PT Day

this a.m. i ran the tlbl trail w/ the guys. the last few miles sucked for me personally. most of it was likely mental, because i picked it up some the last mile and felt just fine. once i get back into a more regular running schedule things should start to click again. the extra days off have been good from a recovery standpoint, but as for mental focus, not so much. the leg was better today than it was on tues, so that's a definite plus.

pt went well. i have a few new homework exercises to strengthen: a) my feet/arch, 2) posterior tibial tendon, 3) soleus muscle. the pt guy said my issue is quite treatable, but that i'll have be sure not to over do it over the next 10 weeks (if I want to keep running). that's going to be the tough part, though, i do like a challenge!

On Sunday, when I wrote out my weekly running plan, I penciled in today as an off day. Yesterday, though, I changed my mind and planned to run. This morning I awoke and decided to stick w/ the original plan. Lots of waffling on my end, but I believe I made the correct decision (rest to recover).

Flip/flop tendencies aside -- I had a 30 min session w/ Lisa today. She ended up working on my left calf/lower leg for the entire 30 minutes. Haha. She didn't think it will need to be amputated, but did give me some homework (icing, stretching, and rolling). Nothing new, however, she gave me some additional areas to target. Did I mention she put a hurtin on my calf? Not complaining cause it was a good hurt. Thx! I'll be sure to check in w/ an update tomorrow...

Twelve miles (.5 warmup and 11.5 route). The leg was okay. It was a bit bothersome toward the end (read last 1.5 miles). Iced and stretched it afterward. I spoke w/ Steve afterward, and he believes the issue is mainly related to one calf w/ no momma. The dr basically said the same thing. With that info, I made a 30 min appt to work on that sucker tomorrow morning. Also, I have PT on Thursday. I sure hope the extra treatment helps out. Off to roll/stretch now. ;-)

Week 11

Ugh, not a good week. About 25 miles and the last 4 days of the week off nursing my wounds. On the bright side, my ankle seemed to respond really well to the rest. So much so, I almost changed my mind and ran on Saturday morning. I'm glad I didn't though.

Today (Monday), I went for an easy 4 miles. My ankle was a little tight the first mile, but no pain. The tightness went away after mile 1, and the only thing I had to deal with the rest of way was the craziness between my own ears. Woe is me. Haha!

Slight Change of Plans

I decided not to run today and opted for rest instead. My ankle/leg feels a lot better. I'm planning to go for an easy 30 min jog on Monday morning to test things out. If all goes well, I'll run with the group on Tuesday. I sure as hell hope it plays out that way, because I'm going stir crazy already. :-)

Tough Times

Gosh, a lot has changed since Tuesday. My ankle/leg issue seems to have ratcheted up a notch. I almost skipped the run on Wed (because of it), but opted for a mid-morning run. I had a fair amount of discomfort during that run. I iced it afterward with the hope that I'd be good to go today. After a couple short jogs early this AM, I decided to skip the morning steady state run. Very disappointing. Now, I could have run, not doubt about it. But I felt my body was crying uncle to an extent (with the early jogs). At the urging of a friend, I went ahead and made a drs appt. Fortunately, i was able to get in today. The dr's initial prognosis was posterior tibial tendonitis. There is a chance it could also be a bone issue (read stress reaction) since this tendon runs right next to/behind the tibia. The only way to tell for sure is via MRI. But, I don't think it is the bone (at least I hope not).

I'll rest again tomorrow, and then give it a go on Saturday, with the plan to take Sunday and Monday off. If Saturday results in epic fail, i may be looking at a full week off. Shitty, but i have try to get on the other side of this deal.

The moral to this story is: don't make extreme changes to your footwear just to do it. Maybe it will sink in this time. That's all I have for now.

Sixteen sweaty ones. About a 7:40 pace (so I heard...watch issues). Ankle was about a 7.5 out of 10. It didn't get any worse, so that's good.

Week 10 Wrap

Haha, this week ended up nothing like I had planned. I clocked 57 miles, and the lower leg/ankle issue returned this week. The run on Sunday was particularly uncomfortable. So much so, i ended up taking today (Monday) off as a precaution. This evening my leg/ankle feels much better. But the run tomorrow will give me a better idea. If all goes well, i should be able to squeeze 70+ miles out of the week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

A short one today, 16 miles, that's it. The pace was a little faster, but the run was a good one. We ended with nice little close over final the 3 miles. Nothing too serious though. Now it's time to start gearing up for some good stuff next week. More shall be revealed...

Tempo Workout

Today was the first tempo run of the season. 2x2 miles at tempo pace. I believe we were to keep it around half marathon goal pace (hmgp) -- 6:20s. I had planned to go somewhat easy the 1st set and be a little more aggressive the second set. Reason being, in the past I have gone out hard from the jump and struggled toward the end of these type of workouts. I guess I mostly accomplished my goal for the workout...I was slower on the first set than the second. But I was a little fast for both. Oh well, that's one those good problems to have (the way i see it). The sets were: 12:21 (608 and 613) and 12:03 (6:07 and 5:57). Truth be told, the workout was easier than I expected. I thought the second set would be tougher. So, i don't believe i'll have a problem w/ these tempo paces when we do a full fledged tempo run. Nice!

Officially Down

Seven miles today. No watch. I decided today to make this a down week. The next two weeks I'll shoot for 80s (along w/ a cohort).

Yowzers.

We have our first tempo paced workout on Thurs, so I figured I better determine my paces. The forthcoming quality workouts should be interesting. I hope I don't have to make a post where I state I'm adjusting my goal. ;-)

MLR

No run yesterday. Sleep seemed like a better option. Today, 16 mile MLR at about 7:30 avg. The run today seemed like it flew by and was pretty easy. I guess the day off may have had something to do w/ that...

Week 9 Wrap

Welp, I ended w/ 78 miles for the week. It was a good week. The steady run was by far the highlight in my eyes. Not because of the result, i was just happy to shift gears. I look forward to the quality-ish workouts in the coming weeks. Before long, we'll be doing quality twice a week. The more the merrier in my mind.

I have a bit of a running conundrum regarding the upcoming week. I'm not sure whether to take a down week. It might be best to take one, but my legs seem to be hanging in there pretty good. As of right now, I am going to pass on the down week, and instead, opt to hold my mileage where it is. This is what I'm thinking: 6, 16, 10, 12, 24, and 10. Now, this may change. If everyone else is going to drop down, then I will too. We shall see.

I hear tell the quality run on Thurs is 2x2 miles at tempo pace. Should be fun, it that is the case.

Mt Bonnell/Balcones LR from Barton Springs (BS) today -- twenty-four miles were on the docket. This 24 miler turned out to be the easiest one of the season. The avg pace was about 7:40. We started out pretty slow and ended pretty fast. Very solid, especially considering the steady state run on thurs. Before the run, I was a might bit concerned there might be a hangover, but there was no such thing. The ole legs must be starting to come around.

steady stater

Today was the first steady state run this training season. Our instructions were to get to a comfortably hard pace in the first mile and then back off a bit. We were to go no faster than MGP.

The 7 mile run went pretty well. I felt like I was under control pretty much the whole time. From about mile 2.5-3.5 I was a bit uncomfortable (thinking I can't do this), but those thoughts passed in under 7 minutes, and my mind was at ease the rest of the way. I did pick up the pace some in the last two miles, and even noticed I had begun to press, so I forced myself to back off. I came in pretty relaxed the last 1/2 mile and finished feeling pretty good about the workout. In all, 12 miles for the day. I had a 6:42 avg for the 7 steady. Nothing to get all excited about, but it's a decent start. Going forward i just want to be consistent and maybe get the the avg pace down about 10-15 seconds. Until next time...

Easy 10 on the trail. The pace was about 8;15. I could feel yesterdays run on my legs. Several hours from now we shall see if I was able to recover. ;-)

Leveling Out?

Today I felt pretty damn good. It was MLR day, so that means 16 of em. The avg pace was like 7:30. Noticing a trend? We were a bit faster on the back half, but nothing serious. I wanted to be sure to take it pretty easy so I can run well on thurs. Mission accomplished, I believe.

Easy 5

I did a very easy 5 miles from the crib today. The avg pace was about 7:50. Not much to report, all was well.

Week 8 Wrap-up

So, 63 miles this week via four days for running, I had planned to get in about 10 more miles, but it just wasn't in the cards. Oh well. The real positive is that my ankle/leg has drastically improved since last week. I was sincerely worried about it last weekend, but I guess the decreased mileage/shoe change has worked.

Next week, we start doing quality workouts/runs on Thursday (e.g. , steady states, tempos, etc.). With those, the intensity is about to kick up a notch. I am going to try get in a good mileage week all the while. Probably not 80, but somewhere in the 75-78 range: 5, 16, 10, 12, 24, and 10 -- that's my tentative plan.

# 2

Today was the second 24 miler of the season. This one was pretty tough, just like the first one. It was very hot, humid, and there was little to no breeze/wind the first half of the run. Still, three of us trudged on to make it the distance. The toughest portion for me was from the 2 hour mark up until 2.5 hours. The last 30 minutes, I actually began to feel better. Strange, but I guess good at the same time.

24 miles at about a 7:45 pace

Better

Today was our MLR. Next week it will moves back to Tuesday. I felt noticeably better today (than on Tuesday). Full disclosure: it was cooler today and I did not run on Wednesday due to laziness. Also, I brought a water bottle, 2 gels, and a set of thermolytes. Yes, I was ready for battle! The route today was a solid one -- started from BS, made our way to Lake Austin Blvd, took exposition to 35th, and made our way back to the TLBL Trail. That part put us at about 10ish. We got the extra 6 by heading toward Barton Hills for a loop which ended at the Springs. The run turned into a lively one during the last 6 miles. Not going to calculate the pace for that stretch, but the last two full miles were 637 and 618. Pretty decent. Not going to lie, I felt somewhat uncomfortable at times during the last 4-5 miles, but my breathing was pretty much in check the whole time. All told, 16.4 mile at a 7:25 pace.