weeks of 13 and 20 September

Took a lot of time to make sure I'm fully healed. I'm not fully healed. I had this 6 years ago and it didn't take nearly this long. Could it be that I'm closing in on 40?

Anyway, the last two weeks were.

week of 13 Sept

Mon - Rest. Took a few steps and realized weekend running was a mistake.
Tu - Elliptical 60'
We - Elliptical 60'
Th - Poolrunning 60'
Fr - Poolrunning 60'. 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1 harder with equal rest
Sa - Elliptical 68'
Su - Elliptical 70'. 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1 with equal rest

Week -- 6h25'

Mo - Poolrunning 75'. 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1
Tu - Poolrunning 70'. ditto
We - same as Tues
Th - rest (work got in way)
Fr - Poolrunning 62'
Sa AM - treadmill run/walk 1.50 in 0:20:00 (13:20!). 5 walk/5 jog at 6.3/2.5' walk/5 jog/2.5 walk
Sa PM - treadmill run/walk 2.6 in 32' (12:18) with 19' run total
Su - treadmill run/walk 5.0 in 54:20 (10:52). Worked from 2' jog (6.0 mph)/1' brisk walk (3.6 mph) to 5' jog/1' walk.

Week -- 6h23' including 9.1 miles(!)

I poolran today (monday) and it felt fine the rest of the day, so it seems like alternating run/walk with poolrunning is sustainable. Hopefully I can increase the running while recovering.

I'm about ready to write off the rest of the year. I'm sure I'd have broken 40 this fall, which I waited through the stinking hot summer to do, so I'm kinda bummed. I've kept the weight off though. I saw 154 tonight, which is a full 10 pounds lighter than when I ran cherry blossom in 65:55, so IF I get my miles back up for a while, I shouldn't have a problem with sub-40. My goal was sub-40 by 40, so I have 8 or 9 months left. All the good 10ks are in the fall unfortunately. I also have schedule conflicts with the two best (vet day 10k and jingle all the way 10k) which are on the ultra fast (flat as a track) course on Hains Point.

Back to square one?

I ran on Sunday and couldn't walk without a limp Monday. Ugh. The current plan is to pool run or elliptical until the end of Sept (or until I get impatient again). If I do an hour of exercise a day and keep my weight down for the next two weeks, and I'm all better on 1 October, I think two months of running will be enough to take a crack at the Jingle All the Way 10k in early/mid-Dec.

Man do you lose it quickly

I did 4.7 on the treadmill today, mostly at 6 mph (10:00/mile) and 0 degrees with some at 9:40 at the end. I couldn't believe my HR was at 150 bpm at the end. Just a few weeks ago, I was doing ~8:50 at 135 in 75-degree weather. I haven't just been sitting on my duff either. Since the injury, my training has been.

We - off
Th -off
Fr - off
Sa - 50 min swimming
Su - 40 min treadmill (ill-advised)
Mo - 60 min swimming
Tu - 60 min elliptical
We - 60 min elliptical
Th - 60 min elliptical
Fr - 60 min elliptical

Apparently swimming and elliptical do about nothing for your running fitness. I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to run tomorrow. It's not better, but I think I'm at the point of just running through it. We'll see tomorrow. Any more time off and I won't be able to even take a reasonable crack at a 10k this fall. The good news is that my weight is still down. I ran 40:04 while at 161 doing ~65 mpw leading up. I think a month or two of 60mpw should get me there if I can ever get my mileage back up there.

Week of 30 Aug - injured

Pretty, huh? In retrospect I shoulda just jogged the 10 miler on Sunday. I thought the only way I could end up not running my sub-40 this fall would be an injury. I don't need speed training, plyometrics, tempos, ... Just less weight and decent mileage. Well, I was absolutely total fine on Monday and did my regular 8. On Tuesday, I had a tightness behind my ankle, which I, from previous experience, knew was the location of my peroneal tendon. I thought it would loosen up. It stayed tight and got tighter, but I ran my 8 anyway (cue the "stupid, stupid, stupid" sound effect). I felt OK afterwards, but after getting to work, it tightened up and I limped my way in from the car.

I thought I'd be an adult and took 3 solid days off. Didn't even cross train. Lots of ice and ibuprofen and I had no problem walking on Thursday. I took Friday off because I thought I'd be extra cautious. I tried to run Saturday, but I could feel my tendon. It didn't hurt, but was a little uncomfortable and just the fact I could feel where my tendon was wasn't a good sign, so I stopped at 5 minutes and walked home. Later in the day I swam 1700m at the pool (~50 minutes).

This morning, I went back and looked at my log. Actually I googled "peroneal tendonitis elliptical" and the first hit was a coolrunning thread where I was the second responder. I wrote I had peroneal tendonitis (diagnosed by an orthopedist). I felt it more on the edge of my foot, but also behind my ankle. I got it after my first race (a 10 miler). I just looked back at my logs. I ran in pain for 4 days, then over the next 10 days I used the elliptical trainer on 7 of them and took 3 off days. Then I ran 10 of the next 12 days, noting foot pain. After that I stopped putting foot pain it in my log.

Geez, I ran on it for 10 days with some pain after two weeks of elliptical? I figured if I waited for no discomfort, I'd wait forever, so I gave it a gentle go today. I did 40 minutes on the treadmill. I could feel it, but it wasn't terrible. It grew some over time, but not horrific. After the run I immediately iced. I'm walking around fine tonight, so I think I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I can get to 50 minutes without hurting the next day's run. There's always a balance with these things. If you want to be in shape X days from now, the best approach probably isn't to wait until you're fully recovered, but to come back running a little less and then work to full volume as you get better. That's how I'm rationalizing it anyway. Look forward to another "stupid, stupid, stupid" post soon.