Going Long (again) in 2024

Pushed a bit more on the treadmill today.  One hour, with 3/4 mile runs followed by 1/4 mile fast walk, except for the final repeat when I ran a full mile.

Ran the first few at 10 minute/mile pace, and picked it up for the last half at a 9:40 minute/mile pace.

Other than that tightness, I was fine until the last quarter mile.  The hamstring started to seize up and I decided to play it safe and did not run the final 100m of that split.

Still, I must be getting stronger, as this is the most I've run in almost a month.  So, I'm more hopeful now.

Kicked it up a slight notch today.  My HS was pretty sore after yesterday, so I thought I might use the spin bike today, but I woke up feeling no pain, so decided to go for it.

Ended up running 1 mile intervals, with 1/4 mile fast walks.  Started at a 10 min/mile pace and ended up at the end running a 9:30 pace.  So, slowly getting there.

What was really good, however, is that I had no significant pain at the end.  Just that nagging tightness.

For me, the big question will be do I transition back outside again, or focus on getting my pace back to where it should be on the treadmill.  I may do both - I have an eye on the Bayshore HM just 3 weeks from now.  I won't be running it fast, obviously, but I WOULD like to run it continuously.

I decided to hit the road today, and I think it was a good choice.  I ended up running 4.5 miles continuous.  Although the hamstring was tight throughout, there was no pain.  Maybe 'on the edge' of pain for the final half mile, but that's it.

I tried to keep the pace ultra slow, and did a good job of that:  splits of 9:36, 9:36, 9:42 and 9:36.  I really concentrated on my form and made sure to avoid all the potholes, depressions, cracks - basically anything that would throw off my stride.

So, I'm hopeful I can continue this trend, and slowly increase my distance and pace.  More hopeful for sure than I was a week or two ago.

Same distance as yesterday, but faster.  Ran my mile splits at 9:12, 9:12, 9:09 and 8:55.  Same tightness as yesterday, but it seemed to feel better as I went and I felt stronger at the finish.  So, more hopeful signs.  It's exactly one month since I strained the hamstring.  My physiotherapist tells me it can take 8 - 12 weeks before the healing is complete, but I'm just glad to be moving.  I won't break any speed records at the Bayshore Half two weeks hence, but at least I'm confident now I'll be able to run it.

Went the full 6 mile route today - the same one I injured myself on 4 weeks ago.  

My average pace was 8:58/mile, and pretty consistent at that.  The tightness is still there.  And, although I felt a few 'twinges' along the way, there was no pain during or after this run.

I think I'll maintain this pace and focus on increasing my mileage over the next few weeks.  Still need time for the healing to continue.

I think I got a little too excited after yesterday's run, and I planned on running 7 miles today.  Didn't happen.

I felt great for the first 2 miles and ran 8:49 and 8:42 splits.  But then a long uphill - not steep, but still - I think caused some hamstring tension.  I slowed to a 9:10 mile and then a 9:26 mile.

At that point, I stopped to stretch and then ran another half mile, and then had to stop.  I walked a half mile and tried to start again, but could not.  Unfortunately, that left me over 2 miles to walk home.  Fortunately, walking does not cause any pain.

So, I'll wait and see how I feel tomorrow.  I may just keep run runs in this range for now, or I may even hit the spin bike tomorrow and try for a longer run on Saturday.  We'll see.

I was pretty sore starting out, so decided to play it safe and run a route close to home.  Good thing.  After just over a half mile, I had to stop running.  I guess I just pushed too hard yesterday.  Lesson learned.

So, I came home and hit the spin bike for 45 minutes.  I may do the same tomorrow, depending on how things heal up today.

I wasn't sure what to expect after yesterday's bad experience, but I started off feeling better than yesterday, and decided to take the 6 mile loop.  At it's furthest point from my house, it's about 2 miles, so not bad if I had to walk it.

I started off ulta slow, and decided to walk a quarter mile after each mile split.  I just wanted to see how my hamstrings would react.  This seemed to work, and I got a bit faster and a bit more confident as I went, and ended up doing the entire loop, so a total of 5 miles running.  My mile splits were:   9:51  9:49  9:41  9:29  and  9:29.  Like I said, ultra slow.

That's a bit deceptive though, as I seemed to stiffen up after each walking segment and when I started to run again, it was at a really slow pace.  By the second half of each mile, however, I was running around 8:30.

Same tightness thoughout, although no significant pain.  What is really noteworthy is that the tightness seems to have moved up higher - it has been on the lateral side just above my knee, but now is more in the middle about half way between my knee and my glute.  I'm hoping it will keep going up and then out!

Late run for me; I had to bring my Vulcan in to the garage for a service first thing this morning, and didn't get back home until late afternoon.  Also had physio this morning.

So, ran 5 continuous.  I'm not pleased that I can still feel that pressure in my hamstring though.  After 5 weeks, you'd think it would be completely gone by now.  I guess I need to be more patient.  Ran the 1st three miles at around a 9:15 pace, and the last two at 8:45.

First time I've run twice within 12 hours - was a little nervous about it, but decided to take it slow and see how the hamstring felt.

Although it was tight throughout, I think it actually felt better than last night.  I ran my 1st mile at 9:38 and my last mile at 9:00, with my speed gradually increasing throughout - average pace of 9:19/mile.

So, I'm still cautiously optimistic.  Would love to have that tightness go away.  And the hamstring is still painful when pressed.  However, I hope to run 5 miles every day this week.  Still no speedwork on the horizon for a while though.

I started off slow and thinking I'd go 5 miles.  I'm in Ottawa tomorrow for the March for Life and want to run 8 miles there on the beautiful trails along the Rideau Canal.  But as soon as I started, I noticed I had no tightness in my hamstrings at all.  First time in a long time.

So, at mile 4 I made the decision to go for 6, and I pushed the pace a bit.  Over all, my average pace was 9:01.  I ran 9:21   9:12   8:59   8:39   8:53 and 9:04.

There was some tightness for the final 2 miles, but not as bad as it has been.  More of a reminder that I need to be cautious and not push it too hard just yet.

This is the most hopeful I've been in weeks.

This is yesterday's run report, as I didn't get home from Ottawa until almost 11 last night.  

A beautiful morning, and I always love the ottawa trails along the Rideau Canal.  I started near the locks downtown where I was staying, and ran to Dows Lake and back.  8 miles in total.

Good News!!!  My hamstring was not an issue.  Very slight tightness, and it got no worse as I went.  I could have gone further, but thought it best to not push it.  In fact, I'm going to rest today and try for a 10 miler (maybe 11) tomorrow.  Then the Bayshore Half is just a week away.

I took it easy on the speed.  My splits:

9:21  8:57  9:07  9:01  8:56  8:37  8:43  and  9:04, for an average pace of 8:58 and a running time of 1:11:54.

I have physiotherapy this afternoon and I believe it will be my final one, although for sure I'll be keeping up with my own strength routine for the hammies, and I know I need to be very careful going forward so as not to reinjure them.  I have no plans for speedwork any time soon.

Success!  No pain and no tightness at all in my hamstrings either during or after the run.  Total run time was 98 minutes, for an average pace of 8:56.  I'm very happy with the results.  It has been over 5 weeks since my injury, so it's great to be back to where I was.

The 5 weeks of reduced training shows though.  I was very fatigued by the end.  But I did it, and now I have the confidence to run the Bayshore Half next Saturday.

Just a few weeks ago, I planned on walk/running it in 3 hours.  Now I'm aiming to come in  under 2 hours.  Nowhere close to my PR, but I'm going to just think of this as a training run for Chicago, and go out to enjoy the scenery.

I'm leaving early Monday for London, Ontario, and so won't be able to blog any of my runs until I get back home after the Bayshore event.

I was in London, Ontario all week, and so did my runs along the wonderful trails on the Thames river.  Very nice for running.

Six miles on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  No pain issues at all, and I started to push the pace a little.

Today I ran in 50:06, beginning with 8:55 and ending with 8:00/mile.

6 miles in 48:37, so picked up the pace from yesterday.  Averaged a pace of 8:05/mile, with  my fastest ones being 7:41.

Ran a bit slower today, only because I pushed it yesterday, and because my Half Marathon is the day after tomorrow.  Ran the 6 miles in 50:24, with an average pace of 8:23/mile.  

Well, it's over nine minues slower than my PR last year in Cleveland, but I'm ecstatic with the result, since I lost 6 weeks of training due to the hamstring injury, and just a few weeks ago, I would have been happy to walk/run this race in under 3 hours.  Even a couple of weeks ago, I would have considered anything under 2 hours as being great.  So, I'm pleased.

After the 3 six mile training runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and  Thursday, my confidence went up.  No pain and not even any tightness.

I stayed in a hotel over an hour's drive away, so was up at 4am, and driving by 4:30.  Arrived in Traverse City by 5:45 and jumped on a bus to the starting line with all the other runners.  About a 30 minute ride, so that meant waiting in an open field for over an hour.  Fortunately, it was clear (but cold to start - frost on the ground until the sun came up).

I still wasn't sure how I would pace myself, but optimistically decided to place myself at the 8:00/mile pace line.  It turned out to be a very good choice.

The new route starts with quite a significant hill going up and then down.  They say it's 225 feet up, and then back down.  That is reflected in my splits, which are:

8:32  7:15  7:47  8:05  7:51  7:55  7:51  7:51  7:56  7:57  7:35  7:40  7:16 and my final kick lap was in 1:12 (actual distance ran was 13.19 miles, so that final lap was almost a complete lap - I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the tangents on this course.

Anyway, I never felt in any kind of distress at any point in the race.  I know I could have run it faster, but was more interested in running it without any discomfort, especially in my hamstrings.  The temperature and humidity were perfect, and the support along the course was excellent.  This is a fun race to do.  This gave me the confidence boost that I needed as I start to look at training for Chicago.  Based on this race, I decided to train for a 3:30 finish in Chicago.  I'm not aiming for a PR, but rather want to remain healthy and injury free as I prepare to tackle Boston next year.

An easy 6 mile recovery run.  Consistent pace of 9:14/mile.

6 easy recovery miles; pace of 9:01/mile.

6 easy miles;  9:14/mile pace.

8.5 easy miles at a 9:17/mile pace.

5 easy miles; 9:00/mile pace.

Afternoon run, as I wasn't too sure about my left knee this morning.  It starting to ache last night - sort of out of the blue.  I iced it, stretched my quads, and took ibuprofin, and it felt fine this morning, but I didn't want to test it so close to the start of my Chicago marathon training program.

Anyway, it's such a gorgeous day, I decided to try it out on an easy run.  Glad to report:  no pain, stiffness, or any other issues.  Perhaps more than anything a gentle reminder that at my age, you can't afford to skip the daily stretching and foam rolling routine.