I'm Happy

Missed one of my long runs due to working long hours on Wed, but I'm still happy. Longest run yet - 18 miles.

• Monday - 2 miles easy plus 3x16 pushups, situps, pullups
  
• Tuesday - 5x2k on dirt loop in Irvine (hard on the flat, uphill, jogged downhill)
  
• Wednesday & Friday - worked late, Thursday - went to happy hour (or so) for my departing boss.
  
• Saturday - 4 mile tempo run
  
• Sunday - 18 mile road run.
  

Weeks in review - 10/24/2011 through 11/13/2011

Here's the last three weeks of workouts since I moved my long run from Thursday (where it wasn't working out) to Wednesday. This move made Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday both fast/long pairs of workouts (fast for me, that is).

10/24/2011 - 10/30/2011

• Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps,3x4 pullups
  
• Tuesday - 2 (warmup)+ 5x2k
  
• Wednesday - 10 (road run) To El Dorado park
  
• Friday - 2 easy
  
• Saturday - 2+4 (tempo run)
  
• Sunday - 14.2 on trails - Whittier 3 loops

10/31/2011 - 11/6/2011

• Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps, 3x4 pullups
  
• Tuesday - 2+5x2k
  
• Wednesday - 12 (on river route) to Edison Park
  
• Thursday - 4 easy
  
• Saturday - 2+4+1
  
• Sunday - 11.33 on trails - Rowland Heights (cut short because it was raining)

11/7/2011 - 11/13/2011

• Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps,3x4 pullups
  
• Tuesday - 5x2k at Larwin (10 total). (Running on) grass gets me to drive more.
  
• Wednesday - 14 on river. Rolled lt ankle just before turn around but apparently no problem.
  
• Thursday - 2 at lunch
  
• Saturday - 2+3
  
• Sunday - 16.6 on river - Left knee a little touchy, probably from running in grass
  

Negatives

• I've been consistent about missing an easy workout on either Thursday or Friday.
  
• I have not been doing pushups/situps/pullups on the second easy day of the week.
  
• Sunday has been deviating from plan the last two weeks (partly due to weather).
  

Positives

• This is really quite consistent for me, certainly more so than before I had heart problems.
  
• I've dealt effectively with weather and conflicts (like today).
  
• I'm increasing my workload roughly according to plan because the plan is based on how well I've been able to increase the workload.
  
• I got the road run pretty much up to the full distance.
  

Adjustments

• I'll try to cut the grass runs back to once per week for a while.
  
• I'll focus on getting in the Sunday workout (keep it on trails and hills/mountains, coordinate in advance), especially since increasing that to the 19 to 20 mile range is the next change planned.

Here's the Google Earth image of my beach/river run. I ran to just the 8.3 mile point on Sunday (end of the bike path).

Running in Grass

We're getting rain now and I run on dirt tracks so I've had to find an alternative. The nearest all-weather track at Cypress College is often crowded with walkers so I ran my 5x2k workout in the park the other night. One figure-8 lap around the park is 3/8ths of a mile so each interval was 3 laps plus. One thing I really liked about the workout is that I needed to drive more with my flexed leg in order to not wallow or lose form. I really liked that so I'm going to continue running sometimes in the grass. Some slightly negative aspects (although the first might be viewed as a positive) are 1) the ground is uneven - I try to route around major holes 2) I got a pin stuck in my shoe and 3) I got cat crap from the feral cats on the bottom of one shoe.
Last night, I ran 14 on the beach route. This ultimately will be 18 miles. I might have gone for 16 last night but just before the 14 mile turnaround, I stepped on the edge of the path and rolled my left ankle. However, it seems like no damage was done and it is not painful nor stiff at all today.

Consistency

Things have been going well. I'm increasing my work load gradually and I have a schedule to which I've been able to adhere. Here are some things that have been keys for my return:

• Rest - I take a nap after work,before my workout.
  
• Walking at lunch
  
• Stay hydrated - The trick I use is to drink plenty of non-caffeinated tea, like mint tea, ginger tea, rooibos tea.
  
• Consistency - I don't change much from one week to the next.
  
• Don't get exhausted - I used to have practice sessions which I would characterize as RTF - Run To Failure. Not anymore. Now I stay within myself.
  
• Don't worry much about miles. Don't worry about missing a workout now and then. If I miss a workout, I don't try to make it up.
  
• Don't stress out
  
• Warmup - My warmup on Tuesday and Saturday is 2 miles. This starts pretty slowly.
  
• Stretching - I'm trying to incorporate stretching AFTER workouts into my routine.
  Soleus, Gastrocnemius, touch toes, quad, IT, piriformis
  
• Schedule - I took a schedule from a book on Kenyan running and modified it a little to work around my schedule. The result is
  
  • Monday - Easy (2 miles) plus pushups, situps and pullups.
    
  • Tuesday - 5x2km intervals. Will eventually change to shorter intervals but I'm in no rush.
    
  • Wednesday - Long run, currently on the road. This is the workout I'm increasing at the moment (by 2 miles per week). Once I get this to 18 miles, I may run it on the track at times.
    
  • Thursday - Easy plus pushups, situps and pullups
    
  • Friday - Easy
    
  • Saturday - 4 mile tempo
    
  • Sunday - Long trail (mountain or hills), currently 14 miles
    
  
  So two sets of a more intense session followed by a longer session, separated by about 2 rest days.
  

Things I'm not doing

• A lot of exercises like core, med ball, etc. I was lifting but that's not a priority now.
  
• Hard stretches. I'm leaving hurdle stretches out for now.
  
• Yoga. Not my thing.
  
• Sprints or dragging the tire. I did some earlier and it seemed to bother my heart.
  
• Two a days - I'm already getting up at 4:40 on weekdays. It's too much stress to get up earlier. I haven't bothered running in the afternoon on weekends.
  

Fin de semana

Just watched the Obea Moore video again. His kick is unbelievable.
Just finished up my first week running and I'm taking today (Sunday) off. I ran 3x800,1x400 on Friday and a new (steep) hill loop on Saturday. In general, I was pleased with the week but clearly I have a lot of improvement to make - I hope. I'm going to simplify a little bit. 2.5 is the goal mileage for the entire week rather than incrementing in the middle. I'm planning on running on the track on MWF and on hills on TThSat.

Optimism Springs Eternal

6th day running - This was my first day on the track. I wore my watch just because I wanted to track my progress. After riding my bike to Oxford Academy, I did some drills and then ran 100 barefoot. Something poked or stung my foot so I went back and put shoes on. It was a hot day and I had taken a nap so I was feeling rather lethargic (maybe the anemia - due to my medications - has something to do with that). Anyway, I took off on the first lap at a moderate pace - not really pushing it. 1:59. I ended up doing the planned 6 laps in 12:03. Running 8 minute pace on the first time out makes me very optimistic that I will be able to run 7:30 pace for 8 to 16 miles with not much of a problem. We'll see but this first workout makes me optimistic.

Running Again

This is my 4th day running. I've been running doubles but only 1 mile at a time until today. The baseline workout is running to the local park and running laps. One lap of the park is 3/8ths of a mile. With the commute from my house, it's a mile. I'm adding a lap or 3/8ths of a mile every Monday and Friday, so adding 3/4 mile per week. Most of my running has been barefoot so far. My rib cage has been feeling pretty good, especially in the afternoon runs. That was what I expected to be the chief limiting factor. I tried running for a few days in mid-June and I had a rib get sore. Other than one little blip, no problems this time. When I'm warmed up, I have been running faster than the usual shuffle.
Also, since I started back to work, I've been napping when I get home. I'm going to continue to do that.
As the distance gets long enough to incorporate specific workouts, I'll start doing those. For instance, I expect to be able to run one hill (repeat) on Thursday. I'm anxious to get back to hills and trails.
My weight is still down at 145 so I didn't balloon up to 150 post-surgery.
So far, so good.