Sunday, October 31, 2010

Saturday/Sunday

Yesterday I went to the gym before work. 4.1 mile run and 2 miles on the elliptical for a total of 22.1 miles running and 8 miles on the elliptical for the week. My right leg felt better this week.
last night and this morning my right leg hurt but on the outside. I was going to the gym and felt a bump on the outside which I pushed over the bone and it felt much better. I was able to run 10.1 miles in 1:38:32. My right leg felt fine after and just feels tired now after being out in the yard for an hour and a half. I'm not sure what it is that moved but I feel almost normal. I'll see how I feel tomorrow and what I can do at the gym.
I have decided to run the marathon in January if at all possible and be ready for Boston in April.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Inconclusive Findings

The doctor said that I did not need surgery on my lower back; it was not the cause of my leg pain.
He suggested going back to physical therapy to have then work on my back and to discuss with him how I feel after about 2 weeks.
This morning I got up at 5 AM to run on the treadmill; 3.2 miles in 31:13. I did get up to 6.7 mph without any pain; I'll have to see how I feel later in the day.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Doctors Appointment Today

I ran 5 miles and went 2 miles on the elliptical this morning. I felt better today than Tuesday.
I hope it's good news at the doctors office this morning.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Thoughts for the Future

Well I ran 3.4 miles this morning and my legs felt OK today. I have put on a little weight which hurts since I was in great shape in July. I just don't get enough exercise right now. 3.4 miles in 35:03 on the treadmill.
I hope I hear great news on Thursday.
My boss/owner has had it rough since May. She has not been able to run. She has a problem which hopefully is now better since she just ran this weekend. You can read it here, http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs023/1101969016852/archive/1103831151664.html
I hope that I hear good news and I will be able to keep running for years to come.
I am envious of my boss because she has a lot of friends who would run with her; at present even if I recover I don't have anyone here in Enfield. I find it difficult to coordinate time and speed to accommodative people to run with and schedule a time which is mutually convenient. I miss working at Nerac where I could run at lunch with people who loved to run.

Monday, October 25, 2010

I Talk to the Doctor on Thursday

This has been on my mind since I found out when my appointment was scheduled.
I took 2 days off; usually I work out on Sunday but I had to help one of my daughters at her apartment and it took a big chunk of the day.
Today I ran 6.4 miles in 1:04:13; my right leg just does not want to go fast. I have to start out really slow and slowly increase the speed over time. After I did used the elliptical trainer and went 4 miles in 29:52 faster than the last 2 days. Just over 1300 calories burned and I felt good. The elliptical trainer allows me to get my heart rate up to 90% of my normal running HR and I can step at over 200 at sub 8:00 minute miles.
Yesterday the sharp pain in my right knee was intense so I don't think that running the Manchester Marathon would be a good idea but I will talk to the surgeon on Thursday. I feel now that I will get over this and I will be running well by April next year. One can only hope.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Status Quo

I did run last Thursday on the treadmill but I got to the gym late so I was able to run only 2.6 miles. I did not run Friday or Saturday. So for the week I ran 21.9 miles.
Today I went to the gym and ran 10.1 miles, 1:37:12, 9:37/mile. I felt OK but I can't really run long.
My MRI results showed a swollen disc and I find out tomorrow when my appointment is to see the surgeon.
I wonder if I could run the Manchester Marathon slow and not do anymore harm? I figured a 4 hour plus but I'm not sure if it will have any real meaning for me.
My tentative plan is to get the treatment and plan to run Boston slow.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

MRI Today

I'm getting an MRI today because my family physician thinks the nerve problem will just get worse. I have lived with this for over 15 years and I am getting tired of not being able to run pain free and as fast as I know I could.
I did run 6.2 miles on a treadmill at the gym this morning in 58:34 but I did feel the leg pain until about mile 3 and I don't think I could have run much faster until mile 5 when I did feel better.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Weekend: 13.1 Miles Sunday

Yesterday I went to the gym planning to run 4 miles. I had to stop after 1. My right leg did not feel right. I went 2 miles backwards on the elliptical trainer instead of running more miles. I felt better.
Today I decided to still try a long run on the track. I planned to try 10 miles but when I got to 9 I felt strong so I ended up running 13.1 miles, 1:51:44, 8:31/mi., 7.0 mph and avg HR 141 bpm. My back and the nerve pain still hasn't popped up; my legs are just tired. I held myself with my shoulders back and stomach in the entire run. I plan on trying to go 18 next weekend and if successful I think I will try to run Manchester.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Back to the Gym

Well I started running again at a gym. $10/mo. cancel anytime. I ran the 1st mile in 10:21 and 4 miles in 35:55. It felt good running in the morning again. I'll be able to cross train too which is a plus although I would rather run. So far I have run more miles than I have run in a week since August 19-25, 22.5. Not what I had planned back in July but I am feeling a lot better. Manchester may be doable but I won't know for at least 2 weeks. I would have to take it slow but it would certainly be a plus mentally and emotionally if I could run it. I'll know more after a long run on Sunday.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Softer (surface) Running

Yesterday I ran 4.1 miles again on an artificial track. I started off fairly fast and kept it up. I didn't bring a watch or GPS but I could tell by the steady pace I kept that I was running well at a faster pace than I have started off in the past two weeks.
Today I ran around a field hockey field; 4.0 miles, 8:19/mi. and 7.2 mph. The ground was soft and wet in places so I feel really good that I could run so fast.My legs feel really good and I did not feel any pain while running.
Tomorrow morning I am going to run at th gym on a treadmill. When I don't feel any pain for a week
I will try and run 4 miles on the roads. I am trying to get back to running 5-6 days in a row with long and short and fast and slow runs. Mixing it up will help me return to full time marathon training. I hope to run only twice a week on the roads for awhile; probably until Boston Marathon time. I think this will help me have a longer running life. I just hadn't listened to all the people telling me to run on softer surfaces. I hope I have learned my lesson.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Keep the Faith

I'm always hopeful that things can and will get better. I'm just not as patient as I should be.
Yesterday I ran 5.2 miles at one of our high school's artificial tracks. My leg actually felt normal yesterday morning so I gave it a shot. I ran 5.2 miles, 46:36, 8:57/mi. I then came home after walking backwards for 1/4 miles and rode my bile for an hour and a half. Probably a little over 20 miles.
Today I just got back from the track and I ran 7.2 miles, 1:00:56, 8:27/mi. and I hit 6:50/mi. at one point. At 4.3 miles I did have a little pain in my right knee but it went away quickly and I feel really good right now. I walked 1/2 mile backwards after running.
I ran only 61 miles in September after running only 129.2 miles in August so I'm finding that my conditioning is not as good as it should be either. Even my left leg does not feel as good as it should.
My plan this week is to try and run almost all my miles on artificial tracks and/or treadmills. I'm hoping that my legs will get stronger and the nerve pain will not come back. As suggested by Lindsay, I am taking it one day/week at a time.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Update on Running, Hamstring and Nerve Pain

Well I haven't run since Monday. My hamstring seems better but my back and the nerve problem is difficult to know how it is doing. I had my last PT session on Friday and I am continuing to strengthen my hamstrings and to work on stretching everything. I am thinking about going to the artificial track today and run to see if I can make some progress on running again. If not, I will bike today.
It is ironic that I seem to have a number of people reading my blog lately now that I have drastically reduced my running.
I will have to be patient and give it some time; I just hope that it won't be long and keep me from running the marathon in January and April. I still have an outside chance to run in Manchester NH but I would need to recover more this week to be able to run Nov 7.