Psalm 91:1 NKJV He who dwells in the secret place

No running, just eating and eating today.  I did core workouts sit-ups and push-ups just to do some exercise.  I'll probably take three more rest days just before I try to run again.  I've been sick the last couple of days with a head cold and sore throat, but that will pass.  Once I get back to running I'll feel great.



 

Another rest day and my Achilles isn't swollen anymore and has no pain. I'm still going to take an additional two days off and starting running again on Thursday. My wife has surgery on her hand on Wednesday so I thought Thursday would be a good day to see how the rest has helped.

I really feel like I'll be alright, but will see. My shape probably won't be in the best condition or in racing form but what can you do when the body needs to recover.

 PM.

Did 600 sit-ups and 200 push-ups tonight.  I used to do over a 1000 situps a day until I started running regularly.  I  stopped doing that many about four years ago.  I needed to do something today, because I ate like a pig.  I seem to eat more for some reason when I'm not running.  I can't wait to run again.  I bet I've gained about 3 or 4 pounds.

No running today, still resting the achilles (this sounds like a repeating record). Last night I had major stomach issues where I had to vomit in the middle of the night. I think my problem was I ate quite a big dinner, and I started exercising right after that and it just upset my stomach. I felt awful when I first went to bed. My son got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and I helped him, and that just triggered my stomach and I rushed to the toilet and you know the rest. My stomach was hurting in the middle of the night and I struggled to not have to vomit, but what can you do. I had a horrible nights sleep.

Anyway, I went to the gym this morning and did 35 minutes on the bike and 11 minutes on the Elipitical machine which I absolutely hate. I also did 3 x 20 reps of pull ups.  I'll say I did an effort of 5 miles total.

No running again today for the last time. Tomorrow will be the test on my achilles, and I believe it will be fine because I have absolutely no pain. But I haven't put a lot of stress on it either so will see.

I did 38 minutes on the arc trainer doing hill intervals which was a good workout.  Over 3 miles according to the machine. This is the first time I've ever used the arc trainer before. I got interrupted at the 38 minute mark by one of the Gold Gym employee's letting me know that my wife called and they moved her surgery up to right now, so I had to rush out of there and take her to the Rocky Mountain Surgery Center. She had a cyst removed off the back of her hand. Everything went okay, the cyst was pretty large, but she did have inflammation in the joints below the cyst so hopefully that will clear up.

In a hurry I ran out of the gym to the parking lot and didn't experience any pain. I'm excited to run tomorrow.

Well I can at least today call myself a runner again. It was 7 degrees outside and the fog was so heavy you couldn't see 6 feet in front of you. I ran 8.1 miles at an overall 6:56 pace in 56:16 minutes. My achilles felt fine in the run and really didn't experience any pain, but I do have a little soreness and crackling of the tendon now. I think maybe for the first run back I should have run a little less, but I really wanted to test it out. The first mile I kept it slow at 7:20 pace and felt like I really didn't push anything hard on the achilles. The fastest mile I ran was 6:41 and that was because I had a meeting I needed to be at (that I forgot about at work) so I had to rush back home the last mile just so I could prepare for the meeting.

Tomorrow I think I will run 4 miles on the treadmill and then workout on the arc trainer at the gym. I don't want to go full blown back to where I was running before, but gradually work back into some type of training.

I do feel if I take it easy the next couple days then my progress by Monday should be great. Any suggestions on what I should run the next couple of days? Like I said I was thinking 4-6 miles tomorrow and then Saturday 6 miles. Sunday rest, Monday try 6 -8 miles. I might decide to do all these runs on the treadmill since it's a softer surface.

Del Sol Relay, I don't know yet. I don't know if the achilles will handle going all out. By Monday I should have a good idea if its possible. I think my achilles right now could handle the three fast legs, but Monday will be a better evaluation. Like I said during the run today everything went well, but I could have dropped my pace a little bit coming back from the sore achilles.

I'll update my blog today to let you know the progress of how the achilles feels the rest of the day.

Update.

 Achilles is still sore, I'm going to have acupuncture done tomorrow on the tendon just to see if that will help.  At least I know by giving my leg rest it heals so that should give me time to be ready for Del Sol relay.  I might just crosstrain tomorrow.  The 8 miles felt really easy with no fitness issues at all.
 

Easy miles on the treadmill this morning 5. 3 miles at a 8:00 minute mile pace. My achilles is still crackling. but didn't get that sore today, but I'm sure it will be later because that's what happened yesterday. My plan is to have acupuncture done today, and then just cross-train for the next 5 days. Acupuncture could help to release more blood flow in the tendon. I will also get a massage done.

Also at the gym I did 20 pull-ups, 200 sit-ups and 8 minutes on the bike.

 Lunch

Went to get acupuncture done from a local Chiropactor which is a good friend of the family so I get a good discount.  He said my tissue is so hard with all the crackling going on when you move the tendon that acupuncture would not be good right now, because it would hurt.  The needles would have a hard time penetrating in the tissue.  He didn't think my tendon would be as bad as it is, and was worried about it.  We are going to try to do the acupuncture on Monday.  He would like me to take 3 or 4 weeks off from running.  

I think my plan is to cross-train all the way till next Friday or Thursday before the Del-Sol Relay.  At least this will give me a week to heal for the race and maintain fitness with the cross-training.

I 'm really using my Gold Gym membership this week, and that's where I went this morning.
I did 6.3 miles on the Arc Trainer and did the hill interval program. I was on this machine for 1 hour and 10 minutes. The max heart rate I got up to was 135. Then I did 80 situps with 10 pounds of resistance, 45 pull-ups, 40 bicep curls, 40 triceps pull-downs, 40 on the Butterfly machine, 60 on the chest resistance machine, 40 ab twists, and finished off with 11 minutes on the Elliptical machine. I was trying to simulate the same effort as doing a long run that I would normally do today. I really felt like I did something today. It's funny each morning I wake up my achilles doesn't hurt after one day of rest, or minimum exercise.

Interesting note my x-rays from the Chiropractor showed I have a bigger heart than the normal size, which didn't shock me since I've always been an athlete since birth. My back and my neck all looked in great conditions. He did do some adjustments to my hips and back and neck and it felt real good.

 PM

Did 500 sit-ups and 200 push-ups tonight trying to keep the cardio up.  Although, I could be eating better.