Training Log Archive: Traut

My body is in a weird place... It has turned back to enough of a flow to find my power. I am noticing stronger eccentric strength in my quads and conversion to concentric. But I am still struggling a bit. My calves actually seem to be a limiting factor in many ways. My left quad also seems to be weak and not able to do what my right quad (the one recovering from injury), which is interesting because my right quad is still showing signs of irritation (so it is not all the way back) and I have done every bit of strengthening on my left leg during PT that I did on my right. It appears that even now, my right legs natural abilities surpass my left.

Today was a day of getting on the nordic track. I felt fine in the beginning, but my left knee started to not get the extension and contraction cycle that my right was- it then became agitated. This stopped me at 45:00. I actually felt alot more beat up afterword then I would have on a nordic track as well.

Just stretching, that was all there was time for.

Event: Cuyahoga Valley NP / Kendall Lake
 

So, it finally felt right to go for a run. I have 2 interesting events over the next weekend that will involve some climbing so I wanted to get back to the best climbs in Pittsburgh - the bluffs over the Monongahela river at Mt Washington. This would just be an introduction back to the hills I have loved spending summer mornings running up and down. Stretching out on Grandview after a run with the morning mist over the city is always worth any run.

I stuck to the climb of 18th street and McArdle roadway since they have the most even gradients. 18th street is my favorite climb on the bluff and is the first in almost all of my runs. These climbs are the best way I can prep for the Mt. Summit challenge down in Uniontown in 2 weeks (http://www.fayettestriders.org/mtsummit/). It is the only running ascent race in the area and this is actually the first year I will be doing it (I love ascents and you would think I would do this race every year we have been here- but there has always been a conflict). It is only 1200ft gain or so over 3.5 miles, so the climbs I did today are appropriate gradients. There are many other steeper climbs that I have worked into past runs, but I knew my claves weren't ready for that today. Those would help more with the Grassroots race (http://grradventureraces.com/ - TURFF) I am doing this weekend. An urban rogaine on foot or bike through Pittsburgh. My stair and steep climb runs are better for that.

Anyway, I felt good in the morning for the drive down to the city and enjoyed free parking on Grandview on Sunday (I used to just take the t in from the south hills and finish on grandview with a trip down the Mon. incline after stretching out (this avoided 1 downhill) - now I park above and start with a downhill). My pace was fine, but I didn't feel good at all on that first downhill (Arlington is my usual downhill). My knees were agitated and my calves tight. I couldn't get under 7:00 pace running downhill! The funny thing was my ascent up 18th street was at almost the same pace as my previous downhill and flat work (7:17 pace up). I felt much better going uphill. I pushed my heart-rate up to 174 at the top (not sure why HR went bogus after this point - clearly not correct going up McArdle)- I haven't done that in a while. I did rest there to get my heart-rate down out of paranoia that I wouldn't be able to use my strength to keep my knees out of punishment on the descent. I was actually fine though on the next descent down Arlington so things were getting much better.

I had thought my attack of McArdle would be better but I ran out of gas. The length and number of climbs seems to have been a good choice for today.

In looking at the segments on strava, I was surprised to see my 18th street climb was my fastest ever. That was a nice testament to my strength gain.

strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/48781087/overview

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_(Pit...)

Here are a couple of examples of older runs on these hills (before the knee exploded 3 years ago):

http://app.strava.com/runs/1007864#

http://app.strava.com/activities/1008950 (including the West end overlook for what I consider the most scenic run in Pittsburgh!)

Heart-rate data is really screwed up for first 5:00 or so again.. and cadence data is just ... weird... and very off.

I am still feeling very uncertain about things in my legs. It is a weird feeling because things are starting to turn upwards with my quads and my plyometric contraction. My calves are still in a very uncertain state and I want to make sure I don't push to far forward until everything is in line.

This is the reason I decided to take my bike over to a 2 mile loop which I would ride over and over again... not very much like me unless it is a specific intervak session. I am not ready for a specific interval session anytime soon... although that is what this ride was bound to turn into.

I wanted to be somewhere near the car at all times in case something went wrong. I did want to introduce some climb, but not anything steep that might bring out the angry demon in my right calf I met a few weeks ago on the spin bike. The 2 mile loop at Riverview was perfect. 1 mile down and one mile up a very relaxed gradient. I could work on getting the feel for my limited bike-handling skills on the downhill (which was more precarious then I thought due to some pretty badly eaten up pavement) and get used to moving uphill a little bit. I didn't plan on going over an hour or really pushing it at any point.

My right calf was almost exactly like the last ride, it started getting agitated early but did loosen up as I went. But, again, this was as both my calves were tightening the entire ride. I was getting good flexion and extension in my knees again, feeling some of my new strength as I could raise my knees well for my power stroke, but never felt very good- especially going uphill.

I did 5 laps and was fighting the last 400meters of the hill enough that I headed out on to rt. 19 for 10 minutes to finish up at 45. When I got back I decided to do 1 more lap which ended up being much better then the others. Not a great day by any means but solid effort over a very short distance. I will need to get some confidence back for some longer rides. I will probably have to start with soem easy longer rides and my claves need to simmer down....

strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/49161917

So exhausted at the end of the week I went to bed at 9:20 and slept 10 hours. Skipped PT. I did go over to North Park after work, but the voice in my head, who is usually right, kept saying that it wasn't a good day to run. My quads are in a better place, but I could feel that today would cause more damage. So I went home and took a rest day.

It was a nice afternoon after work (state testing finally done for the week). All day I could feel the same acidic fatigue in my calves and plantar fascia and I knew that running today would be a mistake similar to Tuesday (I still feel banged up from such a simple run), So I decided to get the bike out for the first time this year and spin around a bit. I didn't plan on going hard or going further then 15 or 20 miles and I did plan on going over to the dreaded 5-mile loop over at North Park to stay on gentle rolls and mostly falt surfaces.


The good: My knees and quads felt good. I was working strongly through the higher points of the rotation extension and flexion of my quads.

The bad: My calves were cramping and that is what kept me to 15 miles. I didn't drill by any means, but I also did get suckered into riding a bit harder then I planned to. The biggest worry is that my right calf, in the place where it blew up on the spin bike a few weeks ago ( and I haven't been on the bike since) got agitated early in the ride. I haven't felt that specific discomfort while running at all, but as soon as I worked up hill a bit on the bike it resurfaced. That has me concerned that something is damaged in that calf. The good news is that specific problem got better as the ride went on, although my calves as a whole got tighter and closer to cramping.


strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/48356544

Heart rate is off for first 5 minutes or so. Can probably move more of the level 4 stuff down to at least level 3.

Full stretching and work on heel walks, toe raises, and ankle circles.

Hopped on the nordic track for 45 minutes. Quads were really banged up after yesterdays run, but I was able to get some bend in my knees and some control and strength in that extension and following contraction.

Did decide to do the quad work I had put off yesterday. Full stretching work with wall squats and single leg drops

Exhausted... achy and exhausted after this run.

Haven't been getting enough sleep and on my feet all day at testing wasn't working well for me today. I could feel my plantar fascia all day and there it was in my run. The first four miles were a grind, feeling much harder then it should have to hold on to my form, but I got through. I felt like I wasn't going to be able to hold my form on the way back if I didn't rest a little at that point, so I did. Even slowing down and cruising downhill, I just couldn't find my form on the return and feeling more and more that my knees were not dissipating shock well- I stopped and walked the last 2 miles in.

All in all, my pace was find, just felt much harder then it should do to my lower legs. The potential is there, so I just need to get my sleep and take care of myself to find a little bit of consistency.

strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/48083538

really feeling tired and banged up. knees/quads really tender. Enough that I just decided to stay with stretching only and avoid intensity on those quads.

really feeling tired and banged up. knees/quads really tender. Enough that I just decided to stay with stretching only and avoid intensity on those quads.