Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Easy run with Sasha. Left BYU at 4:45am as usual and met Sasha on the trail. Easy run averaging just under 7:15 pace overall. 6.8'F and still fighting a bit of congestion in my upper chest and throat. This inversion is not helping matters. Also did 125 push-ups and 125 sit-ups.

Met at Sasha's house at 4:45am. Still feeling pretty sick. Very congested and have a bit of a cough in the morning spitting up nice yellow stuff. Needless to say I was not looking forward to the run especially since I knew Sasha would ask the question "so are you up for a tempo?" I did not feel up to it but conceded to give it a shot anyway for at least the normal 2.5 mile course. Did not feel great but tried to relax and keep a decent rythem going. I felt worse than on Saturday physically but the trail conditions were slightly better. Still ice and snow for the whole first mile but after that it is only patches of snow every couple hundred meters or so. Temperature today was a nice and warm 12.2'F! The first run in the double digits for over two weeks. Did not really pay attention to splits but knew first mile was under 6:00 pace. I was thinking I would end up around 14:30 or so similiar to Saturday's first 2.5 miles but ended up with 14:13. Sasha stopped for a nature stop and then passed me as I stopped for a nature stop so ran most of the tempo on my own. Splits were 5:48, 5:42, and 2:43 for the last 800. Surprised considering how I have been feeling lately. This was my best time on this 2.5 mile course by 22 seconds and it was run with 2.5 layers of clothes at 5:00am with ice and snow at 12'F. I can't wait for some warmer weather to see waht kind of difference it makes. One of these days I need to run our tempo workout in the afternoon to see the difference as well. I seem to run better in the afternoon for some reason but I just don't get the opportunity to do so very often. Sasha wanted to do the 2.5 tempo on the way back as well but my mind and body were not willing to participate. Sasha took off and I just ran at about 6:30-45 pace. Overall 10 miles was just under 7:00 pace average.

The last day of January is upon us. Met Sasha on the trail again after a 4:45am start from BYU as usual. Ran the Provo River Trail route. Easy run today average just under 7:30 pace. Felt ok but still dragging a little from this cough and cold. It was warmer today, 19'F, but snowing again. So much for the trail starting to clear up. It seems as if every time the trail conditions just start to get somewhat better it snows again. Hopefully the snow will clear out some of the smog from the inversion. Although the forecast is for the cold to return and the invresion to stick around for at least another week or so as well. Did not expect this bad of air quality in Utah! When one thinks of Utah they usuallly think of a more fresh mountain air scenario. That's about all for today.

It's a new month and still no change in the weather. It was 10'F for our run this morning so just out of the single digits but still very cold. It also looks like the inversion is here to stay for at least another week. I was getting used to the cold but this inversion is something else. I am having a hard time shaking the upper chest tighness and it is getting old hacking up stuff all morning. I thought it was just a cold but I am starting to think it is sticking around longer due to the inversion. Once again I knew Sasha would be ready for another tempo day and I was not very excited. It is hard to get motivated to run fast when you are coughing up gunk. I went with Sasha for first 1.75 miles but felt like I was having to work a little harder than on tuesday and I was coughing a bit more. Sasha took off at 1.75 miles and I just tried to maintain to the finish. I maintained a fairly even pace to the end instead of trying to pick it up over the last 1/2 mile like tuesday. Overall time was 14:22 for 2.5 miles with splits of 5:47, 5:42 and 2:52 for the last 1/2 mile. On the way back Sasha did another 2.5 mile tempo while I just maintained an easier pace until the last 1/2 mile which I sped up to 6:00 pace or slightly faster. Overall got 3 good miles of tempo pace in for the day. For now I am pleased with that and the week overall considering how I have been feeling.

Easy 10.2 miles this morning but got a late start (4:54am) due to the fact that I had to shovel 3 inches of snow off of the driveway. That puts me at 36 inches of snow for the year to date at my house. The snow piles are still 5 feet high on the side of my driveway. At least the temperature was a toasty 19'F. Provo River Trail did not get as much snow but the roads and trail are once again snowy and icy the entire route. Ran just under 7:30 pace and felt pretty relaxed. I was noticing that in the past weeks my quads used to be pretty sore and tired by the end of most runs. However, this week my quads have not bothered my but my lower calfs have been sore most of the week. This coincides with me running faster times as well. I am wondering if my running form has changed and thus the faster times and sore calves inspit of the inversion and cold weather. After run played soccer with cadets and did 125 push-ups and 125 sit-ups.

Ran with Sasha at 7:15am. Did our normal route but I only did 2.5 miles of tempo and then just ran relaxed for rest of run instead of the normal 10m tempo. I need to try and let the body recover and hopefully shake this cough. The 2.5 mile tempo was 14:35 with splits of 5:52, 5:50, and 2:53 last 1/2 mile. Felt relaxed but I was still having problems hacking up gunk throughout the run. Overall ran 14.4 miles and averaged just under 7:00 pace for the whole thing. 10 miles in middle was in 65 minutes and change. The inversion was not bad today smog wie but the temperature was 5'F at the start so another pretty cold day. Had 2.5 layers on bottom half and 3 layers up top. Yesterday they said old Puxatoney Phil, the gground hog, did not see his shadow so spring should come early this year. I sure hope he is right.