Although I’d say I’m a week or two from running to full strength, I’d definitely getting closer to feeling like myself. I ended up running everyday, with runs more ambitious than I ever would have imagined a few, short weeks ago. Most of the pain from my strain and time off has subsided. I feel like I’ll be near November-fitness come time for the Eisenhower Marathon in April.
(Most of these are copy-and-pastes “dailies”, which means they were fresh in my mind when I typed them.)
Monday — off work early, too nice to not run! Not-a-fun 4. I originally thought about making this a rest day, but I got off work early and it was too nice to not run. It wasn’t fun, but I’m glad I ran. I knew I wouldn’t do any damage to my body, but running and movement is running and movement.
Tuesday — Chilly and a bit windy, but sunny! I started so tight, I didn’t know how I was going to run four miles. But I eventually loosened up. I’m still pretty tight, but I’m definitely getting there. I can feel endurance coming back. I’m glad I ran 16 last Sunday because, although it’ll create tightness, aches, and pains short term, it’ll help me recover faster because of increased endurance and “getting over the coming-back-to-running soreness”.
Wednesday — 12A. The Altra Escalantes are AMAZING! Remember the NB Fresh Foam from a few years ago, that wasn’t anything foamy? The soles of the
Escalante are what the FF should have been. And the uppers are outstanding. They’re on the lighter side, which makes them versatile, in my book. My run was really nice. I can tell I’m really getting my endurance back, and my legs are starting to feel stronger than sore. My calves ended up being sore for most of the day, because I went out harder than I expected, but after wearing calf sleeves for the rest of the day and proceeding night, I was okay for Thursday.
Thursday — 10E. Originally, I planned for 8, but it was so nice outside I went for two more. Stiff from yesterday, but I made it through. It looked a lot warmer than mid-30s…. The soreness does make it nice that it keeps me running slower, which does help with endurance, somewhat. It’s still miles.
Friday — 6E/A Lots of sleep last night — I was tired and crashed soon after dinner. I’ll run later today. The distance will depend on how I’m feeling. It might be four, it might be ten. We’ll have to wait to find out!
10A — Picture perfect day for running. My speed seems back, but I have still a few lingering niggles that are working their way out. It went from upper-20s to mid-60s today. Go figure. Another “mental effort”.
Saturday — 4.5E to and 4E from a work meeting. After eating, I tried to keep from cramping on the way back. Everyone knows that I’m a really serious/hardcore runner at work, yet they were all flabbergasted I ran there. On one hand I want to say, “You all do know that marathons are 26.2 miles, right?” Yet on the other hand, I’m completely desensitized to how much marathoners run. Weekly centuries aren’t foreign anymore. I know people who’ve done IM, 100M, and many other races — 4.5E to work ain’t no thang. If anything, it’s a struggle to get motivated *only* to run that distance.
Sunday — 18E The first half of the run was really good — I planned for six at 9:00, six at 8:30, six at 8:00, then gun the last two. Well, around the turnaround pointed I started bonking and soon was running on fumes. I should have eaten another meal yesterday. Solid run, but not what I had hoped once I started out. I knew it was “not going to be a fun time” as soon as I saw my heart rate increase while staying at the same effort.
Walking on my way back a guy (who looked like the rare Columbus ultra runner) said, “I love Altras!” At first, because my mind is in the gutter, I thought he meant “ultras”. Then, I remembered I’m wearing an Altra tech shirt and profoundly shouted, “Yeah!”, back to him. /goodstory
I’m feeling really good right now. I’m looking forward to adding more miles next week, and maybe a quality or hill day. I’ll take it one day at a time and see where I end up. Do what I can each day and go from there.
76.5mi | 8:18/mi | 10h36m | 1,132ft
- Monday 4 mi 8:48/mi
- Tuesday 8 mi 8:13/mi
- Wednesday 12 mi 7:59/mi
- Thursday 10 mi 8:23/mi
- Friday 6 mi 8:13/mi
- Friday 10 mi 7:59/mi
- Saturday 4.5 mi 8:19/mi
- Saturday 4.o mi 8:22/mi
- Sunday 18 mi 8:37
