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. 

Boston 2013 Days 32-38: ESBRU

Did you know that this coming Wednesday, February 6, is the annual ESBRU? That would be the Empire State Building Run Up. Aimee and I are officially adding this one to "our list" but since we don't make it to NYC that often, we may just have to visit sometime and do it for fun. Want to see what it's like? Here is a video from Runner's World.

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

And a funnier one from SNL



Mileage for January 167; Bide 19 Miles; Swim 7.93 Miles

Boston 2013 Days 28-31

Tomorrow I am speaking to my Middle School about running and self determination; so I made a video. This week so far: 8, Swim, 9, 5 + Swim. Hope you enjoy the video.

Boston 2013 Days 21-27: Training Plan Decisions

As I finish up week four and inch closer to my higher mileage weeks, I have made a decision to return to my 5 day a week plan over the current 6 day a week plan that I have used for the past 2 years. There are two main reasons for doing this: rest and an increase in swimming. My mileage will remain roughly the same with the addition of a longer weekly run over a shorter one. The additional day off will be used for swimming and/or biking as I work toward my goal of a half ironman while maintaining Boston training.

The training schedule will be a combo of both previous training plans resulting in what I hope will not only prepare me for Boston but still run a great time. What I'm thinking:

Saturday; long run
Sunday; recovery run and long swim
Monday; mid-distance run
Tuesday; swim only
Wednesday; tempo run or speed work
Thursday; short run and swim
Friday; rest

We will see what happens come April.

Weekly totals: 37 Running, 4500 yards swimming, 0 bike

From an earlier post here is my 100 Mile Club going strong!

Boston 2013 Day 19 and 20: Trails

Saturday was the first time this year that I have made it out to the trails. Not only did I go, but I took quite the crew with me. Over the past several weeks I have been talking with a few other runners about hitting the trails and then signing up for a trail race. Last year I competed in 3 trail races (2 - 50k's and 1 - 60k) and they were probably some of the most fun I have had while running. So, on the tail end of our brief January warm up my Aimee, Marlie, and 3 friends (Brian, Liz, and Lindell) joined me at Hawn State Park for a 7 mile trail run. It was a great change of pace from the road. Looking forward to many more and hopefully some races along the way.

Weekly totals: 37 miles running, 2200 yards swimming, 0 bike.

Thanks to Brian for the picture. Great view from the trails.

Boston 2013 Days 14-18: Warm Welcome

A good week of training ended with a nice warm welcome Thursday and Friday. Temperatures made it up into the 50's and even 60's on Friday. This led to some great running weather and even my first bike ride of the year. It was nice to be able to run in shorts for a few days and not have to layer up; my washing machine agrees. This week consisted of two four mile/swim bricks, a 6 miler, and an 8 mile tempo.

Friday's bike ride was also a nice change of pace from running. I headed up one of the biggest hills in the area for the first time then rode a loop that returned to "the hill" only I got to take the easy way down; at 47 mph! Below is the picture from right before my decent.