Thursday, September 11, 2008
Mile 26 1:46
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Homecoming
Most days I think about updating this blog. Now I finally have a spare moment and I'm not sure what to write. Last post was about 3 weeks back, so get ready for a longer post I suppose. Sit back, grab the popcorn, or if you're like me, grab the icepacks...
I don't have the patience to recount in detail all the "training" I've done over the past month, nor do I think it would serve much of a purpose. Maybe eventually it would come in handy as a review, but I'll get to it later. I would, however, like to summarize how things have been going (and not going) for the past month or so.
Around the last post I was keeping busy with daily cross training at the gym. I had started to jog on the treadmill a little when I decided that my left foot still wasn't quite healed. I reverted to daily cycling and/or "ellipsing" anywhere between 45 to 120 minutes, and launched into a new core/strength regimen. I even started playing around with doubling on certain days and learned that often the stronger workout would happen in the afternoon. I'll have to remember that if I'm ever thinking of running doubles. But I'll have to be able to run singles first.
Then I decided to try something I never, EVER, thought I'd come to. It involves a blue piece of foam and a swimming pool, and elicits some pretty strange looks from swimmers. Turns out I quite enjoyed the workout I got with pool running, but by golly, it is BORING. I figured that if the healing of the foot had plateaued for one reason or another, a few weeks of completely non-weightbearing exercise might give it the rest it needed to finish the process. Now, two weeks after I started pool running only, my foot feels better than it has in months. So things are looking up, and I'm pretty eager to get back on the roads. I've returned to some moderate weight bearing exercise, but nothing too serious. Last post I mentioned I'd set September 15 as my return date, but now that may be more tentative. More on that in a minute.
So here I am, on a two-week break between school terms (the last of which beat me up pretty good, although it turned out to be the most successful yet), in probably the best general shape I've ever been in my life. It'll be interesting to see how that translates to running, but I'm not too concerned about the fitness I've inevitably lost on that front.
It's the end of the school year (for me at least), the end of summer. A friend of mine just moved to this area to attend grad school and I've decided to go visit. However, I can't afford gas, and I don't have a car, so I've decided to push pedals in a general NNW direction until I arrive on his doorstep, salty and famished. Starting out along the Schuylkill River, I'll follow some local bike trails and work my way over towards PA Bike Route L, which runs within a few miles of my final destination. If all goes as planned, it'll be a two-day ride each way, somewhere around 300 miles round trip. I'll be packing food, water, and some camping supplies in my saddlebags.
Tomorrow at 7:30 am sharp I'll be parting ways with the urban cacophony and spinning away towards the Lackawanna Valley. Given that I won't be back until Monday evening at the earliest, and given the mileage, I'll likely opt out of running for at least a few days after I return. But I'd had a notion that when I finally start that again it'd be rather spur-of-the-moment as opposed to on a specific date or according to any organized plan. Seems to feel better that way.
So, if you're interested, I'll be posting corny little vistas from my mobile phone along the way up and back, so stay tuned for some scenery from the ride. I hope you all are enjoying the final few weeks of summer.
I don't have the patience to recount in detail all the "training" I've done over the past month, nor do I think it would serve much of a purpose. Maybe eventually it would come in handy as a review, but I'll get to it later. I would, however, like to summarize how things have been going (and not going) for the past month or so.
Around the last post I was keeping busy with daily cross training at the gym. I had started to jog on the treadmill a little when I decided that my left foot still wasn't quite healed. I reverted to daily cycling and/or "ellipsing" anywhere between 45 to 120 minutes, and launched into a new core/strength regimen. I even started playing around with doubling on certain days and learned that often the stronger workout would happen in the afternoon. I'll have to remember that if I'm ever thinking of running doubles. But I'll have to be able to run singles first.
Then I decided to try something I never, EVER, thought I'd come to. It involves a blue piece of foam and a swimming pool, and elicits some pretty strange looks from swimmers. Turns out I quite enjoyed the workout I got with pool running, but by golly, it is BORING. I figured that if the healing of the foot had plateaued for one reason or another, a few weeks of completely non-weightbearing exercise might give it the rest it needed to finish the process. Now, two weeks after I started pool running only, my foot feels better than it has in months. So things are looking up, and I'm pretty eager to get back on the roads. I've returned to some moderate weight bearing exercise, but nothing too serious. Last post I mentioned I'd set September 15 as my return date, but now that may be more tentative. More on that in a minute.
So here I am, on a two-week break between school terms (the last of which beat me up pretty good, although it turned out to be the most successful yet), in probably the best general shape I've ever been in my life. It'll be interesting to see how that translates to running, but I'm not too concerned about the fitness I've inevitably lost on that front.
It's the end of the school year (for me at least), the end of summer. A friend of mine just moved to this area to attend grad school and I've decided to go visit. However, I can't afford gas, and I don't have a car, so I've decided to push pedals in a general NNW direction until I arrive on his doorstep, salty and famished. Starting out along the Schuylkill River, I'll follow some local bike trails and work my way over towards PA Bike Route L, which runs within a few miles of my final destination. If all goes as planned, it'll be a two-day ride each way, somewhere around 300 miles round trip. I'll be packing food, water, and some camping supplies in my saddlebags.
Tomorrow at 7:30 am sharp I'll be parting ways with the urban cacophony and spinning away towards the Lackawanna Valley. Given that I won't be back until Monday evening at the earliest, and given the mileage, I'll likely opt out of running for at least a few days after I return. But I'd had a notion that when I finally start that again it'd be rather spur-of-the-moment as opposed to on a specific date or according to any organized plan. Seems to feel better that way.
So, if you're interested, I'll be posting corny little vistas from my mobile phone along the way up and back, so stay tuned for some scenery from the ride. I hope you all are enjoying the final few weeks of summer.
Monday, August 18, 2008
If It Walks Like a Duck, and Talks Like a Duck...
Then hopefully we'll have ourselves a little duck roast in about 4 weeks. Back to running date is set to September 15. Maybe I'll forget about it until then.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Now for the Mind...
This is much tougher mentally then I ever imagined it could be. Last week in Arizona (August 8), I went for an hour long barefoot (well, almost) hike with MM through the desert. This was the day after I managed to jog for 10 mins on a treadmill at the local YMCA. Everything felt great, and the wilderness was the perfect setting to have the realization that it's time to move past this thing.
This past Tuesday, back in Philly, I did more jogging on the treadmill. Again, things felt good, but I couldn't help but be very aware of my left foot. Then on Thursday night, carrying my bass fiddle from Center City to South Philly, I got a strange feeling. Pain is the wrong word, discomfort is closer, but I really can't put my finger on it. I've also been monitoring the "swelling," which hardly qualifies as such. But nevertheless I've been keeping tabs on whether or not I can see the tendons running across the top of my foot (I can on the right foot). There was a noticeable difference between the two as I laid down to rest on Thursday.
Since pain wasn't the issue, and things looked better yesterday, I followed through with the plan: more jogging in place at the gym. During the 30 min jog/walk things felt great, but again I was hyper-aware of any sensations on that side of my body. In bed last night, some discomfort all through the lower leg.
These physical sensations are nothing compared to the pain I felt walking to and from the doctor's office back at the beginning of July. I wonder if I may be experiencing some general soreness as a result of the month long layoff, something like growing pains. I'm tempted to throw another 3 or 4 weeks of rest at it and take it from there. Monday would be the next jog attempt, and depending on how it feels, I still may try that, but I don't want this to stick around any longer than it has to. You'll hear from me then.
This past Tuesday, back in Philly, I did more jogging on the treadmill. Again, things felt good, but I couldn't help but be very aware of my left foot. Then on Thursday night, carrying my bass fiddle from Center City to South Philly, I got a strange feeling. Pain is the wrong word, discomfort is closer, but I really can't put my finger on it. I've also been monitoring the "swelling," which hardly qualifies as such. But nevertheless I've been keeping tabs on whether or not I can see the tendons running across the top of my foot (I can on the right foot). There was a noticeable difference between the two as I laid down to rest on Thursday.
Since pain wasn't the issue, and things looked better yesterday, I followed through with the plan: more jogging in place at the gym. During the 30 min jog/walk things felt great, but again I was hyper-aware of any sensations on that side of my body. In bed last night, some discomfort all through the lower leg.
These physical sensations are nothing compared to the pain I felt walking to and from the doctor's office back at the beginning of July. I wonder if I may be experiencing some general soreness as a result of the month long layoff, something like growing pains. I'm tempted to throw another 3 or 4 weeks of rest at it and take it from there. Monday would be the next jog attempt, and depending on how it feels, I still may try that, but I don't want this to stick around any longer than it has to. You'll hear from me then.
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