PV = nRT

warmed up for 7 minutes on a spinner bike. then stretched the crap out of my calves. then ran a very easy mile on the indoor track, stopping to stretch a couple times. then went to the stupid pool and did 45 minutes of stupid water running. Ruth was there water running  at the beginning so I had some company and  I guess this counts as my first "run" with her. 

did some heel raises, more stretching, will do more PT stuff at home tonight and maybe schedule another calf massage. haven't given up yet.

tested my calf, it started to hurt on my run. so I am calling it quits. I want to let it heal properly, and I have lost my confidence and interest because of this anyway. And I refuse to water run anymore. So I'll take 3-4 weeks off and then ease back into it, but mostly ride my bike to work for exercise until early spring. And start doing more cross country skiing. I want to get some skate skis and ski the course by beaver 2-3 times a week this winter.

Lessons learned: stretch the calves with minimalist running and continue to do calf strengthening exercises. The minimal shoe worked very well for me in the 40-50 mile range, and I am pretty sure that is all my body is designed for in any shoes. I can train for a marathon in that range if I just augment those miles with cross training, per the FIRST approach. If I decide to do TOU next fall it will be on 4 days of running, 50 miles running max per week, two days of cross training per week.

And I refuse to go back to conventional shoes, running in the mizuno's today just sucked big time. whats the fun in running if your feet can't move and enjoy the motion?  I like the freedom of light shoes and the five fingers. So I just have to train my calves to like them.

OK, I am leaving work early , I think I will hook up the tent trailer and take the twins to Willow flats. then hike to spring hollow tomorrow with them. play some tennis, do some hiking, take a running break.

good look to all the St George runners tomorrow, cant wait to see how you all do!!

hiked to wind cave with my 3 sons.

had to go to work today to get ready for NIH panel. at 3PM I couldn't take sitting at the desk  anymore. so I put on my shoes said what the heck and ran to Spring Hollow via single track. then on the way back I ran the 1st dam run 10K. 17.5 miles total 7:51 pace. rained on me the whole way, hard. what the heck.

kicked 34 laps in the pool, 35 minute workout.

My calf is reasonable., I am watching it closely I am now loosely following the FIRST training program to allow my calves some recovery time between runs. Basically, you run only three days a week- one interval day, one tempo, one long run. then do 2-3 days of cross training. And that's the magic formula. Will it work? We shall see. 

So today's workout: 6 x 1200, as 2 3x1200 reps. short 1-2 minute recoveries between each interval, and then a longer 400 meter recovery between the two sets. Here are my times:

4:19, 4:20, 4:18, 4:21, 4:19, 4:17

target was 4:15 so this was OK. calf feels pretty good, iced it after running.

tomorrow should be a cross training day., then thursday a long tempo run. since I will be in DC I will have to see what the hotel exercise room options are. Pool? stationary bike? elliptical? I shall see. then thursday- excited to run my tempo on the capital crescent trail, one block from my hotel, if my leg is in decent shape.

georgetown branch capital crescent trail, 4 miles easy. then 15 minutes stationary bike, then 15 minutes elliptical

10 mile tempo run 6:31 average pace. capital crescent trail Bethesda, in the pitch dark in the evening. no lighting on trail at all, it is lined with trees all th way so when the sun goes down it is dark. kind of scary too.

calf was a little sore when I got done, I can feel a specific point in there, above the achilles, when I stretch and stand on toes. I don't know if I should keep going, stop completely, or just scale back. makes me nervous.... never dealt with this before.

finished NIH study section and went to the exercise rooom here at the hyatt. did 35 minutes on the stationary bike. the seat hurts my butt big time- I can't sit longer than that.the spinner bikes at USU are better. then I finished off with 15 minutes on the elliptical. 50 minute workout. debating what to do with my calf- it is sore in one spot, but I can run on it... do I keep going or quit for awhile? the elliptical and bike dont hurt at all. it gets slightly sore running, and I can feel a spot when I do heel raises... any calf experts out there? Jon? Paul? Cody? anyone???  help me out, I need advice!!!

OK- taking the metro to national now to catch my flight home. long flight, in at 8:15, then I will drive to BYU and take my daughter for a late dinner or dessert or something. which means I probably wont be back home til around 2ish. but my daughter is worth the extra travels.

20 miles in 2:23

kicking HPER pool 28 lengths

8 x 800 intervals about 2:50

51 minutes water running. OK my calf is now fine but I messed something else up last week. I wore a new pair of shoes last thursday and the laces were tight, at the end of my run I had a really sharp pain on the top of my right foot midway up, where the laces are. I am assuming I damaged something by lacing too tight. What I don't know is how bad it is- just a muscle/tendon inflammation/bruise, or is it possible I stress fractured the metatarsal bones? It still hurts almost a week later, painful to walk on, painful when I start running but then the pain smooths out. It is sensitive to the touch, but nothing that would make you scream, which I think is the case with a SF but who knows. Anyone else have a problem like this? I don't know what to do here. It is not healing fast, I guess I can take time off but I am not convinced that is going to help as walking hurts as much as running anyway. Just one thing after another, it is really starting to tick me off.

new problem developed today, back of left calf, very painful so I stopped and walked back. It came out of nowhere. I guess it is a sign that I have done something seriously wrong with my training this time around. I have been stretching my calves, and also using a stick to work the muscles. I wonder if all this has done is to aggravate them even worse. I have very tight calves, and I imagine stretching them is a catch 22, it may help to loosen them, but it probably also strains them. So I am at a loss as to what to do. I think the harsh truth is I don't have the build for long distance running. My arches are too high and rigid, my muscles too tight. OK, I'll give this a rest for a day or two and then see how it feels.

USU to RT easy

4 x 1600 about 5:50

2 miles treadmill 30 minutes elliptical 15 minutes spinner bike

9 miles @ 6:35

7 very easy RT

ran from mile 20 to mile 9 of TOU course and back. 7:29 average pace.

USU to RT easy

USU track 5 x 1 mile with 2 minute recoveries. cold. windy. snowy. didnt go all out, so not really VO2max, but with the cold and snow I will count it as such.

6:02,  5:56, 5:52, 5:54, 6:02

 calves a little troublesome. tomorrow I will do the elliptical and stat bike. All I have to do it make it through a long run Saturday with my calves intact and I can start a 3 week taper.

20 minutes spinner bike. 30 minutes elliptical. 0.5 miles running. 

tried to run kind of some 3 mile threshold runs but my legs had other ideas. first 3 miles at 6:20 pace, second 3 miles at 6:29 pace, then I felt like I was going to puke so I stopped and did a couple easy recovery miles. sigh. maybe its the cold weather. or not enough recovery time. I am just tired.

7 very easy river trail to spring hollow. cold. ready to migrate south.

22 miles in 2:45, ran miles 23 to 12 of TOU marathon course. 7:30 pace.

now I feel like I am going to throw up. this 20+ mile stuff just isn't my gig I guess.