Sock tans

Quad has been hurting since I got it massaged out last week and calves are still pretty sore from Friday. Decided to keep today's run short because we're doing 4 days of speed this week starting tomorrow. Buckling up for that.

Went into the training room after, Nate helped me stretch out. Ice and STEM on my quad. It actually seemed to help a lot.

On an unrelated note, I finished my lab for Exercise Physiology and apparently I could be a jumper. Haha. My vertical jump was 59.69 cm (23.5 in) and above 48.3 cm is considered well above average (95th percentile). Based on the highest 5 second interval during the Wingate test, my Peak Anaerobic Power was 832 Watts, which is classified as "elite" (above 730 Watts). My Absolute Anaerobic Capacity was only classified as excellent with 520.7 Watts (elite is above 541 Watts), but my Relative Anaerobic Capacity was classified as elite with 8.3 Watts/kg. So basically if I was a smaller size I might've been elite all around! Lol. To be quite honest I'm surprised at my results, I was sure my Anaerobic power was lacking.

Woke up and Coach had texted that steeplechase practice was cancelled, I gratefully went back to sleep :)

Quad hurt more today but that’s probably because I didn’t heat before. Warmups and 2 mile warmup, strides then started. Workouts were 6x500s for 800 group and 12x500s for 5k group, coach just had us all run together. Today I decided I’d try to go for the right pace and not worry about being able to finish the whole workout, it’s time I work on pacing. Coach said the goal pace for today was 1:45-1:50, which is 84-88 pace. My times went 1:41, 1:42, 1:42, 1:43, 1:43, 1:50 (consistently coming through 400 in 81-82ish on those). The last one was rough, definitely hit my threshold on the 4th. Need to work on pushing through. Coach pulled me after that, kinda disappointed but also grateful because it would’ve been a rough 6 more. Cooled down to 6.5. Then steepled a bit afterwards.

AM: 2 miles easy

PM: Best 80% I’ve done. Decided to just tackle it today. We did a mile warmup then 2 laps on the track, then straight into the 80. Mile on the track, mile on the block lap, mile on the track. First mile was 5:45, then just tried not to let the gap Morgan had on me get much bigger. The last mile was a struggle but I did better at working through than I did in my race on Saturday. Finished with 18:52, that’s a 45 second improvement. Then to the hill over the overpass and did whistle hills, 3 sets of 30, 35, 25. Worked hard on those too. Best workout I’ve had in a long time. 

Then got some really disheartening news. I might have the beginnings of a stress fracture in my thigh. Nate’s leaning towards inflammation of the periosteum but I’m going in for an X-ray tomorrow just to make sure and will get those results on Monday. It’s gotten progressively worse and while I was rolling out my hamstring I felt some sharp pain in my thigh up on top. Quad muscles seem fine, pain is deep. I’m really hoping it’s not a stress fracture, I might cry if it is. I’m finally starting to improve, I don’t want to be set back! But for now I’ll be biking and pool running, I can do a couple miles on the turf tomorrow if it doesn’t hurt it taking a couple minutes break between each mile. 

Weights later, mostly just did the core and upper body stuff.

Coach wouldn’t let me do anything today. No biking, running, or pool running. Went in and got an X-ray, should have those results in 24-48 hours. Nate says that if the X-ray doesn’t show anything I’ll have to get an MRI.

No running, biking or swimming again today. X-ray results are back, no major fractures detected. Nate said he didn’t expect there to be any, apparently stress fractures rarely show up on X-rays. Nate thinks we will have caught it soon enough so it might be a pre-stress fracture (stress reaction), but further imaging is needed to know for sure. I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday.

Core workout for a little over an hour.

Today’s positives:

1) I get to start biking and pool running next week

2) I am a lot stronger than my freshman year self. Back then I could only do like 3 proper pushups in a row. Today I did 3 sets of 15. I also would’ve called it quits after 20 minutes back then. I did well over 100 sit-ups today where 100 used to be a big accomplishment. Planks, Russian twists, wall-sits, lunges, squats, etc. all felt easier than I remember. It was only the V-ups and knee-to-elbow crunches that got me good. Can’t do any jumping but I’m grateful I can still do some things. 

Went to the doctor today and got the order form for an MRI. The doctor thinks it’s just a strain but Nate and Riley both don’t think so because I don’t have any loss of strength. Basically we’ll just see what the MRI tells us. Have yet to be scheduled for an appointment but I should have that scheduled by Thursday (just waiting on my insurance to clear it).

In the meantime I can finally bike and pool run!

Heated and got ultrasound on my quad to comply with what the doctor said. But treatment is the same regardless: rest. No running or anything with impact.

Biked for 30 minutes: 5.08 miles

Weights: Warmups, 4x10 push-ups, 4x15 each alternating V-ups, 2x14each hamstring march, 10 backwards lunges, 3x15 hamstring curls, 3x10 (R, L, both) calf raises. Then quad exercises in the training room. 

Pool: Warmup, 10 minutes at 60, 10 minutes at 80, 10 minutes at 60, and 10 minutes at 80. Cool down. Felt good to do the running motion even if it wasn’t actual running. 

Got my MRI scheduled for tomorrow, I was expecting it to take a while to get in for one so that was a pleasant surprise.

Heat and ultrasound on quad

Biked 30 minutes on a different kind of bike, ended up being 8.03 miles on that one.

3x10 quad exercises (5lbs I think) in training room

Core: 4x(10 pushups, 25 crunches, 1 minute russian twists, 10 each leg backwards lunges), 3x(45 second wall-sits, 15 glute bridges, 10 each leg raises [forgot real name], 10 calf raises).

Pool: Warmup, 5x3 minutes hard effort (imitating 800s) with 60 seconds recovery, 4x90 seconds hard effort (imitating 400s) with 30 seconds recovery. Tough workout, worked hard. Cool down. It is quite satisfying to actually get my heart rate and breathing up, the bike is great but doesn’t do that so well. Wasn’t expecting the pool to either but it actually does!

Heat and ultrasound on quad

Bike for 30 minutes

3x10 quad exercises and ice

Got an MRI on my thigh

Also ran like .15 chasing after my paper/MRI order form that was blowing away. Now my thigh hurts worse while walking. But things are looking up! The guy said they should have my results in 24 hours.

Pool: Warmup, 5x4 minutes, 3x3 minutes, 2x1 minute. All had 1 minute recovery. Cool down. I’m tired today. 

Got my MRI results back today. Well kinda, I looked them up online. It’s a stress reaction. I have yet to find out how bad and depending on that it will determine my recovery time. Will be going in to see the doctor next week to discuss a recovery plan. In the meantime I’m to do no running or impact activity (basically what I’ve been doing), will probably be out for a couple weeks. 

Pool is closed today so bike for 90 minutes. 

Pool is closed again, bike for 90 minutes. First 30 minutes I kept my HR around 125-130, then played around with the settings on the bike and settled on “race,” didn’t like that very much because I couldn’t increase the resistance. Did that for 10 minutes but HR stayed the same. Then went back to the normal setting and bumped up the resistance to 17, kept RPM around 80-85 with HR around 140-145. Did that for 50 minutes.

4x10 push-ups and 4x25 crunches. 

Well, that was a much longer bike ride than intended. Took Kamryn’s bike out, felt good to be on the road again. Ended up out past Kanarraville before I decided to turn. Was originally going for 90 minutes, felt good and went about 55 minutes out then realized I’d had a lot of downhill. Yep took a lot longer to get back. 32.56 miles in 2:22:05. Whoops. 

Bike: An hour on the stationary bike, alternated between level 17 and 19 for resistance and average HR 133. “Distance” was 10.17 miles.

Weights: Warmups, 4x12 walking lunges, 4x12 push-ups, 2x15 hamstring march, 2x7 pull-ups (2 bands), 2x12 alternating V-ups, 3x10 (R, L, Both) calf raises, 3x15 hamstring curls. 

Pool: Warmup, 45 minutes at 60%, cool down. Went in early so I could go to FHE with my boyfriend.

Also, the group of girls I came in with is now down to 4 including me. We started with 12. Granted I took a year off for my mission, so I’m technically a year behind them all, but none of the other girls that left on missions around the same time as me ever came back. Now it’s just me, Maddy, Bino and Brighton. Sad. But at least I can say I’ve stuck it out and don’t plan on ever quitting the team. 

Bike: 1 hour stationary. Alternated between level 15 and 17 today, I’m a little tired. HR 130, 10.7 miles for distance. 

Core: 4x10 push-ups, 4x10 each lunges, 4x10 calf raises, 5 squats (quit because it hurt my femur), 3x10 side leg raises, 3x10 glute bridges, 4x25 crunches, 3x1 minute Russian twists.

Pool: Warmup, 6x4 minutes hard, 1 minute rest, cool down. 

Bike: Stationary for an hour. HR 133, alternated between 16 and 18. 10.98 miles

Weights: Warmups, 4x10 each front/back lunges, 4x12 lateral raises, 4x12 front raises, 3x10 sec each dead bugs, 3x8 horizontal pull-ups.

Didn’t go to the pool today but I should have. I just didn’t have the motivation.

I was tired again. Ended up accidentally taking a 3 hour nap... whoops. Went late to the pool and just called it at that. Might be good to have a little breather anyway so I don’t get tired of doing the same thing every day. Warmup, 80% for 25 minutes, 6x1 minute hard 30 seconds rest, cool down. I’m sore from yesterday? Probably from the lunges in weights. 

On the bright side I hardly feel any pain in my femur now! Squats hurt it, but I no longer feel it when I’m walking. Except for occasionally on hills or stairs, but even then much less pain than before. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning to determine a recovery plan, so I’ll know how much longer I’ll be out. I hope it’s not too much longer. 

Met with Dr. Newman this morning. I have to take another 4 weeks completely off of running and then it’ll be a slow progression back to full mileage. So realistically we’re looking at another 2-3 months before I’m back to 10 miles a day. Apparently a stress reaction in the femur is one of the worst places to have one, second only to the hip, because of the femur being one of the strongest bones in the body. Dr. Newman said if it was in my shin or something my recovery time would be less, but because it’s the femur I have to take more time off. So that’s awesome. On the bright side we caught it before it turned into a stress fracture, so the recovery time in comparison to that is significantly less. 

In the meantime, I need to take calcium and vitamin D supplements, cross train and strengthen my back, butt and hamstrings. That will help me to prevent it from recurring when I do start running again.

Bike: 1 hour, alternated between 14 and 16. HR 136, distance 11.49.

Pool: Pool ran with Ashley for 30ish minutes, then messed around with core and swimming for another 30. Then went back to my house and did 10 minutes of abs. 

Bike: 85 minutes, Josie let me borrow hers :) went up the canyon for 25 minutes, then got uncomfortable with how close some cars were passing me. So went back down and took Dikes up to the backroad. Got real tired at 75 minutes. It was a good workout though, those hills were rough. 16 miles

Bike: 15 minute warmup at level 15 (HR 130-135), 30 minutes hard at level 20 (first 20 minutes HR 165-170 then pushed harder for 170-175 last 10 minutes), 15 minutes cool down level 20 (HR 150-155). Total distance 11.15.

Had a good meeting with Coach today, we came up with a plan for when I do start running again and I’m pumped for it. I’m gonna work hard to be in shape for the progression run in August. I’m hoping to finish it this year.

Bike: 60 minutes on the other bike. The HR monitor on that bike was broken so I just went off of effort. Level 11 (out of 20) keeping RPM around 90-100. Talked to coach and I should be trying to keep my HR above 150 on the bike so whoops. Running is so much easier to get HR up than the bike, maybe I’ll try lessening the resistance and increasing RPM?

Pool: Warmup, 3x4 minutes hard 40-45 seconds rest, 3x2:30 hard 1 minute rest, 2x90 seconds hard 1 minute rest. Cool down. 

Bike: 65 minutes, RPM 95-100, Level 17, Distance 13.76, HR 151

Core: 10 minutes of abs with Ashley and Morgan on the turf then walking lunges for 40 yards. 

Pool: 20 minutes at 80% then mimicked whistle hills with 15-45 second hard intervals.

Bike: 60 minutes, HR 145. It’s really hard to keep my heart rate up above 150 on the bike, my quads are just weak. 

Core: 10 minutes of abs with Ashley.

Today I took kind of a breather. I felt like I needed it, life is just crazy right now. Ended up doing about 80 minutes of Zumba with Kamryn, Kaylee and Jomel and just called that my workout for today. 

Bike: 85 minutes, about 15.25 miles (my watch died about a half mile before the end so I’m guessing). It’s freaking windy, almost crashed because a ton of dirt blew into my eyes and I couldn’t see. But I’m alive! Lol Main Street is hard to bike up against such strong winds. 

3 more weeks until I can run again, I’m halfway there.

Hiked 9.5ish miles to the C and back with Josie (steep hills, took about 3.5-4 hours).

Later played Wall-y ball for a little over an hour with a group of friends. Surprisingly nothing hurt my femur, which must mean it’s getting better :) but it still probably wasn’t smart to play. Oh well it was really fun!