Spring - In My Step

There is a little bit of Spring in my step this morning. Last night I decided that the time was right to start easing back into some real training. With that in mind, I set out for an Tempo run this morning. For those of you who are reading this and don't have a running background, a Tempo run is essentially running a hard, but controlled, pace. Physiologically you should be right around your anaerobic threshold - the highest effort level at which your body can perform without building up lactic acid. Now with that out of the way, the following is from this morning's training log:

First Tempo run since getting injured. Felt good although I did struggle a little between miles 3 and 4 of the Tempo.

The breakdown:

2 warmup miles @ 8:10 min / mile
4 miles @ 6:26 min / mile
2 cooldown miles@ 8:08 min / mile

I am pretty excited as I haven't run a tempo run since last Fall and to be able to go at a 6:26 pace for 4 miles first time out is certainly helping with my mental outlook and has put a Spring in my step.

A Life More Ordinary

I am happy to report that my leg continues to improve and, as a result, my mileage and running consistency continues to improve. I am moving towards a more ordinary state of training which is great!! The following is from last week's log:

Tue 7 miles - 7:48 min / mile pace
Wed 6 miles - 7:47 min / mile pace
Fri 5 miles - 8:04 min / mile pace
Sat 9 miles - 7:41 min / mile pace
Sun 4 miles - 8:30 min / mile pace

You will notice that everything is being run at a pretty consistent pace. As I am still coming off of my injury I am just thinking about getting my mileage up and getting back in the groove as opposed to any specific hill, tempo or interval training. Right now, it is just about getting out the door and getting some miles in. The exception to this was Sunday, when I deliberately slowed things down a bit to make sure I recovered from the previous 9 mile run on the previous day. I also slowed my pace down this week on the other runs by about 10 - 20 seconds per mile as I want to avoid re-injuring myself. So far things are looking pretty good.

This leads me to thoughts that haven't entered my head for some time, training for a marathon. I am beginning to think about writing out a training plan to get me in shape for a PR this Fall. I want to be really prepared this time around as opposed to last Fall when I entered my first and so far only marathon after only 8 weeks training. That time I learned to respect the distance more in future. With that comes the need for a plan. Helmuth von Molke said the following:

" No battle plan survives contact with the enemy"

This will be my credo while I train. I am going to write down my plan, but will not be so rigid as to follow it no matter what. If I am feeling lethargic, or like an injury may be coming on, I will alter the plan to ensure I stay healthy. However, I look at the plan as a base from which I can be successful this Fall. Hopefully, I won't look like the above photo afterward next time around.


Next - good luck wishes to Keith Benoit as he sets out to run the Boston Marathon one week from today. Have a great one man!!! If things go well for me in the Fall, perhaps we can line up together next year.

A Strange Incident

Slowly but surely, I think I am beginning to round back into shape. I still have some pain in my knee, but with each week it is diminishing - I am seeing progress. Take last week for example, I ran 5 times - something I have not been able to do since getting injured.

Monday: approx 6 miles
Wednesday: approx 4 miles
Friday: approx 6 miles
Saturday: approx 4 miles
Sunday: 8.2 miles

This is not an overwhelming amount of mileage, but considering where I have been I'll take it. All days except for Sunday represent estimates. I was really beginning to get curious about pace and what my real distances were so on Sunday I took the trouble to measure my run online. Lo and behold - my estimate of 7.5 miles was short by quite a bit. Essentially, as part of recovery I was estimating my distances based on my relaxed running pace last year prior to the injury. Typically, I had been running about 8:20 per mile during these sessions. Given that I was running coming out of an injury I had guessed my pace would be no better. Making my calculations, however, I now realize that I am considerably faster right now than I was last year. The 8.2 I ran on Sunday worked out to be about a 7:30 pace. Considering I was running a easy relaxed pace this is much better than I expected. I guess losing 20 pounds has had some impact.

Now to the strange incident. During Sunday's run I had something happen to me that has never happened before. I was running along my usual route when a police car headed towards me with its lights flashing. Thinking that it was going to stop a car for speeding heading in the opposite direction, I remained blissfully ignorant to it. A couple of moments later, I noticed that I was the focus of the officers intentions as the car slowed down and the officer made a waiving motion for me to stop (I can't say pull over as I was already on the shoulder of the road). Anyway, I was perplexed as to what was going on and to make light of things asked the officer, "Am I going to fast?" As it turns out, this wasn't the issue. Currently, there is a criminal in the Halifax area who escaped from prison guards enroute from a prison to day surgery at a local hospital. He is considered armed and dangerous and they, the police, happened to be tracking him a mile or so from where I was running. Apparently, runners can spook tracking dogs causing a potential incident and can be considered "hostage bait" for escapees. So the officer kindly asked me to change my route for the day and rerouted me in the opposite direction. It was all perfectly explainable, but quite strange to come to the realization that your are being stopped by the police while running.

Now We Are Getting Somewhere

I have to admit that I was somewhat... well, largely skeptical when I read about Active Response Technique (ART) therapy on a running forum about a week-and-a-half ago. However, I was desperate, and as the old saying goes, "Desperate times call for desperate measures".

Well, I have to admit that my initial doubt is, thus far, unfounded. After 2 treatments I was able to run close to 5 miles without any discomfort whatsoever. Considering that just over a week ago I couldn't manage more than 2 mile, the bulk of which was painful, I think this represents significant progress. Things are by no means perfect yet, but at least I have hope of recovery on the horizon. One week ago, I would not have thought it was possible.

I am not ready to write about Tempo Runs or Intervals or Long Runs, but I now have hope that I am over the bulk of my injury with real training on my horizon.

The Great Outdoors was Great!!!

Sorry about the long hiatus. Frustration was rearing its ugly head and frankly, I didn't have much to write about as I was unable to run recently. The few times I had tried I had to stop after about 1.5 miles as my running form was way off due to the level of pain I was under.

Since my last report, I have moved on to another treatment approach. I went to see a chiropractor who specializes in Active Response Technique (ART) on Thursday. Without any disclosure from me he was able to detect an abnormality in my right leg that I was aware of but did not think would be implicated in my current problem - he disagreed and who am I to argue. Anyway, I received one treatment from him on Thursday and he seemed confident that I should see marked improvement in 3 weeks. He also gave me the go ahead to continue running - as long as the pain was not too intense.

With the above instruction, I set out for my first run on Friday. I went for 4 miles and it went reasonably well. Yesterday, Sunday, I went for 6 and that too was pretty good. I can still feel pain, but it was not debilitating. Today, Monday, I went again - this time for 7 miles. I feel much as I did yesterday. I have some pain in my knee and my glutes, but nothing I can't handle. This marks the first time that I have run outdoors back to back since early January when this issue began. I am beginning to become a happy camper. Given the duration that this has lasted, while not convinced I am on the road to recovery, I am at least cautiously optimistic. With the way I have felt recently, this is an accomplishment in itself.

The Great Outdoors Wasn't So Great

Last week I ran outside for the first time since the injury started - a period of about 2 months. My physiotherapist and I wanted to put in an outside run as a test of my IT Band as it is generally known that running on unlevel surfaces can irritate the injury. Running on undulating terrain would help us to ascertain whether things were truly getting better. I was also motivated by a desire to run outdoors - frankly running on the treadmill is starting to get old.

Well, things didn't quite go as well as I had hoped. While it was lovely to run outdoors again, at about 2 miles in the IT Band began to flare up and by the time I finished (about 6.5 miles) it was quite painful. Due to travelling for work and my physiotherapist being off for a few days, I have not had any treatment since. I have managed a few runs on a treadmill, but must admit that there is currently more discomfort than prior to my jaunt outdoors. We may need to rethink the treatment strategy and, shudder the thought, I may have to take a prolonged period of time off as I am not seeing the progress I would like. With a Spring marathon out of the question, it may make more sense to focus on getting better and seeing if I can get in a position to start training for a Fall race.

A Little Relief - log

Last week was somewhat promising. While my IT Band is still giving me some grief, it is a whole lot better. I was able to complete without difficulty all 4 runs I scheduled (20 miles in total) and was completely without pain on two of them. Last night, to add a little more stress and further test my recovery, I stepped up the pace a little. Up until now, I had been running at 7 - 7.5 mph on the treadmill and last night I increased it to 8 - 8.5. During the run, everything was quite comfortable and I easily finished the run. This morning, however, I do notice some pain in my knee - it isn't too bad, but it isn't quite fixed yet either.

So, all in all, I am doing a whole lot better and am looking forward to returning to my normal mileage/training in the not-too-distant future.

For those of you looking for an online training log, I would highly recommend the log running2win as it is a great site. The site has a great interface, as well as, forums, motivational quotes, and a variety of calculators. The service is second to none. A few quick emails back and forth to Mike at the site and he had my Runner's World data imported and up on their site.