal.

When I turn 80, I want to still be able to run a marathon, hike in the mountains, travel to foreign countries, or do whatever I want to do. I don't want to just run the next race, I want to be healthy enough to run the next 50 years. I look forward to seeing what the physical therapists can do to keep me towards that goal!