Still kicking! (17M)

So, despite the myriad of seemingly disconnected aches and pains I'm dealing with right now, I would consider last week very successful. If the hard-easy rule is accurate, I will be just fine. :) Last week I basically only ran 4 days and got in 43 miles; that's almost 11 miles per day. Furthermore, about 23 of those 43 were quality (~7:00 pace down to 6:00 pace). That's a solid week, in my opinion.

If I can get this ankle/foot/knee/glute/hip flexor stuff to stop fighting me so much, things just might work out perfectly. Although, knowing me that's a pretty big if. :) Since I got in quite a bit of "longer" hard work these last two weeks, we're mixing things up with some shorter faster work this week. It'll be good to keep my training as well rounded as we can while still salvaging my health. :) I feel pretty comfortable in the 6:30 range and I am feeling more comfortable about the distance as well, but dropping to anything sub half marathon pace (6:10ish), especially for an extended period of time, still knocks me down pretty good.

With 6 weeks remaining until race day, I know I have plenty of time and am not really concerned, but it's crazy to think about how fitness changes so quickly. If my race were next week it'd be pitiful, but for some reason I have full confidence that in 6 weeks it can be extremely successful. Amazing how our bodies work.

Sunday, September 23rd
40' easy on soft surfaces
strength
COMMENTS: Very glad I did my run this morning... I ran into Sarah (one of Jake's college athletes) when I got to the gravel travel and spent most of my run with her. Went by so fast! My knee wasn't as bad today, but my right ankle and my left quad and hip flexor were pretty bad. Icing now and hoping it all eases up soon. Other than the aches, I felt great this morning. No soreness or fatigue from yesterday.

Monday, September 24th
40' easy on soft surfaces + 6 uphill sprints
COMMENTS: Ran to DBU and then spent most of my run on the trail and grass track. I ran into Sarah and Glynis today and Jake joined us after a couple minutes as well. It was definitely a slow run for me, but I needed it as my knee, hip flexor, and ankle are very painful. I almost stopped at several points, but without knowing what I'm dealing with, it's hard to convince myself the benefit of stopping. If I don't feel better after 24 hours off or anything, then it doesn't seem to make sense to skip an easy run? I don't know... may have to rest everything one day later this week though. We'll see! Got the strides in on a slight hill in front of our house... 20" hard up, 40" easy down.

Tuesday, September 25th
20' easy, 2x400, 4x1200, 2x400, 5' easy
Strength
COMMENTS: Nearly skipped this one again because of my knee pain (it has extended to my hip and runs along the IT band as well now, so I definitely need to try stretches and such), but decided missing 3 Tuesday workouts in a 5 week period was not a very good idea.. :) At any rate, I started way too fast for the first 400 because I expected them to be so hard - which they were, but maybe they would have been a little easier if I hadn't dug a hole for myself with the first one! :) I had the DBU girls to run with for the 1200's and then finished off my last 400's in spikes to test them out. I don't know if it was the crazy high humidity, windy, or soggy grass, but something about today's workout was off and it was twice as hard as expected. Regardless, we got it in and another day is in the books! Here are the splits based on grass track cones- 74, 79, 4:31, 4:27, 4:23, 4:25, 80, 78 (5:44 AP) and based on my Garmin 73, 76, 4:16, 4:14, 4:09, 4:12, 76, 74 (5:28 AP). I'll call it in the middle and say it was 4 miles averaging 5:36 pace.

Wednesday, September 26th
rest day. anesthesia for some testing... basically a bed rest day.

Thursday, September 27th
12 miles with 8-11 hard
I'm still out of it from the anesthesia. And my day completely off didn't help the knee either. I tried running this morning but couldn't go 10 meters. Walking down hills or down stairs is absolutely the worse. Saw the school's trainer and he said it's my meniscus. Trying to get a doctor appointment now, but the trainer said I'll need an MRI so it'll probably be awhile before we get answers.

Friday, September 28th
40' easy + strides or pre-race
Today marks missed run #2. I think it would be interesting (if I heal and get back to training before my Half) to see how many days of running I had to miss during this training season due to injury. Slight improvement to my knee... definitely still not runnable as I still have pain walking around and bending it, but still a noticeable improvement! My doctor called back this morning and is going to put in a request for an MRI and get me referred to a local Orthopedic doctor she knows.

Saturday, September 29th
4x2M repeats or 6k race 
 Alright, so I haven't run, cross trained, or lifted weights for 4 full days now. Definitely not liking the looks of this. If I were biking or something I would at least feel like there was some hope left for me to pick back up in a week or two without losing much... Not seeing that as the case right now.. :( MRI of left knee today.

Total Weekly Mileage: 17M