I have been lurking all summer while taking time off to get over plantar
fasciitis, but want to make a late reply/addition to this. I wanted to "enjoy"
some cross country club runs, so I began running several weeks ago and then ran
a 10k. The run went fine, but very painful walking the next day or 2. A week
later, I happened to have my monthly appointment with chiropractor, and
mentioned my foot and that physical therapy a few months ago didn't seem to
help. He felt around a bit, then yanked & twisted a few times and it actually
felt better. I suggested it might not be a good idea to run the X- country 5k
the next day and undue his work, but he said "Oh no, go run. My job is to loosen
up the fascia, your job is to keep it loose until I see you next week." So, even
us young bucks should follow your example of running through injuries - in most
cases.

--- In CoachMadDogBytes@yahoogroups.com, "Coach MadDog" <ManiacMutt@...> wrote:
>
>
> Adult stem cells do the job of repairing and replacing damaged muscle
> tissue as governed by molecular signals gotten from the surrounding
> muscle tissue. Those signals change with age in ways that preclude
> productive tissue repair. It has also been proven that debilitating
> muscle atrophy, and perhaps other tissue degenerative disorders as well,
> increasingly accompanies the aging process.
>
> Researchers recently compared samples of muscle tissue taken from 30
> healthy men who were participating in an exercise physiology study. The
> young subjects ranged from age 21 to 24 and the older participants'
> ages spanned 68 to 74. Muscle biopsies were taken from the quadriceps of
> all participants at the beginning of the study. They then had the leg,
> from which the muscle tissue was taken, immobilized in a cast for two
> weeks to simulate muscle atrophy. After the cast was removed, the study
> participants exercised with weights to regain muscle mass in their newly
> liberated legs. Additional samples of muscle tissue for each subject
> were taken at three days and again at four weeks after cast removal, and
> then sent to UC Berkeley for analysis. UC Berkeley found that before the
> legs were immobilized, the adult stem cells responsible for muscle
> repair and regeneration were only half as numerous in the old geezer
> muscles as they were in the young studs. That difference increased even
> more during the exercise phase, with younger tissue having four times
> more regenerative cells actively repairing worn tissue compared to what
> occurred with the geezer muscles, in which muscle stem cells remained
> inactive. The researchers also observed that the old men's muscle
> presented signs of inflammatory response and scar formation during
> immobility and again four weeks after the cast was removed.
>
> Connclusion: Two weeks of immobilization only mildly affected the young
> dude muscle, in terms of tissue maintenance and functionality, whereas
> old muscle begins to atrophy and manifest signs of rapid tissue
> deterioration. In addition geezer muscle doesn't recover as well
> with exercise. This emphasizes the importance of older athletes
> remaining continuously active because a long period of muscle disuse
> irrevocably worsens muscle regeneration. One should also remember that,
> for the elderly, a too rigorous return to training after immobility may
> also cause the replacement of functional muscle with scars and
> inflammation. "It's a geezer Catch-22."
>
> Bottom Line ~ I brought this up to explain why this aging athlete (71)
> tries to train through injuries, rather than follow the advice of those
> who recommend I take some time off!
>
> };9)
>