Measured effort.

Boulder Creek Path at the site of the narrow-gauge bridge.

After about 12 weeks of busyness, fatigue and resting, I return to my Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday running regimen. Knowing I've lost both cardio and muscular strength and conditioning, I've been cautious about easing back in, not wanting to overdo it and set things back by stressing my now 70-year-old system.

In thinking about it I recall the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion, a way for a person to think about how hard he/she is working/exercising. It's hard for me to imagine I haven't yet journaled my thoughts on this, as much as I have thought about it and incorporated it into my workouts. But a search of past blog entries fails to show any evidence.

I first began thinking about this concept when I was running a section of the Switzerland Trail railroad right-of-way in February. For many weeks in a row I'd been on the groomed trails in the Boulder area, what we in the mountain community call the flatlands, elevation 5600 ft.

On this winter Saturday I was panting like a race horse, moving slow, my feet feeling like lead. What the heck was going on? So I began paying attention. Well, I was running into a steady headwind. A 15° headwind. At elevation 8800 feet. Over an irregular cobblestone surface. Uphill, for three miles. Ohhhh.

This was a wakeup call for me.

At another time in my life--actually, for all my life--I'd not had to pay that much attention to conditions. I just ran. With age and the development of my own unique combination of health issues, I've acquired some limitations.

In response I've developed my own version of the Borg scale. I've come up with the range of issues that require additional exertion, and I've been incorporating them in a measured and conscious way to my running, titrating the stress levels according to what it feels like my systems are ready for.

Within the context of however I assess my current state of conditioning, the exertion factors are (in no particular order).

• Distance of run
• Duration of run
• Ambient temperature--above or below 45° to 70°
• Wind
• Precipitation
• Elevation
• Terrain
• Running surface
• State of hydration, nutrition, rest

In my more OCD moods I've sometimes thought of using point values with the factors, in some additive or even multiplicative fashion, but that's carrying it too far. I know I'd never follow through on any systematic way, once the system was designed.

For a long time this system has kept me relatively free of injury, and more importantly for me, kept my runs fun and invigorating. When I'm feeling tough I can take on extra challenges; when I'm feeling less tough I can measure them out more judiciously.

I like to think of this as a product of the wisdom of age. I'd prefer to not think of it as a reflection of wimpdom.