Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

AM - 15.1 mile Sasha big workout day. Average pace for entire run was 6:57. Warmed-up for 6.2 miles at about 7:30 average. Then started Sasha's 5 mile tempo with him. Legs felt very sluggish today so I just decieded to go 2.5 miles with Sasha. I hit 14:07 (5:39 pace) for the 2.5 mile slight up hill section and then backed off for a mile at the turn. ran the next mile in 6:39 and felt like a complete jog so picked it up again running what felt like easy marathon effort hitting 6:00 and then finished the last 1/2 mile in 2:50. Felt like I could run 6:00 pace all day but at 5:39 pace the legs felt heavy and sluggish. Ok workout overall, not to worried about lots of quality right now as I am more focused on building a large base of high mileage first and then the quality will come as the body adapts over time. As usual more tonight with the boys.

PM - 3.4 easy miles with 4xstrides and drills with James.

AM - Ran as Sasha calls it the uneventful half marathon this morning. However it was slightly eventful in that our average was 6:52.89 for the run and we did 8x100 and the last mile in sub 6:00. The majority of the run was easy and we were still at our under 7:00 pace which is a good sign. Another good sign is that my heart rate at 7:00 pace was only 135 and it was only 150 at about 6:15 pace. This is lower than what it has been at these paces in the past so it appears that there has been some fitness gains as of late. The 100s were like usual in that I was about 1-2 seconds behind Sasha on the first 4 at 19-20 secs each and then the last 4 I was able to push a little more and run them between 15-17 secs. Overall a good easy run with some pick-ups today. Felt much better than yesterday. I am going to try and squeeze in a few more this afternoon but we will see as my schedule is pretty tight today and tomorrow and then I leave for another conference again on Sunday. This time I will be in Reno until Thursday. I am pretty bummed I won't be able to watch the trials on Saturday morning as I will be at work from about 4:00am until 9:00pm. Which means I will have to call Sasha during the day to get the results.

PM - Easy 4 miles, 1 with James and 1.5 with Jared. Jared asked if he could run 1.5 miles today. I think he is starting to like running now. It is a good sign when he asks to do more which is a first for him and he ran it at 8:30 pace. James was full of energy today which means he is rested and ready to go for tomorrow.

Early AM - (3 miles) Started day of with a 1 mile easy and then ran with the cadets during Ranger Challenge 2 mile run. Ran 2 miles in 11:03 on a hilly dirt road course in the dark.

Later AM - (12.9 miles) Later on ran 12.9 miles in the hills on an out and back course at 6000ft. The first half was pretty much all up except for three small decents which made it tough, the way back was much easier. I through in two miles at marathon pace (sub 6:00) on the way back. The elevation gain for the first 6 miles was 1,551 feet, needless to say the way back was much easier and much faster.

I am still a bit in shock from the news of the trials today. What a trajedy and unfortunate event.

I am off to Reno for another conference tomorrow. I hope to squeeze in as many miles as I can. I won't be back until Thursday.

AM - 15 miles at 5:00am along the Truckee River Trail in Reno, Nevada. I just ran by feel on an out and back course. It was cold 26'F and dark but I felt ok today. I averaged 6:48 pace for the whole run. 2nd half was at about 6:30 pace for 5 miles and the last 2 miles at 6:00 pace.

PM - 5 miles at 7:05 pace average. 

AM - 5:00am again for 14.3 miles along the Truckee River in Reno again. I did a fartlek of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with equal rest for 30 minutes of fast running. Fartlek pace was all sub 6:00. Overall averaged 6:47 for the whole run.

PM - Easy 5.7 miles at 7:06 pace average. 

AM - Still in Reno running at 5:00am along the Truckee River again. Out and back relaxed and easy 15 miles at an average pace of 7:08. Second half at 6:40 pace.

PM - Easy 5.1 miles on the dreaded treadmill at 7:00 pace.

AM - Left Reno early this morning and went for run as soon as I got home. Ran from my house for 10.35 miles with 8x100m strides on the way back. Hilly run felt relaxed but still averaged 7:00 pace.

PM - Not sure I will get another run in as the rest of my day is pretty packed. 

AM - For the third time writing as the blog ate my last two reports when I hit submit. I ran the usual Friday Sasha Uneventful Half Marathon (UHM). However we had many visitors join us as well. Adam ran with is for awhile and we also had two of the faster women, Michelle and Jamie, join us so they could get a good tempo in. We gradually picked things up as usual as we went but it all felt very easy today even when we finished in 6:20. I was very impressed with Michelle and Jamie today. Both of them have an OTQ time in their future. With the right training and persistence they can hit the womens OTQ in the not so distant future. We ran the UHM in 1:30:52 or 6:55 pace average with the last 10 miles in 1:08 and the last 5 miles in about 33:30 or so. Sasha and I did 8x100 strides at 17-18 secs in the middle as usual as well.

PM - Heading out for a Boy Scout camp later today but will squeeze in some more miles before I go with James. 5.05 miles with James and 8x100 in 18 secs each with a 100 jog in 27 secs per 100 jog.

PM - 19.4 miles total with most in the dark this evening. After having a Boy Scout Campout last night and not getting much sleep I was not too excited about my run today. I ran with James and Sasha for parts of it and then with Jared at the end. I ran 9.5 miles with James at an average pace of 7:34 with 2x1 mile repeats in 5:50 and 6:00 on the river trail. I then did 8 miles at what I call an easy marathon pace effort. First 4 miles in 26:00 and second 4 miles in 24:00. It was very dark so I'm sure this sowed things a little as well. Overall I was just glad to get the run over with. Cooled down by running 1.5 miles with Jared.

AM - UHM along Provo River Trail with Sasha, normal Monday morning 1/2 marathon diet at 7:00 average with 8x100 strides all in about 18 secs today. Each mile we seemed to pick it up as usual as well finishing the last couple miles faster then normal with the last mile in 6:00. Not feeling as good as I have been lately so we will see how tomorrow's big workout tempo day goes.

PM - Ran with James for his workout. We did 2 miles warm-up and then 2x1000 meter repeats with a 600 jog between. 1000's were in 3:34 and 3:32. James looked really good on these. I think this is about his 3K race pace right now on the track. Did some more easy miles including a mile with Jared. I under dressed so my hands were frozen by the end of the run.

Also did 35 push-ups and sit-ups. I need to get back in to the habit of doing my core exercises. I stopped them after my accident due to the whiplash, etc.. and just started up again. 

AM - Ran the Sasha big workout this morning at 5:00am. I was having stomach issues from the get go and was not feeling so great and was therfore not excited at all about doing a tempo let alone a 7.5 mile tempo in the middle of a 15 mile run. Started with Adam and Sasha and Adam seemed to be feeling good as he was up front until he turned at about 4 miles. Sasha and I continued on and stopped for a VPB at about 5 miles which was my second of the morning. My stomach was churning and aching all morning so I was hoping this would fix the problem before the tempo. When we hit the start point I was still not feeling so hot and definetly not excited about running hard. I figured 6:00 pace was going to be a challenge today but would give it my best shot. The stomach continued to hurt but I was able to just click of the quarters for the first 3-4 miles at it did not get too bad. However by mile 4 it felt like there was an alien trying to escape so I just hung on and then had to stop again at 5 miles. After the stop the intestinal pain was not gone but much better. Without any more effort all of a sudden we were clicking off much faster quarters. With just over 1 mile to go Sasha picked it up and pulled away and I just tried to hold pace. Overall I was happy with the workout and glad I was able to do the whole tempo and get faster the whole way. The first 5 miles I was fighting the urge to just give in to the stomach pain and call it quits for the day. I am glad I didn't as I think it helps to have days like this and be able to hang in there and tough things out. Splits were as follows:

1 - 5:53

2 - 5:59

2.5(180 turn) - 14:50

3 - 5:57

4 - 5:49

5 - 5:46 (2.5 - 14:34)

6 - 5:39

7 - 5:39

.5 - 2:49 (2.5 - 14:07)

Total time for 7.5 miles was 43:31 or a 5:48 average. Overall 15.1 miles at 6:39 average pace. More tonight with James and Jared.

PM - 6.1 miles with James and Jared. 4 easy strides and drills with James.

AM - Easy relaxed Provo River 10 miler with Sasha. Average pace was about 7:23 today but first half was much slower. I was glad to go slow. Although Sasha picked it up at the end as he can get a little excited about catching the virtual runner and today we were too close to the 7:30 virtual guy for temptation and he also had to chase down the virtual 7:00 guy for the second half of the run. I tagged along and felt decent but still having some stomach issues today. More tonight as usual with the boys.

PM - 8 miles with Sasha's kids and my boys as a mix. Also did 6x200 strides at 39-40 secs each with a 200 jog rest.

AM - Another tempo day planned with Sasha. We started at 6:00am and it was the coldest day so far this winter at 24'F. We did the normal 10K warm-up and then started on the up section of the 5 mile tempo route. Going into this run I continued to not be very excited about running this week. Today the stomach issues were a bit better but for some reason my right ankle started to hurt last night and it carried over to this run. It hurts on the push off phase and seems to be a little worse with faster paces. We traded quarters for the first 2.5 miles with me starting the first quarter. I went a little fast on the first quarter starting at 5:20 pace and then backing off when Sasha spoke up about it. We hit the 1st mile in 5:31 and this felt ok except for the ankle push off. The second mile was about 5:35 at this point I had already decieded that I would just stick with Sasha for 2.5 miles and then back off to not do any more damage to the ankle. We hit the 2.5 turn around at 13:56. I told Sasha to go and I backed off to 7:00 pace for a 1/2 mile and then just gradually picked it back up as the ankle was not bothering me as much. The next mile was a 6:07 and felt relaxed and the ankle was ok, not 100% but not as bad as before. With a mile to go I picked it up again and ran the last mile in 5:40 afirly easily and the last 1/2 mile was actually 2:44. Not a great day but I will take it considering how I have felt this week. More tonight.

PM - 4.4 mils this evening at 8:00min pace. Some with James and some with Jared. 4xeasy strides.

AM - A very easy 13.1 miles this morning with Sasha and Adam and a random dog that joined us for about 2 miles. My left knee started bothering me last night and it was still bugging me this morning as well but not as bad. I think I may have been compensating for the ankle and did something to the opposite knee. The good news is the ankle felt a lot better today but the left knee did not want to go faster than 7:00 pace without complaining. We will see how it feels tonight and tomorrow. If it is still nagging me then I amy have to cut tomorrow's 20 miler short.

PM - No run tonight as me knee was hurting all day. It hurts more to wlak than it does to run. Strange thing as well is it hurts to walk upstairs but going down stairs is no problem. Kind of strange. We will see how it feels tomorrow.

AM - Did not sleep well as I think I am more nervous for James' XC race than if I were racing myself. Met Sasha at 5:00am. Since my knee was still bugging me I had already decieded to only run 12 and that would only be if the knee did not get any worse. We ran uphill towards the canyon the first 6 miles and the knee was hurting but not getting any worse. At the turn around I was just barely ahead of 7:00 pace and discovered again that the knee feels a ton better running on the gradual downhill so I gradually picked it up all the way back averaging 6:18 pace for the last 6 miles, so slower than marathon pace but I'll call it that for today. Overall 6:38 pace for 12 miles. I will get a few more today at James' XC race and with Jared.

Late AM - 4.5 miles warm-up and cool-down with James and also running around during his race cheering him. Unfortunately James had a bad day today and said he felt bad the whole race with arms cramping and stomach hurting and said his body just wouldn't go when he wanted it to. He was pretty bummed but at least he qualified for nationals still and gets another chance to run in three weeks.

PM - 2.5 more, 1 with Jared and Benjamin and 1.5 with James and on my own. Knee hurts a little but not getting any worse at least for now. A day off tomorrow will do me some real good I hope.

AM - A large group for the Sasha UHM. We had Michelle, Jamie, Tom and Daniel at the start. Daniel only ran for 1.5 miles and then turned back. The rest continued on for the whole adventure. It is nice to have a group like this to run with. The left knee felt a little better today after a day off yesterday which is a good sign. However, it is still bugging me and still hurts a good bit going up stairs and walking. So I will not do any faster stuff or tempo work until it feels better. I am glad that I can at least run on it with only minor issues that don't seem to be getting worse for now.

PM - Ok, I decieded to not run tonight as my left knee was hurting all day again today as I walked around and was especially noticable going up stairs again. I can run with minimial pain and was torn between going with James and Jared and not running. However, I guess I need to play it smart and see if not running tonight helps. I will stay home and start the ice and ibuprofin routine tonight and see how things feel tomorrow. As usual it is really hard for me not to go run when I know that I could if I really wanted to. I usually just run through most issues that come up but this one is making me a little more nervous than most so I better play it a little on the safe side for now.

AM - No run for me. I decieded that I would not run this morning as the knee was not showing any improvement and had bugged me all day yesterday. It still hurt a little throughout the day but not as much as yesterday.

PM - Went for 4 miles with James and noticed that the knee hurt the the most during the first mile and then lessened a little after that to the point that I only felt it every once in a while during the last 2 miles. However, when we finished and it was time to stop it was hard to slow down and stop as the pain really kicked in. So it seems that once I am up to speed the knee seems ok except a few twinges every once in awhile but the knee does not want to stop and walking still hurts a lot more than running does. So I guess I just need to run everywhere! :-) I am just kidding but it seems that way. I will continue ice and ibuprofin and see how things progress. I will attempt to just cut way back on the volumne and intensity and see if that works as I really do not want to have to stop running all together. If it does not start getting better or I notice it gets worse then I guess I will have no choice. I hope it does not come to that!

To those that have had these symptoms I appreciate the advice. Also, has anyone used a knee strap for similiar conditions with any success? I am thinking about trying a Cho Pat type knee strap or brace but I am not sure it would do any good as I have never really known anyone who has used one.

AM - Met Sasha at 5:00am and it was cold out today. It was 25'F when we started and 23'F when we finished. Today went ok I guess. Some good and some bad. The first 1/2 mile was the bad. The knee really hurt even a little more than usual the first mile and I was actually considering calling it quits. I even stopped and stretched a couple times. I think it had something to do with how cold it is. However, the good was that after the first mile things gradually got better and better. In fact from 2 miles on it did not bug me too much. I could tell that the knee was not normal but it did not really hurt. We did keep it at an easy pace with an average of around 7:40 and I don't think we ever went under 7:00. I still notice the knee more when walking and it still bugged me when I walked up the stairs at my house. So I think I will try the easy running at reduced volumes for a little while and see how things progress. Hopefully this works and I can return to normal training in the near future. I may also try a knee strap during the day while walking and see if this helps. So mixed feelings about the knee today but at least I was able to run.

On another note I have been working on putting together a Utah Race / Running Calendar. I am trying to compile the most complete, comprehensive calendar for the state of Utah. I have found it that it seems that there is not one truly complete race calendar for the state but multiple calendars out there and multiple sites with a variety of races. If one wants to find races currently it seems you have to do a lot of searching. So for the last week when I have found some spare time I have been gathering data and putting together what I hope to be The Utah Running Race Calendar. I hope to finish it up for the most part over the Thanksgiving Weekend and give it to Sasha to put on the website. So far I have found 320 running races in the State of Utah. This was much more than I first anticipated as I did more searching I kept finding more and more sites with races. I am sure when I am done I will have missed some local races as well. So when Sasha puts it up we will have to ask everyone to look it over and add to it any other races that may have been overlooked. Do you think this is something that if published in a paper version with detailed race information such as a Utah State Race Directory and offered in local running stores people would be willing to buy? If so I guess it could be another way to generate a small income for the FRB. It would take a lot more work to get it to that point but I may continue to work in that direction if it seems worth while. Just some thoughts for those that actually read my blog! 

AM - Ran with James for 4 mile Thanksgiving race in Orem. 1 mile warm-up then paced James for a 26 min 4 miler. He struggled a bit but it was still a good tempo for him. Then helped Jared and Jordan in kids races. Jared ran his 1/2 mile in 3:40 and Jordan (3 year old) ran his 1/4 mile in 2:40 and was the fastest 3 year old. Then I helped rabbit the kids mile. James ended up pulling things together after the 4 miler and ran well winning with a 5:45 mile. Ran another cool-down mile with James and Sasha. The knee was still hurting until I got going during the 4 miler. Other than the knee I actually felt great. Even the 5:45 mile felt like I was jogging. Now if I can just get this knee healed up!

AM- 10 easy miles with Sasha and James and found Adam on the trail. Left knee actually felt ok today until about mile 8 or so when I stopped to go and it acted up on the transition from run to walk. Just keep it easy and reduced miles a little longer and hopefully things will heal up. Adam and I were talking and it may actually be ITB problems vs. chrondomalcia. Either way it is not gettting worse and today actually seemed a little better for the most part.

No second run just rest the knee. 

AM- Today was the Game Ball Run day where the ROTC programs from the U and BYU run the game ball from The U stadium to Cougar stadium. U of U hands the ball off to us at the point of the mountain and we run it in from their for 25 miles.  The cadets take trns running and jumping in and out of the van. I drove the first 5 miles and then jumped out to run with the cadets from the 5 mile mark. The plan was to run as long as the knee did not hurt. I made it the rest of the way to the stadium without much problems. The knee still hurt a little but not bad. So I got in 19.8 miles at an average pace of 7:40 with two faster miles playing catch up after a bathroom stop. I had to do a 6:15 and a 5:45 mile to catch up. Then I spent the rest of the day at the game. A long day but a lot of fun as well.

AM - Easy 10 along Provo River as usual. The good news is my knee felt a bit better. It only bugged me a couple of times during the run which is a big improvement. It has also bugged me less during the day and it hardly even bugs me going up-stairs as well. So, hopefully the reduced mileage and intensity routine is working. I will keep it up this week as well and see if it continues to improve. It sure would be nice to be able to get back to my normal routine next week.

I ran with James today up in Provo Canyon. We did a 2 mile uphill warm-up at 8:00 pace and then did 5x1000 meter repeats down the canyon with a 400 jog rest followed by a 1.5 mile uphill cool-down at 7:45 pace. The 1000's were into a pretty strong head wind and it was snowing as well. We were pretty cold by the end. The 1000's were as follows:

3:32, 3:32, 3:37, 3:39, 3:38 (These really felt like a jog for me which is a good sign)

This was James last tough workout of the XC season. He has the Foot Locker West race this weekend and then USATF Nationals next weekend.

My knee was ok for most of the day and actually felt good going upstairs again today. However, it acted up during the slow 400 jogs between repeats. It did not hurt at the faster paces. It seems to hurt more when we ran slower than about 8:00 pace. Overall I think it is getting better but it is obviously not healed enough yet to up the miles. I still need to proceed with caution for now. 

AM - 6 easy miles with Sasha this morning. Knee was ok for the most part except when we were under slower than about 8 min pace. I think when I run slower my forum changes and I brake more and thus the issue with the knee at slower paces. So still not where I want it to be but getting there as stairs are still good right now. I guess I am in a bit of a holding pattern training wise. We will see but I probably will not run tonight just to give it more healing time. I really want it to heal up this week!

Another easy 6 miles with Sasha in almost exactly the same time as yesterday. The knee felt better than it has for awhile so the 6 miles yesterday was a good call. So I will do the same today and only run the 6 miles. The plan is to get back on track by next week so this week is essentially a loss training wise anyway. Hopefully this will end my two week forced break. It is if I was tapering  the last two weeks just without a real race to run.

Easy 3 in CA. Rest knee and traveling.