Monthly Archives: June 2006

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The ankle burn

So on Monday I ran only 3 miles around my neighborhood. Mile 1 was OK, and at the end of the mile I stopped and stretched my legs while holding on to a stop sign. I was barely feeling the burn in my ankle. Then on mile 2 is began to burn more so again I stopped at the end the mile to stretch it. Finally on mile 3 I could feel it with each step. So far it’s not getting better – it’s always there. The only thing that’s increasing is my weight. When I get depressed I eat and when I stop running I get depressed. That isn’t a good combination.

Today I exercised on my stationary bike to keep pressure off my ankle, then did some weights. Tomorrow is my “new” beginners class and they’re doing a time trial. So I sent a note to the coach saying I won’t attend. I gotta keep it easy for about two weeks, and then see what’s what.

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Second massage and a decision

Well I had my second message today and it was just as intense as the last one. Boy can she make me squirm. She worked my left calf and foot very well. She wants me to continue my stretching and return in two weeks. As part of our discussion the therapist suggested I greatly reduce my mileage over the next two weeks. This means that I’ve got to drop my goal of qualifying for Boston at Chicago, and switch classes from the qualifying group to another less intense class such as the Wednesday evening beginners group. I’ve been coming to that opinion too, but had been putting off the decision. Well now is the time to decide. So I’ve sent a note to my current coach, Mac Allen, telling him my decision. Then I contacted Carolyn asking her if I can get into the new class. Also I’ll only run 3-4 miles a few times a week which means no long runs on Saturday morning for a few weeks. Ugh! This is very depressing, but I have to get better.

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Zilker workout

Tuesday night’s class at Zilker park was more of the same, but I tried not to stress my ankle, yet afterwards I really felt it, and iced it at home which helped. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe I should drop back to an easier class. This is really starting to get to me. One more massage on Thursday and then I have to make a decision.

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Week 7, June 19 – June 25

Date: Monday, June 19, 2006; Workout: Easy 5 miles
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2006; Workout: Meet at RunTex Riverside @ 6:30 p.m.; 2 sets of 10 x 50 m downhill at Zilker soccer fields. 7 miles total
Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2006; Workout: Easy 6 mi or cross train (XT) 1 hr; XT=bicycle, weights, water running, elliptical training, swimming, etc.
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2006; Workout: Easy 6 mi
Date: Friday, June 23, 2006; Workout: off
Date: Saturday, June 24, 2006; Workout: Group run at the RunTex Riverside store at 6am: 14 miles “East Side Loop” at an easy pace. Afterwards: seminar in the annex on “Shoes and Custom Foot orthodics for a Successful Marathon” by Bill Stone, RunTex shoe expert and board certified Pedorthist. Attandance incentive: Forward Motion Pedorthics will raffle off one free biomechanical examination, gait analysis, shoe fitting and one pair of custom foot insoles worth $300
Date: Sunday, June 25, 2006; Workout: Easy 6 mi w/ 4 – 5 strides (strides are 50-100 mtr accelerations at 5k-10k pace effort with 50-100 mtr slow jog in between)
WEEKLY TOTAL = 44 MILES

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Progressive pace long run

This Saturday’s long run was to be progressive pace. That means that each mile is to be 15 seconds faster that the previous. It is to culminate in an all out mile preceeded by two miles at 10K pace. My 10K pace should be about 7:45 per mile based upon my MGP of 8:35 and the McMillan calculator. For me this is quite fast. This means that I would run my first mile at 9:30 per mile. Last night with my sore ankle I thought that maybe I should just do the mileage, and not try to achieve this performance level. I sent a note to my coach asking him his opinion. However I never got a response. When I was driving at 5:30 AM it started to rain and thunder. While standing waiting with the other runners in the rain I decided to start by myself regardless of the weather. Soaking wet with fogged glasses I continued on up Shoal Creek on my own never even considering my performance. I was just trying to get it done. It was too dark and rainy to even see the mileage cones. Finally it started to clear up about mile 4. After the turnaround at mile 5 I met up with my coach who told me that he had gotten my e-mail and he wanted me to take it easy. I assured him that was indeed what I was doing. This time as I ran back down on Shoal Creek I finally saw the mileage cones. Then at mile eight the sky darkened, and the rain started to pour again. I ended in a downpour in 1:42 or about 10:12 per mile. That definitely wasn’t my fastest, but at least I did the miles and I did them easy. On the way home I iced my ankle.

by admin

My first massage

I called Lisa S., the massage therapist, on Wednesday and she had an opening on Thursday at 11 AM. So I took off from work for a 30 minute appointment. She worked mostly on my ankle and lower leg muscles. She knew how to make me squirm. It wasn’t exactly painful, but I really felt it. During her massage she found some internal scar tissue on the muscle above my left ankle. This might have caused tension and therefore the burning sensation. Afterward my muscles felt as if I had really worked them out. Wow! Lisa said that the first message is always the hardest. She told me that I have to do the following for the next week. (1) Stretch my calves 3-5 times daily. (2) Ice my ankle when in pain after a long run by keeping the ice pack on for 1 minute after it numbs. (3) Stretch my hamstrings while laying on my back with a tie or strap in the evenings. She finally suggested that I skip doing trails for a few weeks. We set up another 30 minute appointment for next week at the same time. I’ll keep you posted in this saga…

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MGP speed work

This week we warmed-up 2 miles, then ran 3 miles at MGP, and then cooled down with 2 miles back. I was to run at 8:35/M pace. All this was done on the Town Lake trail. Stretching beforehand and the warm-up helped alleviate the burning sensation in my ankle. However, when I got done running the 3 miles I was exhausted – the temperature was in the very high 90s Fahrenheit – ahhh, the Austin Summer is upon us. On the way back I stopped and walked the last mile with Jennifer L. She gave me the name of a Massage Therapist, Lisa S., who works out of her home in NW Austin (not downtown) which is nearby to me.

Mile Split Total Expected Split Expected Total
0.5 4:01.18 04:01.18 4:17.50 04:17.50
1.0 4:19.22 08:20.40 4:17.50 08:35.00
1.5 4:23.59 12:43.99 4:17.50 12:52.50
2.0 4:12.19 16:56.18 4:17.50 17:10.00
2.5 4:17.32 21:13.50 4:17.50 21:27.50
3.0 4:08.75 25:22.25 4:17.50 25:45.00

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Week 6, June 12 – June 18

From Rogue Running
Date: Monday, June 12, 2006; Workout: Easy 5 miles
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2006; Workout: Meet at RunTex Riverside @ 6:30 p.m.; Trail fartlek @ 2 mile jog, 3 mile marathon pace, 2 mile jog. 7 miles total
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 2006; Workout: Easy 5 mi or cross train (XT) 1 hr; XT=bicycle, weights, water running, elliptical training, swimming, etc.
Date: Thursday, June 15, 2006; Workout: Easy 6 mi
Date: Friday, June 16, 2006; Workout: off
Date: Saturday, June 17, 2006; Workout: Group run at 6am: 10 miles progressive pace run, route: “Big Fire”
Date: Sunday, June 18, 2006; Workout: Easy 6 mi w/ 4 – 5 strides (strides are 50-100 mtr accelerations at 5k-10k pace effort with 50-100 mtr slow jog in between)
WEEKLY TOTAL = 39 MILES