A Lean and Hungry Look

Again, not a real 7-mile run, since the Achilles is still inflamed.  I did an hour on the elliptical at Steiner, with the last 15 minutes at a higher resistance (up to 10) while maintaining close to the same step rate (average before that was around 190, and it dropped to 180 as I increased the resistance).  I jogged around the indoor track for a minute as part of my cooldown, but it was clear that the tendon is not ready for that yet.  I stopped and walked after 100 meters.  Since I'm running Boston WITH Brooke (and not just on the same day at my own pace) this time, I'm not going to stress out about this setback.  I'll just keep going to the gym and trying to maintain some aerobic fitness while I try to get the Achilles working again.

By the way, I was not sad to be stuck running inside today.  It was 20 outside, but it felt like 0 with the wind.

Another scintillating evening at Steiner on the elliptical.  This time I set the resistance at 4 and maintained a stride rate of 180-195/min until the final 10 minutes, when I increased the resistance to 6 and my stride rate to 200+/min.  I'm trying to give myself a full two weeks from the reaggravation of my achilles before I try running again.  That means next Monday or Tuesday.  In the meantime, I'm doing my best not to die of boredom.

For the record, I started using the 100 Pushups and 200 Situps apps last week.

Pushups: Week 2 Day 1 Level 2 (9, 11, 8, 8, 11--60 sec rest between sets)

Situps: Week 1 Day 1 Level 3 (15, 18, 10, 10, 14--90 sec rest between sets)

More quality time (60 min) on the elliptical. According to the machine, my average HR was 167 bpm.  That seems pretty high, but I did keep my stride rate and resistance a little higher today (around 195 stride rate until the last 15 minutes, when I increased it to 200+, and 6 on the resistance until the final 10 minutes, when I increased it to 7, then 10).  I can't believe how much sweat I seem to produce on that thing.  The people around me, who all seem to be carrying on conversations and comfortably reading their magazines, are probably pretty disturbed by the sight of me.

Two lovely hours over at Steiner: one on the bike and another on the elliptical.  If I had to do this every day and wasn't just using it as cross-training while my achilles recovers, I would probably choose obesity instead.

I met with my physical therapist this morning and we decided to try ASTYM treatment on my achilles.  He gave me the first treatment today and we're going to try 4-6 treatments to see if it helps.  He could tell a difference between the quality of the tissue in my left achilles versus my right, which led him to believe that this has been something of a chronic problem.  That makes me a candidate for ASTYM.  Given the fact that it took me over 18 months to get through my last bout with achilles tendinitis, I'm willing to give it a try.

It's been a rough week in terms of time, so tonight was my first workout of the week.  I set up my bike on the trainer and rode for an hour.  My average HR was around 140, which is a little low.  I tried not to overdo it because I'm hoping to get two more rides in this week. The setup (in front of the big screen in my basement) is great.  I just need a couple of weeks to get myself used to spending time in the saddle (ouch).  It's nice to have an option that does not involve the elliptical.

Back at the PT today for ASTYM treatment #2.  It was a little more painful this time, but I'm hopeful that it will accelerate the healing and make Boston possible.

Only exercise was 12 minutes on the stationary bike at the PT as a warmup for the treatment.

After taking a day to let my "sit-bones" recover a little, I decided to get back on the horse for a 90-minute ride.  I got two episodes of Friday Night Lights in.  I realized after the ride that because the trainer is on carpet, my tire was rubbing the rubber mat and had almost worn all the way through.  Maybe that's why it smelled funny.

I couldn't take more than 90 minute in the saddle and wanted to test the achilles, so I threw on my trainers, leashed up Maja, and went for an easy 2 miles.  The achilles felt pretty good, but I felt pretty tired.  It was hard to tell whether it was because I'm out of shape or because I was already fatigued from a 90-minute spin.  It was probably a bit of both.

The achilles was pretty sore the rest of the day, so I made sure to do my assigned stretches about 5-7 times throughout the day.

45 minutes on the bike downstairs.  I adjusted the trackstand so that the rear tire wasn't rubbing the mat, and it made quite a difference.  Saddle soreness was also much better than a couple of days ago.  The combination of improvements helped me to put in a better workout.  AHR was 160.

40 minutes on the trackstand, felt pretty good.  ASTYM treatment #3, felt less good (something about hard plastic surfaces scraping against bones and tendons in the lower leg and foot doesn't make me excited).  Ryan advised me to try a little light running tomorrow morning, since my next treatment is on Thursday.

I started with 30 minutes on the bike, then took Maja out for a 3-mile "gentle" (per my PT's instructions) run.  The achilles was slightly painful for the first 1/2 mile but didn't bother me at all after that.  When I ran 2 last Saturday, I noticed intermittent pain throughout the day.  So far today (5 hours post-run) the only pain I've felt has been when doing my prescribed stretches.  Hopefully this all augurs well for a quick recovery.  I have a fourth ASTYM treatment scheduled for tomorrow, then a trip to St. George for the weekend.  I'll probably bring the bike with me but will try to fit in some light running while I'm there.

More ASTYM treatment today.  Ryan kind of worked me over and left me feeling a little bruised.  Good thing my next session isn't until Tuesday.  Based on the progress I've made thus far, he wants to do a full round of treatment, which means a total of 8 sessions (4 more).  Although the time commitment is a pain, I think it's doing the job nicely, so I want to see it through.  The last time I battled Achilles tendinitis, it took me about two years to get through it.  If this ASTYM treatment is working the way it seems to be working, that would be an advantage of about 22 months, so I can deal with the inconvenience. 

In St. George for Kaela's soccer tournament.  She had an early game so I had to sneak in a workout at 6.  We're staying with some friends who have a place just off of Snow Canyon Parkway, so I ran on the trail to Ivins and back.  Achilles felt a little tight in the early going but warmed up quickly and gave me no trouble thereafter.

Still in St. George, so Brooke and I decided to run part of the marathon course.  We drove 18 miles from the condo, which took us to Veyo.  I ran the first 10 with her to see how my Achilles would handle some distance.  Fortunately, it was fine.  I felt it on the way up Veyo and a little on the hills around Dammeron Valley, but the pain was slight.  We had left a car at the parking area for the trail, so I dropped off and let Brooke finish out on her own.  She is getting fast--her overall average for the 18 miles was sub-8:00.

We saw the new qualifying standards for Boston last night after we got home.  5:59 faster for each age group, plus a waterfall registration based on how far ahead of your qualifying time you are.  I love it.  The only bummer is that because the registration window opens in mid-September, St. George will no longer be a viable qualifying race for the following year (it will still work for the Boston race taking place two calendar years later). 

More ASTYM treatment.  I was a little worried that my Achilles would be a little inflamed after yesterday's 10-miler in St. George, but it seemed to recover just fine.  I did use a little ice last night as a precaution, but I didn't notice any pain getting out of bed and it wasn't sensitive to the touch, even when Ryan started scraping it with the tools.  Hopefully it really is on the mend.  I'm going to try to run every other day this week to see how it handles that.

I had planned to go out for an easy 6, but I decided to cut it short after I could still feel slight pain in the Achilles after 2 miles.  The pain was minimal, but more than I've felt on my past few runs after the first half mile.  I may wait until Saturday to run again, just to play it safe.  With Boston less than 7 weeks away, I can't afford another setback.

ASTYM treatment #6.  Only two more.

Still feeling a little skittish after cutting short Wednesday's run, so I decided to stick with the bike today.  2 hours on the trainer in the basement.  Fortunately, I was able to watch the second half of the BYU-SDSU game, which mitigated the boredom to some extent.

50 minutes on the trainer in the basement while watching "Without Limits" (the Pre story).  A little saddle-sore from Saturday's ride, but not bad.

ASTYM treatment #7.  I felt some tightness in the plantar fascia during the last part of the treatment (where he digs into that tissue).  I suspect that's from the last couple of rides, as my feet sometimes bug me a little when I'm on the trainer.  I'll try to stretch it a little, though, and will keep an eye on it as I start running more.  I'm hoping for 3 runs this week, but will "let pain be my guide," as the ASTYM protocol recommends.