I decided to try my luck at the weekly GCS track workout last night. Although I've only been running again for about a week I thought the workout was manageable, 4 x 1 mile repeats with 800m rest. I settled in with the second group, most of whom I guessed would be running between 6:00 and 6:30 pace.
I let others in the group pace the first mile and stayed tucked in the middle but I thought it felt a little slow and a little erratic so I decided to pace the group on the remaining miles, keeping each 400m split in the 1:30 to 1:32 range. Once I get dialed in I can generally run pretty consistent, repeatable laps.
Splits for the workout:
Mile 1 6:20
Mile 2 6:08
Mile 3 6:04
Mile 4 6:00
Effort wise it felt comfortably hard but this was obviously the fastest my legs moved in a very long time so my legs were pretty sore by the 4th mile repeat. So with a couple of miles for a warm up and a couple more for a cool down I ended up with 9+ miles for the day. Probably more than I should have so today is what I refer to as a grow day. No running for me.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Running Again
I headed out on the trails last week for some real live running. Yep, after hanging around for over 5 weeks I decided it was time to give running a try. I still had some lingering discomfort but no real pain, and it went surprisingly well.
I ran about 40 minutes on Tuesday in Horse Hill and then did another 45 minutes in Mine Falls on Wednesday before taking a day off to check the damage. Other than being a little out of shape, I actually felt ok. Finally, some progress!
On Friday I headed over to Fort Rock in Exeter. My teammates at acidotic RACING are putting on a trail race called the Exeterra Trail Races on June 20th. I figured I'd go over and check out the trails. Fort Rock is actually two town forests (Henderson-Swasey Town Forest and Oaklands Town Forest) located on oppposite sides of Rt101 connected by a tunnel. I was told to expect some technical trails.
To keep a long story short, I had planned on about 45-50 minutes of running. I spent nearly all my time on the Oaklands side of the highway and ran on some VERY technical trails, some of the best single tracks I've run on in a long time. 1hr and 45 minutes later I finally made it back to my car. I managed to 'misplace my position relative to my car'. Next time I go there I'll bring a GPS watch.
I ran about 40 minutes on Tuesday in Horse Hill and then did another 45 minutes in Mine Falls on Wednesday before taking a day off to check the damage. Other than being a little out of shape, I actually felt ok. Finally, some progress!
On Friday I headed over to Fort Rock in Exeter. My teammates at acidotic RACING are putting on a trail race called the Exeterra Trail Races on June 20th. I figured I'd go over and check out the trails. Fort Rock is actually two town forests (Henderson-Swasey Town Forest and Oaklands Town Forest) located on oppposite sides of Rt101 connected by a tunnel. I was told to expect some technical trails.
To keep a long story short, I had planned on about 45-50 minutes of running. I spent nearly all my time on the Oaklands side of the highway and ran on some VERY technical trails, some of the best single tracks I've run on in a long time. 1hr and 45 minutes later I finally made it back to my car. I managed to 'misplace my position relative to my car'. Next time I go there I'll bring a GPS watch.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Pack to Pack
Although I enjoyed taking pictures yesterday at the Bedford 12k, I really wished I could have been out there with my friends and team mates. Looking at the pictures, you'd have to wonder why actually...not a lot of smiling faces out there. Oh well, I'll be out there eventually.
After the race yesterday I headed over to Mt Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. I needed to get my heart rate up so I decided to speed hike to the summit and back. Most of it was just that: speed hiking, but occassionally I threw in some running. Oh the horror! Not really. Running up hill doesn't seem to affect me much (from an injury point of view). I went up, over and around the backside before coming back down again. Roundtrip of 1hr. It was the closest I've come to running in weeks.
Today I woke up and nothing hurt more than usual. Usual is me spending between 30 min and and hour each night doing various core exercises. To me this was a good sign. Whatever I managed to do yesterday didn't seem to have a serious affect on my phantom injury. So with that I figured I'd try my luck again.
Off I went to Temple, NH and Pack Monadnock. I parked on one of the side roads near Pack and headed up Raymond Trail, 1.6m to the summit. On the way up I did a combo of speed hiking and slow running. Since it took me less than 30 minutes to reach the summit I decided to go down the other side to the main parking lot on RT101 (Marion Davis Trail, 1.4m,), running nearly the entire way down. Feeling inspired now, I headed back up Pack Monadnock for the second time, this time taking the Wapack Trail to the summit, another 1.4m trip. I ran the sections that were runnable. When I say I was running, think more along the lines of slow shuffle and not some guy doing a trail race. After a brief stop at the summit for the second time, I headed back down Raymond Trail to my car for an additional 1.6m. Total round trip, 6 miles and 1hr and 35 minutes of hiking/running.
All in all I felt pretty good. No real pain, a little sore once in a while but that's about it. Not quite ready to hit the roads yet but I am enjoying getting out on the trails. I probably did more than I should have today but it was worth it. Beats hanging around doing nothing!
After the race yesterday I headed over to Mt Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. I needed to get my heart rate up so I decided to speed hike to the summit and back. Most of it was just that: speed hiking, but occassionally I threw in some running. Oh the horror! Not really. Running up hill doesn't seem to affect me much (from an injury point of view). I went up, over and around the backside before coming back down again. Roundtrip of 1hr. It was the closest I've come to running in weeks.
Today I woke up and nothing hurt more than usual. Usual is me spending between 30 min and and hour each night doing various core exercises. To me this was a good sign. Whatever I managed to do yesterday didn't seem to have a serious affect on my phantom injury. So with that I figured I'd try my luck again.
Off I went to Temple, NH and Pack Monadnock. I parked on one of the side roads near Pack and headed up Raymond Trail, 1.6m to the summit. On the way up I did a combo of speed hiking and slow running. Since it took me less than 30 minutes to reach the summit I decided to go down the other side to the main parking lot on RT101 (Marion Davis Trail, 1.4m,), running nearly the entire way down. Feeling inspired now, I headed back up Pack Monadnock for the second time, this time taking the Wapack Trail to the summit, another 1.4m trip. I ran the sections that were runnable. When I say I was running, think more along the lines of slow shuffle and not some guy doing a trail race. After a brief stop at the summit for the second time, I headed back down Raymond Trail to my car for an additional 1.6m. Total round trip, 6 miles and 1hr and 35 minutes of hiking/running.
All in all I felt pretty good. No real pain, a little sore once in a while but that's about it. Not quite ready to hit the roads yet but I am enjoying getting out on the trails. I probably did more than I should have today but it was worth it. Beats hanging around doing nothing!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
2009 USATF-NE 12k Championships
I headed over to Bedford this morning and took a bunch of pics of the Bedford Rotary 12k Road Race. Unfortunately my camera battery died before I got everyone but I still ended up with nearly 250 pics. Sorry for those I missed.
Here's the link to the pics --> Bedford Rotary 12k Road Race Pictures
Here's the link to the results -->12k Results
Friday, May 15, 2009
Staying Positive
I've tried to stay positive and patient while dealing with my latest injury. The difficulty increases exponentially each week, especially since this is not an injury that I can run through. Most injuries at least allow you to run a little (reduced mileage) and that is why this one is so frustrating.
With that being said, I have to trust the negative results on my latest tests should be interpreted as some sort of good news (nothing seriously wrong). Still searching for answers, I followed up with my doctor yesterday to review my MRI, and she actually had a slightly different take than the radiologist. She believes I probably tore/strained my oblique muscle (MRI showed fluid buildup in my right oblique).
It doesn't really change anything. Rest is still the medicine I need and reluctantly take each day, as patiently as I can.
Yesterday I did a 10 min test run on the treadmill. I ran generally pain free and stopped after 10 minutes. Progress I suppose. My side is sore today but at least this time it didn't hurt during the run. I see signs of improvement (ever so slight), but realistically know I probably have at least another 4 weeks of rest before I can even think about running.
For now I have plan and with that I can stay a bit more positive then I've been in the past.
With that being said, I have to trust the negative results on my latest tests should be interpreted as some sort of good news (nothing seriously wrong). Still searching for answers, I followed up with my doctor yesterday to review my MRI, and she actually had a slightly different take than the radiologist. She believes I probably tore/strained my oblique muscle (MRI showed fluid buildup in my right oblique).
It doesn't really change anything. Rest is still the medicine I need and reluctantly take each day, as patiently as I can.
Yesterday I did a 10 min test run on the treadmill. I ran generally pain free and stopped after 10 minutes. Progress I suppose. My side is sore today but at least this time it didn't hurt during the run. I see signs of improvement (ever so slight), but realistically know I probably have at least another 4 weeks of rest before I can even think about running.
For now I have plan and with that I can stay a bit more positive then I've been in the past.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
No Run = No Blog
4 weeks ago yesterday my right hip stiffened up during a 9 mile run. Except for one 'test' 3 mile run 2 weeks ago (which was very painful), I haven't run at all since April 14th.
I've tried several times however. Days and days of rest fooled me more than once that I was getting better but as soon as I started to run I would get a sharp pain in my side. So much for rest.
So far I've tried:
A long story short: when I don't run I really don't feel like blogging about running. Funny how that works. In fact the only activity my blog has seen lately is me deleting yet another race from my race schedule. So until I can figure out what's going on, I probably won't spend a lot of time writing about my problems (other than this time :-)).
I've tried several times however. Days and days of rest fooled me more than once that I was getting better but as soon as I started to run I would get a sharp pain in my side. So much for rest.
So far I've tried:
- doctor visits (3 times)
- chiropractor visits (2 times)
- x-ray of my hip (negative)
- MRI of my entire pelvis (negative)
- In my 3rd week of PT
- rest, rest and more rest
- rotated sacrum
- tight right Quadratus Lumborum muscle
- tight right Piriformis
- tight right Gluteus Medius
- tight right Hamstring
- tight right ITB
A long story short: when I don't run I really don't feel like blogging about running. Funny how that works. In fact the only activity my blog has seen lately is me deleting yet another race from my race schedule. So until I can figure out what's going on, I probably won't spend a lot of time writing about my problems (other than this time :-)).
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