Back on the Horse

Whew!  Now that was a good break from blogging!!!  After a bit of a hiatus which probably has no one reading this thing, I've decided that I should start it back up.  It proved useful in documenting what did and did not lead to my heel problems, so I should be equally diligent in documenting my current recovery.

 

As you'll notice from my handy-dandy RunningAhead widget to the right, my mileage for June took a nice tick upward as I finally worked my way into running three to four times a week, and I also started running some six mile runs on the weekend.  All in all my body has accepted this "return to work" with little complaint.  My stride is certainly better, as the thudding that was my left footfall has been replaced by a more smooth, less impactful step.  I wear the orthotics all the time, and that, combined with nightly socking, seem to keep my heel pain at no more than 25 to 40% of its old levels.  I'm not all the way back to full foot health, but I don't feel as if the current level of issue will affect my ability to heal ... my heel ... unless I run hills ... I'll stop.

 

If you noticed June was an increase in mileage, surely you've taken note of crazy July!  Though that mileage total won't compare with the ones from October through December, this could go down as my most active July ever.  The main facilitator of that is Hood to Coast; I've started running three times in a 24 hour span to simulate the relay.  This Monday through Tuesday was the first time I did that, and though the runs were pint sized at 3.5, 2.9, and 3.0, that does add up to decent miles by the time I throw on Thursday speed work and Saturday's long run.  As I've increased my work load, most of my pain has been muscular with some pain in the knees and right hip.  The knees, well, that's old news.  The right hip seems to be the area that has taken the longest to adjust to the orthotics (it started hurting soon after I got the new footwear), but of late I haven't noticed it, so hopefully it's rounded the corner.

 

For tomorrow's speed work, I'm going to take a break from the long ladders of the past two weeks and move back into shorter, more anaerobic distances (8 x 400m x 200m).  As most of my running this Spring has been fairly easy "recovery" runs while I acclimated to my orthotics or recovered from my ankle sprain, my body seems to sputter when I get close to going anaerobic.  These shorter repeats should encourage my body to improve it's oxygen consumption (one of the key goals), while also allowing me to repeatedly bump up into my anaerobic zone.  Since I'll bump the zone many times, but not stay in it for too long, I'll be able to rack up considerable anaerobic time without blowing up (i.e., the summation of the repeats will have be being anaerobic longer than with a ladder).  In theory, this will push my anaerobic zone to a higher speed, allowing me to work more efficiently.  I was fond of last year's Yasso workout (10 x 800m x 400m), so I may try to work my way back into those.

 

For Saturday's long run, I'm actually going to try and integrate some hills via Rick's famed parking deck at San Felipe and I-610.  The details are still a bit hazy, but as my middle leg at Hood to Coast is an extreme uphill, I need to get some hill running under my legs. 

 

Well, that will do it for today!  I plan to be more diligent in my running posts and maybe have a post a week that is on some random topic; it helps my sanity to let those rogue thoughts out!  Take care!