It's just that simple

A.M. - Treadmill - 21:50

Did 2.5 miles at the gym. Hamstring feeling a lot better. Pace was a little faster than yesterday. Before running, I did 21 minutes on the bike (7 miles & 295 calories)

P.M. - Neighborhoods - 24+

Ran 11 minutes very easy with Leo, then did the rest solo at a 7:24/mile pace. Felt really good and may resume some "real" running tomorrow.

Core, stretching & weights - 15 minutes

Neighborhoods and Canal banks - 40:55

Felt a little bit better today. Averaged 7:27 pace for the run, which wasn't bad after a snowstorm last night made for snowy and icy surfaces. Also wanted to keep the run fairly easy so as not to put too much strain on the hammy.

I went to the PT today and got some ultrasound and heat on it. She cautioned me to ease back into it and showed me some stretches to help out.

Treadmill - 1:04

Bad weather brought me indoors to the gym for my run. Started out slowly for a few minutes (9 min pace) and started working it down. Got to about 7:20 pace and the hamstring tendon started feeling tight and hobbling my stride. I backed it down to wherever I could run without pain, usually 8:30-8:40 pace and finished a frustrating run. Wasn't breathing hard, heart rate wasn't up, but just struggling with the injury right now. May get some PT again this week.

Weights, core and stretching: 20 minutes

A.M. - Neighborhoods - 31:49

Awoke at 4:30 this morning to a phone call which contained the two works educators love most (other than "summer break"): snow day! It seemed kind of weird as the weather didn't seem that bad, but I'm not complaining. I have lots of painting to do today.

My run was slow and didn't feel that great. The hamstring is not improving, but I was able to jog around on it without massive pain. I would take some more time off, but in my running career, I have observed if I have a minor injury I can just run through it and it gets better, and if I have a major injury, even time off doesn't really seem to help. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but I'm worried that if I take a couple of weeks off for this hamstring strain, I'll start running again and it will come right back. Then I will have wasted a few weeks of training, be out of shape and depressed, and still injured. Maybe this is rationalization for not wanting to stop running....

P.M. - Loop with Leo + treadmill -44:22

Ran an easy 13 minutes with Leo, then finished on the treadmill at at 7:52 average. Felt ok

Treadmill - 57:15

Another day, another run on the treadmill. Feeling quite a bit better with the hamstring today. Even did 4 x .25 pickups at 6:30 pace during the middle part of the run. Most of the run at 7:40-7:50 pace. Sweaty and boring.

Greenbelt - 44+

Ran at a easy to moderate pace with Mat from his house. We ran through campus and onto the greenbelt. The hamstring felt ok, but I'm still not striding normally. That's cool though. It was a nice brisk afternoon and felt good to be out.

Earlier in the day I went to the PT and got a massage, heat and some ultrasound.

Neighborhoods + canal banks - 44:01

Kind of a tough run in the wind and snow. Running straight into the wind reminded me of my days in Pocatello, where we would call the labored effort "10 yard fight" after the Nintendo football game of the same name. In that game, it took players about 30 seconds to run the length of the field and breakaway touchdowns were nearly impossible. So our running straight into the wind resembled the players moving so slowly across the screen.

Other than the wind and snow, it was a pretty basic run. I'm really hoping to increase my mileage next week now that my hamstring is coming around.