Thursday

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off and ran eight miles today. I felt pretty good except when I rolled my left ankle. It feels a little tendor but I think I will be okay. I rode my bike to and from work today too. I like riding my bike.

tuesday

Took today off. I rode my new bike though... Raleigh Technium circa 1985. It is pretty sweet. I rode to work and to Try for a new seat and handlebar tape. I am super excited about it. I just ordered some blue tires to match the blue tape and decals. I may build this guy up a little bit. But I may eventually just turn it into a single speed if I decide to move up. But I tell you what, it was pretty freakin' sweet blowing by some "serious" cyclists on my street today. They were wearing their nice bike shirts and shorts on their $4000 litespeeds. It was gratifying to pass them like they were sitting still with me in my work clothes on a $25 yardsale bike. Of course they were probably on their cooldown. And they probably laughed at me as I rode past knowing what a joke I am.

Did some stength stuff this morning. I feel good.

5/8/06

Yesterday I ran the running leg of the Race for Sight Triathlon here in town. My friend Heather swam and our cyclist was named Brady. I guess he is a good biker. Anyway we did pretty well. I think we smoked all of the teams and I hope we beat all of the individuals. It was probably close. Heather swam her 400 meters in about 6:20ish... She would have gone much faster if she wasn't stuck with so many people. I have no idea how fast Brady rode the 14 miles. Probably 40-45 minutes. It was pretty crazy because all of these people who started way before Heather in the swim were coming in and I started to worry that Brady had a flat tire until I realized that there would be at least a 15 minute delay between the elite individuals and us. So Brady finally came hustling in pushing his bike across the infinite field of bike racks to get to us in the far corner. He pulled off the timing chip and threw it on my leg and I was off. But like a typical runner I started my watch as soon as I started running not thinking to wait until after the transition period to start. Oh well I guess I will find out my official time when the results are ready. So I ran what I thought was 2.7 miles. I was breathing hard 400 meters in and my legs felt like garbage. I guess that's what happens when you take four 15 mile weeks before the race. I did the out and back in 15:30 including my run throught the transition area. So I figure somewhere between 15:00-15:15 is my actual time. I thought it was a pretty dismal time considering it was 2.7 miles. But I talked to one of the members of the crew who set up the course. He said that he measured the course out and back from the finish line as 2.7 miles, the loop around the rec center at the start of the leg was added later. With that, he said, the course was about three miles. So I actually ran pretty well especially considering my lack of training. Not bad at all.

So I took Friday and Saturday off last week. So I only ran Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

Monday May 1: 35 minutes
Wednesday May 3: 30 minutes
Sunday May 7: 2.5 miles up 3 miles race no cool down
Total 14.5 miles

Today I ran 8 miles with Jamie in 52 minutes... out in 27 back in 25. Not bad for running so little. The injuries seem to be gone. Still working on the stengthening. I need to do that consistently for as long as I run competitively to stave off further setbacks. I hope to get 25-30 miles this week. I won't be running that fast again. Though I have heard running fast is sometimes the prescription for coming back from IT band injuries. It has something to do with the biomechanics of faster running. I assume that there is less eversion with quicker turnover. However, I don't want to spur on a new injury. Either way, I am taking it slow and I feel great.

Boston 2007 here I come.

5/3/06

I took yesterday off and ran 30 minutes today... the IT band was a bit tight but I had no pain. I feel that the down time has really helped rid my body of the symptoms. The tightness is probably a result of the injury and the strengthening exercises I have been doing. I am definitely excited to get healthy and I am very willing to do the work needed to kick this thing for good. I think it is working because I can feel myself getting better. But I am still going to be very cautious.

Oh yeah... that's me running in the picture.

I did some pretty heavy duty strength exercises last night. I have developed a yoga type routine that uses ecentric squats and balancing. I think it's pretty good. I did some calf strengthening last night too.

Today I did a little bit of the hip IT band on the step exercise. I can't remember the name of it. I think it works though. I also did some ecentric calf exercises on a step. Achilles tendons feel great.

5/2/06

Things are going well right now. I am very excited to get back to running but fighting the temptation to go too hard too early. Spending four days around running is a good way to get the competitive juices flowing for me. Last Friday my team competed at the Simpson relays. Nearly everyone on the team ran to personal best times and provided a great cap to a good season. I am proud of them. Saturday we went to watch the Drake Relays, one of the most famous track meets in the country. Unfortunately the weather was pretty nasty. It rained and rained and rained. I actually spent most of the time in the Drake Fieldhouse where they held the high jump and pole vault. Some of the best athletes in the world competed which made the day quite exciting for a track junkie like me. On the way back to Fulton, I hitched a ride to Kansas City with a friend and spent the rest of the weekend with some old friends which was great. A few beers and a couple hours of sleep later I went to watch Pat run the Trolley Run. Some of the best runners in the region were there which was really cool to see. Before the race I met Ben Rosario and Matt Helbig from Big River Running Co. They seemed like really cool guys and I hope to get to run with them sometime. They actually invited us to participate in their Elite Two Mile they are putting on in St. Louis Thursday. Pat may go...I can't run that fast now. So needless to say, I left KC with an all new passion for the sport. I saw guys I have raced with in the recent past run to some great times at Trolley. Knowing that I can compete with guys who ran 4:50 pace for four miles when I was completely out of shape is a good sign of great things to come. I am pumped.

Here is my running for the last few days:

Wednesday April 26: 34 minutes alone IT Band exercises
Thursday April 27: 35 minutes with Pat
Friday April 28: off IT Band exercises
Saturday April 29: off
Sunday April 30: 30ish minutes warming up with Pat for Trolley felt pretty good
Monday May 1: 35 minutes with Jamie IT Band exercises and Calf exercises

So far I am feeling great. The IT band is tight but I am doing quite a bit of exercises to get rid of it for good. I am following the advice I read on the Peak Performance website and I am doing a lot of ecentric squats and a lot of ecentric calf excercises. I am also stretching all the time. I plan to run 20-40 minutes today with Pat.

I have a plan for my next running goal... I'll talk more about that later.