Week 15: Steady as she goes..

Monday: Run with Alex... calling it 5 miles. My GPS had 5.6 and Alex had 4.8 but it was all on trails in the winding and technical Ward Reservation. This was my first time there since surgery and it was soo very good to be back. I'm very unfit, so this was a moderate-to-hard effort for me. Meanwhile Alex is very fit, but coming off of a couple wins this weekend and needed a nice shake-out. I imagine this will be the kind of run we do together for quite some time. Goal is to run 7 miles at some point this week. I also want to run or bike 5 days total. I would also like to see a mile sub-7... we'll see if I can find a nice long downhill somewhere :)

Tuesday: 5.3 miles. Solo run at Ward on the same loop as yesterday. Love that place! Ran a bit slower than yesterday in the 88 degree heat and also probably because I wasn't chasing Alex prancing through the woods ahead of me. I used the downhill coming back to the car and continued past it to get a quicker mile and ended up well sub-7 with a 6:35 dropping 35 feet. My stride felt the best it has yet! Knee feeling almost completely normal!

Wednesday: 6 miles in Ward. Really nice weather for international running day but in terms of energy I felt like garbage. No pop in the legs. This is probably a result of running 3 days consecutively for the first time since maybe October! Tomorrow off for sure. Absorb the work!

Thursday: 4.8 miles roads during coaching.  Couldn't help but run in perfect conditions.  3.4 MI tempo for my 54 yo runner at 7:40 pace. She was pumped! So was I. Tomorrow a jog is not likely with 8th grade promotion. We'll see.

Friday: Off, as expected!

Saturday: 3 miles easy / 21 minutes

Sunday: Off, preparing for DC Trip

Week 14 - Picking up the slack

Monday: 4.3 miles easy with the HSers at running club. Nice day out. A touch humid but I'd rather ease into the summer weather rather than have it hit all at once. Oh, it's supposed to be 90 on Wednesday? ...Nevermind.

Tuesday: 4 total / 2 miles easy to NAMS to coach a workout in 16 minutes. After coaching I jogged back down the hill in 15 minutes or a hair under. Last mile 7:03 - fastest one yet! Feeling more and more comfortable running quicker. Iced after. I need to be better about continuing my PT. Hitting the bike tomorrow given the heat.

Wednesday: 50 minutes on the bike. Felt good!

Thursday: Off - Job interview consumed all free time. It went well!

Friday: Off - Ran up to the superintendent's office. It went well!

Saturday: Off - Lazy! Drove to Burlington. It was hot. Hung at the beach. Camped at North Beach. Shared a fire with some people from VA. Very fun times.

Sunday: Off - ish. Ran around a bit early on at the marathon but nothing noteworthy. Headed home before the storm hit. Oppressively hot day for a long race!!

Overview: Well, the week started off well and ended pretty pathetically from a training perspective. This has been a bit of a pattern. I have insanity week at school with finals, multiple graduations, a ceremony or two and then prepping for the DC trip I'm leading. Next week I'll be touring DC Monday-Thursday and then our final in-service day on Friday before summer vacation begins. So... t-minus 2 weeks until summer and "real" training can begin in earnest!

Week 13 - Working out the kinks

Monday - jogged for 10 minutes and did my PT from the dg course at Devens. Eventually played a solid 18 holes. The Devens course is built on an old military training course which is has technical footing and is pretty hilly. Hiking around seems to be generally good for the body right now.

Tuesday - 5 miles moderate from the train station at Ballardvale. Took me 44 minutes. Single-track has always slowed me down by about 40 seconds/mi but given that I'm running extra carefully I think it's slowing me by a solid minute. Have to remind myself that the body doesn't care about distance traveled so much as it does time spent running. This is the longest run I've done by 8 or 10 minutes. The aerobic side of things is definitely coming along. Meanwhile the R hamstring has some strengthening to do. No PT today.

Wednesday - drove to Cherry Hill, NJ after work. Got there around 1am. Stiff from the ride.

Thursday - Brother-in-law graduated from Rutger's Law so the day was consumed by family stuff. Saw this coming.

Friday - 3 mile jog before travel to the Jersey shore.

Saturday - 4 mile jog with Greg on the shore. Nice and flat area. Good tailwind... on the way out, at least. Felt good.

Sunday - Return from the shore. 8 hours in the car and prepped for a big week at school. No run >.<

Overall: Not a great week from just about any perspective. 3 runs and feeling good on those, however. Gotta pick it back up for next week, despite the hectic nature of end of year activities.

Week 12 - Recovery Conclusion

I'm entering the final week of the standard healing time forecast for the operation I had done. By no means does that imply I am positioned to return to full activity, but it's encouraging to have gone through the recovery process and seen steady improvement from week-to-week thus far. I have a long way to go before I return to racing, but I'm positioned to run more regularly while I continue my exercises for strengthening the VMO.

Monday: 2.8 miles easy with a few high schoolers at running club. Felt good to jog after a couple days off.

Tuesday: 4 miles moderate solo following "Dan's loop". Getting the HR down to near normal levels while running (171 avg) which is a good sign. The first few runs were reading very high despite the efforts feeling easy to moderate.

Wednesday: Taking the day off. Hitting up the Sox game with Lauren and our friends Brad and Cass. The forecast couldn't be better, and Porcello is pitching!

Thursday: 4.3 miles on the trails and a few roads around Ballardvale. The cooler temps definitely made running more comfortable.

Friday: 60 minutes on the spin bike at the YMCA. HR avg 150. Felt good! Fatigued the last 10 minutes or so. Felt like real aerobic work without aggravating the knee at all. Progress!

Saturday: Walked around Amesbury with dad shooting some disc golf. Played my best game of the season (69) for the Pines. Lauren and my dad tied (lauren got an 18 pt handicap since she can't drive as far)

Sunday: Off. Worked a table at the Alex Fresce meet at NAHS. Gave away 300 flyers for the running camp Amanda and I put together. Evening bash with the Italian in-laws in southern MA.

Recovery #11 - Things are going well

Monday - 25 minutes on the spin bike at the YMCA followed by PT and some basic core exercises. I did some leg press for only the second time and this attempt went far better than the first which was about 3 weeks ago. For the press I focused on high reps (20) and I didn't go through the full range of motion so as to target the VMO... that dinky little muscle I need to strengthen. Feeling good, Tuesday, as I write this. Planning a jog for Tuesday, probably at a slower pace to see how that feels. Onward!

Tuesday - 2.6 mi trail run in the Vale reservation by the old apartment. I planned to hit the track, but every mondo track in NE was occupied by high school teams and after my 3rd attempt I went with the next best thing. The trails were nice and clear and the ground was springy and soft. Felt great! Stopped a few times to take in the scenery.

Wednesday - off. PT and ice.

Thursday - 2.75 mi run with my friend, Troy, from work. Very flat, smooth road. Took it nice and easy... like 10 minute pace. Hit the gym with Alex in the evening for the day 2 lift (back and bicep).

Friday - off. Stayed late to wrap up the week and then straight over to the Spring concert at school. It's good to "rest"!

Saturday - Took a long walk with mom and lifted in the evening. PT after.

Sunday - off. Another good day but no activity to report, unfortunately! Back at it on Monday.