A Lean and Hungry Look

I took a full week off due to illness, a desire to give my AT a chance to rest, and the fact that my mom has been visiting from Korea for my grandmother's funeral.  I was hoping to start my winter base training today, with the goal of working up to 60-70 mpw by December, but I started easy today to test out the AT.  I'm still puzzled by the sudden reemergence of the tendinitis and am hopeful that it's not going to get any worse, but I definitely felt the same tightness--not pain--that I was feeling in the week that led up to my week off.  It's not painful, but the fact that I'm having issues again on so little mileage gives me concern.  I may call Ryan Fuhriman to have him look at it and see whether it requires treatment.

The run itself felt fine, although I can tell that I've lost a step as far as my aerobic conditioning goes.

On a brighter note, congrats to Meb on the big NYC win!  Although I think Al Trautwig is a total weenie who has no business offering his opinions on endurance events (he is atrocious on the Tour de France coverage), I had a ball watching the rebroadcast of the race with my wife last night.  I was hoping Ryan Hall would have a big day, but seeing Meb pull out the win and having 6 Americans in the top 10 was fantastic.  I was especially impressed with the way Ryan fought back from 9th to 4th over the final 3-4 miles.  I felt bad for Paula, who clearly wasn't feeling right, but it was great to watch a classy veteran like Tulu win the race.  I just hope my form doesn't look as disgusting as Petrova's (who was a total warrior, by the way) when I'm 41.  It's probably efficient, but it's just ugly!

Took Maja out for an easy jaunt on a beautiful morning. Still feeling some tightness in left AT on the outside edge about 1-1.5 inches above insertion. I started dialing the PT yesterday to make an appointment, but decided, based on the mildness of the issue, to run all week to see if it goes away on its own. I need to get back to my early morning routine--I've grown lazy since the taper for SGM and haven't been getting up as early as I should.

I finally got up at a decent time (5:30) for my run.  I headed north through the U campus, through Federal Heights, and up to Popperton Park and back.  Because the Free's gave me a blister the last time I ran in them, I was careful to pay attention to any rubbing and to modify my form so that the rubbing went away.  By the end of the run, the shoes felt incredible.  My pace was very relaxed and the run was highly enjoyable.  I noticed mild AT pain on the uphill sections, so I did my stretching and exercises after the run.  On the final climb up to Popperton, I was wheezing a bit, probably due to the presence of leftover fluid in my lungs from last week's cold.

Since it's just a $15 copay, I decided to go back to the PT to see what he says about the AT issue.  I was supposed to go back for a follow-up appointment on my hamstring anyway.  I just hope we can catch this round of apparent tendinitis before it really gives me problems.  The layoff the last time I dealt with this stuff was way too long and frustrating.

Easy loop with Maja on another gorgeous morning.  Very mild AT pain again.

I saw Ryan Fuhriman about the Achilles issues today and he found some inflammation.  He did some work on it for 10 minutes or so and recommended that I continue with the ecentric loading exercises, but only once a day.  He suggested doing two sets on each leg, gradually increasing the number of reps and sets.  He also recommended stretching against a wall, not on a stair (since the muscles contract when stretching that way, which increases the strain), but also suggested folding up a small towel and standing either on the outside half or the inside half, which allows the stretch to focus on the inside or outside of the Achilles.  Because the tendinitis is in the early stages and because the ecentric loading seems to be helping, Ryan didn't think I needed to come back for more treatment unless things started to get worse.  However, he wants me to limit my mileage while I work on getting this healed.  He said to give it 3-4 weeks while faithfully doing the exercises and stretching, and to call him if it doesn't seem to be getting better by then.  In that case, he may try ASTYM treatment.  As for my training, he wants me to let pain be my guide.  If I can run 3 miles without pain, do that for a week, then add a mile the next week, but back off if the pain persists.  This is likely to be a little frustrating, but I really want to be in a position to ramp up my mileage this winter, so I'll do as he says.  I may have to incorporate some cross-training to stay sane.

I had to share this link to The Onion's article on Meb's victory:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_york_marathon_winner_tests

Although it was another beautiful morning, perfect for a long run, I tried to be good by keeping the mileage low.  I noticed a little pain during the last mile, which was uphill, but it was mild.  I stretched and did 2x10 ecentric exercises on a stair with knee bent, and also did a little massage work on the AT in the evening.

The kids have been sick, so I haven't been good about getting out the past two mornings.  I brought my stuff to work in hopes of running at lunch, but I ended up downtown at the firm for a couple of hours and went to lunch with one of the partners.  However, things slowed down at the office this afternoon, so I took off for a little jaunt around Holladay.  Maybe it's the short distances, the easy pace, the good weather, or something else, but I'm loving these Nike Free's lately.  I felt the AT a little (very little) in the early going, but it felt good the rest of the time.  I did my ecentrics this morning and have stretched a couple of times today.

For the first time in at least a couple of years, I ran with a partner today: Jake Thompson (new to FRB under http://jaket.fastrunningblog.com/).  We took it easy and it was great to have some good company.  Jake's trying to talk me into running shorter races to increase my turnover as part of my training to go sub-2:30.  The problem is that fast for him is like warp speed for an old guy like me.  However, I think he's got the right idea.  It might take some time to persuade me to actually set my pride aside and run a few races where I'm lucky to finish in the top 100, but running with Jake might--might--help bring me around.  We're going to try to run together regularly, at least through the winter.  He's looking at running some collegiate races unattached (he ran for Weber pre-mission), so our training paths will necessarily diverge at some point, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to break out of my anti-social running shell for a while.

Jake and I headed up through Research Park and through the med school campus, then down and back past the Library to Guardsman and home.  I thought it was going to be freezing, so I had my tights on but ended up running in a tee without gloves or a hat.  Probably the last warm morning for a while, though.

AT was bugging me a little last night, so I spent a little time stretching and massaging it, and it felt pretty good this morning.  Jake is now trying to convince me to add in some ab work at the end of our runs, which would be great for me--I have been terribly inconsistent over the years in doing any kind of work on my core.

Janey had kind of a rough night, so I probably would have scrapped my run had it not been for Jake.  I think this arrangement is going to be good for me.

Wow, it was chilly this morning!  Jake and I headed up to Wasatch for an easy 5, although the "easy" was fairly quick today (I haven't been wearing my Garmin, so I don't know how quick).  Everything felt good.  I've been doing my toe raises and have been icing the AT at night, and it definitely seems to be feeling better.  I skipped my workouts on Friday and Saturday--Brooke and Eli were sick, so I stayed around to help instead of running.  I think the extra days off may have also been good for the AT healing process.  I'm hoping that after a couple of additional weeks with reduced mileage, I'll be able to start increasing the distance and moving into a solid base-building phase.

I waited for Jake for 10 minutes or so, but it was freezing outside so I left and ran on my own.  I hadn't done my old faithful--Sugar House Park loop--for a few months, so I headed south.  The ruts in the grass are still there, so it appears that the park hasn't missed me much. 

I didn't notice any AT issues today.  I'm not about to get cocky, though.  I'll keep doing my daily exercises and stretches.  I felt a little more winded than usual today, and the legs felt kind of heavy.  I hope it's not because 6.5 feels long after a more prolonged recovery from SGM than I had hoped for.  I'll just chalk it up to "one of those days" for now.

After a couple of days off due to lack of sleep associated with sick kids and an early-morning music lesson associated with a non-sick kid, Jake and I headed up to Popperton and back for a comfortable jaunt.  No AT pain to speak of.  The run was far more pleasant and went by faster than my 6.5-mile solo run on Tuesday.  As Ebenezer Scrooge says, after his transformative visits with the three spirits, in the Albert Finney version of "Scrooge" my family watches every Thanksgiving evening, "I think I'm going to like [people]!" (He says children.)

Ran with Jake again.  Up to Wasatch and south along Shoreline out to Millstream Lane and back.  First half had me feeling a little winded, even though pace wasn't very fast.  Second half was 20-30 seconds faster per mile, but it felt easy.  No AT pain to speak of.  I'm hoping to be ready to start increasing my mileage after Thanksgiving.

Ran on my own today after seeing no lights on a Jake's house. It was a cold, snowy and slippery but beautiful morning.  I did the old standby around Sugar House Park.  As I was running along 1300 East on the snow-covered grass, I felt a fair amount of pain a little above my left AT, but it was definitely muscular.  Once the terrain leveled out a bit (the surface was quite uneven, especially with the snow), though, the pain went away.  I assume the muscle tightness has something to do with the tendinitis, although I really haven't felt the tendinitis over the past week.  It was a good reminder that I need to keep stretching and doing my exercises even when the AT isn't bothering me.

Did a little family turkey trot in Camarillo before Thanksgiving dinner, then went for an easy 12 after.  Last 6 were into a decent headwind, and my feet blistered a bit in the Free's. I love running at sea level!

Still in SoCal for the Thanksgiving holiday. Planned on going out for an easy 6-7, but the temperature and weather were so perfect that I picked up the pace and went a little further.  What a gorgeous weekend.