The Next Step

First day back from 8 days off to try to heal my hamstring.  It has been feeling good but hard to tell what is going to happen when I start training again. I am trying to run a marathon the first week of Dec so I have to get started again if I have any chance of completing that.  

It was a cool (45) but nice morning. I did some stretching and warmup to loosen the hamstring before I started.  I felt good the whole way and no issues at all with the hamstring.  The real test will be when I build back up.  I will have to be pretty aggressive building up because of the marathon in Dec. Just ran an easy pace and plan on increasing slowly to ry to get back to normal running next week.

Second day of the comeback. Ha. It was cool (41) with some wind.  I felt pretty good.  My legs actually were a little sore from yesterday and that is sad since I only ran 3 miles.  A long way to go to get ready for a marathon in a month.  No problems with the hamstring so I was excited about that.  Just took it easy the whole way.  I will try to take it slow to get back my to normal mileage.

Cool morning (42) with some wind.  I felt good this morning but just ran easy.  Still trying to build back up after taking off with the injury.  I am going to be conserative this week to try to get stronger without reinjuring the leg.  

49:22 (8:14 avg)

Honolulu, HI: Typical morning out here low 70's and humid.  I felt pretty good this morning.  A little tired from the trip but legs felt good.  Ran real easy trying to get used to the distance again. I had some tightness in the hamstring so slowed down even more and took it real easy.  That seemed to help and had no more problems.  Just thankful to get in a normal run.  Hopefully, I can keep the hamstring from having any more problems.

1:10:24 (8:48)

Honolulu, HI:  Been running every other day as I try to get back up to speed without causing problems with the hamstring.  Nice morning.  Ran up around Diamond Head.  Felt good today.  No problems with the leg but still took it real slow.

1:18:30 (8:50 avg)

Had a little time this afternoon so was able to get in a short run.  It was cool (38) and windy.  Missing the Hawaii weather.  I felt good and decided to pick up the last little bit to around MP.  Ran the last 1.5 at around 7:15 pace.  Felt good to pick it up some but still being consertitive.

31:20 (7:50 avg)

It was cool (44) with light wind.  Ran over to the park and did a few loops.  Felt good today and wanted to stretch out the distance to try to get my long runs up quickly to prepare for the marathon.  Today was the first step to make sure the hamstring would hold up.  No problems so I was thankful for that and will try to keep building up over the next few weeks.

1:37:25 (8:07 avg)

It was cold (36) and windy.  Today was just a super easy day after the longish run yesterday.  Trying to rest the hamstring and make it to the starting line next month.  Legs felt good and no problems.

NIce day with temp in high 40's but windy.  Felt good today.  Started off real easy and then picked up the pace after a couple of miles.  Had some tightness in my hamstring but nothing too bad.  Just trying to hold it together.

1:19:55 (8:00 avg)

Nice day with temp around 48 but still windy.  I really don't like the wind but I guess that comes with living in Indiana this time of year.  Felt good today and took it easy.  Continuing with the plan of these short recovery days.  Seems to be working so far.

40:32 (8:06 avg)

Pretty nice morning. It was really windy though and felt colder than it was.  I felt tired this morning.  My daughter is in from college so didn't have as much time so will try to get in my long run on Monday.

67:04 (8:31 avg)

My daughter was home from college this weekend so wanted to spend time with her and put my long off until today.  It was a rough day weather wise.  Temp around 45 with 20 to 30 mph winds.  I felt pretty good starting off but I was dragging by the end.  This has been a quick build up mileage wise and I think the wind took some out of me.  Hard to believe that I will be able to run a marathon in three weeks.  This is definitely the least prepared I will be. On a positive note the pace was pretty good for not having done any long runs in awhile.

2:08:36 (8:02 avg)

Philadelphia:  It was cool (45) and very windy today.  I am getting tired of the wind.  I felt ok today.  A little tired from the long run yesterday.  I just took it easy for a nice recovery run.

41:04 (8:13 avg)

Philadelphia:  A little nicer today since the wind died down.  It was mid 40's but sunny and nice.  I felt good today but just ran easy.  Just trying to get the miles in and get my volume back up to normal.

64:09 (8:01 avg)

Philadelphia:  Had to get out early this morning so got in a few miles on the hotel TM.  I was really tired this morning and my legs felt really heavy.  Just couldn't seem to get going.  Glad to get in a few miles.

41:17 (8:16 avg)

It was raining and cold this morning so stayed inside and ran on the TM.  I felt good this morning and increased the pace as I went along.  Did the last 3 miles at MP or a little faster.  Nice run.

44:36 (7:24 avg)

It was cold 25 and windy this morning.  I was hoping for better weather for my long run but glad I got it in.  I felt ok today not the best.  I did good for the first 12 miles but then I started to feel the effort.  The last 3 miles I was pretty spent.  This has been a quick buildup to get ready for a marathon and I know I don't have a good base to build on so I was happy to get this in.  There is something about a 20 miler that helps with the confidence.  Also, I was pretty happy with the pace.

2:43:55 (8:12 avg)

It was cold (24) and windy this morning.  I felt good after the long run on Sat.  Just made it an easy recover run.  I am going to try to have a couple of good runs this week then taper down for the marathon.

41:07 (8:13 avg)

It was cool (32) and light snow this morning.  Luckily it was not windy.  Felt pretty good today and wanted to run some faster miles.  I picked it up after 3 miles and ran the next 3.5 at around 7:15 pace.  I was going to run longer at that pace but had some tightness in the hamstring and thought I should slow down and not risk injury again this close to the marathon.  It is definitely a problem at faster pace so will have to gradually build up and get my speed back.

61:16 (7:35 avg)