April 13th - 19th

This week was just like the last two with a little twist thrown in at the end of the week. Still just trying to keep building the mileage up until I am ready to star running some workouts. There were a couple of UND alumni that wanted to run a track meet this last weekend and see what you could do. There was a lot of hype coming into the meet but it totally did not deliver like it should have. Turns out there was only 4 people that raced in 3 different events. So there was only one unlucky guy that didn't win his race. The events were as follows: Mens 800m run, Men's 1500m run and the Men's 3000m dash (or at least it felt like a dash). If you can't tell I decided to run the 3k. So here is the week.

Monday: 9+ (61:20)
'Long' run to make up for not getting one in the week before. Can you really consider it long if it is not even double digits?

Tuesday: 6 (40:45)
Easy run

Wednesday: 6 (41:20)

Thursday : off
Had a busy day at school then went to Winnipeg for a Gordon Lightfoot concert. It was amazing!

Friday: 5 miles (35:10)
Easy before the big race tomorrow.

Saturday (Race Day) 2 mile w/u 15 min

3k - 9:42!!

3 mile c/d 22 min

I find it quite sad that I am really happy with a 9:42 but I am. I was hoping to be able to be right around 10:00 and I destroyed it. I was thinking all week that the fastest mile that I have run in the last 5 months was a 6:08 I ran about two weeks ago. How on Earth did I think that I was going to be able to run back to back 5:20's on a little less than three weeks of training?? Well I figured I would just go out in 5:30 ish and see how it felt and then just give it all I had for the last 3.5 laps. Well I ended up going through the 800 in about 2:38 which was a little bit fsater than I wanted but I felt really good so I decided to stick with that pace. Came through the mile at 5:18 and was still feeling good and this was when I knew that I had way more left in the tank than I thought I was going to have. So I decided to really start picking up the pace and see what I could finish this race in. I ended up running about 5:05 for the last mile which I thought was pretty damn good.

Here are the rough splits that I was able to take during the race.
200 - :39
1000 - 3:19 (2:40)
1400 - 4:37 (1:18)
1800 - 5:54 (1:17)
2200 - 7:11 (1:16)
2600 - 8:27 (1:16)
3000 - 9:42 (1:15)

Sunday - 10 (1:10:30)
Real easy recovery run

Week total: 43

Would have been 50 without the day off.

Overall I was pretty happy with the performance being that it was off three weeks of training and I had no clue of where my fitness was at. I ran this race by myself in the cold and windy ND spring. I think it was about 42 degrees with 10-15 mph winds. So a pretty good effort none the less. I might even think about running another one on the track in a couple of weeks. I am sure with some competition and another two weeks I can go under 9:30 for sure.

I think I decided that I will consider myself back in shape when I am in sub 16:00 5k shape. That is when I will know that I am on my way to being in the shape that I should be in.

The first two weeks

Well this what I have been up to lately. I know that it is not much but you have to start somewhere. It has been good and I can't wait for the race season to start again. It is like Ricky Booy once said in Talladega Nights, "I wanna go fast!!". So I got that desire going for me at least.

March 30 to April 5

Monday - 4 (26:44)

Tuesday - off. Not a great start to a comeback when you first day comes the day after you start it but I ran out of time in the day.

Wednesday - 4 (27:51)

Thursday - 5 (34:45)

Friday - off. Day after my birthday. Not such a good day.

Saturday - 5 (33:31) Much better day

Sunday - 8 (54:15) Great first 'long run' if you can call it that yet.

Week total: 26.25 miles

What a first week back it has been. I thought for sure there was going to be some problams with my knee as it was not to good throughout the first week but as the time passed it started to get better. Just keep running I guess.

April 6th to April 12th

Monday - off. Travel day to Seattle where I was for the whole week.

Tuesday - 4.5 (31:30) Easy run to get situated in Seattle to find out where to run.

Wednesday - 6 (40:30)

Thursday - 6 (41:00)

Friday - 6.2 (42:00) Back in GF now

Saturday - 7 (48:50)

Sunday - off. Got 2 hours of sleep last night and had family things all day long. Just did not have the time.

Week total: 30 miles
This week was much better than the last one and I am starting to feel a little better about everything. The hills were killer on my knee but not so bad to where I had to stop. Another week done and hopefully I will be able to stay a little more consistent the next couple of weeks leading up to the race.

And the time is now for a new beginning!!

Well after a more or less winter hiatus from running it is time to get back on the sidewalks and start dominating again. There is much catching up that needs to be done in the next couple of months to get back into the shape that I am wanting to eventually be at but I think that it will come along as the time passes.

It was a great winter off and I think that it was much needed on my part. I probably only ran about a dozen times or so from Thanksgiving till the end of March. But once the end of the month hit I started back up again and have been going ever since. Let me tell you it is not that pleasant starting up again when you have been gone for only a couple months. The first week was ROUGH. But it is coming back a lot faster than I thought it was going to. I am entering my third week of training and have ran 5 out of 7 days the two previous weeks mainly due to a birthday that was pretty rough and then a lot of travel. But now it is looking like I will be able to get back into the routine of running everyday again. I cant remember the exact mileage for the two previous weeks right now and I don't have my log infront of me so I will post it later.

First race planned for the year is a 3k this coming weekend on the track up in GF. This is more or less just for fun and will not be taken serious as it is the 2nd Annual Norm McGee Invitational. First Actual race is the Fargo half coming up on the 9th of May. After that I really don't know what I am going to race. Probably a 10k on the 4th of July and some other small stuff later that month. Dick Beardsley in early September possibly and then the Bismarck marathon on September 19th. Not really shooting for anything special there but it will be good to get one in before really starting to train for one.

Happy Trails!!

New Year, New Update, New Beginning

Well since the last post not a whole lot has happened. It felt fine that day that I ran but was not so good the next day so I took a couple more off and then destroyed it at a wedding that Saturday. I thought that I was going to be able to start running consistently again but after a freak dance party injury and not being able to walk for about three days it had to be postponed again.

I took the next couple two weeks off and then finally went out for a run with Lee when he was home over break (This was on Friday the 2nd). It felt pretty good and didn't really hurt at all when I got home or at all the next couple of days. The swelling that was still there went away on Sunday and I decided that I was going to try starting again on Monday.

First week back was nothing special but started getting me back in the groove. I ran 5 miles every day except Sunday when I went about 8.5 which may have been a little much a little soon. My knee was fine when we were running but when we would have to stop and then restart it was not liking that to much. I took monday off and just iced and rested but it didn't do much so I decided to give it another go on Tuesday. Went 6 miles last night and the knee felt fine but a lot of other things started bugging me throughout the run. I have been trying to tell if I have been favoring that leg at all when I run but it seems that I am running normal. But my hamstring and calf usually start tightening up towards the later parts of the run. Who knows what is causeing it but my guess is that it is ost likely a muscular weakness problem all over my leg that is just transfering from one area to the next.

I am doing some light weight strength training stuff for the legs and it is going alright but there are not a lot of leg lifts that I can do that don't really aggrivate my knee. I can't do lunges, leg press, or squats. I can do really light weight leg extensions and leg curls but that is about it for lifts that really concentrate on the quad and hamtring. Even the leg extensions are painful most of the time but i figure that they have to be done.

So until I can't run I will be continuing to run and hope that it all just kind of works itself out over the next couple weeks of light running and weight lifting.

Grandma's is going to have to be changed to something in the fall and I have no clue what one it is going to be yet due to t he fact that I have a wedding that I am in the day before Twin Cities so that is out of the question as well.

It might just end up being a small one somewhere in the area just to get the boston qualifier in. Possibly Walker,MN or Bismarck,ND which I believe are both in September if I am thinking right.

Ran Today!!!!

Well it was my first run in three weeks and it felt pretty good. My knee was not hurting at all during the run or after so I think that was a good sign. I went 6 miles with three on the "track" and three on the treadmill. For those of you who don't know the "track" is a weird shape that includes two 90 degree turns and one that is probably 120 degrees. Pretty much kicks the shit out of your outer IT Band after awhile. There have been some long runs on there but you pay the price for it the next day. I still think that I hold one of the fastest miles ever run on that track though (5:43 I believe??? Do you remember Lee?)

Right now I think that my leg has gotten significantly weaker due to me favoring it over the last couple of weeks. I have noticed it quite a bit over the last couple of days and even on the run today. I just hope that my favoring it doesn't lead to more problems. As much as I hate the treadmill I think it is all I am going to get at least until I think that this thing is gone.

Anyways I hope it feels alright tomorrow otherwise its back to the drawing board...

The Problem Found

Prepatellar Bursitis. I'm sure that most of you who read this are familiar enough with the human body to know what this is. All that can really be done for it is rest and a strengthening PT program. Running might have to take a bit of a back seat while this heals. The pool is by friend I just have to remember that. It feels a lot better right now but I can tell that my leg is not liking it much being that I have been favoring that leg for so long that my muscles feel out of balance. More to come later. Hopefully only another week with limited to no running and then slowly get back into it.

MY KNEE IS BROKEN

That is all...