Bret

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn before my workday starts.  Deceptive chilliness in the air even though it was 45 degrees - it felt much colder.   I have finally caught a head cold, having not gotten sick in nearly 2 years since COVID started.   Had the booster vaccine a couple of weeks ago, but getting tested just to be sure later today.   

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn on the trails - needed a change of scenery.   Still struggling with a cold.  

AM - did a walk/run with Dan and the dogs this morning - he's finally on the mend from a hamstring injury and needs to gradually build up to full runs - but we had not connected too much in the last several weeks; it was good to have a chat and run with dogs (and walk at times) as the sun rose over the horizon of horse farms on the trail.  

AM - 6 miles with Finn with a run up the Chicken Creek to Freemanville on Dinsmore climb segment.  Decent effort though I was not really trying to go hard. 

AM - late start and only time for 3.25 miles with Finn before church. 

AM - 6 miles with Finn on a damp cool morning mostly on the golf course.  Lots of ups and downs.  Not really feeling all that great on my runs lately.  Left hamstring is giving me some negative feedback on uphills or if I try to push the pace; and I am kinda feeling like my energy levels are low.  Hopefully thing will improve with some steady increase in volume at easy efforts.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn at day break.  Much colder this morning - mid 30's than yesterday.   Resumed taking iron supplement on Sunday - and today felt some slight improvement in energy level (may or may not be related).  Historically struggled with low ferritin levels - but ceased taking iron supplements ahead of my first heart stent - just coincidentally, not as a result of a doctor's recommendation.   Going to get some labs done to get a baseline.  

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill using Zwift to record on Strava.  It was raining and 43 degrees outside - glad to have the indoor option on days like this. 

AM - 4 miles with Dan on the trails with the dogs - his injury recovery is progressing well, and we only walked a couple of times briefly.   Quite cold this morning - good conversation and a pretty sunrise. 

AM - raining and 46 degrees outside - so I opted for a treadmill run indoors.   Good run, continuing to feel better and stronger everyday with the iron supplement.  

AM - 4 miles with Dan on the trails which were very muddy.   Finn was a mess; got a proper bath afterwards. 

AM - just under 7.5 miles with Finn before church.   Much colder air came through after the storms yesterday.   Had planned maybe a slightly route but was blocked from taking a cut-through for the gated section of White Columns as they erected a fence.   Turned out to be more enjoyable running the long way around anyway.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn about half on the golf course.  Mostly uphill it seems as well in looking at the route on Strava afterwards. 

AM - a little over 5 miles with Finn - and included the Chicken Creek to Freemanville climb which went well.  Temps below freezing and frost on the grass.   Wore shoes with little to no traction  - quite slippery when stepping off the road for passing traffic.    

Got my lab results from yesterday - as suspected my Ferritin levels were below normal (even for a non-endurance runner) - and that was after a week of taking iron supplements.   Feeling much better now that I got that sorted.   Just have to figure out the nagging left hamstring issue.  

AM - 5 slow miles with Finn - got a late start -not super motivated this morning. 

AM 7.5 miles with Finn on the trails before my workday started.   Hamstring and hips were ok to start at 10 min pace but as I warmed up and increased the pace - discomfort in the left hamstring limited me a bit and made for a subpar level of enjoyment.  Decided to go a little longer today - perhaps a gradual increase in volume may help along with hamstring strengthen exercises.  

AM - 6.5 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.   Will discontinue the meds I am prescribed for cholesterol for a period of time to see if that will relieve the muscle and joint discomfort I have been having in my hips, pelvis and hamstring -  When this last occurred in 2019 with a different cholesterol (statin) - it took about 6 weeks or so to exit my system, and I switched to another med.  

AM - a little over 8 miles with Finn on the Alpharetta Greenway - the newest extension - and then along the sidewalks connecting to the Forsyth Greenway - until I reached the temporary fencing where that trail is under repair.   Hamstring was tight and a bit painful at the start, and then just achy until mile 6 where I was going downhill on a curve, and it became probably the most painful that its been - so I managed through the discomfort to complete the run.  Quite unseasonably warm in the low 60's - but cloudy and wet - with rain starting just as I finished.  

PM - Did an open ride on the Pelaton of about 20 mins and then 3000 meters of indoor rowing. 

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan in his neck of the woods.   Cool and rainy.   Hamstring very sore.  

PM - 3 miles on the treadmills and then 2000 meters on the indoor rowing machine. 

AM - 4.25 miles with the guys and 2 of the 3 dogs on the trails before sunrise.  Hamstring quite tight and painful to start - got somewhat better after warmed up a bit - but still limiting.  

AM - 10 miles on the Peloton - attempted to do a workout with Dan and Greg at the same time, but I could not find the session that they had choosen.   Anyway, it was a decent workout to warm up the hamstring a bit; so I did 3 miles on the treadmill thereafter.  

AM - tried to run this morning with Dan - really struggling with the hamstring issue - 3.5 miles of mostly slow and at time kinda uncomfortable running.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and the dogs - quite cool in the upper 20's.   Have a physical therapy appointment for later today for the hamstring. 

As expected - the diagnosis is a high or proximal hamstring tendinopathy - I was given a number of strengthening exercises and told that I could continue to run as tolerated but to try to keep the activity pain level to no more than a 4 out of 10.  

AM - a little over 5 miles with Dan, Greg and the dogs from the Starbucks parking lot.  Nice Christmas eve morning run right around freezing temps.  The hamstring felt remarkably improved in just 24 hours from when I began the 5 or so strenthening exercises.   Still challenging to move uphill with normal ease, but the flats were much easier and far less painful on the hamstring.   

PM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn on Wood road during a brief break in the afternoon.   Merry Christmas!

AM - 3 miles with Finn, Riley and her new boyfriend who came to stay with us over the holiday.   

AM - 6.25 miles in the neighborhood and about half on the golf course.   Hamstring strengthening exercises may have resulted in some fatigue - first mile or so was still painful and so I kept the pace really slow the whole way.   Really not very enjoyable.  

AM - 6 miles with Finn before sunrise.   Ran slightly faster and had slightly less discomfort in the hamstrings.   Did less "extra" strengthening exercise yesterday - as I think some of them that I did on the weekend, may have fatigued the muscles a bit. 

Went to PT this morning following my run - and interestingly, there was little to not pain on the insertion point (proximal tendon) but some tightness in the belly of the hamstring.   The physical therapist thought that was a little unusual too...in any event, she did some dry needling of the tight spots and some massage - and we went through a few new exercises to strengthen the muscle and tendon.   I expect this to be a lengthy process with some gains and losses day by day.  

AM - raining - so 5 miles on the treadmill - hamstring was a bit better today.  

AM - 5.75 miles with Finn in the rain - hamstring was poor today - not a very good run.  
 

PM - 3 miles on the treadmill- last 2 at below 7:30 pace and the last half mile below 7 mins just to test the legs - and build back a little confidence.  It was not easy but I did not feel as though I could not manage it.  Had PT this morning and so my legs were a bit beaten up.  

AM - Went to the trails to do a walk run with Finn, but got a text from Greg just as I got started to see if anyone want to run - so I did a mile easy with Finn as a warm-up of sorts and then when Greg arrived we ended up running fairly well with my hamstring not giving me too much trouble for the first 5-6 miles - which were just under 8 min pace - and then we stopped for his dog to jump in the creek and when we resumed the hamstring kinda tightened up and either it was fatigued or the stop/start thing had an impact - but it became apparent that the pain level went from a 2 to a 6 or 7 and I needed to back off the pace.   After one or two starts and stops to walk, I bid Greg a Happy New Year and he took off and I finished with a jog back to my vehicle the short way around - and called it a day.   Somewhat crestfallen with how well I was running to sort of have the wheels come off at the end.  If I had just finished the run at 5 miles I would have been very pleased with the day and the progress.  Anyway - I expect to have a number of these set backs - and will take it all in stride.   Happy New Year.   

This was day 670 on my run streak.