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.

AM - progression run workout today 5 min warm up then 20 mins at 8:30 pace, then 10 mins at 6:45 pace and then a 5-10 min cool down.   Did this on a hilly route - that I had hoped would time out to where the fastest effort was mostly downhill, but in fact it was about half up hill and half down.   High HR on the uphill to try to maintain pace for sure - but got the workout done in the prescribed paces - so I was pleased with it. 

AM - 4.25 miles easy with Finn before church.

AM - 5.75 miles with Finn through the neighborhood and across to the Groves and back.  Somewhat faster than yesterday's effort but still easy overall. 

AM - progression run work out at Milton HS.  5 min warm up - then 20 mins at moderate/easy pace and then 10 mins at 6:30 to 6:49 pace and a 5 min cool down.   Raining and a bit humid this morning.   Was not reallying "feeling" it today in the early part of the run - though my pace was good.   The workout part started slowish, but ended with the last half at slightly faster than 6:30 pace.   I think I have done this workout at least 3 times now as a part of the Garmin Coach training - and though I think it is a decent workout, I am a little bored with the repetition.  

AM - 5 miles on the trail with Finn - recovery effort - very slow and felt weaker than I should.  Overall not a very good run today.   The maintenance work on the trail had the grass mowed short on the north end with a nice path.  

AM - speed intervals - 15 min warm up; 6 x 1 min at 6:45 pace and 1 min rest; then 6 x 30 seconds at 5:45 pace with a 1 min rest; 15 min cool down.   Did this in the neighborhood on a hilly route - which really was not condusive to hitting the paces - uphills were slow and downhills too fast and the effort was therefore not consistent.  Really a tough run for me today - I had been messing with a lectin-free diet to support my wife who is doing it. but it really limits the intake of what are normal sources of carbohydrates for me - and as a result I felt like the tinman needing some oil and without any stamina.   I think I will need to modify it so that I can continue to train.  

AM - planned easy recovery effort run - which for the first mile or so was the case, but a hilly route and perhaps a failure to rachet-down my effort resulted in me running a bit harder than I should have in the second half.  Nevertheless I felt much better than yesterday.   Perhaps its my age, but I cannot remember having my running be so impacted by my nutritional intake as it has been in the last few years.  I feel like when I was younger, I could power through a run regardless of how well or how poorly I ate.  

AM -  ran too fast for my fitness with Greg on the Greenway for 10 miles - in the latter half of the run I developed the same lateral lean to the right side at my trunk.   Asked Greg if I looked like I was leaning, and he confirmed it and said "dude, you gotta fix that!"   I have subsequently read about this phenomenon which sometimes comes out in ultrarunners in the latter part of their events.   The cause can be attributed to a weakness or fatigue on one side of the body - which makes sense, since I had the strain on the gluteus medius.    On this run, per usual on runs with Greg, we were running at a much faster pace than I normally run, and likewise this was a longer run than normal too - and due to the humid and rainy conditions, my HR was in the 160's - so this was more like a race effort.   So, I will try to run slower on my longer runs, and do some strengthen exercises for the left hip muscles.  

AM - very easy recovery 3.25 miles with Finn before church.  

AM - did a workout today on the treadmill, but started with a short warm-up outside with Finn for about a mile to give him some exercise.   It appeared that we may get some rain and I did not want to drive down to the HS to for flatter terrain only to be rained on.   So, using the Garmin Coach for treadmill, after the outdoor warm up I did 15 mins easy, then 3 x 5 mins at 6:41 pace with a 3 min rest, then 6 x 30 seconds with a 1 min rest and then about 7 mins (of the prescribed 15 min) cool down.   I felt a little less fatigued today - and the 3 intervals seemed hard, but not impossible hard, though I really had to concentrate to work through them with my HR hitting 166 on the last one that was at 6:30 pace.   The watch seems to need more than 30 seconds to properly record the pace, because on the 6 x 30 second intervals, it only recorded paces of a bit over 7 mins and I was actually running them faster than 6:30 pace according to the treadmill display.  Left hip seemed a bit sore and fatigued in the cool down, so I finished earlier than prescribed.  Overall, a decent effort. 

AM - 5 miles easy with Finn.  A little perplexed about feeling fatigue in my legs on a daily basis.  I know I did a workout yesterday, and so it is to be expected, but even with a few easy days, I seem to have this constant weakness or fatigue factor that I need to address. 

AM - 5.25 miles easy with Finn from Dan's house and up to the horsefarm trail roads.  Legs, and particularly the quads had deep tissue fatigue that seemed to actually get worse as the run progressed.   I was thinking the achiness and fatigue in the legs may have been due to inadequate nutrition (carbs specifically) but now I think perhaps I need to adjust the training - to some shorter easier efforts and gradually build more aerobic volume.

AM - 3 miles very easy and early as I had to be in the office before 8 today.   Legs were so achy and fatigued yesterday and really for several days, I decided to just run at a recovery effort pace/HR for at least a couple of days.

AM - 4.75 miles with Finn just as a rain storm was ending.   Intentionally slow and easy start - tried my best to keep the HR well below moderate effort, but the route I chose had several hills that simply did not allow for it.   Ended up still running a light to moderate pace for the remainder of the run - legs feeling improved from two days ago.  

AM - long run of 13.1 miles with Finn at the Forsyth Greenway - mostly at the correct long run HR effort.   Got a little more comfortable and faster than needed as the run progressed.   Much better this week compared to last week when I went too hard with Greg and it was much warmer and very humid.  Bit more soreness in the quads post run than usual but generally pleased with the run today.  

AM - 4.75 miles with Finn before church - not as sore or fatigued as I had expected to be.

AM - 5 miles with Finn this morning in the neighborhood.  Much slower and sore in the upper legs today - as I would expecting yesterday. 

AM - 7 miles on the treadmill as it was drizzly and foggy out this morning and I did not feel like getting wet and having to wash the dog.   Consistent effort on the treadmill at keeping my HR exactly where I wanted it for the entire run - without the issues of hills and terrain.  That's certainly one training tool benefit of that machine.  

AM - 4 miles this morning with Finn in the neighborhood.   Hip flexors were very achy and sore perhaps from running on the treadmill yesterday.  Originally planned to run much further, but scaled back particularly after the first mile or so which was not smooth at all.   Oddly then at about 3 miles maybe my muscles warmed up, and I ran much faster and with less discomfort.   I may need to just make daily decisions on how far and what type of intensity I will run based on how I feel that day versus planning anything in advance.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn on the Milton trail and the horse farm roads.  Lots of barnyard animals out today as well as a wild turkey that had Finn's interest.  Hip flexors very tight and somewhat tweaked on the left.  So frustrating but I will deal with it.  

AM -  2 miles with Riley in Boston around Jamaica Plain Pond - which is a nice park right down the street from her place.   I am having problems with the left hip flexor and think I need to give it some rest.  

AM - 5k with Riley, her husband Sam and her old roomate, Puneet along the shoreline in Boston on a cloudy cool blustery morning.   Puneet is new to running and this was her first 5k - so we ran along with her in support.   The event was for the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) organization and she is the VP of the local bar association's subcommittee for AAPI.   The event was low key and traveled along a promonade along the water and around the JFK museum library and back.  She did so well - with only a couple of walking breaks. We all had brunch afterwards at Tata Bakery - with Tracy as well.   The left hip was particularly wonky and painful at the start, but smoothed a bit during the run.  

AM - 3 miles around Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY from our hotel around the corner from Delaney's place.   She was working a wedding until the wee hours of the morning and so we stayed in a hotel instead of at her place.   Left hip probably more problematic today than yesterday - need to think about resting it more.

AM - a little over a mile in Brooklyn and then 5k on the Peloton in the hotel fitness room.   Going to try this out for a few days or a week or so - just do a mile running to keep the streak going and do cross training to maintain fitness.  

AM - just one mile again this morning before heading to the airport.  I think the idea was good yesterday, but we ended up walking quite a bit around NYC yesterday and so, the injury did not get too much rest.   Had limited time this morning before our flight so I did not get any time to do a ride on the Peloton or anything else.  

AM - 1 mile on the trail and roads and then the equivalent of 4 miles of pool running.

AM - 1 mile on the road/and trail and then the equivalent of 4 miles of running - aqua jogging for about 35-36 mins.   

AM - 2 miles of running on the trail and then 4 miles of aqua jogging in the pool.

PM - 5 miles of Alter G treadmill running at a local PT office.   Really got lucky finding this place - small quiet and 15 mins from my house.  Cheap - and I can use it M-F during normal business hours as long as no one else is using it. 

AM - 5 miles completely on the roads with Finn on a cloudy humid morning - feels as though it will be gloomy and rainy today.  A bit surprised with the run because in the first few hundred meters I was discouraged by the left hip issue, but the further I ran, the less it was painful and problematic.  A dull discomfort was there throughout the run but at a pain level of 1-2, it seemed tolerable enough.   

AM - 2 miles on the trail with Finn and then 2000 meters of indoor rowing before church.  I am catching a cold, I think.

PM - pool running - was in the water for 48 mins or so - I think that's probably equivalent to 5 miles or so.    I definitely am catching a cold.  Pool running is a bit of a learning experience for me.   I have done it before with injuries.  I do not particularly like it - and never really know if my technique is correct.   They say your HR will be 5-10 beats per minute slower than for regular land running.   So for me - the HR effort is equivalent to an easy long run.   Tough to record on Apple Watch or Garvin  - I just use the treadmill / indoor running option, but it thinks I am running at 16-17 min pace per mile when it records the distance.   I think a have inflammation in my hip bursa - which may have strained the left hip flexor or it may be tendonitis.   I may alternate between pool running and the Alter G. - and still run at least one mile per day for the next several days or weeks until things settle down. 

AM - very sick with a fever and there were heavy thunderstorms early - but I got out for a mile which was very depressing- felt terrible and the left hip was quite tender and painful.  

AM - 1 mile on the trail in the vibram shoes with Finn.  I actually think the shoes helped keep me from overstriding and as a result less aggravation of the hip flexor injury.   I think today I am going to end my run streak at 1550 days.   I run for enjoyment, but over the last year or so, with multiple injuries that I have run through, and this one beginning the pattern again, plus having a cold/fever - it is not enjoyable at all.  It is frustrating and depressing.   So I will shift to walking Finn for a bit everyday, and cross train in the pool and until the pain goes away I will try to keep myself from running.  I have had this hip flexor injury multiple times over the years going all the way back to high school.  The only thing that effectively resolves it, is time away from running which hopefully will be the case this time as well.   

AM - zero running miles.   Walked Finn for 1.5 miles on the trail and then did 45 mins of pool running which I am equating to 5 miles of running.   

AM - 1.25 mile walk with Finn on the trail and then 1 hour of pool running for the eqivalent of a little less than 7 miles of land running.  

I had read a bit about using proper technique - which I thought I had done in the past when I have used pool running during periods of injury - but I revisited it them, and though I tried some adjustments, I was not getting my heartrate up high enough to seem like I was having the same cardio effect as land running.   About halfway through today, I suddenly got dialed-in on the right technique, almost by accident - as the music from the Black Crowes was thumping and I matched my cadence to the beats per minute I was hearing -  and magically it actually felt in my mind as if I was running repeat quarters on the track at Dunedin High School with Rob Murphy and Doug Covert - nearly weightless as I probably was 40 some years ago and just flowing with my HR locked into what it feels like running on land.  

If I can run with that technique in the pool for the next several days or weeks, I am confident that I will easily maintain my fitness during this period of injury.  

AM - 1.25 miles walking with Finn on the trail and then 47 mins of pool running.   Legs were a bit tired today even without the pounding of running.  

AM - 1.25 mile walk with Finn then 3100 meters of indoor rowing and 30 mins on the Peloton as Tracy was getting the pool area ready for a bridal shower she is hosting out there and I would be in the way if I tried to get a pool run in.   I will attempt a pool run later in the day.  

PM - 75 mins of pool running - which I would equate to about 8.5 miles of running. 

AM - 1.25 miles walk with Finn and then 2000 meters of indoor rowing and 5.25 miles on the Peloton. 

AM - 2 mile walk with Delaney in NYC - she's resuming run training for the marathon in November, so she did a walk/run thing whilst I walked.  I tried jogging a little bit, which was still a bit painful and even more so afterward when I was walking to my business meetings in Manhattan.    Total walking through the day was probably 4 miles.

AM - 5.25 miles on the Arc Trainer eliptical in the hotel Equinox gym.  The first eliptical I stepped on was a different configuration and actually caused some pain in the hip - but the Arc trainer was fine - and I got a solid CV workout.   Very concerned that the healing of the hip will take much longer than I had originally hoped and expected.   The good news however is that my weight is down, my BP is down and my sleep data is significantly improved with the new anti-lectin diet.   

PM - following a day of meetings I did another 2.25 miles on the elliptical and 2000 meters on the rower. 

AM - 3.0 elliptical miles and 2000 meters of indoor rowing at the hotel before my return to ATL.

AM - 1.5 miles of walking on the trail with Finn and then the pool running equivalent of 5 miles on land.   With the walk today, I did a little "testing" of the injury using a recommended return to running protocol.   1 min of jogging, then 2 mins of walking x5.  Initially I was very tentative and did not do a full minute but got bolder toward the end.  The recommendation is that if the pain level is 2 or lower, you can begin the protocol.   Even if the pain gets to a 3 or a 4 in the running intervals that's ok, but stop if it exceeds that level.   If you pain level afterwards during the day exceeds a 2 then you need to take a day off before resuming the protocol - which builds on itself with 15 levels.  You do each level twice which gradually adds more running time with more intervals and longer ones until there are no walking breaks.  Some may go through level progressions faster and some slower.  I was quite pleased with how it felt following the pool running and doing my daily activities.   

The thing about this hip flexor injury is that generally if you are on both feet at the same time as in standing or running, it is really not too problematic because the other leg absorbs the additional stabilization responsibilities for walking and standing.   But running has you on one leg at a time, however briefly, and the weakness of the injured hip flexor is too much for the muscles that have tears or micro tears and that results in pain and sometime functional deficits.   Deep water running helps with no weight-bearing and helps maintain fitness levels.  Most elipticals are good because you are not isolating the weight of your body on one leg at a time because the machine/equipment "catches" the legs and carries them forward with the movement.   Patience and non-weight-bearing or otherwise put no isolation of weight-bearing on the injured leg allows for healing.  The extent of the injury of course has a direct relationship to how long it may take to heal properly.   Early "testing" can in my experience result in aggravating or prolonging the healing cycle.  The is probably the most difficult part for me - having patience or mindset to allow for the body to heal rarely is on the same timetable as the body's actual healing process.  

AM - 2.5 miles walk/run with Dan! and Finn - doing 2 mins on and 1 min off x5 so 10 full minutes of running - which went well with the hip injury.   Pain never exceeded a 2-3 and feels fine afterwards as well.  3 mile land running equivalent of pool running after the walk. 

Dan had PRP for a hamstring tear in March and has not run since then - His doctor told him a month ago to wait 30 more days before resuming his running - which timing worked well today - and he did the running with me.   His hamstring was fine - but unfortunately he hurt his back about 10 days ago doing some landscaping work - and he has radiating pain and numbness in one leg - so he still may be limited in being able to fully return to running. 

AM - 2.75 mile walk/run with Dan on the trail with the dogs.   2 mins on 1 min off.   Felt better than I thought I would given that I was very achy and the hip was more tender yesterday afternoon and evening.  Not really sure what's going on - but I will take it.   5 miles land equivalent of pool running afterwards. 

AM - 3 miles of a run/walk where I did 3 mins on and 1 min off.  So this was mostly running.  Pain level was a 1-2 at the beginning of each effort.  Very pleased with the progress of recovery.   

AM - 3.25 miles of mostly running.   4 mins on and 1 min off.  Felt reasonably decent - pain level was 2-3 just in the first several steps but once started, it is less than a 2 or a 1, but I felt a bit wonky much of the time - as if I could not just relax and run.   I stopped approximately every 4 mins to walk and each time I had sort of the same experience of low pain levels.   I averaged just over 10 min miles even with the walking breaks - so that was not too bad.   It is a somewhat strange injury in that the pain level comes and goes regardless of activity.  For example I awoke at 3 am as my dog evidently urgently needed to go out and at that time I thought to myself, the pain level on the hip is more than it was all day yesterday, I probably won't run this morning - and then after I went back to bed and got up 3 hours later, the pain level was less than a 1 and so I decided to run/walk.   After I finished the run, I had zero pain in the hip and did 2000 meters on the indoor rower, with zero pain.  Now as I write this entry a few hours later, I have some level of vague achiness.   With most of my injuries there is a linear progression of improvement, sometimes interupted by too much activity that disrupts or aggravates the injury - but this one is a little perplexing.  Directionally this seems postitive though.  

PM - elliptical / ARC trainer - 5 miles

AM - 3.25 miles on the trail with Finn.  Full run with no walking today.  First 100 -200 meters were a little painful - but got much less noticiable and because of the experience yesterday of restarts after walking for a minute were somewhat painful, I decided to just run with no walking breaks today.   Ran much faster than I had expected - after a first mile of slightly over 9 mins - my next two miles were in the low 8's.   HR was a bit higher than I would like it to have been, but this was a very postive step.   Hip was not really painful even after finishing, and so I did 2000 meters of indoor rowing followed by some yoga.   I think I will supplement the running this week with more elliptical/arc trainer minutes to work on the cardiovascular restart with the remaining time I have before Grandma's next weekend - without the pounding on the recovering legs.   
 

PM - 6 miles on the elliptical. 

AM - 3 mile run / walk with Dan on the Milton trail with Finn.   Initially I thought we were doing just a run, but Dan's back is not really ok, so he had expected to do a run/walk - and so that's what we did, which in the end was probably good for me too.  Easier on the hip for sure during and after.   I will continue to supplement with the elliptical/arc trainer for the next several days until I have to do some business travel as that provides a really good CV workout without the pounding and is remarkably close to the running motion.   It is better than pool running at least for me in that it keeps the HR up by adding resistance with the machine whereas pool running requires you to create your own resistance by moving more vigorously than is probably natural.  Or at least that is my experience.  

AM - 3 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail - again we did a run/walk thing mostly for Dan who is not in running shape and also having some lower back issues.  He went to the doctor yesterday and was told he does not have any nerve compression and he has no restrictions against resuming his running training now.  This has actually been of benefit to me to keep me from overdoing things.  I would normally have just run 3-5 miles grinding through some nagging discomfort - but because of adapting the effort to ease Dan's reintroduction to running, both yesterday and today - my hip actually feels markedly improved.  I think will still do some elliptical / arc trainer work today and tomorrow to maintain CV fitness.  

PM - tried to go to the clubhouse to do elliptical but there was as swim meet going on and no place to park anywhere - so I did 5 miles equivalent pool running instead. 

AM - 3 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS.  Dan let me know he left his house late, and told me to do the first lap on my own and then he would meet me.   Ran in the Vapor Fly Nike's to see how my hip would do with them in case I run in them in the race next Saturday.  First few hundred meters were a little stiff and awkward but not really "discomfort" - ended up hitting a groove about a half mile in, and felt good until I met up with Dan - was probably running low 8's when we connected, but then slowed to his pace of about 9:45 to 10 which was actually probably good for me - and we took a few walking breaks for him as he gets back into running fitness.   Debating whether to do elliptical today or tomorrow or just let the hip rest - it is feeling so much better. 

AM - 3 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail.  Some walking for Dan but much less than the last few days. 

AM - 4 miles with Finn up to North Valley and up the Dinsmore hill coming back.  Hip was achy but not terrible - very warm and humid today.  

PM - Travelled to Amsterdam late last evening and arrived midday today.  Got out for a run at VondelPark before a dinner meeting.  Felt a bit wonky after the overnight flight and hip pain was annoying for the first couple of miles.  Ended up running fairly quickly relatively speaking - and with a much higher HR than I should have - but I was kind of enjoying the pleasant weather in the mid 60's having just come from very warm weather in Atlanta over the weekend.   

AM - in Amsterdam - tried going a different route to run partly in VondelPark but also around the park near the museums.   Felt very slow and stiff this morning and the left hip was uncomfortable for a good part of the run.  Perhaps also because I resumed taking the Zetia and it messes with my muscles.  I will discontinue it until after the race on Saturday, which based on how I felt today, will probably end up being a longer training run with consideration of a DNF/Uber ride back to the hotel after enjoying a few miles with friends.   

AM - 1 mile of walking in Amsterdam and 2000 meters of indoor rowing before heading to the airport.  

AM - 2 miles on the trail with Dan and Finn - hip felt a bit better with a day off yesterday.  Plan to take tomorrow off for travel to Minn and then see what I have the ability to do on Saturday morning.  Supposed to be cool and rainy.  

No run today - travel day to Duluth 

2024 48th Grandma's Marathon - This race was on my calendar a few weeks after Tokyo when I started really feeling better from a hip injury and some post virus heartrate issues - and I trained well for several weeks, but unfortunately tweaked my left hip flexor when starting out too quickly one morning to get a across a street to avoid oncoming traffic and my muscles were not yet warm.   That injury derailed my training - first by training through it, the muscle could not properly heal, then various cross training efforts limited my cardiovascular development.  In fact, I was not sure I would even be able to run this race even last week - pain in the hip was not fully resolved and the lack of time on my feet plus the lack of long run efforts was going to be the other challenge...I even considered this was going to be a training run, to where if I did not feel well, or the hip was hurting, that I would drop out / DNF to be smart about it. 

So...this actually worked out better than I had expected.   Travelled up with Richie and Johnny meeting them at the airport in Minneapolis and drove in to Duluth on Friday afternoon.   Weather forecasts called for rain and temps in the low to mid 50's.   We were hoping for a light rain or just cloud cover and a tailwind - we pretty much got that for the early part of the race.   The bus transportation to the start cut it very close.  Each of us had to use the toilet and had 15 mins to get that done with long lines for the porta-potties by the time we arrived.    Johnny literally exited the toilet and ran to the start and the gun went off.  The three of us ran together at just over 9 min pace with constant conversation and interaction with other runners.   We picked up a runner age 21 who was in his first marathon with a goal of sub 4 hours around mile 11 or 12.   Things were going really better than I had expected, the hip was not really painful and the rain held off for the early miles and the wind was at our backs.  Things started to get more difficult for me - I assume because of the lack of sufficient training because my HR started to climb above my AT at around mile 14 and when we got to mile 17 and my HR was approaching the 170 mark at the 9 min pace, I bid the guys good luck and I slowed my pace to try to get the HR down under 160.   I was able to run the rest of the miles in the rain, not too significantly slower; in fact I think I had just one mile at 10 pace but I never really blew up in terms of pace per mile and managed to keep the HR as close to 163 ultimately as possible.   Last mile was pretty difficult as we swung around facing a headwind and rain coming off Lake Superior.  Finished in 4:06 which was about a 6 min positive split from the first half.  Richie came in at 3:57 and Johnny at 3:58.   We met up afterward after navigating through some really cold windy conditions at a local restaurant; had some lunch, met some new friends and then did a sauna/cold plunge thing at Pier B - which involved jumping into a canal filled with the Lake Superior water that was in the mid 50's.   Never expected to be doing that - but it was fun and there were runners from all over the country at the spa that we got to meet.  Everyone was so interesting and friendly the entire trip.   

Good run - not too sore, except for the left hip, the next day.  Going to let the inflammation subside hopefully after a few days, before resuming training.

Marathon #45 is in the books. 

AM - 1 mile elliptical in the hotel fitness center followed by some yoga.   Considerable soreness and inflammation particularly in the left hip as expected. 

AM - 2 miles of walking in Chicago - as I am here for a conference.   Soreness had subsided quite a bit overnight.   Did some yoga afterward. 

AM - 2 mile walk with Dan and the dogs on the trail.   I returned early from my conference in Chicago deciding it was better to be home sleeping in my own bed than attending a half day/half morning conference Tuesday.   Legs continue to improve day by day in recovery from the race.  I am antsy to run a bit, but the left hip probably needs more days of no running to allow for the inflammation to subside more substantially.   

AM - 2.5 miles of walking in the neighborhood with Finn.  Day by day the post marathon inflammation is subsiding.   Left hip is still feel like it needs a bit more time to resolve fully.  Toward the end of the walk, something sort of "snapped" into place with it - and I think that was a positive sign of nearing recovery.  

AM - 1.75 mile walk with Dan and the dogs from his place followed by 2000 meters of indoor rowing and yoga.   Muscle aches and inflammation appear to be nearly at a normal stasis with the exception of the left hip flexor iliopsoas or whatever it is.   That is probably at 60-75% depending when I think about it.   The key measure for me is if I am balancing on the bad leg to put pants or shorts on - if it is painful to start or afterward I still have more time off for recovery.   

Sadly my dog Finn is having some medical issues.   For the second time in as many weeks he's had a seizure.   Both times my wife and I were present when they happened.  We took him to the vet after the first one, and the diagnosis was grim - he's lost 3 lbs in the last month and they said if he continues to have periodic seizures like this, that he's possibly got a brain tumor as the cause, and may only have a few months.   This of course was without any MRI or biopsy or anything - but just an experienced vet saying that he has seen this in other dogs as a pattern.   Poor guy is just 9 1/2  years old.   When he comes out of the seizures, he's very hyper and playful and behaves otherwise completely normally.   

AM - 3 miles of walking with Dan and the dogs on the Milton trail.   Everyday I see measurable improvement in the left hip.   Today it is as close as I have been to feeling as though it is almost resolved/healed.   Going to give it another couple of days to where there is literally zero residual achiness or slight pain.  Restarted statin therapy on Wednesday - and I think the non-running only walking exercise is allowing for an easier transition - as there is normally a period of muscle aches and myalgia which is very noticable when running - but with the exception of some fleeting muscle pain - it has been relatively complication free.   Hope this continues. 

AM - walk with Dan and the dogs on the Milton Trail in a light rain - very humid.  Considered running a bit today from how well I felt yesterday, but I did not feel like the hip was pain-free enough today.  Tried a little running at the end and stopped nearly immediately.  Then Dan suggested I just do a very very easy light jog/shuffle - which actually didn't hurt at all.   Got back to the house and hopped on the treadmill and did a run/walk at 12-13 min pace and it went fine.  Pain level no more than a 2 out of 10 and post run, not even a 1.   

AM - taking Dan's advice - I did a very slow jog progressing ever so slightly to cover 3 miles at about 11:30 pace.   Pain level was 1 or below and the effort was light which was good in the very warm and humid summer conditions.   Felt fine afterwards, doing yoga. 

AM - Ran with Dan and Finn going maybe a little bit faster than yesterday, maybe a little more painful than yesterday.  Yoga afterwards, 

AM - 3 miles in the neighborhood with Dan and Finn - ran slightly faster this morning with an avg pace of 9:45.   Wish the hip issue was completely resolved, but it continues to linger...Dan is not very fit having been off of running for 3 months; so running easy and short is good for him.  He asked me to slow down a couple of times, which was probably good for me as well and then near the end of the run he said, he had "no more gears" to go to if I wanted to "kick it in".    May consider taking tomorrow off or going much slower and shorter...I will run in the Peachtree this year with Bradlea and Marcus.  She's got a plan to run a half marathon in January, and has been walking consistently but not really doing any running since having her baby 8 months ago.  So her plan is to run/walk and she wants me to do it with them; which honestly is probably a good idea for me as well. 

AM - 3 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS - about the same pace as yesterday - the initial few steps and then the first mile or so there are aches and twinges in the hip, but no worse each day at least.  I benefit from Dan's lack of fitness to keep the pace slow and easy - my avg HR is in the low 120's.   So, maybe a week or two of low mileage at low intensity will be good - certainly seems to be good for the statin therapy at least so far which is now 1 full week since resuming it.   Tomorrow will be a run/walk of the Peachtree with Bradlea and Marcus.

Peachtree Road Race - 2024.  I did not race this one today - and instead ran with my eldest daughter Bradlea and her husband Marcus. Bradlea is trying to get back into running and is registered for a half marathon in January and because of my slow recovery from my left hip flexor - it made sense for me to run 12-13 min pace on a very hot day with them.  It was really good to enjoy the day in a different way than I normally do this event.  We worked on keeping Bradlea from overcooking herself - and she did very well.  By the time we were headed back home on the Marta they announced black flag conditions and they cancelled the remainder of the event.  Heat index today is 109.  But we were done early enough and it was not too bad particularly at the pace we were running.  

AM - 3.5 miles with Dan and Finn on the horse farm trail roads and around Providence and the elementary school.  Quite warm and humid with a high dew point today.  Hip continues to be about the same - achey / annoying but not functionally impairing me. 

AM - 3.5 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail.  Kept it very easy as I noticed Dans HR was way too high the last several days.  He needs time to gradually get back in running shape and that's actually good for me too.  

AM - 5 miles with Finn at a controlled easy pace at least for the first 2/3rds but the humidity and dew point were really high and so my HR was above the easy/moderate target for the last third.   

AM - 1 mile walk on the trail with Finn who had several seizures yesterday unfortunately - and though he really wanted to run - I kept him on the leash and limited the walk to 15-20 mins.   The vet prescribed some anti-seizure meds today, which hopefully will be effective for the little guy.

I ran 4.25 miles on the treadmill afterwards to keep my effort and HR in check - as it has been quite warm and humid with high dew points.   I need to consider doing this for a little while to get some decent mileage in at HR levels that are not unduly influenced by the weather conditions.  

AM - 1 mile walk outside with Finn, then 5 miles on the treadmill at 65% HRR which ended up being about 9:30 pace for most of it.   Hip is still not 100%, but getting closer.  Finn's vet gave us a script for anti-seizure meds which we started yesterday and it seemed effective.  It makes him slightly lethargic and not as amped up as he usually is, which kinda makes him now act a little more sedate, and chill.  I was concerned that the run on Sunday which was quite warm and humid may have contributed to the 4 seizures he had in 18 hours - e.g. maybe he was dehydrated, with an electrolyte imbalance - maybe he's having more advanced kidney issues...so, I think we will limit his exercise for a little while during the heat of the summer or at least until he adjusts to the meds. 

AM - 3.75 miles at Milton HS.   Ran with Dan and Finn this morning.  Finn is having an adjustment period to his seizure meds - and was very excited and restless last night; so I thought he may benefit from a run today instead of just walking as we had the last two days.   Dan was out of town the last couple of days and wanted to run, but after the first mile or so, his left calf muscle was cramping - and we walked a couple of times until he insisted that I finish another loop and he would walk it in.  We met up for a short walk around the practice field.   He's really having a hard time with injuries and "stuff."  

It was slightly lower in dew point today, and I felt well with just a little achiness in the hip to where I was running at sub 9 min pace for the last mile and a half.   Seeing some progress in fitness and with the injury. 

AM - just about 4 miles in the neighborhood with Finn and then another 2.5 miles on the treadmill.   I am very cautious about overdoing my runs with Finn as he has had a rough week with the seizures on Sunday, and is adjusting to the anti-seizure meds.   His appetite has increased and hopefully he will regain his weight loss and he seemed to sleep better last night though still got me up around 3:30 am to go out to use the bathroom.  No seizures since Sunday - fingers-crossed that we've seen the last of them. 

AM - did a 2 mile warm-up on the trail with Finn, then hopped on the treadmill for a 30 min tempo run which ended up being just sub-8 min pace - which doesn't sound like much but considering the last several months of illness, injury and more injury - this was actually a pleasant turn of events.  Definitely feeling stronger in the left hip now, but also now feeling some myalgia associated with the statin that I resumed 2 weeks ago.  Up until yesterday, I had not had really any muscle aches etc. But I ran 60 mins yesterday and did a tempo run today, so that was more volume and intensity than I have done in quite some time.  

AM - slow easy 8.25 miles this morning.  Warmer and more humidity today.  Only took Finn for the first mile and then dropped him back at the house.  Kept the HRR at 65% avg - with the exception of the last mile or so.  Slow going, but patience is needed to be effective.

AM - just 2 miles with Finn on the trail before church this morning.   Resisted the urge to go further and to go a second time later in the day on the treadmill.

AM - 3 mile walk/run with Dan and Finn.  Dan has a calf injury ("calf heart attack") which from my experience benefits from an alternating walk run ever few hundred yards or ever minute or so.   I will do a normal workout later on the treadmill.

PM - late lunch - 6 miles on the treadmill at just under 8 min pace.  Wore the Alphafly 2's - minimal hip discomfort - effort was smooth - and it has been such a long time since I have been able to do this.  Really pleased with how things are progressing right now. 

AM - 3 mile walk/run with Dan and Finn quite early as Tracy and I are traveling to WV today to visit her family.  Dan's calf is doing well with the walk run therapy.  Hopefully by the time I return next week he will be able to graduate to a full run for the morning workouts.  

AM - 6 miles along the Ohio river in WV.  Kinda did not have a great flow.  Hip and Achilles were stiff and achy to start, and then by the time they warmed up, the high dew point and humidity had my HR above target - so it was mostly a grind/slog.  

AM - slogged through 8 miles in WV again today - slightly cooler but just as humid and sticky today.  Pace was abysmal, but from a controlled HR perspective, I kept it in check and did not overdo it.  

AM - 1 mile warm up and then 3 miles at tempo effort with a 1 mile cool down on the perimeter trail around the 12th street ball fields in WV.   Much cooler and more comfortable running today with temps in the upper 50's.   Helped a little but I had very little speed in my legs - pleased that I was able to average 7:52 per mile, but that calibration is just so much slower than I am used to running.  Hoping to see some gradual progress in my fitness over the next month or so as I slowly re-build my aerobic base.  I am fairly certain that the lack of strength in the hip flexor is impacting my speed a good bit.  

AM - 10.25 miles in WV out Glendale creek.  Good run for a change.  Not sure if it was the lower dew point, less pain in my hip, or extra carbs from family gatherings yesterday, but this felt nearly normal in terms of pace and strength.  

AM - a little over 3 miles in WV for one more day.  Temps were agreeable - hip was slightly less cooperative than yesterday- first mile was slow but then shifted to a faster gear and ran a good pace to get a few miles in today before church.

Travel day.  No running.

AM - 4.5 miles of running with a little walking with Dan who is gradually returning from injury.  Good to catch up and to run easy. 

AM - 4 miles with Delaney who is in town for a week and with Dan and Finn - all at their pace with some walking - but good to be out on the trail with friends and family. 
 

PM - 3 more miles on the treadmill after my workday was done. 

AM - just under 6 miles with Delaney and partly with Dan and Finn, the latter two ending at 4 miles - Dan, because he's recovering from injury and Finn because I think the heat and humidity combined with his age is just a little too much to run beyond that amount of time.   Delaney is doing very well with her marathon training using heartrate.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS.  Delaney was going to run a tempo on the treadmill, but ended up awaking with a fever and a cold.  Run was very comfortable at or below 9 min pace to accomodate for Dan's injury recovery and back issues (he sees a doctor this morning for the latter).  HR was only 122 avg for the run which had an avg pace of 9:15 - on a very muggy sticky morning.  To be fair, it is one of the few routes we run which is mostly flat without hills.  But in any event, it seems like good fitness progress - I will consider a tempo run later today on the treadmill before a longer run tomorrow with Riley who arrives this evening for a visit (and Delaney if her ailment permits).

PM - 3 miles tempo on the treadmill.  Felt very good.  

AM - total of about 10. Did a short 1.5 mile run with Finn and then drove the girls to the Halcyon trailhead.  8.5 miles at about 10:45 pace with them to keep in their easy HR zone.  Delaney unfortunately tripped and fell at the start and abraded her legs shoulder and side of her face - felt so bad for her.  But she's tough and did the run anyway.   

AM - 4 miles with Finn before church.  

AM - 4 miles with the girls and Dan and Finn on Wood Road/Milton Trail.  There's a movie / filming crew at one of the horse farms - we noticed all of the vehicles last Thursday but it was not readily apparent that it was filming until today when we saw all of the signage and generators with the trucks and crews arriving this morning.   Atlanta has become such a hub for the movie industry over the last several years, but it is still kind of exciting to see so close to home.  

AM - 5.75 miles with a full team - Riley, Delaney, Dan and Finn (at least for the first 4 miles) and then I dropped Finn at the house and Dan left us to get to an early meeting.  Ran through neighborhood and then the last 20 mins were on the trail.   My girls leave this morning to head back to their homes in the northeast.  Was really nice to have them here for a visit.  

PM - 4 more miles on the treadmill after my workday 

AM - 3.25 miles very early before a morning flight to NYC for work.  

AM - 5.5 miles with a work colleague in NYC up the Hudson River trail and over to Central Park before heading back down to our hotel. Good pace - quite warm and humid.  

AM - a little less than 3.5 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS.  Quite warm and very humid.  Finn stopped at a little over 3 miles and based on the instructions from his vet, that means he's done and it is time to end the run and so we headed back to the cars.   Will try to get a second run in later in the day on the treadmill. 

AM - 12.25 or so miles this morning.   Began with 3 miles with Finn through the neighborhood, then dropped him back at the house as Dan arrived.  Ran another 7.5 miles with Dan and then another 1.5-2 miles on my own after he was finished.   Good long run effort in very steamy humid conditions.  Body felt as though this was not over-reaching or too intense.  Happy with the progress.

AM - about 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn early before church.  Kept it at recovery effort and Finn seemed to do fine today.   
 

PM - 3 more miles on the treadmill while watching the Olympics.  

AM - 3.5 very easy recovery effort miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail.   Legs felt very fatigued and I even felt a twinge of plantar fasciitis last night and this morning and considered taking the day off - but the trail road is soft and I wore the old VaporFly's that seem to be easier on my legs.  They are still filming on location - and we found out it is for the series called Tulsa King - and the code word for the set signage is "King Street".  Maybe we will see Sly Stallone out there one morning.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house up to the horse farm trail roads.  Very heavy humid morning again.  Legs were less fatigued but still had no pop early-on and Dan's back was bothering him, so we took it slow.  I may try to get a few more better paced miles in later today on the treadmill if my schedule allows. 

PM - 3 more miles on the treadmill after my workday - mostly low 8 min pace   

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn on the golf course.   Pace has been slow with most sessions with Dan - and I think that's ok because I am getting miles in, and I am not feeling too beat-up on a daily basis; and I have been trying to get a second run in on the treadmill later in the day at a faster pace.   Ideally we'd go a little bit longer and about a minute or so faster - but this is fine for now as I am feeling healthy and day by day the injuries are fading to nearly be complete 100% gone. 

PM - 3.5 more miles at 8:15 pace on the treadmill after my workday. 

AM - just a little under 4.25 miles with Dan on his birthday and Finn quite early before a meeting at my office.  

AM - 4 decently paced miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS - felt as though I could have easily run faster - but felt both Dan and Finn were not ok with that - and so I would say this was probably just less than 1/2 effort per Lydiard.  

AM - good long run this morning.   Had some company for parts of it.  Started early with 3 miles with Finn and then brought him back to the house - dropping him off as Dan arrived and then did about 5 with him until he peeled off to go back to my house to head to his son's cross country time trial.  Got a little over 15 miles in today with the last 7 of them all under 9 min pace - but keeping a reasonable long run HR as the temps started to rise.  Legs were understandably fatigued in the last mile or two, but overall very pleased to get this in.  Had labs yesterday with the results all coming back very solid in all concerned categories.   Weight is down too.  

AM - 5.25 very easy miles with Finn before church - not quite as humid today.  Legs were fatigued from yesterday's long run but in an expected not overly noticeable way.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Miton HS through Crabapple.  Light effort but not as slow as recovery.   I think for the weekday runs with Dan I will probably treat these as longer shakeout runs and do secondary runs with more specific workouts a few days of the week.  

PM - 4.00 on the treadmill as a tempo effort for the last 3 miles - which ended up being 7:30 - with the last half mile at 7:08 pace.  Solid. 

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house and up to the horsefarm trail roads.  Slow start, little bit sore, but ultimately felt reasonably good and could have gone longer and faster if Dan had been willing, but he was not.   Perhaps a shakeout later today after my workday is completed.  
 

PM - just under 3.5 miles after my workday on the trail.  

AM - 3.25 very easy relaxed miles with Dan and both dogs on the trail this morning.  Legs felt lots of fatigue and almost painful yesterday evening - so I considered not running at all - but actually just doing a morning shake jog and chatting was perfect.  

AM - a little over 4 miles this morning with Dan and Finn at the high school.  As we were finishing the third loop getting ready to start to the 4th mile, Finn just stopped and then turned back to where our vehicles were parked.  Following the advice of my vet to follow Finn's cues - we went back to where we parked and let Finn sit in the back of the truck and we did a few laps around the practice lacrosse field.  He seemed fine when we were done.  

PM - 4 more on the treadmill late afternoon - easy.

AM - 4 miles on the trail with Dan and the dogs.  Each of the dogs were filthy, particularly Rosie who as a lab cannot pass a body of water without jumping in - and the ponds on the trail are quite marshy and muddy on their banks.  So they each had to be cleaned up afterward.  Run was fine - I have sort of resigned myself that training performance is going to be very low key in this training cycle - some days my body will feel lots of energy and I will do a workout but then struggle with aches rccovering for a few days - So, I would much rather run easy consistent miles day after day than the former.  

PM - 3.5 miles on the treadmill late afternoon.

AM - long run this morning with the first 4 with Finn and then Dan met me at my house and Greg was an unexpected no-show.  We did a completely different route with a long climb - then got a text from Greg who got his signals crossed and ultimately met us for the last 2 miles.  Dan got his longest run of 9 miles that he's gotten in probably as many months.  Terribly humid and uncomfortable running conditions had me decide not to add any extra miles at the end as I did last week.  

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Fin before church.  Very humid and sticky this morning.  

AM - 4 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.  It is probably the first time in forever that nothing really had any pain or discomfort in the first miles or so.  Slightly less humid but still warm; looking forward to cooler weather in the coming weeks.  Ran the last 2.5 miles considerably faster (close to 8 min pace) than I have been running - though my HR reflected a lack of fitness at that speed.  Enjoyed the run - especially since I was only planning to run 3 miles at 10 min pace - and was able to run much faster without feeling taxed by it.   
PM - 4 more miles on the treadmill after my workday.  

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton trail.  A bit cooler and slightly less humid - good steady run but not too fast. 

AM - ran on the trail with Dan and the dogs - even went to the far back south woods area today which although quite overgrown, had enough pathway without thorns and spider webs to impede our efforts.  

PM - 4 miles on the treadmill at the end of my workday - 1 mile warm up then a progression down to 7 min pace for the last mile.  Solid. 

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS and Crabapple.  Finn stopped and refused to start the third lap around the perimeter of the parking lots, but I sensed it was not due to fatigue, but instead he just did not want to run the same loop; so we ran back towards the cars where we parked, but exited the campus and ran a loop around the entry to Crabapple, and he seemed perfectly content.   I guess he's asserting his preferences in older dog years.

PM - 3.25 miles more or less on the trail after my workday - the temps are not as high over the last week, and it is good to get outdoors to clear my head.  Very slow easy effort.  Many deer out this evening.   

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house out to the horse farm trail roads - temps still agreeable today, though they are suppose to return to very unseasonably warm beginning on Sunday.  

AM - long run today - weather was nearly perfect at right around 60 degrees.   Got an early start as Dan wanted to get to his son's cross country meet - so we started just after 5 am.  Finn ran with us for the first 4 miles, then we took him back to the house; and ran another 5 miles together before Dan had to leave.  Did the last 8 on my own - and if I am honest, my legs and body were tired in the last few miles, but I stayed consistent with pace and heart rate and will count this as a nice deposit in my fitness bank.

AM - 3.75 very easy miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail before church.

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn on the WC Golf Course. 
PM - 4 miles treadmill tempo after my workday.  Very good solid workout.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and Finn from Milton HS and through Crabapple - although slightly warmer and a little more humid with expected highs in the 90's the next two days, it is really fairly comfortable out.   I think officially my hip flexor injury is 99.9% recovered.   My effort this morning was at an avg pace of 9:17, but my HR was only 118 for the entire effort which is quite good for me of late.  In Feb / Mar with the hip injury and post-viral HR issues I could not even run a mile at 10:30 pace under 150 bpm on some mornings.  

I attribute this improved fitness to 1. taking some time-off / ending my running streak on May 28; and 2. probably, more importantly, changing my diet to an anti-lectin - gut friendly nutitional program.  My weight is down by at least 15 lbs and my labs are all within normal ranges total Cholesterol under 185, Ferritin 105; I have an avg blood pressure every morning at well below 120 /73 - (this morning was 115/65), I am now 138 lbs, my sleep data shows an average of 7 hours per night with at least 2 hours of deep sleep (up from 45 mins per night).   I have averaged over 40 mins per week since July and the last two weeks are over 50 miles.  I cannot say enough about gut health.  
 

PM - 3.5 miles in the heat of the late afternoon on the trail.  

AM - legs were very much in need of a rest - so we did a slow recovery run effort on the trail with the dogs.

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton trail.  Quite a bit warmer and sticky today...heading to Michigan this afternoon for a wedding - hoping the weather is more comfortable.  

AM - a little over 6 miles in Grand Rapids Michigan - here for a wedding of one of Tracy's cousins today and extending our stay for her to visit family and see the surrounding area.  Sticky but not terrible conditions, rain storm hit just as I was finishing.  Spoke last night with the son of one of her cousins who ran cross country in high school here and was a teammate of Dathan Ritzenhein - they graduated together.   Dathan of course went on to have a great career in running, and Tracy's cousin never ran a step after high school :).

AM - a little under 14.5 miles in Grand Rapid - along the river on a nice tree lined trail and back on the other side of the Grand River.   Decent enough effort in the last 6 miles   

AM - a little over 5 miles this morning early in Grand Rapids before meeting for an early breakfast and heading to church.   Slighly warmer and more humid, effort was easy and slow recovery.   Left hip and a little on the right were a bit sore from yesterday's long run, but after a mile or so, it smoothed out.  

AM - 7.5 miles on my last day in Grand Rapids - we had a nice time visiting with Tracy's extended family members who live in the area.  Had great weather this morning at 49 degrees - requiring a shirt for my run today.  Ran east from where we were staying in town and made a rectangular loop back running through some historic neighborhoods with some grand homes that were built in the late 1800's by "lumber barons."   Misjudged my time, needing to get back for a breakfast we had scheduled with family, so I took advantage of some downhills to run the last 4 miles or so at sub 8 min pace.   I was really not feeling that great the last couple of mornings, but it was nice getting in some faster miles today.

AM - 4 miles very easy on the trail with Finn in the dark. 

PM - 3 miles on the treadmill after my workday was completed.   Interesting on our trip to Grand Rapids, one of Tracy's cousin's sons was talking to me at the dinner the evening before the wedding about how he'd run cross country back when he was in high school in the early 2000's and that one of his teammates ended up running in the Olympics in later years...and so I had to ask - thinking all the time, its not going to be Dathan Ritzenhein - but indeed it was.   He was 5th on the team the year they won states, and Dathan was of course their lead runner at Rockford High in Grand Rapids Michigan... over the weekend when we were at his dad's house he found a poster that the team had gotten done with their times on the championship team - he was right next to Dathan who I think ran like 14:30 or something like that.  Tracy's cousin Adam ran a respectable 16:19.   Very cool.   Dathan went on of course to have an outstanding running career, and Adam, well, he pointed to his gut and said he never ran a step after graduating high school.  :) 

AM - 5 miles in the neighborhood with Finn. 

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Finn in White Columns and on the golf course.   Got to hear about his college tour trip with his son that they did the last two days.  

AM - slightly less than 5 miles this morning with Dan and Finn from the high school and through Crabapple.  

AM - 16 miles early with the first 4 in the neighborhood with Finn, then I dropped him back at the house and ran to Redd and met Dan and Greg and ran with them for miles 7.6 to mile 14 and then headed home.   Felt decent the whole way - would have liked to have seen a faster pace but otherwise good. 

AM - 3.5 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail before church.

PM - 3.0 miles in Boston - went for a quick shake out after my flight - here for a conference.  Gave me an excuse to run over to the Tracksmith store to try to find another merino wool running shirt (out of stock unfortunately).   

AM - ran from my hotel in town down to Riley's home in Jamaica Plain and did a run of just under 5 miles with her and headed back to the hotel for about 10.5 miles or so.  Good to meet up and catch up with her.  

AM - just 4 this morning from my hotel over the Harvard Bridge and up the Charles and back through the Garden.  

AM - 5 miles with Finn mostly on the trail.  They are doing some work to convert the northeast section of the old golf course - where we would run through the grass and parts of the old cart path - to begin the second phase of the crushed granite trail.  They've dug up and removed a good portion of the cart path and have piles of concrete to be hauled away.   Hopefully they will go much faster on this portion of the project and get the granite trail base down in the next couple of weeks.  

AM - just slightly under 5.5 miles with Finn through the neighborhood, across Birmingham and into the Groves neighborhood and back.   Quicker pace on the way back - I have noticed I seem to be in a slower training pace pattern and I would like to get back to where I am running consistently at least 30-45 seconds per mile faster at the same relative HR effort. 
 

PM - treadmill workout after my workday.  4 x 800 with full recovery after warm up.  Pace was around 3:15 for the last two.   Good effort.  Probably could have done more but was short on time and likely wiser for it.