Boston Marathon 2013 Days 50-56: Galloway Trail

This weekend my wife and I returned to Springfield for the first time since November's Bass Pro Marathon. With the Basil babysitting help from Grandma, Grandpa, and our friend Teresa, we were both able to get out and enjoy some runs on the Galloway Trail through Sequiota Park. This is the first time we have ran the trail since it was reopened to the full length (highway construction). When we lived in town we both really enjoyed running on the Greenways so it was nice to run there this past weekend. On Saturday I did a solo 10 miler, my first double digit run in 3 weeks due to my nagging runner's knee.

 

On Sunday Aimee and I ran an 8 miler together. This was the first time we had ran that far together in a long time and it was just like old times. We even took Justin and Teresa's dog Nala along with us since Marlie did not make the trip. Oddly we never ran up to the nature center in all the years we lived there so Aimee and I took the short trail towards the Nature Center and even got to see some deer. On our return trip Nala and I took a quick bathroom break which put Aimee a little ahead of us. As we caught back up to her she was almost "attacked" by a wild raging squirrel. At least she claims. I saw the whole scene unfold in front of me as a squirrel ran across the path roughly the same time as Aimee which made her jump and scream. It was awesome! Weekly Totals: Run 32 Miles, Swim 1.7 Miles, Bike 11 Miles

Boston 2013 Days 43-49: Back At It

Runners Knee Sucks. I feel like I'm doing the right thing by taking some time off, but I could only manage a week. However, in the meantime I have found some new friends in the form of a foam roller and ice pack. We meet up every morning and evening. It'g great! I have also noticed an improvement in my swimming. This has really helped my confidence for a possible 1/2 Ironman this summer.

So back to the running, after a full week off I eased back in with a one mile treadmill run on Friday and thought I might die. Not from knee pain, but from boredom! How do people run on those things? And there was a TV in front of me. Saturday I busted out my new shoes and ran 7 miles with a break in the middle for weights. It was nice to be back on the road and I only noticed slight discomfort in my knee, but nothing throughout the rest of the day.

Sunday Aimee, Basil, Marlie and I did an evening run at St. Joe Park. Running at night was something we do not do very often as you can tell from the picture below. We made the turn on our out-and-back and found ourselves 3 miles from the car, pushing a stroller, in the woods, and it was dark. Guess we need to check those sunset times a little closer. Overall though it was awesome weather and kinda neat to watch the fog roll in over the trail. Thankfully I did not have to defend my family against any wild deer!

Weekly totals: Run 16 miles; Swim 3.5 miles, Bike 21 miles.

Boston 2013 Days 39-42: Runner's Knee

After my run on Thursday I really started to notice the pain in the front of my right knee. I guess I had kinda noticed it before, but just chose to ignore it. I was able to run through the initial pain and then by the end of my run I forgot it was there or it was gone. After Thursday's run though I decided to do some research and diagnosed myself with runner's knee. Even if it's not, I'm scared enough to think it is, so I'm taking it slow for a few days before resuming any running. I found the video below really helpful in figuring out what I should do, so over the past few days I have:

• Swam over 2 miles 
• Biked 24 miles 
• Ran 0 
• Resumed lifting with a focus on legs
• Bought a foam roller (yet to use) 
• Ate 1/2 a package of Oreo Birthday Cake (oops) 

Here's to a speedy recover.

I removed the video because it was playing when the page loaded.