Author: ChristopherKelsall

Played every sport known to man, except pickleball and ultimate, but I am about to bring this franchise around and try both. Ran at age 13 a 2:22 800-metre...then didn't run again until 30, whereby I commenced about to chafe-and-bleed from not preparing for a marathon that I did. But I did eat enough afterwards to solve global hunger, within my personal, inner globe. It was a Thanksgiving Day race in Canada. I thought "Turkey Trot" meant the post-dinner washroom run... Went on to train the Lydiard Way and am now an expert - a certified Lydiard Foundation coach, writer and a former runner who didn't quite get as fast as the training volume I did (100-160K or 60-100mi/week). Personal bests settled at 5K-18:01, 8K-30:11 10K-37:12, 21.1K-1:23:57 and ran 19 marathons. Twice going 3:04 and 3:06, once each 3:07, 3:08, 3:09, 3;10 and 3:12. So you can see I was frustrated with 3-ohs. Give me a two, please! 2:59:59.99. No talent left on the table, but I was a master with those results, so as I tell all my younger friends who bettered me, "my 37:12 is age-graded to 35-something, take that, you swine." Anyway, after surgery, I hope to milk all the sympathy I can get and have my family wait on me hand on foot (kinda odd visual there). Then I hope to begin running again, maybe in March - who knows, eh! Here's the thing, at 50-years-of-age - and you wouldn't know it by looking at my picture (from 10 years ago), I will very likely need a revision before I depart this blue and green sphere, permanently. So why get a revision at 75? If I get a revision at say 60 or 65, I will be younger and will heal faster, then I can make piece with the running. Meanwhile, I have goals to fulfill. None of which include not drinking micro-brewery beer or running rim-to-rim, which I know, you know, what that means.

It’s back! 2nd Annual Global Virtual One-hour Race – had my best longer run yesterday since hip replacement

ChristopherKelsall

Good Day eh,

Hey all you apex predators, I had my best longer run since hip replacement yesterday. I went 25K with a bunch of kms under 5-mins-per-km, for an avg of 5:19. I think I could have been around 5:10, but I am wary about my calves still. Very happy.

I have run up to 30K with a group we call TNLW for Tuesday Night Late Workout. It used to be that we would start at 9:30 PM and run 90-minutes to three hours over very hilly terrain, into the forest trails, and through back yards and over farm fences. Now, we are softer with a 6:30 PM start, but we still go to three hours-ish. Now with the social distancing protocols, we do a shotgun start. Everyone puts beer out and we leave our respective domiciles at 6:30 PM. We do a running tour around town to each other’s houses and sample the fare (quickly). So, my 30K run, has had six quick beer stops…..

Several Hip Runners ran in the Global Virtual One-hour Race last year. Well, it is back! Details at link:

2nd Annual Global Virtual One-hour Race: 39 days to the start

… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Merry Christmas (and other sundry season greetings)

ChristopherKelsall

Merry Christmas all you apex predators. I am not going to bore you to tears with my year because I could write a 10,000-word treatise.

But quickly:

I organized the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Championships or more accurately brought all the right people into the room to organize it. It was very successful. Some people were calling it potentially the greatest small international cross country champs all-time. Sadly USATF president Bill Roe died on the mountain with us. But it was otherwise a wonderful weekend. Of course, you can read all about it at Athletics Illustrated. And see all the post-race interviews that I did. It was the last international meet or any meeting before the pandemic hit. LUCK!

My running has gone okay. I did get a few 100K (62-mile) weeks in, but five times this year I have run into calf issues. So, now I am on a two-month stretch of no calf issues at about 40-miles per week 65K….not quite…..will grow that volume properly this time.

Merry Christmas to everyone (or whatever your respective seasonal affected celebration is labeled — enjoy).

Feel free to join the Athletics Illustrated Strava Club (and the Hip Runners one too of course).

See you at www.athleticsillustrated.com.

I have done extensive coverage of The Marathon Project that is happening in Chandler, AZ this weekend……;o)  — check it out!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

The Violence of Sugar

ChristopherKelsall

Okay, so personal update:

Have had multiple calf pulls, because I am too eager once I start sniffing a sense of fitness. I have had some stretches of eight or 10 weeks of 40-65-miles (60-100K), but then inevitably I get a pull — back at ‘er now.

Loving the 30-minute out and back on the same road, at max effort, but not quite max, great low lactate threshold, high anaerobic threshold workout. It’s a Lydiard things and for more context feel free to contact me.

Okay, so I just did this massive interview with a medical oncologist/athlete with unique perspectives, colourful language and frankness on the Violence of Sugar — yup!

Must read: https://athleticsillustrated.com/the-violence-of-sugar/

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Like, here’s the dealio, chump

ChristopherKelsall

I thought that would get your attention. Nice headline, eh?

So, don’t forget that the HipRunners ran quite well as a club at the Athletics Illustrated Global One-hour Virtual Race. Wasn’t far off the other teams and I know two of the teams stacked their rosters late – HipRunners had the lead for awhile. Results are at Athletics Illustrated. Age-graded results are coming soon.

Also, the results from the survey that many of you participated in is located at Athletics Illustrated too. Check out what the consensus is – use the search bar for results of the race and survey and speaking of surveys, can I get your opinion on a few things: doping, Kanye running for president….https://athleticsillustrated.com/survey-how-do-you-feel-about-doping-in-athletics/

Update on myself (with my THR, right side, anterior, ceramic on poly nearing 3.5 years):

FINALLY have consistency. Had a decent summer (after a decade off) last summer getting to about 75K per week before calf pulls wrecked me for about six months. Off and on. Now over the past couple of months, I have a bunch of 80K weeks, one at 100K. Longer (not “long” until they are 20 miles/32K) runs of 20-25K.

Ran a 5K time trial in 21:57 with a couple of wrong turns and things – so figure I could have run 21:40, at age 54 that age-grades me to about 18:30-18:45, which 30-40 seconds off of my masters personal best, so happy!

Been running Arthur Lydiard out-and-backs during the base phase over the past six weeks. Have improved almost every time. 3K warm-up, 3K warm-down and 30-minutes as fast as possible without straining and then turn around see how long it takes to come back, should be negative split. HOWEVER, we do very slight downhill to 6K or so, so the return is tough and we run even or small positive splits, which I think is fine. If we ran the other direction, we would have big negatives and falsely accuse ourselves that we are brilliant. No sense being more deluded than already.

So, a few more weeks of base 4-6, then see where I am … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Global One-hour Virtual Race

ChristopherKelsall

Oh wow – what fun.

Thank you to all of the Hip Runners who took in the Global One-hour Virtual Race – what a gas.

The Hip Runners led the team event for a week, which really motivated two Vancouver Island, long-running and tough clubs to get going. The point spread looks like a lot of you are not familiar with cross-country scoring, but they are not.

Carolyn Rosner won the women’s elevation gain category and put the scare into some of the Comox Valley Road Runners who live next to a mountain range. They love mountain running. Dave Whiteside and Tom Fuchs led the Hip Runners with strong performances. You can see all of the Hip Runners in the results. Thanks everyone.

By the way, I could have helped the Hip Runners a little bit. But I dropped the ball – hilarious.

So I registered with three teams: Hip Runners, TNLW and Prairie Inn Harriers. I made three attempts and bailed on the first two. The third one, I warmed-up for 10:30 slowly, as you do. I had it in my mind to remember to mentally add 10:30 to whatever elapsed time that the Garmin showed. Then I lost all the brain sugar from the effort and when I got to around 48-minutes I was thinking, “just 12 minutes remaining, I am going to finish with 12.3 to 12.4 kilometres run – enough to get some points for Hip Runners.

Of course that 10:30 warm-up at 6:30 pace was included. So I stopped at 60:00 and you can see that the first 1.8k is warm up on my Strava. DOH! Total Facepalm.

The silver lining is that the runs were a tremendous stimulus for the top of the aerobic range or mid-range lactate threshold or right at the Aerobic Threshold. Can’t get better stimulus than that.

Thanks, everyone for jumping in. Check out the next unique race thing coming up. It’s pretty cool:

https://athleticsillustrated.com/andrew-russell-and-natasha-wodak-win-the-global-one-hour-virtual-race-prairie-inn-harriers-eke-out-win-over-comox-valley-road-runners/

See results here>>

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

HipRunner survey results: strong satisfaction for would-be runners in having Total Hip Replacement

ChristopherKelsall

Hey Folks,

I think the numbers are at 222 respondents to the survey that you see pop up on your right-hand bottom corner of your screen from time-to-time. I gleaned from 219 surveys the data that points to very satisfied runners or would-be runners after having Total Hip Replacement.

If you know of anyone who has had THR and hasn’t visited this site or hasn’t filled out the survey, we could use more data from longer-term patients, the survey averages 2.3 years from surgery to survey, which gives us very useful information on the latest materials, and demographics et al, but we would also like to go deeper. Something like 300,000 Americans per year have the surgery. So that would be about 25,000 in Canada, perhaps 80-100,000 in the UK, 20-25,000 in Australia and New Zealand – you get the picture. Our 219 is a good sample size, but more is always better.

Here are the results, just published: https://athleticsillustrated.com/total-hip-replacement-surgery-results-in-high-satisfaction-for-would-be-runners/

Let me know if you find any errors.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

One week to go! – Global One-hour Virtual Race – join the HipRunner team

ChristopherKelsall

One week to go before the window opens on the Global One-hour Virtual Race. There is a teams category, the first team member was Tom Fuchs, he just needs four more.

But, yes, you still just run or move the best way you can for your own result. Any time from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 17 run one hour and provide proof of your effort. Results will be posted at Athletics Illustrated.

$5 suggested donation for registration.

https://athleticsillustrated.com/the-global-one-hour-virtual-race/… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Christopher’s update and a virtual race to tell you about

ChristopherKelsall

Been a while since I last posted on this website. I saw that when I first joined Hip Runners that people at first – right after surgery – post often, then slow down.

I have been running – had a good summer – got up to about 45 miles (77K) per week all summer – not a ton, but it was consistent, did have five calf pulls through 2019, which made the consistency a challenge during spring and fall and winter. Trying to grow the mileage again now….up to about 30 miles (50K). The goal all along was to get about eight weeks of 50-miles (80K) then work on speed and form and power on hills et al, ala Arthur Lydiard.

Back at the drawing board, moving the chalk, as we speak.

Meanwhile, we put on the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Cup here in Victoria. I initiated the event and brought the committee together. We formed a society to manage the committee and legacy, I stepped back a little to be VP of the society and be a part of the communications team of the committee and we ran – and I hate to sound like the POTUS – but it was one of the greatest small-international cross-country meets all-time. The feedback has been tremendous. It happened on Leap Day, Feb. 29. Peru, USA and Canada were the dominant countries!

Now that that is behind us, Athletics Illustrated is putting on the Global One-Hour Virtual Race to be run anytime between and including Friday, May 1 and Sunday, May 17. Send in your Strava or other app and data proving your run and we will compile the results, which will be posted at Athletics Illustrated.

If you want to run for a club and don’t have one, run for Hip Runners!!

Details are all here ($5 suggested donation, first 20 with $30 donation get a cool hat): https://athleticsillustrated.com/the-global-one-hour-virtual-race/

Global One-hour Virtual Race_ Let’s do this. – HD 720p (1)… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

It was a long decade, get ‘er done.

ChristopherKelsall

Update: June 7, 2019

Well, I ran a hard 11.5K as a weekly sustained pressure run (Lydiard out-and-back). One of the final kms was 4:44, that’s exactly what my 5K race pace was in January. Boom.

Then we had beer and nachos.

That’s right.

Another 60K week…..

I haven’t checked in for a while. I have been busy. Some of that busyness is caused by running which is a great thing.

For context, I used to run 110-160 kilometres per week (65-100 miles). Had two heel surgeries, one for each heel: Haglund’s Deformity or Retrocalcaneal Bursitis. Then the hip – and the prolonged decline….so 8-10 years off of running depending on what you call running.

Two weeks ago, I had my biggest volume week in a decade-ish, 50K. Then a 33K week – but a seven-day stretch in there of about 45K. Then this week 6oK. I could have done more.

Things are coming together.

My average pace is improving.

So, if you are reading this wondering if you should get a hip replacement done because you are limping and not enjoying a good quality of life – get it done.

It was a long decade.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

We win bid for 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Cup

ChristopherKelsall

I discovered the stunning course in a last-ditch effort to get the “right” course. With a five-star hotel resort as an athlete’s village and the course on the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, we nailed it – submitted bid – and won as we found out yesterday:

City of Victoria to host 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Cup

I ran that course with Olympians, collegiate and competitive athletes over and over again, getting it right. Hip hardly bothered me at all on the fringe area, sandtraps, big hills and big downhill sections. Off-road rules for the hip!!!

So we will have club and masters championships. See you hiprunners next year! Maybe have a hip category.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Run Through Time 5K – Victoria, BC

ChristopherKelsall

Crazy. This time last year, I could hardly run a sub-5-minute km in a run – real struggle. Tonight New Year’s Eve, I ran the Run Through Time 5K and ran five sub-5s in a row including going out too fast at 4:27.

Now 23:38 is humbling, when I have run this race in 18:00, but I am pretty darn happy after 10 years of almost no running – then post hip replacement – two years, raced a Boxing Day 10-mile. I managed two sub-5-minute kms – the first two – doh!

Averaged 4:40.

It isn’t a timed race, it is fun run, but you can see in my Strava account that I ran 5K, plus the required extra 1% over the shortest possible tangents (as per certification): https://www.strava.com/activities/2047648970… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Boxing Day 10-miler (handicapped): What is old is old again.

ChristopherKelsall

Ran the Boxing Day 10-miler (handicapped) (16.093km) today in Victoria, BC.

I think my best in this very hilly race is about 63-minutes or so.

After 10 years (+/-) of no racing or intense efforts, I got slow because I got old, but more because I was not running.

A week ago, I ran a 1:40 16.1km run and thought well, I am sure I will better 1:30:00 – and would love to take 1:22:00 – so I ran 1:26:26. It is a double, out-and-back.

Old dog; old tricks. The first two kilometres were my fastest. Oops. Never really learn.

I caught and passed one person, ran faster than a couple others, but about four or five passed me right at the end.

There is some faux-science about slamming or forcing oxygen into the red blood cells by running an intense effort. Like sometimes that effort is needed to shock the system for a future effort – tada!!! I will be racing the Run Through Time 5K on New Year’s Eve – this one is flat!

HR was about 163 average.

Here is the data at Strava:

https://www.strava.com/activities/2037317629

Hip Runners KNOW Hips. Help make the technology better. Take the Survey

… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Survey: Please assist us in collecting important information about Hip Replacement Surgery

ChristopherKelsall

Hello Fellow Hiprunners:

My name is Christopher Kelsall, managing editor of Athletics Illustrated at www.athleticsillustrated.com, an online magazine all about the sport of running and field events.

In partnership with Hiprunner.com, we are collecting data through a survey to find out more about quality of life for people who have had hip replacements and would like to remain active, especially with running. Your feedback with the survey is very important to the success of the collection process. Thank you in advance for filling out the survey.

Currently, as you may well know, after consulting with your surgeon, that there is little to no data available about the quality of life for runners who choose to continue to run after hip replacement surgery. There is no real data on lifetimes of various products specific to runners, best practices and volume of training recommended.

With your help, we can have information available to the medical community for improving prosthetics, surgical practices and to better inform surgeons and all other medical practitioners like physiotherapists and physiologist with data that can provide correlations for results.

Perhaps one day, surgeons will tell patients, “please, run all you want,” because they will have confidence in the empirical data collected directly from you, the hip replacement patient – I am one too and will be filling out the survey.

No personal information will be shared by Athletics Illustrated or by Hiprunner at any time. All data collected will be used only for the purpose of understanding the demands that active people put on the skillset of the surgeons as well as the quality of the product related to their activity levels.

Thank you very much for participating. Please share with anyone you know who has had the surgery.

Please see survey form here >>… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Check out this cross country course: Pan Ams, Worlds and Pacific North West Champs

ChristopherKelsall

Okay, I designed this course with two-time Olympian Bruce Deacon and a guy named Gary Duncan who is a certified course measurer. It is at a 5-star resort and Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

PNW Clubs Champs will be in this so clubs from BC, Alberta, Washington and Oregon would be seeking the title, there will also be masters champs….

 

2020 Pan Am Cross Country Cup: Course video at Bear Mountain Resort & Spa

… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Another improvement.

ChristopherKelsall

Ran a new post-hip replacement lakes loop best, by over a minute. 10K.

49:52 – Saturday, December 15, 2018
51:25 – Wednesday, October 3, 2018
52:18 – Thursday, May 17, 2018
52:36 – Sunday, April 8, 2018
52:48 – Monday, March 12, 2018
54:40 – Friday, February 2, 2018
54:58 – Friday, January 1,9 2018
55:47 – Wednesday, January -something 2018

– 2018 –

56:56 – Monday, September 26, 2017
57:55 – Thursday, September 20, 2017
58:38 – Tuesday, September 12…finally sub-60, 21 minutes to go!
60:43 – Saturday, September 9 – haha cruel and unusual treatment.
1:01 – Friday, August 25 – Ugh…almost there.
1:04 – Thurs, June 15 – 1 hour faster than Feb 26th, first time out.
1:06 – Tues, May 30.
1:07 – Thurs, May 25*
1:08 – Thurs, May 18. (note to self: lose 30 pounds).
1:09 – Thurs, May 4. May the 4th was with me.
1:13 – Sat, April 29 – Need to do more physio. These are the only effort outings I have done….
1:15 – Thurs, April 13 – Taking a week or two off this route as I am just chasing time…
1:16 – Sun, April 9 – ran about 11-12 minutes – 48:00 improvement in 42 days – 10 laps.
1:18 – Thurs, April 6 – ran about 10 minutes
1:22 – Fri, March 31 – ran about 6-7 minutes total – 33 days since first trip around lakes.
1:25 – Sun, March 27 – ran about 6-7 minutes total
1:29 – Wed, March 23 – ran about 5-6 minutes total
1:35 – Sun, March 19 – ran about 1 minute total
1:38 – Thurs, March 16 – no running
1:47 – Sun, March 12, 2017 – no running
1:57 – Sun, March 5, 2017 – no running
2:04- Sun, Feb. 26, 2017 – no running

I used to run this in 37-45:00

Now if you are bored numb, here are the past few trips around these lakes. I have documented most of them:

The bolded numbers are the fastest for that particular km to date.

 

5/17/20184/8/2018
… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Prognosis: “perfection”. So excited, I just can’t hide it.

ChristopherKelsall

Today, I went for my two-year X-Ray to see what is going on since hip replacement surgery. I had a right side job, ceramic into cross-linked poly on Dec. 2, 2016.

The surgeon didn’t look happy when he came into the room. I don’t know if he was at first messing with me or what, but then he said, “there is no change in the image from surgery date.” Which is wonderful news. He asked rhetorically, “…and you are not running, correct?”

Last year, this time when I began to talk about running, he cut me off and said, “don’t tell me anything I don’t want to hear.” He said it in a friendly and urgent way, so when he asked rhetorically this time, I said no words at all; speak no evil.

But of course I am running.

The X-Ray covers the entire width. so both hips. He said, “your left hip shows absolutely no signs of arthritis, it is clear the right one was a defect – congenital.”

Last time my genitals were conned….never mind.

So I beam with joy and come close to jumping up and down.

So anyway, Sunday, I shall run myself into a stupor; bonk city.

I have run my 10K loop at local lakes (9.74K) and I have been ever-so-gradually getting faster and faster by small margins. I ran the final 740m at 4:58/km pace in May or something like that and was really excited by that. It was new-old territory.

Well the other day I ran a 4:44 km followed by a 4:53 km and then a 4:31-paced final 140m.

I would like to break into the 30s again for 10K. A-goal would to match my 41-year-old self at 37:12, and my B-goal would be to just crack into the 30s. C-goal is age-grade matching – not even sure what that is. I am 52 now.

…so happy….

 

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Ran my fastest single km within a run since hip replacement the day after the apocolypse

ChristopherKelsall

Yesterday, spent the day in bed with food poisoning. Vomited technicolour rainbows all day.

Currently we are surrounded by forest fires and our normally pristine air is graded standard: BEIJING. Suspended particulate-pallooza.

So of course it makes sense to go for a run today. Banged out a 6K steady and dropped the  pace to 4:46 for a km. Fastest km yet since surgery.

Makes no sense.

Lesson learned kids: in the case of emergency, jettison all extra weight by vomiting and smoke a cigarette before running.

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)