Go slow to go fast.

No Running.  Did pushups, pullups, and 15 min. core work via Ab ripper X.

40 min. ART session in the AM with Richey.  There are definitely some knots in various places in my left leg.  He recommended waiting until Wednesday to run. 

Easy mountain bike ride out to Marshall mesa trail and back...about 8-9 miles, just to move the body somewhat, but taking it easy.

Interested to see how the running felt today.  Bummed that the leg started hurting after less than 1/2 mile.  I stretched, and ran the half mile home.  It doesn't hurt initially after stretching but then tightens up as I run.

Did Core work, pushups, pullups, stretch, etc.

Incredibly gorgeous morning.  Sunny and calm.  45 degrees.

I got out on my trusty fuji 29er for a cruise on the trails in south Boulder and was not disappointed.

I actually found myself feeling really grateful and glad that I couldn't run because I wouldn't have gone on a mt. bike ride if I was running.  And it was a super enjoyable ride.  I can't say that mt. biking is as addicting or good feeling as trail running or running in general.  But it is close.  And to be able to be out for 90 minutes moving my body through the mountains in the sun was incredibly refreshing and rejuvenating.

I don't feel any leg pain when I ride, its just the running motion.  So that's nice. 

Pearl Izumi hooked Nan and I up with some goods yesterday.  That was cool.  They sent her a bunch of shoes and clothing to test out.  And they sent me two pairs of shoes, which was pretty cool. 

I tried out the Streak II this morning, and felt like its a pretty good road racing shoe.  Its relatively low profile and thin, and very flexible which I like.  I would prefer the heel to toe drop to be zero, but it's close enough.  Its pretty similar to the MT101 in heel to toe drop, but overall its got a slightly thicker sole.  Very comfortable uppers though.

I rode my bike to Kitt field to run around the turf there.  Soft surface, plus I could bail at any point if my leg started hurting.  And it did start to hurt after only 1/4 mile, which was lame.  I thought it was feeling better, but I can't tell until I run on it consistently.

So I stopped and stretched etc.  Then I ran again.  This time it didn't start bothering me until 1/2 mile.  Cool, that's progress I guess.  I stopped and did more dynamic stretching and static stretching and pushups.

Then I started running with Patrick Hunt (runs with Hartmann and Rizzo in the Boulder express group) who was also cruising around the field.  This time it didn't start hurting until almost a mile.  Nice.  I like where this is going.

I stopped and stretched etc. again.  Then got up and ran another 1.25 with Patrick before it started acting up again, and this time it was acting up only very mildly.  

That was a good sign this morning.  I'm going to see Richey again today, and I'm guessing he'll tell me to keep running easy on it like this morning and it will keep progressing through active recovery.  

In the meanwhile, I'm pretty stoked to go get my harder exercise fix through a sweet mt. bike ride tomorrow!

Another ART treatment Friday AM with Dr. Richey.  He is such a great resource, very fortunate to know him.  He said to not run until Sunday, then do Tues/Wed.  

Well, I waited until Saturday night.  Sundays I don't run, and I couldn't wait until Monday.  I ran a super slow mile, then stopped to stretch a bit.  Was running really slow and was feeling OK, except that I wasn't sure if my heart was beating at all since I was going so slow.  I had to check my pulse a couple times to make sure I was still alive.  That got old.  So I just figured I'd try running normal 7 min. pace.  

Voila...felt fantastic.  Cruised for a couple more miles at about 7 min. pace or under feeling great.  The leg never hurt at all.  Its clear that the tightness in the glut/hammy/calf has largely subsided.

Cool.  It's great to see the immediate progress and result from rest and ART.  I'll take it pretty easy this week, but fortunately it looks like I'll be back to running again after only a week off.  

The week off felt surprisingly good though.

I enjoyed getting out on my bike a couple times on the trails, and I also enjoyed hitting the pool this morning for a miles worth of laps in about 25 min of swimming - because Richey mandated NO biking :( Darn, I like biking and it didn't hurt my leg.  But he's the expert, and I decided I would rather cover faster so I followed his advice this time and hit the pool (unlike I did earlier in the week)

Also I got consistent this week on core work 3 times and pushups and pullups.  Which I have greatly missed and which really makes a body feel good.  

It now feels kind of like I pushed restart on my computer.  Now once I fully reboot after an easy week or so I think I'll be ready to start another enjoyable 4 month training block.