Sock tans

Practice has been pushed back to 7 because of the later sunrise, sweet! An extra half hour to sleep :) Today it was just the non-traveling team at practice. After warmups and form mile we did a mile warmup then started the workout, 400s. Full workout was 10, but because of my hip coach would only let me do half. I was worried the whole warmup because it was hurting more than it did Saturday, but I really wanted to do 400s. I love 400s. So, I didn't want to tell coach, but at the same time I didn't want to stupidly run through it and injure myself further. As it turns out Coach found out anyways, haha I told him I'd push through it. That's when he said I was only doing half. Mmkay probably a good idea. So hard to tell when to push through and when not to. It was hurting more on the cool down, sooo we'll see how it feels tomorrow. Hopefully I can race this weekend. 

Anyways, we were shooting for 82s. I hit 84, 78, 79, 81, 88. The last one I mentally gave up, simple as that. It's been a while since I've done speed on the track. I've got a lot to work on, pacing included.

.75 cool down. Was originally going to do more but hip was hurting, and the increase in pain from when I first started scared me a bit.  

Weights: 4x10 SL RDLs, 4x10 SL squats (w/ med ball down to bench), 4x10 Step outs to one side (with good leg), 3x10 elevated push-ups, 3x10 red band pulls (new red bands replaced old green ones), 3x10 walks with KBs. 

Hip was hurting pretty bad today. But it's most likely from the speed yesterday, so just running a regular 50% shouldn't do too much damage. It was borderline between being too painful to run on and being able to push through it. When Patrick asked I told him I could do 5 miles at the 50%, but if it was too much I'd turn early and slow down. To be honest I was a bit worried the pace would still be too fast for it (I was going slow on the warmups and form mile and it was ehh) but after a half mile the pain eased. Starting and stopping is the worst, but after like 15 seconds of starting the pain numbs again. Also, was certain we were running slower than 50% going up canyon (my watch was under my sweatshirt and it was cold so I didn't look at it much) but Paul wasn't saying anything, so I thought he was just being nice and letting us go slow on the uphills. But nope! Turns out it was 50% the whole time, the mile I thought was too slow was actually 7:35. So I'm happy that 50% are at least getting pretty easy. 7:26 average, 5 miles wasn't bad at all.

Hip felt slightly better than yesterday but still is painful. During the run it feels okay, pain isn't that intense except for steeper hills. I'm still nervous to do faster paces, especially since the 400s on Monday really destroyed my hip. Pain yesterday was probably the same as if not more than it was when I first talked to Patrick. It's not locking up anymore, which is awesome, but the muscle itself is way more painful and I can actually point out the pain without having to move. Sooo, improvement? I'm not so sure. But if I can run through it I will. Maybe I'll just do 50% since I can handle those and then do workouts in the pool? I'll talk to Coach about it. 

Another 50 today, relief. I thought it was going to be pickups or something, not sure my hip could've handled that. We did Main Street, which is more uphill, but we went at the slower end of the pace up the hill so it was fine. Downhill is okay so I cruised just fine at 7:00-7:10 pace on the way back. 7:29 average. 

Weights: altered workout for me, 3x10 SL squats, 3x10 SL DB RDLs, 1x10 Clams (hurt so I stopped after 1 set). 3x10 green band (now green is thick, replaced purple bands) pull downs, 3x10 DB Row/Press ups, 3x10 half bent DB Rows.

Went to practice, Paul and Patrick said it would be best to take two days off before the race this Saturday (hopefully I can run it! Will probably be the only one I can run as a redshirt), hopefully resting it will make the pain decrease. I'll probably start up ibuprofen to get inflammation out starting tonight and continue through Saturday.

Went to the pool this evening. I'll probably start going every day until I can get up to 6 miles again. 10 minutes warmup. Paul switched the workout up a bit halfway through, was kind of nice just to get it over with. It was a ladder at 80% pace effort, 2 minutes on, 1 off, 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 3 off, 8 on, 3 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 1 off, 2 minutes all out (mimicking last 800 in race). Was tough, worked hard. But that's the pool for ya. 5 minute cool down I think. Was real nice not to have any pain as I "run," maybe an indication that the pool will become my best friend in the next week or so. 

No running to rest up for tomorrow, hopefully I can race

Got to the course, chased after Paul for 50 meters (who was riding in the golf cart) and that was apparently too much. Hurt too bad, I knew racing would not be a good idea. So instead I walked around with Danielle at the meet for 2.5 miles.

Hopes weren't very high today, but I was pleasantly surprised. Hip hurt before I started and I was sure I wouldn't be able to run. Nate had me heat, it started throbbing after that and I was like oh no. But I decided I'd try running a lap and if it was okay I'd keep going. Did a lap and it was alright. Mile in it was borderline, but I kept going. After two miles pain hadn't increased at all and running felt good, but I didn't want to jump back into too many miles. I'd rather ease back into it, adding a mile a day or something. Will have to stay flat I think, just did all of today's on the track. I'll try 3 tomorrow. Pain increased as soon as I stopped, so as long as it's continuous running I can do it.

Weights: Can't do SL RDLs anymore, lifting up leg attached to injured hip is too painful. So, my workout was modified even more. 5x6 SL squats, 5x8 green band pull downs, 5x8 DB presses, 5x8 weird hamstring stretches. Then did shoulder taps, planked one minute, 100 crunches and 30 each side crunches.

Talked to Coach again today, have been stressing myself out about a few things. I've been focusing on and worrying about the wrong things and it's been discouraging me and making me feel like I'm failing at running haha. But after talking with Coach I have some new goals to shoot for that seem much more manageable. I've also been worrying about my current performance much more than I realized, I have some track times to shoot for and really just need to prepare myself for track season. Track is my strength, always has been, so if I put in the effort and take care of myself then my times will come down.

Pool: 7 sets of 3 min @ 80% with 2 minutes recovery between each. Last two were at 100%. Good workout.

Patrick wouldn't let me run today, probably smart. Hip felt better this morning though. Did some strengthening exercises, one of them hurt my hip too much so I stopped after 5 reps. Added another one though because that movement was okay. Then tried out biking, it was alright. Felt it tighten up towards the end but it wasn't the same pain, more like it was just working. So I think it's fine to bike. Went 5 miles (the equivalent of 25 minutes). Stationary bikes have been upgraded since my freshman year, plus we're getting a new weight room and have an updated sponsorship with Adidas that includes shoes, so that's pretty sweet. 

Pool: Warmup 5-10 minutes, 20 minutes @ 80%, 10 minutes @ 60%, 10 minutes @ 80%. No recovery. 5-10 minutes cool down. I'm exhausted from today. Plus legs are actually feeling the pool workout, odd. I guess it's still pretty similar to running and I did work hard. 

Exercises again this morning, then biked 5 miles.

Weights: 4x8 body weight lifts to bar, 4x10 SL squats with 12 lb med ball, 4x10 hamstring stretches, 4x10 DB presses (12.5 lb). Hip stretches, then 30 sec side planks, 30 shoulder taps, 70 crunches.

Pool: 7x 5 minutes at 80%, 6 minutes at 60%. I'm exhausted.

No morning practice, I took the time to finish my Biomechanics lab write-up. Looks like I might actually have some free time later today! Stoked. Might have to lower my work hours because my time is very limited as it is.

Went into the training room right before class, did some exercises. Glute was hurting more today.

Pool: It was just me and Jake, workout was an easy 45 minutes. 'Twas a good time!

Taking today off due to wisdom teeth removal. Nate wanted me to start taking ibuprofen for my glute and I just got prescribed 800mg so I can kill two birds with one stone.

On a totally unrelated note, The Score just came out with their new album today and it's AMAZING. Let this post be proof that I found them before they were famous. If you like Imagine Dragons you should check these guys out. Who am I kidding though, no one reads this.

Was itching to run, I'm getting a bit tired of only doing pool workouts and biking. Glute wasn't hurting at all this morning, maybe the ibuprofen's doing? Decided to try running despite the voice in my head telling me it might be a stupid thing to do. Hurt when I began then eased after a little while. It warmed up real good and I barely felt it the last 2 miles. Uphill still hurts but if I slow down on the hills and don't open up my stride it's fine. I was just happy to get out and run. We'll see how it feels the rest of the day, but as of right now it's feeling great. 7:48 average.

Glute was feeling good, it hurt slightly more than it did on Saturday but still felt a lot better than it has been. Nate said that if the warmups felt good I could run the form mile (I'm gonna start counting it as miles until I can get back to full miles) and if that felt good then I could go out and do 4ish miles like I did Saturday. After the mile on the turf it was borderline on whether I should keep running or not. I opted for not because I feel like with this I need to be more cautious. Told Nate about my slight increase in pain and he told me not to run anymore anway, so we're on the same page. Dang it butt, work with me here!

Pool: 12 x 75 second at 80-90%, 2 minutes rest. Basically mimicking the 400 workout the rest of the team did today. Worked hard, had a good time. The pool's not so bad, actually. It's nice to have a group doing it with set workouts, even if that group is small. Today it was Jake, Sean, Bryan and I.

Did warmups and half of the form mile, hip was hurting more than yesterday. Grrrrr. Patrick says I'm just not even going to run until Thursday even if it feels good, just going to stick to the pool. And of course, if it still hurts I'm not running.

Pool: 6 x 5 minutes at 80%, 45 seconds rest. 5 minutes warmup and cool down. 

I've been having trouble sleeping this week, I dunno what's up. Can't seem to fall asleep. My mind just keeps racing and next thing I know it's 3am.  

Pool: 5 minutes warmup, 20 minutes at 80%, 10 minutes at 60%, 10 minutes at 80%. 5 minutes cool down. 

Pool: 5 minutes warmup, 35 minutes at 60%, 5 minutes cool down. Either missed the memo that there was no official pool practice or was the only one to show up... it's cool though. It's almost fall break so... that's probably it.

In class today I felt a random sharp pain in the side of hip, lasted 2 seconds then went away. Thought maybe I just sat weird and triggered it, so I adjusted. Pain kept coming back for the last 10-15 minutes of class, each time sharp pain lasting 1-2 seconds and 30seconds to 2 minutes between each one. Talk about hard to focus, lol. Continued for about a half hour. Really wierd, talked to Nate about it and since it's not shooting down my leg or anything and just is staying in that spot we're just gonna be mindful of it and see how it feels tomorrow. It was only for that half hour, until I heated it and went to the pool. Now it's fine. Weird. But hopefully I can try running tomorrow, it's up to Patrick though so we'll see. 

Patrick said I could run 3 miles today!! Hip feels good. I did a lot of bending over and repeated lifting at work yesterday so I'm thinking that caused my hip to tighten up and give me that weird pain. But it felt fine today! Little bit of pain the first half mile but a mile in and on I didn't feel it at all. Patrick wants me to still take tomorrow off and then on Monday if it's still felling good I can do another 3 miles :) Averaged 7:13 today. Can tell my fitness has been affected by not running, it was more difficult than it should've been but it still felt good to get out and run.

Wasn’t going to run, wasn’t planning on it. But then I took penny on a “walk,” and she was pulling on the leash so hard it was choking her, so I gave in and ran with her. Dogs, what can you do? Hip was hurting a little but not too bad.

Got to run again, stoked! 7:35 average. Hip was alright, barely felt it.

Patrick let me run 4 miles today! 7:24 average. Hip was alright, only felt it stopping and starting. Still, Patrick wants me to take tomorrow off. Then if it’s okay Thursday I can do another 4. Did 2 sets of 10 of the exercises then iced.

It’s now been 3 weeks since stopping completely for this injury, no wonder breathing is more difficult while running now. It’s a bit discouraging but I do still have a little time before track season to heal and get back to where I was. Come on butt, you can do it!

Pool: 10 minutes warmup, 30 minutes at 60%, 15 minutes at 80%, 10 minutes cool down. 

Hip's feeling good! Patrick said I could run again today. 4 miles with Kamryn, 7:38 average. Could hardly breathe but it's fine. It's just sad how fast you lose fitness. 

Patrick had said I could go 5 today if my hip felt good. Started and it wasn’t feeling too great, but thought maybe it would warm up so I kept going. Stopped after 3 because it wasn’t feeling better.

Hip felt good, Patrick said I could go 5 today :) 

Pool: warmup, 40 minutes at 60%, cool down. 

Pool: warmup, 45 minutes at 50%, cool down.