Bret

AM - 5 miles on the trail with Dan and Finn - Happy New Year!

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail - quite cold this morning in the mid to upper 20's 

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Milton HS.  Just stayed on campus today with multiple loops.  Quite cold again today.  

PM - 5k on the treadmill using the Zwift app - so I ran in Paris. :) 

AM - 4 miles with Dan and Finn in the neighborhood.  Dan had an early meeting so we ran a little shorter than normal so that he could make his meeting in time. 

AM - 5.75 miles with Finn to Tullamore via Nix and back through WC.  Dan has a cold and opted-out today. 

Red-nose Half Marathon - Columbus Georgia -  Not a bad effort for me.   Friends from my church told me about this race - which is free to enter if you do not want a race t-shirt - in a town south of Atlanta on the border of the state with Alabama.  It was about 2.25 hour drive for me from my house north of the city - so I had to hit the road by 5 am to arrive in time to pick-up my race number for the 8 am start.  We had six members or family members from our church participate.

My goal for the event was to use it as a tester/tempo in my preparation for the Tokyo marathon at the beginning of March.   I had been feeling reasonably well and somewhat confident that I could run 1:40 and not overreach with that type of pace and risk injury or bonk.  The night before I had some type of GI issue that made me question whether I would even be able to run today - thankfully that mostly subsided by the morning.

It rained all the way on my drive to the race - and for the first mile or two ran in a light drizzle.  Temps were in the low 50's - a good bit warmer than my area which was in the low 40's to upper 30's.  The route wound through the downtown area on some brick streets for a couple of miles before dropping us onto a paved bike path along the Chatahoochee River.  I had expected the route to be flat, but there were a few mild rollers up and down the embankment.   The race had enough participants that they had pacers designated for 1:35, 1:40 etc.  

I started out thinking I would run off of the 1:45 pacer - but he was a bit slow and so I allowed myself to run to feel comfortable but not pushing too much - which had me about 40 meters behind the 1:40 pacer.  I noticed however that my distance from him did not really seem to change much for the first half of the race.  My Garmin was providing splits between 7:30 and 7:45 for most miles and so I reasoned that if I kept him in sight and felt well enough in the last few miles I could catch him (or pass him) to hit the 1:40 goal.  

As we approached the turn-around I found myself gaining on the pacer to where I caught him at about 8 miles.   He had no one running with him and around the time I caught him, two other runners caught him as well - and I think we all realized that we were running faster than him so we continued to pull away from him.   In my mind, with my splits showing sub 7:30 for most of the last 5 miles and being in front of the 1:40 pacer, I thought my time was going to be high 1:38 or 1:39 but I was surprised in the last tenth of a mile - a quick corner turn with less than 100 meters, that my time was 1:40:12.  Had I been looking at my total time on my watch I probably would have pushed a bit harder to get under 1:40 but honestly, I was running about as fast I could have today still being under control.  

Pleased overall with the pacing and the result and where I am compared to a year ago with two fairly significant injuries.  I think I ran negative splits and actually raced a bit over the course - never giving up a place.  In fact I think I was 92 at the turn and ended up 79th overall in a race of around 750 runners.  

AM - 3.5 ver slow easy miles with Finn before church.  Started on the trail but it was too wet and muddy so we exited for the last mile or so.   

AM - 4 easy cold miles this morning with Finn.  Still in recovery mode from Saturday's Half and also feeling the effects of a head cold - will take things easy for a few days. 

AM - 6 miles on the treadmill this morning - heavy rains and thunderstorms moving through the area overnight and most of the morning today.  

AM - 6 miles with Finn through the neighborhood - windy and cold following yesterday's storms.   Dan is still out of town on business but returns tomorrow.  My cold is a bit worse today. 

AM - 4.25 miles at Milton HS with Dan and both dogs.  Quite cold again today - and my head cold is not improving.  Had to cut it short for Dan as he had an early committment today.  

PM - 3 miles on the treadmill after my workday.

AM - 6.5 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail.  We went off the trail into the North Valley neighborhood due to the mud and sloppiness of the trail, but finished up the last couple of miles on it.  Both dogs and men needed baths.

AM - 16 miles with Finn from the house.  I connected with Dan and Greg and a friend of theirs named Mike at just past 4 miles and I did the Brittle/Summit/Milton Trail out and back with them for the next 7 or so when they headed back to Dan's place where they had started.  Finn seemed fine to do the full run with me - and so we finished out the last 4 miles solo.  Very cold because of the winds today.  Aching in lower back and hips for the last week which I think is statin-induced - so I will take a little holiday to see if the discomfort eases.   

AM - easy 4 miles with Finn before church.  

AM - just under 6 miles with the guys and two of the dogs on a trail run at Lake Lanier.   I was not initially too excited about the plan since it is about a 30 min drive, and I expected the trails to be fairly muddy - but as it turned out, there was no one on the trails  and they really were not very muddy at all.  And best of all, I did not take a tumble which is generally inevitable with me on trails with lots of tree roots and rocks and also having the dog on the leash around my waist.  Only Greg went down today.  

AM - 5 miles in the neighborhood with Finn in some freezing rain and flurries.  Headed to WV for the remainder of the week for a 90th birthday celebration for Tracy's father.  

AM - 5 very cold and snowcovered miles along the Ohio River in West Virginia.   Temps in the low single digits with below zero windchills.   The trail along the river had fresh snow from yesterday, maybe 2-3 inches which was not terrible for running easy - I had decent cold weather running clothes - my only issue was having to lower the gaitor to clear my nose from time to time, and having to take my mitten off to reposition it back in place.  :) 

AM - another snow-covered trail run today in WV.  Ran around the 12th street park.  Left hip was extremely painful in the last half mile - gonna take a couple statin holidays and change up the shoes for the next few days.

AM - 2.25 miles with Riley as it was snowing in WV.  Left hip was extremely painful - feels like a hip pointer without the impact.  Ceased the statins yesterday.   Hoping for some relief when they exit my system.   

AM - 1.25 miles very slow and with concern about my left hip issue.   After I finished and saw significant bruising on the upper thigh expanding up to the iliac crest - I went to the local urgent care with a self diagnosis of a bursa sac rupture.  They did xrays and ruled out any fractures (noted osteoarthritis) and seemed to concur with my self-diagnosis.  Gave me two injections of steriodiod anti-inflammatories and told me to limit activities and to ice it.   

AM - 1.25 miles around the Moundsville city streets following the anti-inflammatories - the pain was minimal - particularly compared to the previous days.   My theory is that the statins inflamed the bursa sac in the hips bilaterally, and for whatever reason the compression of the running on Thursday caused the trocanter bursa sac to rupture spilling the fluid into the surrounding tissue, resulting in the quite significant area on the left hip and upper thigh.  It looks like I took a really heavy hit by a helmet in football, or fell really badly - but in fact there was no impact.   Trying to decide the best course of recovery.   The bursa should heal itself.  I have ceased the statin, so that should help reduce the inflamation as well if that was the culprit.   Maybe run easy short miles for a few days and see how that goes?  Cross train a bit? I am in unknown territory here. 

AM - 2 miles with Finn on the trail - quite cold here too with temps in the mid 20's.  Even my pool has some ice on the surface of it.  There was very little pain in the left hip - my effort was slow at 10:30 min pace and though I was going to run only a mile, it felt fine although admittedly I felt a little wonky, I decided to do the full loop around the pond for a full 2 miles.  I got on the Peloton bike for another 30 mins of exercise.  Zero pain on the bike with the hip, though my quads were quite fatigued after such a new exercise.  I have scheduled an MRI for tomorrow morning to see if there is any collateral injury to the surrounding tendons or IT band near where the bursa sac is.  

AM - ran 3 miles very easy with Dan and the dogs on the trail.  Probably should have considered running less distance - as the hip was a bit more noticeable somewhat during and more so afterwards.   The instruction I had gotten was limit activity until the discoloration/hematoma is completely absorbed.    Have an MRI scheduled for this morning of the left hip to make certain that there is no collateral damage to the surrounding muscles and tendons near the ruptured bursa sac.   

AM - 3.25 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS in a light rain and temps in the upper 40's.   Hip recovery is not quite where I had hoped it would be.  The MRI showed a strain to the gluteal medius and TFL and surrounding tissue has edema.  No tears noted - which is a good thing.  No noted bursitis or problems with the bones.   Mild osteoarthritis.    Because the MRI was of the left hip, the machine included much of the trunk and right side as well - significantly noting high grade partial tear to the left hamstring with tendinosis there; tendinitis in the right hamstring as well as a tear on the right side of the adductor (sports hernia).    Interestingly though, I was aware of the left hamstring issue for well over a year, have zero symptoms in the right hamstring, and the sports hernia was recently noted with certain positions, but honestly not impairing my running in any way.  

AM - 1.25 miles on the treadmill followed by 30 mins on the Peloton.   I went to the sports med doc today and he examined me and reviewed the MRI images as well as taking new x-rays and while he said I have a lot "cooking" in the hip and hamstrings - nothing appears to be catastrophic to where he would recommend cessation / suspension of my training or the Tokyo Marathon at the beginning of March.   The guteal medius and guteal minimus show evidence of a strain in the MRI along with edema but if the swelling subsides, he expected that I would be able to grind through without too much difficulty - and even though the bruising is evidence that something happened, the images do not suggest it is too severe.   He noted however that the left hamstring is "hanging on by a few strands" but honestly that injury has been with me for over a 18 months and frankly, I have adapted my running to it with only minimal discomfort.   He said if my training or racing ultimately results in complete ruptures of the muscles or tendons, that they can repair them at that time, but because of the uncertainty of a successful suture of the hamstring and the associated recovery time, he recommended, that if I can deal with what I have, he would caution against a surgical repair or PRP.   So I was somewhat reassured by his consultation.   I also went to urgent care for this upper respiratory infection that has been plaguing me and confirmed no COVID, RSV or flu and got an Rx for an antibiotic.

AM - 3.25 very slow miles with Dan.  The hip improved a good bit yesterday perhaps as a result of only running a mile or perhaps the swelling is dissapating along with the statin exiting my system.   My cold is worse unfortunately - coughing nearly incessantly.   The run was much less painful but not completely normal just yet.  

AM - 4 miles with Finn through North Woods.  Pain level was maybe 1.5 in the hip and so I thought I would try for a more "normal" effort run.   Very sick though.  Anyway, started out fine, but my HR was up perhaps from the cold or the cold medicine; and I just did not have any strength to just smoothly run at my regular training pace after about a mile and half.  Perhaps too much too soon to expect a full recovery.   I will maybe take it easier and shorter tomorrow and see if it progresses better with more rest. 

AM - 1 mile on the treadmill, really sick today. 

AM - 1 mile on the treadmill still feeling weak / sick. 

AM - 3 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail.  Finally seeming to come out of the URI and starting to feel normal.   Ran in the old Saucony Rides and discarded the NB Fuel Cell shoes - which I think aggravated the hip on Saturday.   Still some swelling there, but the run was tolerable for the hip.  A little stiff after I showered and headed out to an appointment, but by midday, seemed like it is progressing well, if not slower than I want.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and the dogs at Milton HS.  Had a decent run today - wearing the old school Rides.  Hip was tolerable - but not yet normal.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and the dogs from his house doing the normal route along the horse farm roads.   I wore the Alphafly Nike's this morning and I had very little if any left hip pain, but because it is still a little swollen, the range of motion is a little restricted.  Dan's dog was really not in the mood for running a third day in a row, and as a result the pace was slower - which honestly was of benefit to me to keep from potentially pushing too much.  Finally got a full night's rest without coughing.   Heartrate on this effort was nearly back to normal after being so high the last week or so.  New bruising I noticed yesterday, was likely from Saturday's run in the NB shoes which are now in the garbage can, and it expanded a bit over the day yesterday in the upper part of the hip.  So strange...never had a muscle or tendon strain with such marked bruising in all my years of running. 

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn in the neighborhood.  Dan, feeling unencumbered by slow Rosie ran a bit faster than I wanted to, as I am being cautious not to cause any further issue with the hip.  We kept it right at or below 9 min pace as a compromise.  Honestly, I am actually quite pleased with the progress of the injury - feels like I am a week or so away from resuming normal training volumes.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and the dogs from his house onto the horse farm trail roads.   Ran in the Rides again.  Good that we ran with Rosie who kept pace easier than I would have probably pushed.  I am perhaps a little impatient to feel "normal" - the hip is remarkably improved perhaps only slight discomfort, but functionally still not 100% with some weakness.  I am also still dealing with a cough with a virus that has not exited my system yet.   Hopefully I will gradually improve day to day to get back to feeling myself on runs. 

AM - 3.25 miles with Finn in the neighborhood before church.  Tried to keep my HR under 130 for the run - in doing so, I ended up running around a 10 min pace.   Either the virus and / or the injury depleted my fitness more than expected, or the strength in the area of the hip is not yet normal - either way the higher than normal HR is starting to concern me.  Will try to do some runs at an even slower pace for several days to 'reset' the HR. 

PM - 4 miles on the treadmill - pace was like 11 mins per mile but avg HR was 126 which was the goal.   Did 2000 meters on the indoor rowing machine afterwards and my HR was like 10-15 bpm faster than what I normally see at that effort.  So, I think it is more likely not so much lack of strength in the hip as it is loss of fitness.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton trail - at 10 min pace - which kept the HR in check under 135 until the last couple of miles where I was telling a story about the Olympic trials marathon and got excited and was running faster - and the HR climbed.   I got home and ran another 2 miles on the treadmill at 11 min pace keeping the HR under 130.   Hoping this HR training will work over the next several days to a week or two.  

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Finn through the neighborhood to the Groves subdivision across Birmingham Hwy.   Cold today - run was slow-paced again to try to keep my HR under wraps.   Couple of the uphills I walked a bit to keep the HR from reaching 160.  I felt fine - and the hip is really not causing any issue; but I am frustrated with the high HR at such slow paces as 9:45 to 10:15 per mile.   From what I have read, post viral infections (even non-covid) it is not uncommon to have HR jump 25-30 beats on normal training efforts for a while until the body is fully recovered.   Still have a cough - so I will just have to be patient and keep my pace slow enough to allow for a recovery - hope it is sooner than later.

PM - 2 miles on the treadmill - was able to run at 9:20 pace with the HR average of 132, but much of the second mile was nearer to 141.  So, some improvement even over the course of the day.   

AM - 4 miles with Finn in the neighborhood as Dan was out of town on business.   Ran slightly better today with my pace gradually returning to normal - with the HR not quite as high - but still higher than normal.  

AM a little over 4 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS and then another mile or so on the treadmill.  Much improved pace today (it is mostly a flat route) but the HR was still on the high side especially near the end of the run - so my treadmill run was more of a cool down effort with HR in the low 120s.   Traveling to VA Bch to visit family this afternoon and over the weekend.  

AM - 6.25 miles in Va Bch from my brother in law's house out to a large lake in a nearby neighborhood - did a couple of loops around it.   Pace is alarmingly slow and concerning.   It is as if my legs do not have the strength to drive a normal training pace and so the extra effort it seems to be taking is resulting in a higher than normal HR.   I intentionally kept the effort in the high 130's HR range but the last couple of miles it crept up to the high 140's as the legs fatigued.   I know I cannot force things - but I also don't look forward to running a marathon at 10:30 pace...hopefully I will strengthen and my HR will settle down in the next 3 weeks. 

AM - 8.25 miles in Va Bch - intentionally slower to keep the HR below 130 - picked it up after 4 miles a little bit - but overall a very slow pace.   

AM - 4.5 miles in VA Bch in the rain.  Heading home today.  HR was up too high for the pace I was running.  Calling the cardiologist tomorrow. 

AM - 3.25 miles with Dan and Finn in the rain this morning in the neighborhood.  Watch was not recording the HR very well - and we kept the pace very easy at just under 10 mins.  Did not feel as bad as I had felt the previous couple of days - but will be scheduling a cardiologist appt as soon as possible later this morning. 

AM - 4 miles with Finn up to North Valley.  Felt much better today - more fluid and relaxed and though my HR was still higher than normal, it was not nearly as high and the overall "feel" was better.  

AM - 3.25 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS.  I had an early cardiologist appt. so we just did a short run.  Dan actually ran less because his left hamstring was really painful.  My pace was better and I felt stronger - so I think the additional iron supplements have begun to make a difference.  Cardiologist agreed that the iron-deficiency symptoms (weakness, fatigue, high HR in exercise) are more consistent than heart/circulatory problems - but will keep an eye on things over the next several days.  

AM - just less than 5.25 miles with Finn this morning through the neighborhood across Birmingham and into the Grove.   Pace and strength was good.  HR was high after the second mile climbing the steps - and remained just under threshold at 8:45 pace; last mile was anaerobic at 8:15 pace - so not great or even normal for me, but its getting in range and the improvement over last Friday for example was materially better where I could not even cause myself to run sub 9 min pace let alone 9:30( like physically unable regardless of the HR).  So this is progress from that perspective.  Probably categorize this as a tempo run with a VO2 max finish.   Will run light and easy aerobic pace tomorrow and the next few days, hoping to see more progress by next week this time.

AM - just under 5 miles this morning with Finn in the neighborhood.  Ran easy with the intent of keeping this aerobic and this seemed to go well today - pace gradually went down as the run progressed and my body got comfortable and though the last mile or so which had some uphills saw my HR get a little high, the overall average was where it should be, and the pace was nearly back to normal for me.  

AM  - 11.25 miles with Finn on a windy chilly morning as a front was making its way through.   This was an interesting day as initially I was not super motivated to run too far outside and in fact had considered doing a longer run indoors to manage my HR better without all of the hills outside, but Finn really wanted to run.  So, my thought at first was to go about 7.5 or 8 but the route I chose gave me options - and because I felt reasonably decent around 2-3 miles I opted for one of the longer turns, which took me out Taylor road.  At that time my HR was in zone 2-3 and I was running about 8:30 pace for mile 4 but when I turned on Batesville and the long uphill, my HR got up to 160 and correspondingly, (or maybe because of it) the left hip injury just seemed to be weak and fatigued - as if 5 miles was the limit for it today but I pressed on, bypassing the Triple Crown turn (mostly because I wanted to avoid the very steep hill to Freemanville) and turned later instead at Providence which honestly at that point my pace slowed to just under 9 mins and though I was ok on the flats, and downhills, I wanted to get at least 10 miles without too many sharp climbs, so I ran the cut-through at Summit Hill elementary and headed up Thompson Rd.   The two climbs on Thompson and the one in North Bluff when my HR was already in the high 150's were humbling.  When we started up the climb on Dinsmore, Finn unexpected stopped to throw-up and so I decided to take the shortest option home down the trail behind the old Milton country club.   My form was completely favoring my right side for strength to carry the left side functionally weakend muscles through.   Nothing hurt, but I probably looked pretty bad finishing up essentially on a tired set of legs and nearly bonking.  Pleased with the pace just over 9 mins which last week was almost a minute slower and the distance was 3.5 miles shorter.   Hoping to recover well and see additional progress next week.  Never had a marathon where I was training with the goal of being able to endure just to finish - but this is the reality given the last several weeks of set backs. 

AM - 5 miles recovery effort on the treadmill - mostly because I wanted to keep the HR in check but also it was in the 20's outside.  About 4.5 miles into it I notice my form started to falter a bit on the left side/hip - it is as if that muscle gets to a fatigue point and things start to gradually get a little wonky.  Not sure if the muscle will get stronger with the workouts or if I should run less for more rehab/recovery to allow for more time to heal/strengthen.  

AM - just 2 easy miles on the trail with Finn this morning.  Goal is to allow my body to rest for the next 2 weeks.

AM - same as yesterday - ran slower kept the HR under 110. 

AM - same 2 mile route as yesterday in the neighborhood - but instead of staring at my watch and worrying about my HR - I just ran to feel, which this morning felt very close to feeling normal - and so after my run I looked at my watch and my first mile was 9:30 and my second mile was 8:23 and my avg HR was 135.  Not completely terrible, and not completely normal for me yet, but I felt very pleased how I felt today.  

AM - same as yesterday - did not run quite as quickly in the first mile - felt a little less pleased today than I did yesterday - and I suppose if I had no race in my immediate future I would just do these short easy runs for a little while until I didn't have to think about it. 

AM - same as yesterday in the neighborhood, but I did not feel as good and my HR was higher again. 

AM - 2.25 miles on the trail with Finn - started off easy enough but my HR jumped into the 130's on the climb in the first mile and though I ended up with an avg HR of 135 at 9:30 pace, my HR was in the 150's in the second mile on the long climb back.  It is a bit distressing and discouraging to me.   I am otherwise feeling reasonably healthy with the hip and the other lingering injuries from the last year or so.  It is almost as if my HR issue is one that may linger for a while until it resolves itself.   

PM - I did another 2.75 miles on the treadmill later in the day to experiment a bit with the HR.   

AM - 1 mile very easy with Finn.

AM - 1 mile with Finn - very careful yesterday with zero activity and NSAIDS every 4 hours, got 8 hours of sleep and felt remarkably improved.  Ran at a pace 70 seconds faster per mile today at the same HR and felt much more normal.  I have my Garmin set with an alert should my HR go above 130 and today my avg was 124 with a pace of 10:40.  Would love to see similar progress over the next few days.  

AM - same as yesterday about the same time and HR. 

AM - 1.75 miles with Finn on the trail.  Got a course of prednisone yesterday for the hip and because it was late in the day, and the pack said to take the full day's dosage all at once if you do not get it in the morning - I took it, which resulted in a spike in my BP and HR which resulted in a collective decision in my house that I should go to the ER just in case it is something more serious...so 3 hours later they released me finding no major concerns and telling me to have fun on my trip to Japan tomorrow.  

AM - 1 mile with Finn before heading to the airport to go to Japan for the marathon.   

AM - 2 miles around the city of Tokyo near the hotel after a long flight.   The post viral recalibration of my heart rate is depressing - so my effort on Sunday will be just to make it through to the finish regardless of how slow.   

AM - chilly 2 miles looping around the area where the start of the race will be tomorrow.  Lots of people in town from the states for the race.  Coincental meeting with a couple of runners, one of whom has a son who lives right near my neighborhood in Milton.  Small world.   

Found this article in Runner's World regarding running post-Covid - which although I tested negative 4 times and not just home tests...Here's what I am experiencing:

For many, a slightly elevated resting heart rate might not even be noticeable. But runners who use their heart rate for training may start to recognise what has become an extremely common pattern: while they may feel well enough to run, their heart rate is higher than they would expect when doing so. Everything is suddenly recalibrated: running at a pace that previously might have peaked at 80% of your max, now starts at that level. Easy efforts suddenly become steady, steady efforts become hard and hard becomes impossible. It can feel – depressingly – like you’re considerably less fit and have less stamina than before. 

Why does this happen? ‘It seems likely that this goes back to some sort of inflammation, and also to the impact of the autonomic nervous system that has been found in many Covid study participants and patients, where they have trouble regulating their heart rate,’ says Dr Radin.

Tokyo Marathon 2024.   This was on my calendar for at least 7 months as the 6th and final of the marathon majors to obtain for the special Abbot World Marathon Major's Six Star Medal.  As with a lot of things in life, the best laid plans sometimes do not come together as hoped.   An injury to my left hip in late January and a severe (non-covid) virus flummoxed my cardiac/heart rate as it has with a number of people post-virus to where and easy effort run, is now a steady state effort, and a steady state effort is hard, and hard is not possible.  The average recovery from this malaise is 79 days...and I am only about 30 days post virus.   Anyway, with as difficult and expensive it is to get into the Tokyo race, I decided to do this race only to complete the task, being fully aware that it would be a physcially challenging and miserable experience.  I knew my time would be considerably slower than my average efforts, but that was ok as long as I finished.

Well, the race went about as I had expected, unfortunately.   Richie made the trip with his family and with his friend Johnny who works with him.  Richie had not been focused on training in the last few weeks and so was onboard with running with me however slowly that would be.  We ran together for the first half of the race.  Each time my HR would exceed 150 my Garmin alarm would sound and I would slow my pace to get it back down.   The challenge was real from the first 100 meters, where it was already at 144.   We were able to run mid 9 min to 10 min pace for the first 8 miles or so, but as the temps got warmer, and the bright sunshine started to dehydrate me, my HR began to get out of my control.  160 is my aerobic threshold, and I had no interest in allow myself to go down that path for a sure bonk.  

At around the 8 mile mark Richie noted that my gait was looking off.   He was not wrong.  As the miles went on, my left hip strength seemed to fatigue to the point in which I as literally leaning sideways antalgically causing a severally wonky running form.  I saw myself in my shadow with the sun at my back - and it was alarming.   At around mile 12 Richie needed to use the restroom - but did not want to use the portajohns which were generally down alleyways away from the course by a few hundred yards- and instead he went into a restuarant.  This is where we got split up.  So from mile 12 to 22 with my heartrate not allowing me to run for more than about 300 meters without spiking to the mid 150s and my antaligic gait - I ticked through the miles solo just trying to get to the finish line.  

Around mile 22 a guy named Rob came up to me and said hey, your going for the 6 star too? (we had special bib's on the backs of our shirts to identify us) - do you mind if I walk with you a bit?  And so Rob from Chicago became my new friend as we walked in the last 4 miles of the event.   He had a calf injury about 5 weeks ago that derailed his training and when he saw me walking with the strange lean he figured we could make the best of things by keeping each other company to the finish.   By resorting to just walking - my lean straightend up - and my HR of course was at least not problematic and perhaps even helped clear out some lactate.   We finished together, got our Six Star Medals did a photo together and bid each other farewell. 

Richie finished ahead of me, and Johnny going for his first sub 4 marathon succeeded with a 3:53 in his 4th try.  

AM - I did a mile just to see how bad my body was after yesterday's race, and to my surprise it was not as bad as I thought it was.  Not sure if I will continue with the running streak though. 

AM - about 1.5 miles very slowly, but perhaps a glimmer of some improvement with the HR issues.  Avg. pace was 11:30 but my avg HR was "only" 118 for the effort - which would have been at least 10-12 bpm higher for the same effort last week.  Also, overnight my HR was 60 which is probably the best it has been in about 5 weeks.  

AM - 1 mile on the hotel treadmill.   Heading to Kyoto today.  

AM - 1.25 miles on the treadmill at the hotel in Kyoto Japan.   Feels like the HR issue has had a change for the good today.  Resting HR the last 2 days is closer to normal overnight.  

AM - just under 2 miles (3K) from the hotel in Kyoto.  Last here before heading home.  Run was markedly better in the HR department.   Avg HR for 10:25 pace was 119.   Compared to 137 or higher the last several weeks at that pace and distance - I think I have turned a corner with the resolution of the post-virus thing.   Left hip is not normal unfortunately.   Ongoing debate with myself to either continue easy 1-2 mile runs for a while until the hip issue resolves or take a few weeks of no running recovery.  I may decide tomorrow after I get home.  

AM - 3 miles with Finn in the neighborhood. I had not planned to run today but having been away for over a week, my doggie really wanted to exercise.  I started off thinking we'd just go for a walk, but decided "maybe a mile jog" but as I got going, things felt a little better and more normal and so, I ended up running my full loop and at reasonably conservative pace with my HR not too far above normal.  

AM - getting inspiration from yesterday's positive running experience, Finn and I did another 3 mile run this morning about 30 seconds per mile faster than yesterday, with a lower average HR.   All things are moving it seems in the right direction day by day.

AM - 3 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.  Temps were back down to the low 30's - so winter is not quite over with yet.   Body continues to gradually improve day by day.  This morning's pace was slightly faster than yesterday, and the avg HR was 5 points lower - down to 129 for the run.  May just limit myself to no more than 3 miles per day for a week or two as the recovery continues.

AM - 3 miles with Finn on the Milton Trail.   Ran a good bit faster today finally averaging under 9 min per mile.  HR was higher, but this is a hilly route and that was to be expected particularly at a faster pace.  

AM - 3.25 miles with Finn at Milton HS.  Pace was in the mid 8:40's but I worked with too much effort, it seems, today.  Perhaps wanting to be back to running this route in the low 8's I pushed a bit and I am probably not quite ready for that effort.  Will scale back a bit keeping the experience easy the next couple of days knowing that my progress has been significant day by day, but I do not want to end up with a set back. 

AM - 3.25 intentionally much slower miles today to ease back into things - I think I got a little exhuberant the last two days of being able to run at a relatively decent training pace without my HR being at the aerobic limit - but I am only 10 days out from a rough marathon and post-viral HR issues along with a strain in the left hip...so I ran at 10:30 pace keeping my HR under 125 bpm - (by comparison on Feb 28th I did about a 2 mile run at 10:48 pace an my HR was 142) -  and will do that for a couple more days or so.   Starting of possible plantar fascitis in the left foot too that I noticed after yesterday's run.   

AM - 3 miles very easy again today with Finn.   Got some new Saucony Rides and Kinvaras in the the mail yesterday.  Did not run with the Garmin with the HR alert, but instead with the Apple Watch and only checked it at the end - so ran to feel.  127 avg HR and about 20 seconds faster ppm today over yesterday.  PF was not noticeable on the run.  Was very groggy this morning having taken some cold medicine last night to help me sleep.  

AM - 3.25 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.  Good bit faster and around the same avg HR as yesterday.   

AM - 3 miles on the trail with Finn before church.   Just ran to feel - decent progress. 

AM - met Dan at Milton HS for a run this morning.  He has not run in a couple of months due to a hamstring issue.  He's scheduled to have PRP in a couple of weeks, but he wanted to get out an do a short easy run - and I was happy to have some company and to keep me from running too quickly.  

AM - 3.75 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.  Temps dropped into the upper 20's - so hoping this may be winter's last gasp.  Run was decent; HR is nearly back to normal.   Resumed taking the statin two days ago and there was some achiness in the hips this morning.  

AM - a little over 4 miles today.  Drove to Dan's house and ran up to the horsefarm roads for a change of scenery - and I thought perhaps a flatter route, but my memory failed me as it turns out there are some slow steady but not steep hills out to the roads.  Ended up running with a bit more intensity than I think I should have - I find it hard to mentally govern my effort when I usually like to just let my mind drift and fall into my normal training pace at times.   Will try to run a bit easier tomorrow and the next day to allow more time for my body's fitness to get back to normal.

AM - a little less than 3.25 miles on the trail with Finn.  Intentionally easier effort today over yesterday - and although the first mile felt good and relaxed, I did not feel that way on the second mile at all - last mile was better.  Some achiness in the left hip was noticeable both pre and post run, but not during.  

AM - 4.75 miles with Finn this morning through the neighborhood and partly on the golf course - as that is where Finn really wanted to go.   Statin is likely causing some achiness in both hips as the medication gets back into my system.  Usually have this unconfortable period around the end of week one and it normalizes around the end of week two.

AM - did a mile on the trail running with Dan and the dogs, and then he needed to walk due to his bad hamstring, so we walked another 2 miles.   After breakfast I hopped on the treadmill and did 5 miles at a controlled effort which felt good not having the ups and downs of the streets and trails - and getting a decent amount of volume for the day. 

AM - 4.25 miles with Finn on the Nix Rd route - decent pace getting closer to my normal training pace - and decent HR.   

AM - 5 miles in DC along the Mt. Vernon trail from Crystal City next to the airport and along the Potomac and back.   Chilly out but once I got warmed up, the pace was decent.

AM - 5.5 miles from the hotel in Crystal City to the Tidal Basin in DC to see the Cherry Blossoms - which were in full bloom and were quite pretty as the sun was rising behind the Jefferson Memorial.   Ran with too much effort today - or heart rate was off - even though the pace was not particularly fast, my HR was like a tempo effort.  Not sure what happened today with that - could be that I ran too hard yesterday or did not have the right nutrition or the HR thing is not quite right yet.   Will scale back for the next couple of days with some easier aerobic efforts. 

AM - just and easy 3 miles this morning at home in the neighborhood with Finn.   Intentionally slower paced - hoping I just needed a few easy days to allow my body's fitness to catch up to where my brain thinks it is.  

AM - 4 miles on a hilly route - not particularly happy with this one today.   pace was slower than normal and my HR was too high for the pace.  I suppose I should have given myself another day of easier effort before just starting to run my normal training pace.  Not sure if I am having a recurrance of HR issues or a milder version of that.   A bit frustrating not to feel normal. 

PM - 2 miles on the treadmill - more experimental...HR was ok at around 9 min pace - which would suggest it is still a little bit off - but not markedly - and could be attributed to just not being in good fitness.   I may consider secondary runs on the treadmill at a controlled HR after running a couple of miles with Finn outside as a warm up for a bit. 

AM - 3.25 miles with Finn - in which we started on the trail and then got out on Dinsmore and did a loop back through the north woods neighborhood.  Oddly much faster pace today - nearly a minute faster pace per mile at the same HR as yesterday.   Pleased with the 8:30 pace but not sure what to make of the variations on pace and effort day to day.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Finn on the Nix Road route.  Another day at 8:30 pace - which was good and though the HR avg was more in the upper 130's to low 140's - it felt more solid today - not an over-reaching type effort.   Did a 2 mile walk with Dan and the dogs afterward.  

AM - 3.25 miles up and down Freemanville - as it was a Sunday morning the traffic situation permitted it.  Another decent pace effort - the third in a row. I am enjoying the trend.  Also, I read a book called the Plant Paradox - which advocates for a mostly plant based diet and even more restrictive - the types of plant based foods are even further restricted.  Anyway, one of the more interesting things in the book is crazy as it sounds, whole grains are generally NOT good for your gut inhibiting absorption of key nutrients.  Having consumed a mostly whole grain diet at least for breakfast for the last decade and correspondingly losing ferritin more rapidly each year - I did an experiment this week of eliminating whole grains from my breakfast...by the end of this week my morning blood pressure was down and my pace on daily runs improved considerably.   Could be a coincidence.

AM - just under 5.25 miles with Finn from Redd Road along the horsefarm roads.  Effort felt a little strained even early-on but had a couple of 8 min miles to end up with an average pace that was previously in my "normal" range of pace - though my HR is still probably about 5-7 bpm avg higher than what I would normally expect.   Perhaps that is just an indication of my current fitness, or still some lingering of the post-virus HR issues.   Quite a bit warmer today, and it almost felt like shirtless weather.  

AM - just under 4.5 miles at Milton HS - which was very quiet since it is Spring Break.  Ran with too much effort again today - pace was great but HR was too high and given how I have been running the last 5-6 days, it is not sustainable without potential for injury.  Fortunately I think it may be raining tomorrow morning, which means I will opt for the treadmill which in turn can allow me to keep my effort measured and in the right HR zone.  

AM - 3.25 miles at recovery run effort - much needed easy day.  Avg pace just under 10 mins avg. HR 122.  

AM - 3 miles today fairly easy.  Decided out of curiosity to use the "Garmin Coach" to train for the next few months.   Today was a benchmark run for 9 mins - which I did but then added some distance.   I think it is adaptive and uses AI.   

AM - 5 miles with Finn in the neighborhood - ran to feel / effort keeping it easy to moderate.  Legs and hips were less achy today and felt more solid.  

AM - 8.5 controlled long run paced miles - and this was the longest run I've done in over a month so far.  Felt good keeping the pace with a HR just under 130 and averaging about 9:20.  I could not do that a month ago or even two weeks ago for this distance - so this is good progress.  

AM - just 2 miles very easy on the trail as a recovery effort for my "long" run yesterday.  

AM - travelled to Indianapolis with my grandkids to experience the total solar eclipse.  Did 6 miles around the city - which became a sort of adventure run in which I stumbled upon a track which I learned later was used for the USATF championships in 2008 - and part of the IUPUI campus.   

AM - did a workout today - 15 min warm up then 6 x 1 min at 6:50ish pace alternating 1 min rest - and then 6 x 30 seconds at 5:45 pace on the IUPUI track and then a 15 min cool down.   First time I have done a workout in a very long time.  Was cautious to begin, not wanting to cause any injury or hurt anything that is healing or not quite yet healed, but overally this went reasoanbly well.  

AM - easy 4.25 miles in the neighborhood with Finn.   Discontinuing the statin again.   Way too much achiness and muscle soreness for a training block and I do not want to become injured again. 

AM - workout - progression run.   5 min warm up - then 20 mins at 8:30 pace then 10 mins at 6:30 pace and a 5 min cool down at Milton HS in the rain.   Good solid effort.  Have not run this fast in a very long time.  Felt good. 

AM - slow easy recovery run effort today of 3 miles with Finn.

AM - 11.5 miles with Greg and Finn on the Forsyth Greenway.  Temps in the low 40's but the wind was down from yesterday so it was quite nice.   Had not run with Greg in weeks and it was good to catch up.   Ran too quickly of course as I always do with him - but very pleased that I was able to manage this effort fairly well.  

AM - easy 2 mile shakeout recovery effort run with Finn on the trail before church. 

AM - 5 miles easy with Finn through the neighborhood to the Groves and back.  Body is still tired from the effort on Saturday.   

AM - workout 15 minute warmup then 20 minutes at half marathon pace ~7:30 pace.   Hilly route so sometimes very much ahead of pace and others times not.   But overall this was a solid effort.   Legs are noticeably fatigued post run. 

AM - 4.5 miles easy in Las Vegas for a conference.   The effort was harder than I expected - I always have a tough run the first day here.  

AM - 3.5 miles on the Vegas Strip - did a workout of 10 mins warm up 10 x 20 sec striders with a 45 sec rest, and the 10 mins cool down.   Felt a little weak/fatigued starting off, but the striders felt ok. 

AM - 5.5 miles heading North on the Strip in Vegas - which has three stairway bridges to cross intersections from my hotel, versus South on the Strip which has only one.   Heading home tomorrow very early - may only go out for a provisional mile to cover my streak and then some miles at home.

AM - 1 mile on the Vegas strip very early before a 5;30 am pick up for the airport- just in case I did not get a run in later.  
 

PM - 10.0 miles on the treadmill after getting home.  Tired from the long day of travel.  

AM - 3.25 miles easy before church. 

AM - 5 miles easy with Finn through the neighborhood and partly on the golf course. 

AM - workout - 15 min warm-up; 3 x 5 mins at 6:45 pace with a 3 min rest; then 6 x 30 seconds at 6:45 pace with a 1 min rest; 7.5 min cool down.  Ran at Milton HS and did part of the intervals on the middle school track.  Finn was a bit confused, as he's not done that many workouts with me but he took it all in stride.   I would have done a longer cool down as prescribed at 15 mins but the students were arriving on campus and I was probably going to be dodging cars in the parking areas.  Left hip felt a little twinge toward the last few - probably from running on the track.  Nothing seems hurt or damaged afterwards at least not yet.   Was able to hit the prescribed paces for the most part.  Felt ok about the workout - not elated like I nailed it, but also not disappointed with it either. 

AM - just under 5.5 miles easy this morning with Finn - legs were not too bad after yesterday's workout.  Very nice weather this morning in the upper 40's and as I ran along Dinsmore in Wood Valley with everything fully green and with colorful blooms and steam floating above the pond by the horse pasture - it really reminded me of a few runs I did in Ireland last year, particularly with the architecture on the houses on the edge of the woods in North Valley with the shaker roofing.  Lots of deer out and about and bird song today.  My favorite time of the year is Sping,

AM - nice run of just under 5.25 miles on the Milton Trail this morning with Finn.  Weather was perfect again and the daybreak sounds, and sights and smells were quite nice.  Running pretty well these last few weeks.  Only some slight a achy feelings in the hip - and occasionally I may have a reminder twinge of a prior injury in the left hip or right Achilles but nothing significant. 

AM - 4 miles very early very easy in the neighborhood with Finn.