day 3 of lydiard

Consistency, here I come. 3 days of running in a row. Total mileage...13.5 :) That's just over a 1/2 marathon...I must be Ethiopian or something..ha ha.

In all seriousness, it may not seem like much but it feels great to be running regularly again! Paces are slow...and I still feel really out of shape...but I'm hoping that will come back in a few weeks. Today I ran 6 miles at around 8 minute pace. Afterwards, I did some drills and strides. My hamstring is still tender from the massage, but it doesn't bother me when I run. It's more just beat up (tender to the touch) but on the strides I felt like I was getting to a pretty high speed and I didn't feel any pain at all, so that's a huge plus.

pluses: time with old friends

minuses: lazy!

lydiard build

I finished up last week with a great trail run with Mike on Friday. After that run, I had met my weekly quota for running (three days a week). Everything has been feeling good...so while I'm hesitant to say so, I think I'm recovered from the hamstring injury. This week I am beginning my lydiard build back to 60 miles per a week. I'd like to move up from there at some point...but that's a great goal to start. I'm starting at week one which calls for 25-27 miles. It seems really low, but I think it's pretty accurate for where I am at fitness wise. I am feeling really out of shape on the short runs...so I think starting with low mileage and easy paces will be the most beneficial thing for me now. Today I ran the prescribed 30 minutes with no pain. I don't know what my mileage was, but I'd guess I was around 8:30 pace. I went to see Lisa today too so I could get "clearance" to begin my build phase. This was really just more of a mental check for me. I needed her to tell me my hamstring felt better than before and I was ready to roll. That's pretty much what she said...but she said it is still a "problem" area for me so I need to be religious about rolling it out and streching, otherwise I'll be right back at the same place. I'm ordering a foam roller today to help me out with that. I'm pretty sore after the massage, but hopefully I'll be ready for my 6 miler tomorrow. I'm off to Houston for the rest of the week which means lots of flat, hot, humid running!

pluses: time with family in houston

minuses: rain

trying to get back in the saddle

I ran two out of the last three days...not too bad :) Because I'm not on some crazy running schedule, it's been hard for me to fit it in. When I know I have to run a 14 mile run...it's easy to get up and get it done because I know I won't have any other time during the day to fit it in. Since I'm running super low mileage now, I feel like I keep putting it off and not getting it in...like today.

On Tuesday I had my longest run since March 21st. I ran a whole 7 miles. Woo hoo! It really sucks how long it takes to get in really good shape, and then how quickly you lose it. I felt like I was struggling the whole 7 miles. The only plus was that it was around 95 out...so I'm hoping some of the suffering was attributed to the heat. Yesterday my legs were pretty sore from the run. I ran at about 8 minute pace so it wasn't too slow...but not too fast either. My hamstring is sore, but both of them are so I think it's just because I'm not used to running...not because I'm still hurt. Yesterday I did an easy 3.5 shake out run. It was a bit slower, but still hard because of the heat. I need to start running in the mornings again! I wasn't feeling too good this morning so I slept in...and got pretty busy in Lakeway so I didn't get to run. Oh well...there's always tomorrow. After this week I'm back on the lydiard build...starting with 25-27 miles in week one :) Hey, you gotta start somewhere!

pluses: dinner with friends tonight

minuses: still not feeling 100%

greenbelt run

I ran with Tim for 40 minutes on the greenbelt today. I felt pretty good. Obviously I'm not feeling "fit" but as long as nothing is hurting, I'm a happy camper. Perhaps I'll do a 7 milers with Mike & Co. on Friday :)

pluses: great weather, dinner with Sissy and CHall

minuses: nutrition, out of shape

back running...kind of

I went on two easy runs in the last two days. Yesterday, I went for 20 minutes around my neighborhood. I hadn't planned to try to run for another week or so...but it's honestly making me crazy not too...so I decided to test it out. I felt pretty good. Brian went with me and we kept the pace really slow. It was nice to just get out and jog and break a sweat. My hamstring didn't hurt...so that was good. I definitely don't feel "strong" at all, but I think slow easy jogging for short distances is a good start. I'm hoping that if I keep this up, and work hard on strengthening exercises, then my hamstring will continue to heal.

Today I ran on the greenbelt for 30 minutes. This is always nice because I'm not a great trail runner... so the terrain forces me to slow myself down. Again, no pain. I don't feel like I could just start running really fast. I'm still timid, cautious, and scared about hurting it...but that's probably a good place to be because it should help me come back slowly.

pluses: exercising!

minuses: nutrition

no boston :(

I finally decided to cancel my flight to Boston. I kept holding out, hoping my hamstring would get better...but I just don't think I have enough time. The race is only two weeks away, and I am still not running...so no Boston in 2009. I have gone through a lot of ups and downs in the last few weeks and I am pretty bummed out about not racing, but I know it's the right choice. As of today, I have not done a run over twenty minutes in 15 days. Even if something miraculous happened and my hamstring suddenly felt 100%, I'd be really lacking in fitness and Boston really isn't a course that's "fun" if you're not super-fit. It's a tough course when you are fit, so doing it when you're not 100% would probably suck.

I am a little upset about not being able to race, but really the biggest struggle has been not being able to run right now. I can handle missing Boston. It's one race, one day. Having to change my every day routine is what is killing me. I have heard of runners experiencing a sort of depression during a taper or after a big race, and I haven't really felt that before. I guess the "taper" before San Antonio didn't feel like much of a taper physically, and I was so excited about the race that I never felt crazy or anything before the race. Then the week after the race was so crazy getting ready for my wedding, that I had no time to miss running. But now...wow...totally different story. I feel like I'm going crazy. For the last year or so, running has been the thing that has been a constant in my life and that I've built in as part of my routine. It's my stress reliever, my thinking time, my workout, the beginning to my day, my chance to hang out with friends or just get away from everything. Geezer made a comment in an e-mail to me, and he hit the nail on the head. He said not running is much harder than any work out Steve could put together. That's totally where I am at now. I'd rather do a soul-buster every weekend then sit on my butt and feel completely useless and feel like I've lost a sense of my identity. Ah!

I am going to try to settle in to another routine with cycling or swimming...but there's a reason I'm not into tri's :) I'm not bad at either, I just don't really like them. To get an equivalent of a Saturday long run I'd need to ride for like 6 hours...and I don't have that kind of desire. Maybe if it warms up I'll motivate myself to get in the pool...but we'll see. I am going to meet with Marc today to get some ideas on strengthening work I can do for my hamstring. Hopefully I can strengthen it and fix any imbalances I've developed so this isn't a problem in the future.

pluses: supportive family and friends

minuses: no running

massage results

Well I'm really sore from Lisa working on my hamstring today. The good thing is she said it released quite a bit in the belly of my muscle. The issue is really in the tendon area. Lisa said my tendon is pretty inflamed and that is what is hurting so much when I run. She worked on it a lot too, and I'm hoping that causes some relief. Tendons don't really heal quickly, so it's not looking good for Boston. I'm going to stretch and ice for the today. Tomorrow will be stretch, ice, short jog, and ice. I'm sure that'll be a painful run just because of how hard Lisa worked on it today...but then Friday will be the big decision day. I'll ice, stretch, and jog again and if for some reason I notice a massive improvement, then Boston will be a possibility. As of now, it's looking like an 85% chance I'll be staying home on April 20th. I am trying not too focus on it too much because I know it's not the end of the world, but I have to say it's pretty depressing. I've run 973 miles since the San Antonio Marathon in November. My frustration is two fold. One, I can't run now and it's driving me crazy. Running has been the common thing each day that I have built my other activities around. I love it. It makes me feel good, fit, healthy, fast, etc. So not being able to do that it pretty hard. The second frustration is that I know it's just one race, but I can't seem to convince myself that it isn't the end of the world to miss it. Lots of hard work seems to be going down the drain. I also feel a sense of guilt that I'm letting down my coach and my team. Everyone has been so supportive of me and so excited for how well things were going, and I just kind of feel like I'm not living up to expectations and I hate that feeling. I guess I'm just not in a very good place right now, but I'm sure things will look up eventually.