The Long Run

Today was another test.  The monday after the long run.  It went pretty good.  I spent a lot of time warming up and did the run on the treadmill.  First mile was slow and painful until I started to loosen up.  I did 3.2 miles, then the treadmill stopped at 30 minutes, so I got off and stretched for a little bit.  Got back on and it was much easier to get started again.  Did 3.8 miles in 32:20, but this time I was ready for it stopping at 30 minutes and hit the quick start button to keep things going.

Now, if I can just get rid of that pain in the first mile.... 

Average pace: 8:55

 Went to another PT appointment.  He did some more adjustments on my back and lots of stretching on my left hip flexor and then showed me some stretches.  He cleared me for more running.

Yesterday I was planning on either not running today or doing something very short and light.  However, my PT said try and get back into your normal routine, which would be 8, so that's what I did today.

I went to the Y and did a good warm up on the arc trainer and rower, then did some stretching.  

As a little bit of a compromise, I decided to do half on the treadmill and half outside.  I got on the treadmill and it only took a half mile before it did not hurt.  Did 4 miles in 34:30.  One of the miles was at 7:53 to see what it would be like.

Then I headed outside, first mile was a little bit slower then I got back into an almost normal pace with a very slight pickup at the end.  Just over 4 miles at 8:45 pace.

As I was running it occurred to me what one of my main problems is with running around neighborhoods.  I couldn't think of it before because I knew I was frequently varying my route so that wasn't the problem.  But, the problem is that when running on a road, and running against traffic like you are supposed to do, the left leg is always on the edge of the road.  When I see a car coming I always move over as far to the left as possible which means running with one leg in the gutter.  This may not be my only problem but it really must have been aggravating things. 

Went back inside did some cool down and more stretching.

 So far so good.  I'm starting to get some more cautious optimism :)

I went to the Y this morning and warmed up on the arc trainer and then stretched a bit.  Next, I got onto the treadmill for 1.1 miles.   First 1/2 mile hurt a bit with the pain subsiding after that.

Then I headed outside to run.  Thankfully, it was a very nice morning outside to run.  Run went ok, a little bit of pain, not much, just enough to remind me that it is there.  The pace was actually pretty good.  I'm slowly getting faster.  Average pace was 8:35 with one of the miles at 7:40 to test out how it felt at that speed.   For some reason I felt a little bit disappointed, although I should not have.   Just being able to run 7 miles is huge progress from where I was at.

Another PT appointment.  He worked on my spine a little bit.  That seemed to help as he had me  go on the treadmill before and after the adjustment.  He also showed me another stretch to do.  This one is asymmetrical  so I'm sure I probably won't be doing it forever.  As usual he commented on how tight I am.  Actually he said that I'm probably the tightest person he has ever worked on.  I'm not sure if he says this to all of his patients but if that is true I must be way too tense.

So, looking back on the morning I can see that I am getting better, and that further running is not damaging my body.

I was mainly going to just do some non-running cardio and some weights.  But, I wanted to see if any of yesterday's adjustments would allow me to start out pain free.  I warmed up on the arc trainer and then stretched, including the new stretch I was shown yesterday.  

Then I got onto the treadmill, but it was about the same as yesterday, moderate pain for 1/2 mile which then tapers off to very mild pain and eventually almost unnoticeable.

Then a did 10 minutes on the bike and then some upper body weights.

Ok, once more on the treadmill.  Same thing as first time, oh well.

Overall it was a pretty good workout since it was just over an hour of constantly doing stuff and getting my shirt drenched in sweat. 

 I woke up a few minutes earlier than yesterday, fed the dogs and made it over to the Y.  I warmed up on the elliptical, did some stretching, got on the bike a few more minutes and did a little more stretching.  Then I got onto the treadmill, and for the first time it did not hurt starting out.  It felt like what it had been feeling after the first 1/2 mile on other days.  I gradually increased the pace but kept it nice and slow for a total of 1.1 miles.

I did just a little bit more stretching and headed outside, cautious at first, but still no pain.  I wanted to do at least 5 but the route I took added a little more on than I thought. 3 of the miles were at around an 8:00 pace.  Total run outside was 6.34 miles.

Average pace: 8:26

This was by far my best run since my problems started.  It was a bit hot and humid this morning but that didn't seem to bother me too much. 

Then I went to physical therapy, no harsh adjustments today, mainly observation and stretching.  I was a little bit rotated but he said that it stretched right out - by stretching my left hip flexor.  He then had me run a little bit on the treadmill for evaluation, just over 1/2 mile.

I can't believe I did it!  One more milestone.  Last week's 12 was pretty hard, this week's 16 might have actually been slightly easier if it wasn't so warm and humid this morning.

I woke up at 6:00.  My alarm was set for 5:40, unfortunately that was 5:40 pm.  I'm glad I didn't sleep in too late.  When I stepped outside it already felt warm.  I drove over to Starkey park, already the temp was 78° , humidity was in the 90's, it felt more like July or August.   Looks like summer is here.

I got to the parking lot about 6:45 and wanted to get going right away.  I walked quickly on the path to the bike trail for my warm up.  Then stretched at a bench.  The bugs were bugging me so I didn't spend too much time stretching.  There were mosquitoes and horse flys.  I wish I had put on some bug repellent, oh well.   Start of the run was much better than one week ago.  It wasn't quite as good as yesterday though but I didn't have time for a huge elaborate warm up.

I was finally off, at a slow speed, but not that slow, first mile just under 10:00, then some miles in the low 9:00's  I stopped often.   They have some nice ice cold water every 2-3 miles.  I had accelerade with me but I would drink some and top it off with cold water.

I made it to the end of the Starkey park trail and was at the Suncoast trail.  I went right instead of left like I usually do just to be different.  I was finally starting to feel a little bit faster.  I went south about 1.5 miles then turned back, went past the Starkey trail entrance to the water cooler.  Stopped there for a bit to wet myself down with cold water and chatted with a cyclist.  Started out again and felt very fresh.  Made it to the next water stop, with 4 miles left to go and repeated the last stop.

I took the last miles one mile at a time, feeling fairly miserable at the time.  For the final mile I picked it up just a bit and finished it just under 8:00.

I headed home and spent quite a bit of time cooling down in the pool and loosening up.  I was glad to be able to finish the full 16 miles (I was hoping for 14-16 miles).

Looking back on the run now I'd say it went pretty well.   I feel like I'm way off from where I used to be but I'm getting back there.  I'm pretty happy with my mileage for the week also.

Average pace: 8:47  (I did not count all the breaks, I wanted to make myself feel better about the time )