11/27/2016 to 12/10/2016: Two Weeks Whatever

Well, first I recovered from my ankle sprain.  Then I recovered from my Achilles injury.  Now I'm recovering from a stomach virus.  This has been a frustrating past few weeks.  On the plus side, I was getting a little heavy, and could stand to lose those 7-10lbs...

RunLog:

27-Nov		Long Run		1:50:16		14.08		AM: Battle Road, Achilles got a little pinchy so I stopped instead of doing the normal 16.
		Off		0:00:00		0		PM: Off.
28-Nov		Easy		1:14:04		9.06		AM: 9+, Achilles got a little pinchy, but not worse.
		Moderate		1:30:17		10.01		PM: 10+ SLOW.  But Achilles was pretty good.
29-Nov		Easy		0:00:00		0.58		AM: 5m of walking.  WTF.  Achilles flare up.
		Workout		0:00:00		0		PM: Drove and dropped the Jeep off at the mechanic then walked home in the rain.
30-Nov		Easy		0:00:00		0		AM: Biked ~5m.
		Easy		0:00:00		0		PM: Biked ~5m.
1-Dec		Easy		0:42:00		5		AM: 5m easy.  Achilles felt fine during the heal drops last night and this morning, so I took very easy.  Stopped a few times to feel for any tender spots and it was all good.  Cautious.
		BU Track				12.5		PM: Commute home with a few pick ups to see how the Achilles felt, it was good.  Then I was cautious about the workout, but it went really well.  800x2/400x4/400x4/200x4.  5k/3k/mile pacing.  Pretty spot on pacing too.
2-Dec		Easy		0:34:13		4.06		AM: Had to drive the Jeep back to work, then did a very easy 4m to be safe about the Achilles.  Cautiously optimistic, but it's getting back…probably around 85% recovered.  Ankle still popping too though.
		Easy		0:52:36		6.24		PM: 6+ slow and easy.
3-Dec		BU Indoor Opener		0:35:59		4.48		AM: 4+ at around 8 per.  Kept it easy again.
		Easy		0:00:00		0		PM: CSU party.  Good times.
4-Dec		Long Run		2:04:06		16.19		AM: Battle Road.  16+ at 7:40/mile.  Achilles held up well, but obviously concerned at times.  Body feels out of whack from the time off.
		Off		0:00:00		0		PM: Off.  Did some exercising though.
5-Dec		Easy		1:06:35		8.01		AM: 8 at a very slow pace.  Still keeping it easy.
		Moderate		1:07:41		8.03		PM: 8+ at a still slow pace.  Not helped by the footing though.  Very slippery.
6-Dec		Easy		1:03:50		8.01		AM: 8+ at around 8 per.  Not bad.  Feeling better and better.
		Workout		1:12:19		10.18		PM: 10+ fartlek averaging about 7:0x.  Did a lot of 3/4 mile pick ups, but not that quick thanks to uneven footing.  Not bad, focused on good form and running quick and relaxed.
7-Dec		Easy		1:03:24		8.1		AM: 8+ at 7:50/mile.  Felt normal.
		Easy		1:18:53		10.08		PM: 10+ at 7:50/mile.
8-Dec		Easy		1:14:42		10.02		AM: 10m at 7:27/mile.  Had an episode of Bison's Revenge, but it's all good.
		BU Track/Pub Series Dinner		0:42:42		5.58		PM: 5+ at 7:39/mile.  Got bonkish on this run.
9-Dec		Easy		0:47:48		6.11		AM: 6+ at 7:50/mile.  Just taking it easy ahead of Mt. Hood.
		Easy		0:40:31		5		PM: 5m at 8/mile.
10-Dec		Assault on Mt. Hood		1:01:45		8.23		AM: Good warm up, then 3rd overall on an extremely challenging Mt. Hood course.  Good back and forth with two other guys too.
		Dinner Plans		0:00:00		0		PM: Stomach bug!?  WTF!  Good thing dinner plans were cancelled…UGH!

Splits:

800-2:40.09

800-2:39.74

400-1:15.81

400-1:16.51

400-1:15.01

400-1:15.73

400-1:11.22

400-1:11.68

400-1:11.93

400-1:10.63

200-35.80

200-35.39

200-35.42

200-34.09

Totals: 66 and 103.5

11/20/16 to 11/26/16: Injury NOOooooo!!!

By now, I'm sure just about everyone has seen the video below:

Make sure you have the sound on when you watch it.  Knowing that the runner is ok, it's alright to laugh.

With that video in mind...Sunday's long run at Battle Road started off great, as usual.  I ran along with Terry and Kevin, with Jon and Kevin easing into the run and trailing just a bit further back.  About 3.5 miles into the run, a huge buck came out of nowhere to run across our path maybe 10 meters ahead of us.  The three of us were all startled and mentioned that clip in particular, and how we were lucky not to get creamed by a buck with antlers....then, while distracted and somewhat out of nowhere my foot found the bottom of a leaf covered hole and my ankle went all rice krispes on me.  You know...snap crackle pop.  I hit the deck immediately, but the damage was done and my ankle was already looking grape fruitish.  Jon offered to jog back to his car and pick me up, but I've turned my ankle enough times to believe there is benefit in staying mobile (while being extremely careful not to re-turn the ankle).  The 3.5 miles back to the car were really uncomfortable though.  In retrospect, I would've preferred to hobble a lot less than 3.5 miles, primarily because the force of the limp over that distance caused my right quad to be really sore.  I was fairly pissed, but I've run on sprained ankles before.

On Monday I took two ibuprofen when I woke up to reduce the swelling (I only take ibu for sprains now), wrapped the ankle, then ran slowly to work.  I was feeling optimistic; the ankle felt ok by the end of the run.  The evening run was 11+ very slow, but once again, I was optimistic.  During that run I stopped at the new turf fields on Nonantum to add mileage because it's a nice predictable soft surface.  Someone had left a soccer ball on the field, and so I dribbled around for 2+ miles and things were looking good.

Tuesday was a 10/10 double, but looking back - taking the two ibuprofen before each run was a mistake.  On one hand, I believe it helps the sprain.  On the other hand, it covers up any other aches and pains that I should be aware of.  So, on Wednesday I went out to Battle Road to do an easy 12 when 4 miles in I noticed that more and more my left Achilles was feeling like bunk.  I once again had to stop and turn around, but I thought I was doing the right thing.  Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the case.

On Thanksgiving morning, my Achilles was somewhat tender, but I felt good enough to race.  I had to rush to the race in Marshfield, thanks to losing my GPS signal, and I showed up with 6 minutes to spare.  I should've just wore my trainers for the race, but I wasn't really giving it that much thought, and I put my flats on and did about 1 minute of light jogging.  One mile into the race, I could tell my Achilles was in rough shape.  By the third mile, it was in a vice grip and I had to stop three times.  The third time, I took my left shoe off and shoved one of my gloves in the heal to create a makeshift heal-lift, and ran a pretty solid 4th mile to over take a large group of runners.  I chose not to race the Plymouth 5k, but the damage was already done.

I took Friday and Saturday off and my streak of 362 days in a row running ended.  Freakin a, man!  So here is the bunk week:

20-Nov		Long Run		1:06:25		6.51		AM: Twisted my left ankle badly ~3.5m in.
		Off		0:00:00		0		PM: Off, just trying to rest the stupid ankle.
21-Nov		Easy		0:57:35		6.27		AM: 6+ very slow.  Had a noticeable limp, but the ankle did loosen up quite a bit by the end.  Still, all that hobbling and my right quad was sore.
		Moderate		1:34:49		11.32		PM: 11+ slow, with some tacked on mileage with Raleigh.  Stopped at the turf fields and jogged around there with the lights and even footing.
22-Nov		Easy		1:20:23		10.03		AM: 10+ at around 8 per.  Ankle still sprained, but improving.  Stopped at the turf fields again too.
		Workout		1:24:07		10.03		PM: 10+ at 8:24.  SLOW.
23-Nov		Easy		1:10:40		8.30		AM: 8+ slow at Battle Road.  Left Achiles started to act up so I slowed down and turned around.
		Easy				0		PM: Drive to the south shore.  Achilles meh.
24-Nov		Thanksgiving		0:27:00		4.39		AM: Barely got to Marshfield in time and my left Achilles was hurting.  Had to stop 3 times during the third mile.
		Thanksgiving		0:00:00		0		PM: Thanksgiving!
25-Nov		Easy		0:00:00		0		AM: No running.  Achilles super tender.  Kicked the soccer ball around and tossed the football though.
		Easy		0:00:00		0		PM: Off.
26-Nov		Workout		0:00:00		0		AM: Off.
		Easy		0:00:00		0		PM: Off.

Total: 56.85