09/26 – Sunday – Neighborhood (Hurt too much, stopped immediately) – 0.6 miles – 8 minutes – R/W
09/27 – Monday – Neighborhood (still hurt, will try tomorrow) – off – R/W
09/28 – Tuesday – Class 5 x 1 mile on Track (Getting healthier, ran the laps [10K: 8:49, MGP: 9:28, 10K: 8:10, MGP: 9:04, 10K: 7:37], but not 100%) – 10.2 miles – 102 minutes – R/W
09/29 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6.0 miles – 68 minutes – R/W
09/30 – Thursday – Class 2x5miles at steady pace; still coming back off the muscle strain – 13.3 miles – 131 minutes – R/W
10/01 – Friday – off – R/W
10/02 – Saturday – Long Run – Coach’s Special – 22.0 miles – 218 minutes – R/W
Weekly mileage: Expected 50, Actual 52.1 miles
Shoe mileage: 52.1.0 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
More new shoes
With the high mileage that I’ve been doing, over 400 miles on the current pair, it’s time for another set of Nike Structure Triax running shoes. Again Rogue only had black/red. I’ve come to realize that I don’t like black shoes. Just too too dark. I’d rather have white/red ones (even though over time they become gray). Oh, one other thing, the weather is starting to change too. It beginning to get a little cooler out. I hope that means that I’ll sweat less and this pair will not get as water logged or smelly as the past two pairs.
I’m hurtin’
Last Thursday I hurt myself. After warming up for 2.6 miles over to Scenic/Pecos. I had two 3.5 mile loops to complete at MPG. At the end of the first loop I felt a tightness in the front of my left thigh. On the second loop it became tighter and tighter, it burned and hurt, and I walked part of the last hill. After doing the loops I headed back to Barton Pool and had to walk. Running was too painful. Steve and Scott picked me up at Exposition on Lake Austin Blvd and drove me back. Not good, not good at all.
On Friday I wrote Steve “Reporting in… Well I’ve iced my left thigh a number of times over the past two days, kept it elevated, and did not run today. Right now it feels OK, but I know that by exercising it will tell the truth. So I’ll be there tomorrow morning and see how I do. If things get worse I’ll turn around and run a shorter distance.”
On Saturday I followed up with “Well here is the latest. I started out with a slight twinge in my left quad this morning for the long run. I didn’t feel any pain. Just the fact that it’s not up to par. If all went well I was planning on 16 miles. I started slow and did not expect to be at pace for any of the run as was expected, but just wanted to complete the distance. At 4 miles my quad was throbbing, but I kept going. Yeah, Yeah, I know, but sometimes I push through a cramp and it gets looser. Well I got to the Shoal Creek, the starting point, and headed north still going slowly. After 3/4 mile I got a sharp pain in my muscle and decided that was it and it was time to turn around. The only problem was that I now needed to get back to Rogue and it was 5 miles away and I was hurtin’. So shuffling along, and walking I finally made it back. My muscle felt tight, thick, and cramped. The last time I felt this way was years ago at Decker on the side of my knee and I ran hurt for the whole 20K. When I completed I couldn’t bend my leg it was so tight and sore. Then the next day I was bruised so I had done some damage. I don’t know what is wrong, but I’m going to have to back off and get better. Sigh. By the way it doesn’t hurt as I sit typing this. I can walk and climb stairs fine. It’s just running which aggravates it. I’m icing it as I type and will consider this week to be a recovery week. Thoughts, suggestions?”
I’m not a happy camper right now. I’m frustrated. I just didn’t need this. And I’ve been doing core weights, roller massage, and strides all to help eliminate something like this. Sheesh.
Update: I finally figured out why I got hurt today. I was putting on my running stuff this morning to attempt a slow 4 mile run. As I was getting on my underwear I realize that my new ones were downstairs in the dryer. So I got on a pair of my old ones. As I squeezed into them I realized how tight they were around my thighs. And that was it. I’ve been using them for 3-4 years and I never realized how they had affected me. The new ones are much looser and caused my thigh muscles to operate differently including getting a muscle strain. Wow! Who would have thought. Now I’ve got to figure out how to heal and adjust to these new constraints. BTW, I was only able to complete 0.3 miles before the pain in my thigh told me to stop and turn around. Hmmmm.
Running log week of 2010-09-19
09/19 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8.0 miles – 97 minutes – R/W
09/20 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6.8 miles – 71 minutes – R/W
09/21 – Tuesday – Class – 10.6 miles – 114 minutes – R/W
09/22 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 64 minutes – R/W
09/23 – Thursday – Class – 2 x 3.5 Scenic/Pecos Loops – 11.5 miles – 120 minutes
09/24 – Friday – off – R/W (no squats)
09/25 – Saturday – Long Run – Big Shoal Creek – 11.6 miles – 143 minutes – R/W
Weekly mileage: Expected 60, Actual 54.5 miles
Shoe mileage: 407.8 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
Race Prep 1 – 3×5 mile @ MGP
Here are my results of my first Team Rogue Race Prep which included a 3 mile warm-up, then three 5 mile loops at MGP, and a 3 mile cool down for a total of 21 miles. This would be my longest run so far. So here is what happened.
Overall my results were mixed. Some good, some bad. Two good loops, one lousy one. Went out too fast on the first two loops which caused me to have a lousy last one. Was supposed to run 9:06 MGP (4:00 goal time). Reality was first loop: 8:38, 8:32, 8:31, 8:24, 8:22; second loop: 8:36, 8:37, 8:36, 8:34, 9:02. Much too fast. In the past I would pass a mileage cone, click my timer, look at it and adjust. However, with my new geekometer I just let it run and really didn’t focus on pace. What was I thinking? I dunno. Sure, a few times as I was running under a street light I would look at it and saw that I was faster than MGP, but for some reason I didn’t adjust and slow down. That’s all my fault. And this was a learning exercise wasn’t it. Because I had been running so slow on the earlier long runs I just wanted to see what I could do and I paid for it. So I was ‘fully cooked’ for my last loop: 10:25, 10:01, 10:29, 11:33, and 11:36. Another thing, the 3 mile cool-down was miserable, because I was already so exhausted and tight it was walk + run, but I needed to get the mileage in, however, they were junk miles. Sigh.
Overall I’m encouraged because I think if I do more quality workouts and manage my pace better, I should not burn out so fast. In other words, there is hope. Which is a good thing. Hope is good – right?
Running log week of 2010-09-12
09/12 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 94 minutes – R/W
09/13 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4.1 miles – 45 minutes – R/W
09/14 – Tuesday – Class – Windsor Hill Bounding – 8.3 miles – 93 minutes – R/W
09/15 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 8.0 miles – 78 minutes – R/W
09/16 – Thursday – Class – 2 Loop Tempo Run – 6 miles – 58 minutes – R/W
09/17 – Friday – off – No R/W with Race Prep tomorrow
09/18 – Saturday – Long Run – Race Prep – 21.4 miles – 228 minutes – No R/W because too stiff and sore
Weekly mileage: Expected 60, Actual 55.8 miles
Shoe mileage: 353.3 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
Running log week of 2010-09-05
09/05 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 4.2 miles – 48 minutes – R/W
09/06 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6.3 miles – 71 minutes – R/W
09/07 – Tuesday – Class – Niles backwards very rainy – 10.5 miles – 118 minutes – R/W
09/08 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 5.8 miles – 58 minutes – R/W
09/09 – Thursday – Class – Lake Austin Blvd Out and back – Steady Run – 10 miles – 96 minutes – R/W
09/10 – Friday – off – R/W
09/11 – Saturday – Long Run – Crestview – 14 miles – 136 minutes – R/W
Weekly mileage: Expected 40, Actual 50.8 miles
Shoe mileage: 297.5 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
Running log week of 2010-08-29
08/29 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8.7 miles – 100 minutes – R/W
08/30 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4.4 miles – 49 minutes – R/W
08/31 – Tuesday – Class – Josh’s Eastside Loop – 11.2 miles – 115 minutes – R/W
09/01 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes – R/W
09/02 – Thursday – Class – La Tourista – 14 miles – 156 minutes – R/W
09/03 – Friday – off
09/04 – Saturday – Long Run – Gateway to Rogue 16 miles – 166 minutes – R/W
Weekly mileage: Expected 60, Actual 60.3 miles
Shoe mileage: 246.7 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
Running log week of 2010-08-22
08/22 – Sunday – off (camping and hiking in Big Bend National Park and returning home) – 4.5 miles – 180 minutes
08/23 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4.0 miles – 46 minutes – R/W
08/24 – Tuesday – Class – Roguette – 12.1 miles – 114 minutes – R/W
08/25 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 4.5 miles – 52 minutes – R/W
08/26 – Thursday – Class – Rise N’ Climb – 14 miles – 139 minutes – R/W
08/27 – Friday – off – R/W
08/28 – Saturday – Long Run – Town Lake Trail Plus – 16.1 miles – 158 minutes – R/W
Weekly mileage: Expected 60, Actual 55.2 miles
Shoe mileage: 186.4 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
Running log week of 2010-08-15
08/15 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8.5 miles – 91 minutes – R/W
08/16 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4.5 miles – 42 minutes – Strides – R/W
08/17 – Tuesday – Class – Nile Road – 11.8 miles – 118 minutes – two minutes under 9 min/mile, woohoo! – R/W
08/18 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 44 minutes – R/W
08/19 – Thursday – off (traveling to El Paso to pick up Justin and Stephanie)
08/20 – Friday – off (traveling to and camping in Big Bend National Park)
08/21 – Saturday – off (camping in Big Bend National Park and rafting Rio Grande river)
Weekly mileage: Expected 60, Actual 28.8 miles
Shoe mileage: 131.2 miles
R = Roller
W = Weights
