This Alaska cruise organized by John Bingham Racing featured a race
at every landing, whose distances added up to a marathon. It was
great, but it did a number on my arthritic knee.

For the couple weeks before departure, I had been doing races and
workouts just about every other day, with my knee being pain-free as
it had been for a long time. I had passed my 77th birthday, while
Maggie had just turned 90. (She slept while I raced.)

The cruise embarked on June 22nd. The following day, we did a
two-mile race on the ship, six laps around the deck. After a rest
the next day, we did a half-marathon at the first landing in
Juneau. The very next day, we did a five-miler in Sitka and the
following day a trail 10K in the Tongass rainforest near
Ketchikan. Although the weather was dry, the scenery beautiful and
the trail smooth, there was one steep hill after
another. Furthermore, many of the downhills were so steep that I had
to hold back actively to avoid hurtling down. (This involves
eccentric contractions that are very tiring for the muscles.) So by
that evening my knee was starting to hurt some.

During the awards ceremony the next day, I was given an award for
being "most inspiring."

The following day, Sunday the 29th, we disembarked and flew back to
Atlanta. Tuesday morning I did a 3.5-mile neighborhood walk. I felt
OK, but was quite slow. The next day I got in a weight workout at the Y.

Friday morning, July 4th, I pinned on my Peachtree Road Race number
and set forth to walk the 10K. My knee was hurting some, and it got
worse as I proceeded, until, after I finished, I stopped at the
medical tent to get some ibuprofen to relieve the pain enough so I
could walk to the MARTA and get home. (It took me two hours and two
minutes to finish the race, while normally I can do it in an hour and
a half or less.) The next morning, Saturday, I went to the Y for
another weight workout.

That evening we went with friends to a bluegrass concert at the
Barnes Amphitheater in Mableton. At this time, my knee was hurting
enough that I had to have assistance to walk back to the car. I
thought by Monday morning I would have to make an appointment with an
orthopedist. However, all the next day as well as today the pain has
been diminishing. Now it just hurts for the first few yards I walk
after getting up from a bed or chair. So for now I won't call the
doctor, on the contrary I will hope to be able to enter a 5K this
coming Saturday. (I won't do it unless I'm pain-free.) Of course,
I'm sure I will need a knee replacement one of these days.

Despite these misadventures, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. John
Bingham and Jenny Hadfield have discovered the secret of attracting a
crowd of congenial people; about a hundred of them on this trip. The
camaraderie is enhanced by their practice of rotating the seating
assignments at dinner, so you sit with a different set of people
every evening and widen your acquaintanceship. I look forward to the
next repetition of this cruise; I presume I could avoid problems by
reducing my training volume before and after the trip.

I gained about five pounds on the cruise, despite the races. I
wonder what I would have gained if it weren't for the races.



Charles Cohn

6311 Mark Trail, Austell, Georgia 30168, USA

770-944-7510 chasmagc@...

See my new web site: <http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-chasmagc>

"Live forever or die trying"


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