Hope To Run Again Before End Of The Year

Woke up this afternoon and the calf felt much better. Only a slight twinge when walking. Should be able to run easy tomorrow.

Still wanted to get in a workout today So I went to the pool. It has been so long since I last swam I would have to crack open the FRB archives to find out when.

When I jumped in the pool I swam about half the length underwater. It is amazing how much and how loud my joints snap, crackle, and pop. The water must amplify the sound some.

Swam 1000 yards free to start. I am so out of "swim" shape. My form really broke down as I got more and more tired. Finished in 17:24.

Next was another 1000 yards. I alternated between free and breast every 100 yards. Finished in 18:48.

I would bet my arms will be aching tomorrow.

Last night while working the calf got so tight and stiff. I had a noticeable limp. After waking up today it felt better, but could still feel it when walking.

Got to the pool and planned on swimming a mile of a mix of free and breast. But when doing breaststroke the calf hurt when I kicked. So I switched to Plan B and swam a mile of freestyle. Got pretty tired, but was surprised with my overall time.

Used the elliptical for 20 minutes after swimming. Felt the calf a couple of times, but I do not think it hurt it any. But there sure was a lot of sweat for such a short amount of time on that machine.

Swim - 1800 yards - 31:16.88

Elliptical - 2miles(guess) - 20:00

Got to the pool and there was a children's birthday party going on. Since there is no dedicated lap lane the swim workout was not going to happen today.

20:00 on the elliptical and 20:00 on the AirDyne bike. Lots of sweat...the room was a bit hot. On the bike it felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. It kind of made me feel uncomfortable to feel it going like that. But of course not enough to slow down or stop.

Elliptical - 20:00 - 2 miles / 1403 steps?? - whatever that means.

AirDyne Bike - 20:00 - 6 miles

Run - 3.2 - 8:30, 8:36, 8:22, 1:45 - 27:13 - 8:30 avg.

Walk - .75 - 12:43

Had to stop due to calf pain.

I had taken 12 days off before Tuesday's run. During that time off I was so discouraged over this latest injury/set back. It put me in a deep enough funk where I did no workouts (cross training) whatsoever. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself those days. After only the 3rd day off I was walking around pain free. But I knew I should give it more rest from running. On the 12th day I went out for a 4 mile run at an easy pace. But at the 2.5 mark or so I could feel some pain creeping back. I was walking at 3.2. It actually felt worse walking than running. Could feel pain when walking the next 2 days.

Today I decided to get my mind right again and went to the gym. I took out all my bad feelings on the pool today. I knew I could go all out without risk of injury. I wanted to get tired and worn out, and I did. So today's swim surprised me, excited me, and ticked the living heck out of me all at the same time. One of my most frequent swim workouts over the years has been swimming 1000 yards and alternating between freestyle and breaststroke every 100 yards. Since resuming running last fall after healing from my stress fracture swimming has been something I had not worked on much. But today I blew away my old PR for this swim by 13 seconds! I have no idea how this was done with no pool time and no workouts at all for almost 2 weeks. When I set it last July I was swimming daily. I must have been angrier with myself than I thought. My breaststroke kick felt very strong. I think that is where a lot of the time was made up. I have noticed over the last couple of months my leg muscles have looked a little bigger and better defined. But this swim leaves me with my head shaking and several questions. I believe my fitness is at an all-time (post high school) high which is great. It also makes it even harder to accept that I am in the middle of an injury now. This setback has really hurt me mentally. I was at a point where I could care less if I worked out or not the last week or so. Now I regret the time I took off. Hopefully I can snap back and build up my fitness for the day I am ready to run at full strength again.

After the swim I rode the AirDyne bike for 20 minutes. Heart felt like it was actually going to break through my ribcage it was thumping so hard.

Went home the jogged 1.1 miles to my son's soccer practice. No pain in the calf...yeah !!

After the practice I ran home for 2.2 miles. Sometimes on the uneven sidewalk when I had to stretch my stride to clear a bump or hop up onto a curb I could feel a little something in the calf. But much better than the run 2 days ago.

I am listing my swim splits so I can have a record of it...just in case I beat this PR again someday.

	4/18/2007	7/24/2007
100 free	1:33.83	1:30.24
100 breast	2:00.39	2:00.40
100 free	1:32.27	1:35.30
100 breast	1:56.46	1:59.63
100 free	1:33.19	1:34.90
100 breast	1:55.73	1:59.49
100 free	1:33.03	1:34.27
100 breast	1:54.33	1:57.58
100 free	1:35.07	1:33.42
100 breast	1:51.77	1:54.45
Totals	17:26.07	17:39.68

Felt soreness/tightness/pain/??? in my calf on a few steps, but overall it was ok. Ran slow.

6.2 - 8:47, 8:58, 8:47, 8:59, 9:00, 9:03, 1:37 - 55:15 - 8:54 avg.

Still felt the occasional something in the calf. Dinner was being held up until my return, and my family was hungry. Ran faster than I should have.

3.22 - 8:18, 7:50, 7:35, 1:43 - 25:28 - 7:54 avg.

Had planned on running to the pool, swimming, then running home. But I could not find the pack I use to hold my towel and suit in. So I just ran. Was feeling good after 4 miles. No aches or pains at all in the calf. So I decided to pick it up for the next 2 miles, then slow some for another 2. The 2 faster miles felt good. But with about 1.5 miles to go the calf started to hurt. I iced it immediately when I got home.

I was silly to run 8 miles and to run 2 of them at a faster pace. I hope it did not aggravate the calf too much. Swimming is definitely on the agenda for tomorrow. May do some jogging as well.

Had to work late and could not get to the pool. Leg hurt from yesterday's run, so I rested it.

Long day today. The whole family went along with Justin's preschool class on a trip to the zoo. A lot of walking. I could feel slight pain in the calf all day. But we had a good time. Of course when you live in a small rural town any trip you take you make the most of it. We ended up shopping the whole afternoon. That and the drive home wore me out.

When we got home I went to the pool and swam. Felt good to be in the water again.

1800 yards (1.02 mile) free style - 30:49.81

200 yards breaststroke - 4:20.21

Total - 2000 yards - 35:10.42

Early in the day I could feel some slight twinges in the calf when walking. But by the time I got off from work I did not notice it. I decided to run to the pool, swim, then run home. Leg was ok. I do not think I did anything to make it hurt anymore than it already was. My arms were sore from yesterday's swim.

Run - 2.11 - 16:15 - 7:42 avg.

Swim - 1050 yards free - 17:56.81 - planned on 1000, but lost count

Run - 3.15 - 23:33.39 - 7:28 avg.

About an hour after waking up the morning I lifted my arms, yawned, kind of did one of those over exaggerated stretches while doing so, and turned my torso a bit.. Then something popped in my chest. It felt sore there for the rest of the day. I swam in the afternoon. About thirty minutes or so after swimming the area in my chest got very sore. It felt like someone had been doing CPR on my chest, but about an inch or two higher.

Later on I ran to Justin's soccer practice. Then afterwards I ran home. Not long after the run I realized the pain in my chest was hardly noticeable, except for taking a deep breath or flexing the muscles there. Not sure what did....who knew yawning and stretching could hurt so bad.

Swim - 1050 free - lost count again - 18:07:39 / 1000 free/breast mix - 19:06:68

Run - 1.1 - 8:33.74

Run - 3.15 - 22:57.54

Totals -

Swim - 2050 yards - 37:14:47 / Run - 4.25 miles - 31:36:08

Calf was a little sore while walking all day long. Still I decided to try and run. I only noticed a few twinges when running. I have always been bowlegged and my feet turn outward some when I walk and run. I have been concentrating on (at least) keeping them straight when they strike. When I do this I do not feel any pain in the calf.

On today's run the calf held up fine, but the rest of me tired out. 85 out when I started, and the heat wore on me. On the 5th mile the wind was on my back, and I got hot. Felt better on mile 6 when the wind was blowing in my face. It helped me cool down. Hopefully I will get in a run tomorrow...and it will most certainly be at a slower pace.

One more thing. A group of about 6 people were sitting on a front porch, and a man was cutting the grass in the backyard. As I went by the lawnmower backfired and I jumped big time. It gace the people on the porch quite a laugh to see me startled like that.

You know I cannot say with any certainty that this is the case, but I think it is my hamstring that is causing my calf to hurt. The pain is very high on the calf, just below the back of the knee. When I stretch my calf I get very little relief. But when I stretch the hamstring it feels a little better. All of my life, at least since I was a young kid, I have had tight hamstrings. I was and still am the guy who can barely reach to his shins when trying to touch his toes. I have never done enough stretching, but I guess I need to change that way of thinking.

Quads got sore today. Mile 4 was into the wind.

When I left the house it was lightly sprinkling rain. It felt good and helped keep me cool. Both legs were tight, but not hurting. Miles 1,2, & 3 felt normal. Cardio was real good. Then the rain picked up. I looked at my watch and it showed I was only 3.13 miles into the run. Actually it turned into a real downpour. Luckily the wind did not pick up any with the extra rain. At mile 4 my shoes were soaked and heavy. I had already started to pick up my pace when the rain got harder so I could get on home in case it turned out to be a thunderstorm. Several tornadoes had hit in our region today and my power went out twice. As my pace got faster I started to feel better. Somewhere in the beginning of the 5th mile the rain stopped. But I could not slow down. The rain must have hit my "GO" button because I just kept on letting my legs speed up.

It felt good to run at speed again on that last mile. I do not think I did any harm to my calf. The 12 days I took off did nothing to help it, and the running since then does not seem to hurt it anymore either. Its just there. Hurts more when walking than running. Still, I will be careful of it and keep fast paces like today to a minimum.

I was happy to see my shoes had dried out very nicely after yesterday's rainy run. I left them in front of the vent at the bottom of the refrigerator. Mike Kirk told me that when I was a Sophomore back in 1986. Still works.

My runs would feel so much better if my quads, hamstrings, and calves were not so sore and tight. It may be time to get some new shoes. Maybe I will have a chance next week.

Today miles 1 & 2 were into the wind. I would have sworn the 1st mile would have been 8:20. It really did not feel like 7:50 pace. Miles 3 & 4 the wind was on my back. 5th mile had some downhills and mile 6 had some ups. On 7 & 8 I just cruised on in to the house.

And man are my legs so sore and tight right now. I will try to stretch them out some while working Midnight Shift tonight.

Worked Midnight Shift last night. Only 5 more to go 'til this one is done. Man, my legs are so tight. Will try some stretching later.

Today is a planned rest day.