Going on 8 weeks! [17M]

Last week was my highest mileage week so far! I was very blessed though because it just so happened to be my week in our Houston office, so I ran every single step of those miles on a soft surface! :) This week will pretty much be a repeat of last week. I felt a bit stronger on most of my runs last week, at least stronger than how I've been feeling. The only real negative right now is all the aching. My shins are probably the worst out of everything, but those, my calves, my left knee and quad, and my right hip flexor are all acting up. I'm hoping that spending so much time on softer surfaces will let it ease up. I have a 3k relay that I'm doing at the end of August, which should be about five weeks or so from now, so I'm trying to really stay focused and not give up on things! I am still very much enjoying the running, just impatient with the progress... :)

Sunday, July 21st
4M run. Took right at 32 minutes on the gravel trail at DBU. Sore shins and still feeling weak, but nothing to be concerned about. First time to run three days straight in the comeback!

Monday, July 22nd
Bodypump class (AM). Talk about payback! Missing a week of strength work makes a difference - trust me! Gosh, that was the hardest bodypump session I've had AND I used lighter weights! Whew!

Tuesday, July 23rd
4M run + 4 strides. Still feeling beat up from the hips down - stiff, achy, sore, and fatigued. My knee (where it was banged up in the car wreck) was particularly bad for some reason. I stayed in the neighborhood today because walking before I started felt so bad that I didn't think I'd finish the run and didn't want to get caught a long ways out! Thankfully things loosened up and felt a little better as I got going, so I finished the complete run, but man, that first mile all I could think was "only three more loops". Haha! So sad! I think the wind, warm temps, and humidity probably made it a little more tiring than usual; plus, my legs were sore from yesterday's strength work. It'll be good to get back in that habit so it doesn't have as big of an effect on me the next day! The last straight-stretch (about 600m) of my run and all the strides were probably today's highlights. All of them were very aggressive and I kept great form. Just need to get to where I can maintain that for my full runs! ;)

Wednesday, July 24th
5M run. Back on the gravel trail at DBU this morning. My energy this morning was a pleasant surprise. I planned on the run being a "minutes" run, meaning my pace wouldn't matter so it was okay if I jogged. The loop is 1.3M, so it was going to be too hard to get in "5" miles on it. After finishing three loops in 30:43, I decided I might as well and just do four full loops for 5.2 miles and ended up finishing in 39:40, so I definitely cut down a lot on that last loop! My knee and shins are still a big pain though. Several times I almost stopped for my knees in that first loop. Probably need to check with a doctor. It's the beneath my knee on the inside and hurts on both sides, but much worse on the left. Both shins are hurting and they're right in the middle on both sides.

Thursday, July 25th
30' cycle, 30' strength class

Friday, July 26th
4M run + 4 strides. Ran about two minutes and had such bad stomach pain that I walked home. Drank some water, sat around and stretched for a while, then tried again and this time stuck with it. I still have the bad knee pain, but I have an appointment on Tuesday to get it checked out! Other than my knees and stomach it wasn't a bad run. Good strides again as well.

Saturday, July 27th
5M run w/ 1' surges on a 5' cycle. Walked about 100m, ran about 50m, walked home. Too much knee pain to push things another day. Hopefully a day completely off of it will help... also taking some Alieve. I'd like to get back on the schedule tomorrow, with a bit less pain, but if it's the same as it has been today and yesterday, I'll probably need to sit it out again and wait for the doc. I've run thru too many injuries to push this. I am more concerned with being back to the sport for good than I am with getting in this week's runs.