A Little Progress

I ran 6.4 miles tonight slowly and the leg didn't tighten up once. Very good. This week has seen some progress. My approach seems to be the right balance - no high singles just yet and I'm running the daily double (one of the runs at a slow recovery pace).

Sunday I did the two 5.2 milers as I mentioned last time.
Monday I did 5.2 recovery in the morning followed by 6.4 miles with some at MP (6:40 pace according to the heart rate) at lunch on the treadmill.
Tuesday saw 5.2 in the morning at recovery pace with slight leg tightening and 5.8 'low aerobic' on the treadmill at lunch (7:30 pace or so). (No leg tightening)
Wednesday was a rest day. I am going to do 3 days on / rest / 3 days on / rest for a little while to help with the recovery.

And today in addition to this evening's easy 6.4, I did 5xhill this morning as my quality workout.

No leg problems today at all. Tomorrow is an easy day. I'll probably do my recovery run in the morning followed by a 'low aerobic' run at lunchtime on the treadmill (if my work schedule permits). Things are busy these days and it's tough to know precisely when the workouts will get in.

I'm going to go a few weeks (I think) without pressing the high mileage in singles. Basically keep my workouts to 45 minutes to 1 hour. Hopefully this will naturally lengthen with ease before I know it and without strain. Boy, what a joy to run without pain.

Some Quality

Made plans with Eric this morning to do some hills. Eric must have gotten detained as he didn't show - so around 5am I decided to go solo. Still on the injured list - so mileage is out of the question but I'm good for short runs without tightening or pain. That makes these hill workouts ideal.

After .8 miles for a warmup I did 6 x hill in front of my house. After the 6th, I felt like I had "enough" and any additional hills would make me start feeling like I did last week. No need to shock the neighbors by having them find me sprawled on their lawn attempting to crawl back to my house. Did .8 miles for a cooldown and called it a day.

Trying to be patient here with the mileage issue. I've promised myself to take as long as I need to build it back up slowly. I got in 4.4 miles on Saturday in an easy jog, a break half way and easy back. My original plan for the first 6 weeks of summer was to do 3 quality sessions per week with easy running on the off days. One of those quality sessions, of course, was the long run. It doesn't appear I will be doing any long runs soon, so I'm down to two. The 'off' days have been just that: 'off'. I am hoping to re-introduce some easy running on non-quality days this week.

17 weeks to the marathon I want to run. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Who knows, maybe this initial low mileage limitation will change my normal boom and bust cycle I seem so fond of.

Quarters on the Taxiway

This week in deference to my leg not liking anything longer than 1 mile, I have still (against better judgement) started my core workouts for the new marathon (sans the long run). It's worked out well in that the leg stays attached and pain free for the most part and I am able to stimulate the anaerobic system in the way that I want. So Tuesday Eric and I did hills, and today we did "quarters" out on the taxiway of the local airstrip.

Both workouts had the effect of highlighting my general weakness. I knew I had very little tolerance to lactic acid and I proved it beyond doubt with this new start. By the 5th hill (short and steep) I was frazzled, and by #7 I was on the ground. Today was worse.

The taxiway is estimated to be just under 1/4 mile but by how much I am unsure. It doesn't matter except for some time comparisons perhaps but it gets the job done. It declines ever so slightly and the surface is relatively easy on the feet being newly constructed. Eric, a strong sprinter, played pace maker as we tore down the taxiway. I'd hang off his shoulder until he let go 3/4's to the finish and I'd press for home. Each time this built up an enormous amount of lactic acid and I was gasping for breath and and trying to get my bearings at the end of them. On the 3rd go, I hung off Eric's shoulder as usual then kicked in for the final leg for my fastest attempt. But to the ground I went trying to avoid vomiting on the pavement. I sat around awhile trying to get myself together and then found the strength to start the walk back to the starting line. But halfway up the taxiway I indeed had to stop and relieve the upset stomach by throwing up on the side. Amazing how well I felt after that.

I did another two repeats but at a much lower intensity where the lactic acid built up in the legs but did reach my lungs. The leg held up ok but felt a little sore on the very last one just as I was finishing. 5 total.

I read where folks do a dozen of these. It will be awhile but I like the fact that I tackling one of my weakest points as a runner.