faster with age

     This morning I ran 6 miles. I walked one min. ran 4 min. all the way. I had no pain from my ITB until maybe just the slightest bit the last 200 yards but so slight I had to really think about it to tell there was any pain starting. Overall pace 8:38. Running pace just under 8 min.

     Went on a 20 mile Mt bike ride. The weather is getting warmer.

      Ran 4 miles this morning and cut the walking back to 1 minute each mile. Running pace was around 7:50 overall pace 8:23. ITB was good. Temps in the 40s. It's over 50 now for I think the first time this year. We still have a lot of snow but it's going fast.

     PM It was 52 degrees out. Was going to run 3 miles but near the end of the first mile I felt a slight discomfort in my knee [ITB] so rather than keep going to see if it got worse I decided to play it safe and call it good with 1 mile.

     Did a 25 mile mt bike ride weather was warm and windy. Another storm is supposed to be coming in for the rest of the week.

     This morning I ran 6 miles for the second time this week with no ITB pain. I did walk breaks again  [1 min. after every 4 min. running]. I think they are still helping me get in more mileage than I could get running continuous. Overall pace was 8:46. Running pace around 8 min.

     Went for 15 miles on the mt bike this morning. It was cold with a strong wind blowing that was a good tailwind most of the way out but very tough riding coming back into the headwind. I would prefer to get the headwind out of the way the first half but I would have had to take the highway to do that. I would rather ride the dirt backroads where there is no traffic. I followed that ride up with a 3 mile easy run.

     Beautiful morning. Sunny and calm with temps in the teens [felt warmer with the sun]. The roads were slick in places. I went 6 miles running 4 min. walking 1 min. Running pace around 8:20 overall pace 9:02. No pain from ITB. I feel like I've really turned the corner with the ITB. The past 2 weeks I've had only one or two runs with slight pain and increased the mileage a bit. 3 weeks ago [4 weeks after the injury] I could only get 1 1/2 miles before pain would start. Hopefully I can continue a gradual buildup from here.

     Ran 6 miles this morning in 4 inches of new snow. Footing wasn,t great. Took 1 min. walk breaks for every 5 min. running. Running segment pace 8:45 overall pace 9:28. No problems from ITB.

     Later I went for a 15 mile mt bike ride. Some sections were packed snow but some areas were getting slushy even though it was still below freezing. The slush sprays up on my backside soaking through the back of my pants. It was also collecting and freezing on my derailures and brakes and making them not work right.Fun fun fun.

     No run. Busy day never got to it.

     PM  Ran 6 miles with walk breaks. Was thinking about going 7 but got slight IT band pain at the end of 6. I spent 5 hours driving this morning and I wonder if that contributed to the IT band pain. It actualy felt a little sore a couple of times during the drive after my knee stayed bent in the same position for a long time. 9:09 overall pace with 10x1 minute walk breaks.  Running segments 8:20 pace.

     Did 15 miles on the mt bike. I decided against a run today after the sorness at the end of yesterdays run and slight discomfort afterward. I'm not sure why that happend yesterday after my last three 6 milers went fine. I don't want to risk going backward with this injury so no run today and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

     Ran 6 miles again this morning. Felt great and even ran a little faster than it felt like. Right at the very end [last 200 m] I started to get some slight ITB pain. It wasn't much but it tells me I'm not ready to add another mile yet. I walked 1 min for every 5 min run again. running pace 7:50. Overall pace including walking 8:33.

     My last two 6 mile runs have caused some ITB soreness right at the end so I cut it back to 4 this morning. It felt good. Hope to get out for another short one later. 8:44 pace including walk breaks.

     PM   I got out and ran another 4 miles and didn't get any ITB pain. I might have to try some more short doubles like this next week. We've still been having single digit temps in the mornings so today when I ran later it was nice and sunny and around 38 deg. for both runs so I ran in shorts. Maybe that's the secret.

     This morning I ran an easy 4 miles at 8:51 pace w/o any breaks.

     PM  I ran another  4 miles at an easy pace with walk breaks. ITB felt good on both runs. It was 40 deg this morning and 54 deg on the later run. The snow is melting fast. It won't be long until a couple of my favorite roads open up.

     Went for 25 miles on the mt. bike this morning. All but 4 miles on dirt. Really nice weather with temps near 50 again. I've been seeing a lot of sanhill cranes and other waterfowl the past couple of weeks on my runs and rides.

     Another 4 mile easy run this morning at 8:55 pace incl. 5x1 min. walking. Zero ITB pain.

     PM   Ran another 4 easy miles at 8:52 pace incl. 2x1 min. walk breaks. ITB good again. Very nice afternoon with temps in the 50s for the third day in a row.

Rode 20 miles on the mt bike. 10 miles of my ride was on road that had been freshly graded which made the ride take at least 10 minutes longer than last week on the same route. Nice day out again.

     Ran 5 miles this morning easy at 9:06 pace incl. 8x1 min. walk breaks.

     PM 4.3 miles easy again but with 1 walk break. 8:25 pace. Great afternoon with our first 60 deg. of the year. ITB still doing good.

     It was 65 deg today when I ran and it felt uncomfortably warm when there wasn't a breeze. It's going to take a bit to get used to that again. I ran 6 miles total with 4x1 min walk breaks and I stopped for 15 min. to feed the neighbors animals who are out of town. 8:52 pace including walking. I got through this week without aggravating my ITB on any runs. I even ran over 30 miles this week for the first time since the 1/2 in Jan.

     Fresh snow this morning with some still coming down but it didn't stick to the roads after last week was like spring.  I ran 5 1/2 miles at 8:38 pace with about a 5 min. break at around 3 miles.

     PM    I ran 4 miles at 8:45 pace. I'm hoping to get through another week without any ITB aggravation and add a few more miles at the same time. So far so good.

     Ran 4 easy miles this morning then went for 20 on the mt bike.

It was snowing again this morning. It wasn't too bad other than the snow blowing in my face while running into the wind. I went 5 1/2 miles at 8:27 pace. I took a 5 min. break at the halfway point.

     PM    It was snowing harder than this morning and still windy. I ran 4 miles at 8:29 pace. The snow was quite peacefull while running with the wind at my back but a different story once turning back into it.

     Temp was back down to 12 deg this morning.  I ran 6 miles this morning and was feeling pretty good. I took a 6 or 7 min. break after the first 2 1/2 miles then picked up the pace a bit and ran 7: 48 pace for the next 3 1/2. 7:24 for last mile. I still wanted to take it pretty easy today but it felt good so I went with it. Overall pace was 7:54. This was by far my best run since injuring my ITB at painters 10 weeks ago and it didn't give me any trouble today. I just need to stay patient and build back gradually. It was hard to quit after 6 miles this morning.

     PM     ran an easy 4 at 9:10 pace.

Ran 5 miles this morning at 8:46 pace. My IT band is still feeling good. This makes 2 weeks in a row without a flairup.

     I think it's winter again. There was snow on the roads this morning with temps at 25 deg with a strong wind. I went 6 1/2 miles at 8:52 pace. The footing wasn't the greatest but it wasn't terrible. I just took it easy and took a 7 or 8 min break halfway.

     PM   Ran 4.2 very easy miles at 9:05 pace. The snow was melted from the roads.

     Went for 25 miles on the mt bike this morning. It was windy and snowing a little. The wind seemed to get stronger as the time went on and unfortunatly the last 7 miles were mostly directly into the wind and the gravel is still a bit loose from being graded a couple of weeks back which made for a long slow ride of about 1:50  but a good workout.

     PM   Ran 5.7 miles slow and easy.