The dreaded Achilles

I just don't know what's going on here. It hurts when I get out of bed, but after a few minutes of walking around, it's fine. It doesn't hurt when I run--not at all. But sometimes it hurts later on, particularly if I"m walking around in anything except my "happy feet" shoes--my Dansko sandals. I don't think that they make this particular model anymore--these have lasted a few years--but they're on the same platform as the Professional clog, which I wear all the time in the winter, especially when the usual running-related aches and pains creep up.

I'll keep icing, keep stretching a little, keep at the eccentric calf raises, and spend more time in the pool. Maybe (probably) try a night splint to keep that stretch going at night. Hopefully I can kick this soon...

Did about 4 miles this morning, though, and it felt fine. Sore now, though. Grrrrrr....

High mileage day

I ran 11 miles on Saturday! Not all at once, though. I did a 6 miler in the morning that went reasonably well despite the high temps and humidity--my first double loop trip around the park in several months.

I did the last 5 later in the afternoon. Again, not all at once. Manny once again put together a great Run-Chugga-Lugga through the Heights/Washington Ave. Area. We started and finished the run at the Porch Swing Pub on Heights, and along the way we had stops at Beavers BBQ, The Darkhorse, The Pearl Bar, and the Washington Ave. Drinkery. Being the lightweight that I am, I went with water on alternate stops--otherwise the bike ride back to the house from the Porch Swing would have been dicey... :)

My Achilles was barking at me a bit during the second "run", but the Full Sail Pale Ale went a long way toward making it feel better, and it hasn't been too much the worse for wear over the last couple of days.

Of course, I haven't done much running the last couple of days, though. The strength workout yesterday was good, though, and I might hit the pool this evening if I can fit it in.

Hope you're still enjoying this great Houston running weather. Carpe Viam!

Putting some meat on these skinny bones.

Since I joined the YMCA last month, I've been going to a Powerflex class a couple of times a week. It's like the class I mentioned a few months back that I was going to occasionally at 24 Hour Fitness. It lasts and hour, and it works all of the muscle groups at high reps with fairly low weight. We do squats, lunges, pushups, bicep and tricep work, chest press, core exercises, etc.
I know there are a lot of people who think that you should use higher weights and lower reps, even if you're "just a runner" and not trying to add bulk, but as long as my quads, hammies, and glutes maintain a good balance, and my upper body and core get a little stronger, I'm happy.

And if I can get a decent workout at 5:30 am that involves music and an instructor that tells me what I should be doing so that I don't have to think at all, that's even better.

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My Achilles felt a little better this morning when I got out of bed than it has in several days. Maybe the ice and eccentric calf raises are paying off. We'll see. But so far, so good.

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Belated happy birthday to Coach Al. He turned 29 again yesterday. Good on ya, coach!

Carpe Viam!

Crosstrain the Runner

Sorry Joe, I had to borrow your title for a while. I hope you don't have a copyright. If you do, tell me where to send the check.

Ah, these things can be so frustrating. I was very careful when I started to run again after the knee started to feel better. Built mileage very slowly, only ran every other day, etc., etc. And frankly, my Achilles doesn't hurt when I'm running. It does, however, hurt when I get out of bed in the morning, or when I've been sitting too long, or when I'm walking barefoot.

So, I may take a few days off here, but I'm going to *try* to keep running every other day or so. We'll see what happens. Additionally, I've started doing some strength training and core a couple of days a week, and I'm back on the Pfitzinger water running schedule. This morning was a 32 minute interval workout in the pool. Not bad. The fact that it was 82 degrees and humid at 5:45 am when I got in the pool made it that much more tolerable.

*sigh* Here we go again.

Carpe Viam!

Hits and Misses

You know how it is with running. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Or maybe that's baseball. Anyway, it has been up and down.

Ups--I was able to start running again. *Finally* My muscles are feeling much more balanced than they were before my injury, and my knee is feeling very strong.

I picked up some new kicks at Finish Strong yesterday. Raymond's guy hooked me up with a new pair of Asics 2140s.

I ran in that Asics line for a while, until one of the iterations didn't agree with me. I settled on Sauconys for a while, but the Asics just felt better yesterday, though it was a close "battle" with the adidas Supernova, which also felt pretty nice. It's always good to get new shoes...

I've been doing some cross-training in the pool and in the weight room to make sure that everything stays balanced. I switched to the YMCA, which has an outdoor pool rather than an indoor pool. I have to tell you, that makes aqua-jogging a whole lot more tolerable. I'd much rather listen to birds sing and watch the sun rise than listen to the echos of the other people splashing through the water and watch people come in to sit in the hot tub. At any rate, the cross training is a nice change of pace. I might even try to squeeze in a triathlon this summer. Or not. We'll see. I haven't been for a significant (meaning "more than just cruising to Antidote for a cup of coffee") ride since, well, my last tri.

Down--While my knee is fine, my left Achilles is starting to twinge on me a little. You may recall that I had a bone spur a few years ago. Well, that was my right Achilles. Maybe I've developed one on the other side. That? Would suck. At any rate, I'm only running every other day, and mixing in a lot of ice and a lot of cross training, and for now, that seems to be keeping it somewhat in check. Here's hoping that it won't turn into anything.

Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, it's hot. Really, really hot. Today they promised us some "rain and a high of only 94." I guess that's French for dry and hazy with a high of 101, because that's what we had today. Again. I'm really over summer.

So, other than just a few downs, things are going well. I did get an email from a friend here last week letting me know that one of the local teams was looking for a few runners for Hood to Coast. It was hard to admit that I'm really, really far from being in shape to do that again. Maybe next year. But, it's good to be running...

Carpe Viam!

Movin' on up

I hate to jinx this progress by saying anything, but things look to be on the upswing. I went out to Memorial yesterday and met up with my Wednesday morning track group. No, I didn't do a track workout, but I did jog the two mile warmup with everyone, and it went well. Just the occasional twinge, but it felt more like the muscles just trying to get used to running again than anything else. I figure I'll continue to run 2-3 times a week and hit the elliptical the rest of the time, and I'll gradually add days and miles back in through the summer. No sense in letting this come back...

Carpe Viam!

Small moves, Ellie. Small moves.

This knee injury has been frustrating not only because it has kept me from running, but because of the things that irritate it and the things that don't. For example, I can hammer all day on the elliptical trainer, but I can't sit on my porch swing and push back and forth gently, because bending it and straightening it around 90 degrees irritates it. And as I mentioned in a previous post, forget about trying to run--I couldn't even go 30 seconds without pretty severe pain in my knee.

Until this morning.

I had noticed over the last several days that the silly little things that were bothering it (like the porch swing) weren't really bothering it any more. And those little twinges I was still getting from time to time were becoming very few and far between. So, I took a brisk walk out to the Heights Blvd. trail and decided to go for a little test drive. Nothing crazy, mind you--just really easy jogging for less than a minute, followed by a minute of walking, repeated 6 times or so.

And.....it didn't really hurt. I still felt just the very slightest twinge at the top of my kneecap, but not only wasn't it as severe as before, it didn't even feel like the same pain, so I think it might even have been my body just reacting to trying to run for the first time in four months rather than being related to the injury.

The only change in the routine from two weeks ago is the magic foam roller. I rolled the heck out of my quads and my IT band for the last several days, and I think that it might finally be kicking that tightness I was feeling in my hip (quad insertion, perhaps).

Am I cured? No, not by a long shot. There is still much to do. I still need to get stronger and looser. I will continue to do my strengthening exercises and probably get a few massages. I will continue to use running as a test rather than a workout, at least for a while. If that means that it takes the entire summer just to get to the point that I can run every day, then that's what it takes.

And there's always the chance that this was some sort of a "fluke," and that there really is a cartilege problem, but for some reason it just decided that it didn't want to hurt today. I think I'll ignore this possibility, at least for now.

But, man, did it feel good to get back on the horse this morning...

Carpe Viam!