Going With The Flow

AM - 2.3 mile walk around the neighborhoods. Still too bruised from teh ASTYM to feel comfortable running.

AM - 1.5 miles around the block. 

PM - 30 minutes of pool running with Jake. I had a few aches in the hip every once in a while and I could feel my distal hamstring when I extended each time, but nothing painful. Lots of good range-of-motion stuff, plus 20 minutes in the hot tub using the jets to massage and get everything loose. We are planning to do this tomorrow and Wednesday as well, before our trip to Zion this weekend.

Teena Marie was nice enough to spend time with me yesterday afternoon and evaluate my injuries. I was so impressed by her knowledge and expertise...she had a very different view as to what is going on with my hip, and it makes much more sense than I've heard from any other specialists. I now have a checklist of all the items she recommended and am planning to do them religiously. She also showed me how to use the e-stim machine correctly. The best part was when Jake and I were getting ready to leave and all of Teena's kids were out doing a skills challenge (like the NBA does) in the front yard, timing each other and all. I sure hope my kids are like that!!

Also...USATF final standings are now up, giving away $6400 worth in prize money!! Make sure to RSVP for the banquet too.

AM - 2 miles around the block in the mist. I would say 15% progress to how I felt yesterday running. Illiopsoas tightened up a little about a minute before I stopped. Yoga for 20 minutes. Just a little achy in the illiopsoas and ischial tuberosity area now. Good thing I'm in a corner at work and can do e-stim now :)

PM - Pool running for 35 minutes, with hot tub before and after. The hot tub really helped loosen me up. 

AM - 2.2 miles around home, felt about the same as yesterday. Still have some glute annoyances going on. 

PM - 40 minutes of pool running. Distal hamstring a little irritated afterwards. 

Interesting study by Roger Kram's lab that especially applies to Utah with all it's downhill courses - the mechanical energy required to run downhill is significantly less than flat or uphill. This is why downhill courses aren't allowed for OTQ anymore :( Ideal grade, in terms of mechanical energy, is actually between -6 to -9 degrees (-10 to -15% grade) as long as your legs can handle that extreme pounding!! As a comparison, Halloween Half this weekend is about -3% gradient, so about -2 degrees.

AM - Woke up this morning freezing and saw the thermostat at 61 degrees - definitely time to turn on the heat. Couldn't resist running in the snow this morning! Found a nice snow-covered field and did a few laps. So much fun :) Off the Zion this afternoon!

Down in Zion for a long weekend. Hiked about 8 miles total today. We went up to Angels Landing, which has been on my to-do list for a while. My hip started acting up about 2 miles into the hike on the stepper uphill parts, but luckily you have to stop all the time on the last scrambling section because it gets a little crowded. The 360 views from the top were incredible - this is a great hike if you aren't afraid of heights! Then we walked over to the Emerald Pools (which were less than spectacular since there isn't much water running this time of year). Jake only talked about running for about 30% of the time we were hiking so that was quite a surprise :-)

 Hidden Canyon hike + Riverside walk. About 5.5 miles total, a little challenge to keep the injury at bay during uphill sections. Really loved Hidden Canyon - it was more secluded and fun for exploring a little. Another beautiful day!