Getting back in the groove of things

I managed get up in the morning to run today. That makes twice this week. Great success! Kamran, Asia, Chris, and I ran for about an hour. I felt a little tired at the start (due to the quick turnaround ~ workout yesterday evening), but did much better the last 35 minutes.

Tomorrow is a rest day, Saturday is a shakeout, and Sunday is make it hurt day. It's gonna hurt real bad, but it should be over quickly (less than 18 minutes).

Quotas

Track workout today (an easy one) -- I started off w/ a 2 mile warm-up, then did 10x 400m with 200m recovery in between, and finished w/ 2 down.

Splits: 86, 82, 87, 85, 83, 85, 82, 83, 82, 80

The 400's were supposed to be at 5K pace. No telling if that was or not. I didn't look at my watch while running, just tried to go off what felt like 3.1 miles pace.

I'm still not in shape like I was before I was injured, so guessing what I might run is really a crap shoot. If I have a good day on Sunday, I think I could go just below 17:30. Regardless, it should be fun.

Change of plans

I was thinking to do a workout this morning (tempo or steady), but turns out my workout running partner showed up and no longer needed the workout. Once I found out, we quickly agreed to just run easy. Kamran, Asia, and I got in about 7 easy paced miles on a nice cool/crisp spring morning.

Tomorrow, I will do a workout instead, but of a diff variety. Tune in then to see what's in store.

Ok, I'm in

No turning back now...

LR &Stuff

Ran 14 miles this morning. Ugh, it was tough. My legs were whooped. But there were not any issues w/ the injury, so I couldn't be happier. Capped the session off with some form running, strides, and gym. Tired now but ain't complaining...

I was pretty sore this morning as a result of yesterday's workout. Thus, I decided to sleep in; once I got up, took some time to loosen up before I went for a run. I got in 64 painful but easy minutes. Getting back in the groove.

Boston Marathon Pics

Female Winner

Male Winner

Mini track workout

Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson about running in the middle of the day on Wednesday, because I put myself in the same position today. This workout was done at 2pm. Oh well, what doesn't kill you...

4 mile warm-up, 3 x 1000 (331, 329, 329), 4 x 200(38, 38, 37, 36), 4 x 100m strides, and 1 mile cool down.

The idea today was to run 5K pace for the 1000s and a little faster for the 200s. This workout was tougher than I thought it should have been. As it stands, I may have a rough go of it at the Bun Run.

Inj update, my gluteus muscles have done great the last couple of days. I'd say damn near healed, but let's mark it at 95% due to some on/off aches I get ever once in a while. But I could not be happier with where I am health wise. Now I just need to stay free of major injury for the rest of the year. I think I can do it! :-)

Easy 62 minutes in the Golden Triangle. The humidity here is brutal. Humidity aside, my legs felt better today than yesterday. That is a pretty good sign I think.

Temp -> Steady -> UGH

The plan was to get in a tempo run on the trail today. I went to run shortly after arriving in Austin from BOS around 2pm CDT. It was a little warmer at home than in the NE, and the results of my run certainly reflected the diff in temp. I had thought I would be able to run 605s no problem. Boy was I wrong. I got in like a 4 mile warm-up, 4 miles at temp/steady pace, and a 1 mile cool down. I wanted to stop after each mile of the the tempo run, but forced myself to keep going. My splits were something like this: 622, 632, 615, and 624. I guess the good thing is there is nowhere to go but up from here...I hope. :-)

Switching gears at the track

The sun first came out right after noon here in Mission Hill. Upon seeing it clear up, I decided I wanted to run again. After all, 30 minutes isn't much of a run. Dustin told me there was a track about 3/4 of mile away in Back Bay Fens. So with finding that out, the decision was made.

Dustin guided me to the track later in the afternoon by way of his bike. Once there, it was time to go to work. I was thinking 8-10 400s (@/near mile to 5K pace - 75-80 sec), but had it set in my mind to stop when I got relatively fatigued (didn't want to mess things up trying to be super star doing the first real 5K/mile track wkout).

They went like this: 76, 77, 74, 78, 75, 72, and one 200 (33) to grow on. I shuther down early mainly due to needing the RR, but was also pleasantly tired, so I figured I was good for the day.

This was a whole new type of running, I tell ya. Definitely a bit of a shock to the system, but I figure after a couple weeks of running like this, I should be good. Here we go.

Shake out and stuff

Escorted Dustin on a 30 min shake out this AM. I was thinking to go to the track, but decided to pass due to the light rain. I felt pretty damn good (call it 90%). Dustin seems like he is more than ready too. Tomorrow should be fun to watch!

Predictions:
Dustin - 252
Muz - 248
Kamran - 247-248
Mike - 256

JP/Aboretum Gaunlet

Dustin took me on this loop today in Boston. We ran through Jamaica Plains (JP) and all through the Arboretum. I didn't know it when we took off, but we basically ran 50% of the time on trails. Some were quite gentle, but some were a little rough. All told, we ran for 1:10 - not too bad.

5ks & miles

That is what I'm going to race in the not too distant future. I'm thinking (at a minimum) to run the Bun Run (on 5-2) and the Congress Ave Mile (5-22). I think both should be lots of fun. I won't be in optimal shape for the Bun Run, but if I do some quality speed work over the next month, I should be able to run a pretty solid civilian mile.

Today, I ran for 1:33 (at least 12 miles) and did pretty damn good. I might have some mild tendinitis as a result of the pull, but the muscles seemed to work well. Continuing to heal...

Team wkout

I got up early this morning & ran w/ the team. They were doing mile repeats at tempo pace. I wasn't confident about doing multiple miles at sub-6 pace so I made sure to hold back just a bit throughout. The reps were 607, 611, 607, and 602. Not bad. I got in about 8 miles total.

much better

I didn't run far today, but got in a good paced run (7.5-8 miles maybe). Muz, Niccole, Jim, Mike and I took off from Rogue, ran to Cap 10K course, and after a couple more min of easy running, we picked it up some. The plan was to run mgp-ish w/ Muz. I was a little worried cuz I was sorta sore/tender from the workout yesterday, but after a couple miles, things were great. My butt loosened up almost completely, and it was not an issue at any time during the run. My aerobic fitness, on the other hand, is another story. We ran in between 620-630, and it was work for me to keep up. The first couple of miles were really a shock to the system (ie, breathing) and then later on my legs were a little weak. But I made through it ok, and could not have done much better (all things considered).

Change up

Went to the track this morning. Not to run hard, but to do some form running and strides. I started off with a couple laps to warm up. Then some form running (two sets of each):

side to side
butt kicks
karaoke
high knee skips
high knees
backwards run
backwards skip
bounding

Then I did 6 100m strides (80-85%), a two lap cool down, and some stretching. I haven't done anything like this in a long time, but it felt good, and I'm thinking to make this part of my normal Sunday routine going forward.

Easy 25 minutes on Thurs and 67 minutes this morning. Can't decide if I should run on Saturday or not....am leaning toward not running. :-(

Better than the last one

I keep doing better. That's about all I can ask for at this point. Broken record?

Anyway, I ran for about 62 minutes today. The first 4-5 minutes were a quite painful, but a different kind of pain. I could really feel exactly where the tear had been; there was a painful pull, but as I went it pretty much loosened up. Now that is not to say the pain completely went way, though, it did subside after 5 minutes max and never got any worse. I finished feeling pretty good about where I am in the recovery process. That was a first.

Well

Ran for 43 min today. Did pretty good for the most part. Though, I still have a way to go.

Today marks 4 weeks since the inj (I think).

Happy Easter!

Hard head tendencies

Today, I went to a Dr of sorts at Advanced Rehab inside Rogue Equipment. When I got up this morning I had no intention of going. However, I went to bfast with some folks from the Team, mainly to offset any rumors that I was not alive & in one piece. Seriously, it was very good to see everyone. Somehow during the bfast conversation the topic came about whether any sort of Pro had checked out my inj. Short answer is no. Anyway, after some in-person prodding and encouragement, I decided to head to see the Doc Mike has been seeing. I just had the quick/free eval today, so no official treatment, but I came away impressed with Dr.....(i forget his name)'s feedback. First, he was pretty surprised with the size of the knot in my upper butt (went so far as to ask if I did this sprinting). He then said I had definitely pulled a muscle, but didn't believe there to be back, disc, bone, or joint issues. From there, he told me I could probably just deal with it and the knot will work itself out eventually or I could get some release work/treatment done by them to try to speed up the process. I opted for the latter -- going in Monday to see what's up.

Mike, thanks for the rec & nudging. Prolly should have done this 1-2 weeks ago when others recommended it. Guess I hadn't wallowed in enough misery at that point. :-)

Speaking of hard hardheadedness, I am planning a short easy run tomorrow...somewhere between 30 & 45 min. If things get sketchy, I will stop. But I don' think that's going to happen cuz the rest over the last few days seems to have really helped. We shall see tomorrow.

Out for Boston

Decision made. Going to take at least the next 7 days off to get healthy. Will check back in then at the latest.