Step by step, mile by mile

slept in and did 6 at 10AM. Warm, but with all the 4PM runs i’ve done it was a piece of cake. first shift at the hospital a bit later today meant had to do a little less than i wanted, we’ll see how tired i am after but i’d like to do some sprints to work on form in the evening if i’m not too exhausted.

Sprint Saturday!! More of a fine-tweaking of mechanics than a workout. 3 miles very easy(7:25 pace), 6x100m, CD for 5. Only timed the last two since with such a short distance you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot with pressing start and finish, those were 12.69 and 12.42. Felt okay at the start and amazing by the end. 

Hospital was great! Working on the dialysis floor, I'm the only guy on the floor and I've never been called cute so much in my life. They literally thought I was in high school, one of them said "what are you, 15?"(I'd be hurt if I weren't 6'1) On top of that, helped the one girl who was my age instead of mid-30's with her math homework and she was so astounded she basically told everyone on the floor, and I'm not sure what she told them but they were all just as impressed. Great day for running and my ego. Anyway loved working with them and love getting to help people who need it

8 at 10, slept in again. Should get back to a good sleeping routine tomorrow. didn’t get a chance to use it before i ran but besides that felt good, legs felt excellent.

5 including strides in the afternoon. Had some delayed onset muscle soreness from the sprints, mainly in the back, and to a lesser exent the glutes and hamstrings. Got 2 runs in and about 6 hours of medical school studying in, productive sunday.

4 in the morning. Was very sore when I woke up but on the run felt good. Dogsitting Gunner so ran with him, I'm nowhere close to being able to handle a commitment like owning a dog but it's nice to pretend I own one by dogsitting every once in a while.

PM - 2 WU, stretches, mile(1600m) of speed changes in 5:41, mile in 5:08 with a 80 second first lap, 6x400m with the last two in spikes in 73, 71, 66, 63, 58 high, 58 low. 200m jog after speed changes, 800m jog after the mile, 400m jog between 400's, 400m walk after the first in spikes. When I said fartleks get me in shape, I definetly didn't think that meant I'd run this 3 days later! After the 5:08 I guess I needed a couple of slower 400's to get my second wind. 3 mile barefoot CD on the grass + stretches. Left the track at 9:30.

There's really no reason the workout should have been that good. I started at 7:30 feeling very tired, hadn't eaten since 1PM so I downed a can of sweet green tea for some easy calories, and drank some sugary coconut water during the workout too. Also hung out with friends after class which is why I started so late, had a bit to drink, nothing more than a bit. I should get drunk before workouts more often(kidding). Time to eat!!!

4 miles easy. Slept in and started the run at about 11, luckily all these 4PM runs are starting to show because the heat was no problem. Legs didn't really hurt at all which I wasn't expecting, only thing was my left arch; my insole in my sneakers shifted during my shift on saturday so I started feeling it then, and again last night after the last 400, and again a bit today, but nothing major. Going to the Nike outlet after class today to pick up a pair of structures and hopefully that'll be it.

Found a pair of pegasus 36s at a good price, so decided to buy them and a pair of insoles instead. Tested them out with 9 in the evening. Arch ached the first mile or so and then I never noticed it again, and managed to run out the tiredness from the legs too, great run! Felt like I could have gone on forever.

Slept in again and did 8 at 11. My saving grace was that it started drizzling 3 miles in. Arch hurt when I woke up, but Wednesday's are my busiest day so I knew this would be my only time to get good miles in, so I took a chance and assumed it just needed to get warmed up. I was right, luckily. I'm about to go to class and from there to a hospital shift until 9, might get a shakeout in after the shift if I'm not too spent.

3 after my shift, opened up my stride for a 5:20 second mile. Felt like a 6:00 effort-wise

4 in the morning. I've felt better.

Got a few miles into my PM run and had some kind of "pain" in my "ankle", i put quotes because it didn't affect my running and as soon as I stopped it ceased so I can't identify it more, I just remember it was in a place I've never felt before. I'd go 50/50 on a combination of not stretching after my AM run and either starting to run on pavement recently, or getting hard insoles recently. Probably could have pressed on, but today was a day from the start I knew wasn't going to be too good(I don't normally go about a day with that premonition) so I decided just to stop there, and hopefully after stretching, Advil, and a good night's sleep it should be gone tomorrow. And even though the day wasn't too good as I predicted, it wasn't any worse :)

10 in the morning on the turf field. Lots and lots of laps. No "ankle" pain!

5 in the afternoon. Highest mileage day since I got the calf strain I believe

Had a smidge of right calf pain on my Saturday morning run, so I stopped a bit early, wanting to do a longer run after my shift. Glad I stopped there because my shift ended up being over 7 hours and all that time on my feet probably would have been bad for it if I had gone any longer, felt the calf for most of the shift but didn't get any worse. Had a cute nurse ask for my number at the end of the shift so def worth it @Connor. Jogged a bit today after med school studying, but then remembered how frustrated I was last time I hurt my calf because I kept starting again too early so I went inside and did some intense biking, hit 9 miles in 24:30, definetly the fastest I've ever biked. Did core and some lifting including some lighter calf raises, and jogged back to my car and didn't feel the calf at all. Should clarify that it wasn't the same place as last time, but since the only issues I've had this year have been my calves I'm gonna start doing calf lifts to make them stronger. Probably good to run right now but I'll take tomorrow off and do a long bike workout to supplement and rest the calf a bit more for good measure.

5 in the afternoon! I have no scientific proof to back it up but in short since all(2 or 3) of my problems that have made me take time off have been my right calf, I took a bit of time to think of why it was there; I've never had a calf problem before. You could chalk it up to a year and a half off, but I think it's because I've been doing shorter loops for basically all my runs, all counter-clockwise, which means a few 90 degree turns left every 500m for my normal running loop. I didn't have any problems when I was doing Sandy Rd every day, that's actually when my training was going best mileage-wise, however bugs have been really bad up there, they'd basically circle around me the entire run, and hit me in the face constantly which i guess you could say bugged me(the blogger known as kedric is laughin somewhere in Texas right now), so I decided to cave in and get bug spray after I did the 500m loop clockwise for once. Might not be the cause but I think it's a solid theory.

Also SO conflicted with the NBA finals, in 2016 I made some bet with Alli P that Golden State would win(and of course 3-1 means nothing to Lebron), and ever since then I've been a huge fan of them, and dynasties in sports in general. However before Utah I lived in San Antonio for 7 years, so I was a huge Spurs fan, including when Kawhi was on it and they beat Lebron in 2014. So either way I'll be happy in part but also sad regardless of who wins. Still pulling for the dubs a lil more, and Lowry a fool for missing that game-winner lol

3 in the morning, woke up at 5AM on my own accord, always worth recording because always a big suprise, especially when I've been waking up at 8 lately and didn't  fall asleep any earlier than usual. No calf problems.

5 after my cardiac shift. Ran a cool 4-flat lap at hilton after my shift last week, each lap is three quarters of a mile and I knew I could beat that today but decided to chill out.

3 in the morning. Was going to do 6 but I still plan on doubling today and figured taking this week cautious probably wouldn't be a bad thing.

5 in the afternoon on the track with 4x200m strides. Was really just hot for this run(I don't mean that in terms of heat. I was on one!). Lapped my watch every 400m in case I lost track of laps, mostly 90 and 91's, couple a bit faster and a bit slower but that was about the average. Felt like my stride was matching that but effort-wise it felt like an easy run. First 200m was a 29-low, but even though I was on today I didn't want to put in any more effort than just striding out, and I know 29's in trainers aren't just strides(at least at this moment in time). Timed the last 100m of my last stride and sped up a bit for it, that was a 14-low. I had a frozen cherry and cranberry juice smoothie after class, a couple of hours before the run, noting that in case I just discovered my secret superfood. Felt like I could have ran 6-flat pace forever this evening.

5 miles easy in the morning. Legs needed a little shaking out those first couple miles.

6 easy in the afternoon. Was going to do 5 on the track a bit faster + 4x200m strides again, but I have another 7 or so hour shift tomorrow and I'd like to do sprint Saturday after.

9 in the morning. Solid pace but slept in and didn't start until 10AM on an empty stomach, proud I powered through the heat/humidity with no second thoughts. Got less than an hour until my hospital shift and ideally I'd go straight to the sprint stuff after, it's only a couple of miles but I'm okay with listening to my body, today's a lot of stress on it. 

Felt good after my shift so did sprint saturday. 1.5 mile warmup with the last .5 doing speed changes in 2:41, then 4x150m w/ 250m recovery. Not really focusing on timing these, only timed #2, that was 19.3. Good to know after a 9 mile in the heat and a 7 hour hospital shift I still can (basically) run a 25-second 200m.

5 shaking out the legs on the soccer fields in the morning. Right inner ankle was a bit tight from the 150's yesterday but felt better as I went on.

9 in the afternoon, on Sandy for the first time in about a month. Felt really good, legs were eating up the hills, the heat was no problem with all the tree shade, and the bug spray worked its magic. Only problem was some GI issues,  I've been eating rice and seasoned beans topped with fried eggs twice a day after each run for the past week or so; works well when you're doing 5 and 6 mile runs a day, not as good with 9 milers. Going to target after I post this and shower to stock up on cereal. Saw a HUGE snake in the last mile that made me power through the GI stuff and drop the pace real quick - that thing had to be 3+ feet long and as thick as my forearm, pure black with a yellow underbelly. I gave it space and it didn't get territorial. 

5 mile shakeout in the morning. Legs felt okay to begin with and better by the end.

9 in the afternoon. Solid pace.

5 shakeout in the morning on the turf fields. Lightly drizzling which was a nice touch.

9 on Sandy after my midterm. Woof. Absolutely blazed through it like an engineering machine and finished first, then I realized I had less than 2 minutes left so no double-checking. I'm guessing maybe 20% of the class at most actually finished - 50 minutes was a ridiculous time slot to complete this one. Glad I did.

Long run this morning. Very humid and sunny, started at 9AM. Only made it out past 4.5 on Sandy once, and never close to 8 out. Hills were INSANE past 5.5, the type of hills you hear about people dying on trying to get their four-wheelers up. Easily the hardest course I've ever ran on. Extremely proud I did it in my longest run by far since I initially hurt my calf at the start of May. Legs felt completely shot when I finished but bought some bags of ice and took an ice bath and they feel fine now. 

5 in the morning. Came home late last night after my shift + hanging out with friends after so I tried to make it past the dining room and living room to my room in the dark. Unfortunately someone moved the table in the living room, and I smashed my right knee into the darn metal rimming pretty hard. It didn't hurt at all after a minute or so, so I assumed I didn't do any damage besides some bruising that was sure to come. Woke up this morning and it hurt to move at all, but after doing some range of motion it felt better so I decided to chance it and do my shakeout anyway. Hurt the first few minutes a bit but by the end didn't feel it at all. Really didn't feel anything besides which is super good considering the killer long run yesterday. Ran even easier than normal.

9 in the afternoon. I'd hate to speak too soon, but I'd say doing a 14 mile day less than 24 hours after hurting my knee probably means I can just train through it. Definitely took it slower to account for the darn thing though. Saw another snake today, this one probably 18 inches or so, nonvenomous this time(you can tell by the shape of the head).

95 miles the past 7 days! Turns out the mile out-and-back was a tad short I was running every day when I ran 3 weeks in 90-100-90 in April, so probably closer to 85-93-85 or so. So I'm in good shape rn!

decided to change things up with a 5 mile shakeout this morning

9 at 4PM. Wish I had gone home after class instead for a bit to let it cool down, hydrate(did NOT hydrate at all today!!) and go to the bathroom. I could handle the heat, but those last two issues made the run a lot harder. Didn't walk or anything though so I guess it wasn't that hard. To quote Ludacris, "you got defeated by the heat but ehh, we'll just say it alonzo mourn-ed ya"

In short, and in alliteration, I was hot, hungry and hungover, so the run was hell. Actually wasn't too bad, I didn't get any farther than tipsy last night and I'm normally good on running on empty. Heat was tough with the sun beating down, but I managed better than yesterday since I hydrate super well on the rare occasions I drink, maybe less rare after how much fun last night was though.

ran right after my 7-hour shift, legs felt exausted from it but didn’t show it. 3 WU w the last half mile speed changes in 2:25, ran 5x80m sprints, no watch, CD for 5. 2:25 def could have been faster. working an 11-hour dialysis shift tomorrow #busymanwithabusylife

Also, unless Mike swoops in with another 130 mile week, I think I finally got my first #1 mileage board week. It's a relative accomplishment lots of others have, but it's something I've been trying to get since I was 17 and I've had at least 10 weeks where I was in position with a day or two left and either hurt myself or someone would swoop in with a crazy long Saturday run or something. Anyway S/O to all the mileage monsters that inspired me on the blog, Wesley Hunt, Jake Krong, Butlerb, etc

Tried waking up before my shift. Didn't happen. A good lesson in life - sometimes you have to put yourself out there to get chances for opportunity - After my shift yesterday we were all looking at the schedule, and realized we were super understaffed for today. I wasn't supposed to work, I'm an unpaid volunteer that's only supposed to work 4-hour shifts once a week(I overachieved and started with 2, then asked to get my Saturday shift extended from 4 to 7 hours), but I offered to spend my Sunday doing an 11-hour shift unpaid. All the nurses and PCT's were so grateful that they all told the head of hiring for the hospital they need to get me hired, since I'm so devoted and they're understaffed anyway. Haven't gotten the offer yet, but also haven't submitted my application, and it's sort of the "apply and you got the job" type deal, or at least they're making it sound like it. On top of all that I managed somehow to get 9 in after the shift and I think I'm gonna die lol. So hype because volunteering for a hospital is good on a med school application, but having worked at a hospital already is a big deal. Plus almost no volunteers get hired, and it took me less than a month to(hopefully) get the offer. What a great day

5 in the morning-ish. Slept in a bit, my body was wrecked from the weekend, but my legs weren't any worse than the rest of me, and I felt better as I went on. Had a homeless guy come up to me after. Normally I don't give in to soliciting, but his story had a lot of similarities in trials I've endured, and even though I didn't get much help in them I know how much it'd have meant to me for someone to, so I bought him breakfast. Was worth the few dollars to see his face light up. On the drive home I thought about a way to try and minimalize homelessness. The best solution I can think of is a non-profit housing service where you're provided food and housing for doing work for the house itself, whether it be cooking, cleaning, etc. All things that benefit the house itself(maybe community service as well to try and provide minimal funding). I hope one day to found something like that. I'd probably have it double as rehab too, at least in that there'd be no drugs allowed and you'd have the resources to get clean if the withdrawals directly affect your health. Really just hate that we all get one chance at life and some people have to live it in such painful conditions

9 in the afternoon. Legs felt GOOD - the weekend got shaken out of them more quickly than I thought they would. Left arch started to ache a bit at the end, luckily I got insoles in my trunk like lil nas x got horses in the back

5 on RV in the morning, by that I mean 11AM, and that was still following my routine of roll out of bed and run. Looks like I'm gonna have to make a sacrifice in much less staying out late with friends, maybe going as far as an 8PM bedtime. Hopefully I can figure out a way to space out my second run where I'm still recovered enough for the long run tomorrow morning, if not I guess I can push it back a day. Felt a bit stiff the first mile or so from last night, good by the end. 

9 after class. Felt good - good enough to run it twice tomorrow? Who's to say.

Long run, nothing special besides being the 5th longest run of my life I believe. Tough, but not as tough as last week since I did my PM course twice instead of the killer hills past 5.5 out. The inner lining of my shorts and my inner thighs were not on good terms by the end

5 mile shakeout in the morning. Since my final is tomorrow no class today, so I slept in to let the body recover, basically went from run to class to hospital to friend's house with no real break to recover except for an hour or so after the run where I made lunch. Legs felt fine but it was very hot out at 10AM and it took a bit more willpower than usual to get it done. At least I'll get a bit more recovery between runs today with no classes.

9 on Sandy Rd in the rain. More like Muddy Rd. Wore my tortoise-shell glasses(not prescription i'm 20/10 like a 9 year throwback) and my older trainers and had an absolute blast, it was very cool out with the rain and I was slipping and sliding all around, never fell though luckily. Felt like I could have gone on forever today. Was sad to end it at 9. Strided out the last half mile to stretch out the legs

5 in the morning. Had a dream I met some fiery redhead and spent too long with her and forgot to study for my test so the last twenty minutes were me cramming outside the classroom, like actually dreaming of studying the formulas for things like specific gravity and mass flow rate. Woke up from that at 5AM and was too stressed about that to go back to bed so got the miles in early.

11 after the final. Wanted to do 14 to make up for Sunday, but around 5.5 I could tell I needed to get out of the oncoming storm fast. Craziest weather I've ever ran in. Pinecones and branches falling from the overhead trees like hail and winds that made you feel like a tree could collapse at any second right on top of you. Loudest thunder I've ever heard while outside too. Heard a tree fall with about half a mile left, I didn't see it and have never seen one fall but I don't know how that sound I heard could have been made otherwise. Had a really painful chest cramp but after the turnaround it was barely noticable when you're running like your life depends on it. Final went well.

5 shakeout in the morning. Was worried because I didn't stretch right after my run with the storm and all but felt fine.

10 in the afternoon, felt mentally tired. I'm gonna get to bed early and greet tomorrow with a good attitude and firm handshake. Second time in my life I've gone back-to-back triple digit weeks, with 91 miles these last 6 days. 

5 in the morning. Didn't end up going to bed early, went over to watch the new Jordan Peele movie, "Us"(still got a good night's sleep though). I'm pretty sure I'm the only person alive that thought Get Out wasn't that good of a film, but I liked this one a lot more, definitely scary. Woke up to a calf cramp and thought this run would go south but felt pretty good, besides I started the run at 10:40 on a hot sunny day.

10 in the evening after my shift. Felt really good 30 minutes in and dropped the pace to something faster than I've done in a while - maybe it was from not doing hills on my 10 for the first time in forever. 106 miles Monday-Sunday, second highest mileage month ever