Christi

Yuck.. so after not running for 1 week and 2 days due to a pulled calf muscle I tried running on the mill today. Started out with a .75 walk then stretched really well-then bumped it up to a 10 minute pace for a mile or two-my calf was still tight-stretched some more. At the height of my run I ran between 8-8:30 pace for about a mile with stretching in between. Calf not terrible-but could definitely feel the tightness and the spot where it was pulled last week-not wanting to re-pull it-I kept it easy and didn't push it. (I don't think I could've gone faster without reinjuring it). I am bummed that it is still so injured and bummed that I am supposed to run a marathon in 5 weeks from Saturday! Yikes! I  am so sad bc training has been going really well until now. I am just going to RICE and take it easy so I can still run it...hopefully I can be back training full force real soon. My plan was to run under 3 hrs-but that wont happen if I cant train!!! arrrgh

Did 3.5 easy outside today. Walked for .5 to get my leg loosened up. Then did a slow mile. stretched it out. came inside and ran 1.5 on the mill at an easy 9 minute pace. Calf was still pretty stiff and hard to loosen-but it did feel better than 2 days ago. 

Ran 6.75 on the mill today-we are making progress!! Walked .75 to loosen it up. Then stretched and started running at a slow 10 minute pace and eased into a nine minute pace for a while. Then I started picking it up slowly-8:30 pace for a while then 8:00 pace.  Ran one mile at 7:30 pace, then one mile at 7:15 pace. yeah! Calf was feeling a little sore-but much better than yesterday. It seemed to loosen up and feel better about 3-4 miles into the run. Anyway once I hit about 6 miles it started acting up a little bit again so I ran to 6.25 and then walked .5 to cool down. I am definitely making progress and it definitely felt better than yesterday. Hopefully by the middle of next week I can start doing more speed again and hopefully by next Saturday I can do a long run. Marathon is 5 weeks from today!! I think if (not if when )I do the marathon I will only taper the last week or so. I am trying to think positive thoughts.....

Ran on the mill again today. Walked .5 to loosen calf then stretched. Ran about 10 minute pace for a while then bumped it up to 7:55 pace for a mile, then bumped to 7:20 pace for a mile, then 6:54 then ran a 3:17 for the last 800. Walked .5 cool down. Making progress slowly but surely. Felt a little better than Saturday but I don't want to push it too hard yet because there is still some pain and tightness. Hopefully I wont lose too much fitness working through this injury.

Got up early this morning to "test" my calf at the track. Walked for .5 then ran slowly for a mile. Stretched then did a 3 mile tempo run. Splits were 6:37, 6:45, and 6:33 with a 1 minute break after two miles to stretch my calf and massage it. I am so bugged my leg is still hurting me a little and I think I am compensating a little with my other leg. I can tell my stride is a "little off" and I have to constantly concentrate on my stride so that I don't hurt it again. Yes-it feels so much better than a week ago but I want to be 100% so I can get back into my regular training and its not close to 100%. It is still nagging at me and I am so frustrated because I don't have time to waste since the marathon is 4 weeks from Saturday. I was holding back today bc of the leg and it was so frustrating.

woohoo!  Today was a much better day than Wednesday. My calf was feeling quite a bit better. Still not 100% but alot better. I did my run on the mill today. (seems to feel better on the mill) Anyway I walked .5 then stretched. Then I ran a 9-10 minute pace for .5. Then I picked up to an 8 minute pace for 4 miles, then 7:48 pace for 3 miles then 7:42 for 2.75 then the last .75 was at 7:30 pace. I probably jumped off about 3 or 4 times for a real quick stretch. My times are alot slower than normal but I did do 10.5 of straight running! (minus a couple quick stretches) woohoo! There is hope and I am making progress... 

yeah!! I was able to do my run today with hardly any pain at all! I am almost all the way better-probably 90%! Anyway-I drove to the track today only to find that it is being resurfaced and I can't use it until August 1st. bummer!! So I drove to the crappy gravel track-at least it is a softer surface I guess. Anyway I jogged slow for a mile warmup. Then stretched. Then I did a tempo/fartlek run of 6 miles. 1st mile was 7:05-(just wanted to actively warm my calf up more) then mile 2 and 3 were 6:35, 6:36, then took a mile easy at 7:55, then finished up miles 5 and 6 at 6:38 and 6:29 (no breaks). I was pretty happy that my leg cooperated so well. This workout was definitely hard for me. It was a long day and coming back from camping I was wiped out. I also felt like the gravel surface made me alot slower and it was 74 degrees! Anyway-I am satisfied and happy about the leg!!

5 miles on the mill. Did .25 walk, then easy .75 then ran about 7:45 pace for the rest of the run. Leg was tight today. I am planning on a long one tomorrow-hopefully I can do it.

yeah!! I did get a long one of 16 in today on the mill! Ran the first 3 super easy around 8:45-9 minute pace. Then ran mile 4 at 8:15, mile 5 at 8:00 then 7:48 pace for 2 miles, then 7:45 pace for 2 miles then 7:30 pace for 2 miles, 7:20 pace for 2 miles and 7:00 pace for the last two. Still feeling the leg-seemed to loosen up around mile 8 and then I felt it again as soon as I picked it up for the last two miles. (jumped off probably 5-6 times on the entire run to stretch it real quick) but hey I finished it! There is hope for my marathon.  

ran on the mill today. did 3x2 miles with an 800m at 8:00 pace in between. Did a 1.25 mile warm up and stretches. My first 2 miles were 6:40 and 6:23. Next two were both at 6:23 pace. I wanted to finish up with 3 miles at 6:44 pace but my leg wasn't having it-it started hurting about 1.5 miles so I just did 2 miles instead of 3. Pace for both of those miles were 6:44. I wish my leg would just be normal so I could train a little harder...oh well I'm happy I was at least able to run those times.

Did a long run today. Ran 3.5 outside then did 13.5 on the mill with some stretching in between. Felt very tired today-but the calf was feeling better although both my legs felt really tired and achy today for some reason. This was a very hard run and I was glad when it was done. Did 17 total at an average 7:50 pace. Also saw a physical therapist and he did muscle stem and massage ect on me. Hopefully it will help so that I can be 100 percent by race time.

got up and did a fartlek outside. Warmed up for a mile-stretched a little then did 6x5 minutes hard with a 2 minute jog in between. My paces were 6:49, 6:34, 6:01, 6:21, 6:28, 6:45 and I did .4 at 6:28. (pace for the jog in between was 8:30-8:45 pace) Felt pretty good.

Got up this morning and ran the riverfest 10k. Got to the race and saw Melissa who I used to coach with. (she is a very good runner so I knew I would have some competition) Sure enough Melissa beelined right out as soon as the gun went off. I was about 5-10 seconds behind her at the first mile-split was 6:18, second mile 6:20-(by this time I caught up with Melissa and we were running side by side) Started feeling my calf get crampy and tight at this point-not a good sign. The next mile was slight uphill-split was 6:49, mile 4 was 6:58 (very uphill) At this point Melissa and I are pushing it together side by side and I am totally trying to ignore my hurting calf. Mile 5 was downhill and 6:25. (we are still running side by side encouraging each other) With about .3 left in the race I decided to go for it and started my kick and Melissa wasn't able to hang. She did a great job though and I was glad to have her to push me. I didn't get mile 6 split-but I got my split for 1.26 at 8:07 wich is a 6:28 pace. I showed the course as being .6 too long. They showed my time as 41:00-but if it really was .6 too long it would have been around 39:35 which is a 6:32 avg pace. Not too shabby considering the terrain of the course and the hills. I am satisfied but now I am paying for it with a sore calf. The race really irritated it. I probably should have just dropped out but I am too competitive. I hope it can be better by two weeks for the marathon or I am in trouble.    

Tried to run easy for about .5-.75 but leg was bugging me so I immediately stopped and walked the rest....so bummed.