Trails!

Two easy miles on the treadmill in 18 mins surrounded by .5 mile walk warmup and cooldown. No issues with the leg today. Stretched and iced after.

PM: 1 mile walking @ 4mph and 15 mins on the elliptical.  I hate the elliptical so much more than the treadmill, but it gives me a better workout than walking.  For example my HR walking is 100-110 @ 4mph and the elliptical is around 150-160.  I will count this as 1 mile of x-training just because.

AM: Easy 2 miles on the TM with 1/2 mile @ 4mph walking warmup/cooldown. That seems to be a good routine to get me going in the morning. I had to hold back again today as I had a few horses neighing. 2 miles in 17:30

PM: 2 miles walking.  Lame-o

AM: Today was a mixture of cross-training and running....actually closer to jogging.  I did 1/2 mile walking at 4mph then a mile running in 8:45 followed by 7:30 on the elliptical.  After that, it was back on the treadmill for another mile in 8:35 and back to the elliptical for another 7:30.  I ran out of time for a whole half mile cooldown so I did a quartermile and stretched and iced.  Leg felt good again today.  My hamstring is still somewhat sore and tight on occasion so I need to figure that one out as that could cause undue stress on the ITB.  I am counting the 15 min on elliptical as a mile.  That is my new rule.  15 min for a mile for cross-training.  Walking doesn't count.

Well, I tried something new today.  I went outside to run!  Amazing.  My Garmin had missed me so much I took it out for a run on what else but the Planet Walk.  It felt so good to be outside in the cool air.  I had to take advantage before another storm this weekend.  It was very quiet and dark this morning (I had forgotten about that I guess).  I ran 3 miles total which took me close to the end of the planet walk from my house and back.    I had a hard time keeping the pace slow as once I get outside my muscle memory kicks in.  The slowest I could go was 7:50 ave.  The only sign of loss of fitness was a 10 bpm increase in heart rate.  No leg issues to speak of.  Excellent sign....

T- 23:30 (7:50) 156 

*** As per a wise man's suggestion, my plan to get back into shape is the following (assuming no injury setbacks) :  Run 3 miles a day this week, 4 miles a day next week, 5 the next, and so on adding a mile a day every week until I am back to 70 mpw.  I will also include a few "miles" on the elliptical (where 15 mins equal 1 mile).  No slacking on the stretching and massage work.

Same run as yesterday.  Only today it was in a foggy mist.  Kind of cool.  Went a bit slower today to baby the leg.

T- 24:04 (8:02) 157 

It was a slippery and icy run this morning.  The roads were ok, but the sidewalks and trails were ice.  It kept me on my toes though.  Same run as usual (3 miles on Planet Walk).  I could hold the horses very well and probably ran too fast, but it didn't hurt so no harm done.  

T- 22:41 (7:34) 158

Also did 7:30 on the elliptical to get in 30 min of exercize.  Another week done and a good week of progress on the rehab.  Looking forward to 24 miles next week.