[S]he Conquers Who Endures

Resting hr 53 bpm

6 miles straight up. Averaged 8:10 min/mi. Not too shabby for doubling my longest mileage. The last mile felt the best, 7:49. I felt like I finally got my gait back that last mile.

Walked almost 4 miles total to volunteer for the BAA 10k in Boston Commons. Got to help with Drug Testing the athletes. Man, those women are amazing! 

1 mile walk on the freedom trail with my fiancé.  

Resting hr: 53 bpm - this is pretty high for me!

I was supposed to do speed bike today, but 3 intervals in I realized I couldn't get my hr higher than 85% max because my legs felt so fatigued. I did a lot on my legs yesterday and got maybe 3 h sleep last night. My fiance flew out early this morning so it was hard for either one of us to fall asleep. The time apart is getting wearing and making me sad.

I ended up doing more of a fartlek bike. 15 min wu @ 60% max hr, then 3x2 mins at 80-85% max hr with 2 min recoveries. Then the rest is a blur, 3x5-10 mins at 82% max hr with 15 min cool down.

Tonight's focus will be to catch up on some sleep.

Resting hr 40 bpm.

4 miles run into Boston (for the first time since April!). AP 8:33 min/mi. Get this weirdness. I maintained constant perceived effort, but my splits were 8:55, 8:22, 8:22, 8:03 min/mi. Maybe I should run a marathon to hit 5:00 min/mi pace for my last miles. Jk.

My calves are still sore but much, much better then they were. My hamstrings are screaming and make it really, really unpleasant to run. I don't know if this a warning or rebuilding muscle. I read online 2 culprits could be inflexibility and muscle imbalance if your quads are really strong. I can definitely work on these. I am ashamed to admit I haven't done very much stretching since I was injured, plus the bike probably built up my quads to beast level. I think I'll forgo my steady bike Tuesday and hit up Bikram!

1 h alterg at 10 MPH and 40% body weight. This feels really, really good! 

40 mins waterjogging easy and chatting with a friend. 

Resting hr 42

Another 6 mile run in the books! My hamstrings and calves are still tight but less than yesterday. I went for an easy pace pushing to mild hamstring discomfort rather than searing pain. That ended up being 8:28 min/mi AP, and another negative split run even though effort felt the same with the exception of the last mile (I felt good so picked it up). Paces were: 8:56, 8:38, 8:42, 8:29, 8:13, and 7:50. I'm really happy about this. The effort felt like recovery pace which was 9:15 min/mi for me before my stress fracture.

Finished with 45 mins weights, tried to focus on my hammies and calves a little more without overly loading (we will find out tomorrow!). Then did 6 mins continuous planks (rotating flat, and sides) and burnt out my abs with a 3x35 abmat sit-ups. I love how my abs look at the end of this! Haha.

I'm looking forward to Saturday! I'm going to attempt a 9 mile long run in Chicago with my best running friend! We have a Kara-Shalane relationship and haven't run together since early April. This is a much needed and deserved weekend. :)

Bikram!!! I haven't done bikram since early January. I think it was a perfect workout for what my body needs right now - stretching out my hamstrings and working on independent leg balance/strength. Boy, my right leg was shaking like it saw a ghost!!! I think I will stick to this once weekly to see the progression on my right leg. When I used to go regularly, it was a great tool to assess the body damage. :)

I just had my last ortho dr appt!! He said I am healing very nicely and was kinda surprised by my mileage build. He was okay with my schedule since he thinks I'm really in tuned with my body. I don't know if I'm happier about having my schedule okayed or receiving the complement about being well in tuned with my body. 

3 easy miles outside slowing it down a bit to 9:10 min/mi AP then 1 hr on the alterg at 45% body weight and 10 MPH.

Intimidating, confidence building, bone working longish run! Pure bliss, running with my Kara-Shalane friend. We both needed this one. She has been in a running funk, I needed the distraction and support from someone I trust. That's what it's about. We chatted it up most the way, we both started to feel stinky but then looked at our watch and realized we were blowing up the pace. Averaged 7:59 min/mi with the last mile at 7:32. I felt strong the entire way. My hamstrings and calves felt a lot better. That crosstraining really payed off. Ramping up from a 6 mile long run to a 9 mile long run, you don't drop the pace like that unless you have the fitness. So, so happy, and my foot did not hurt once!