Training Log Archive: Traut

Spent all morning helping family friends move their daughter out of her apartment in East Liberty. My knees were achy and moving furniture down the stairs from the third floor did not help. After letting Gail nap in the afternoon while I watched Claire I headed in to the Y for a short aqua-jog to try to loosen up before our reservations for our first date night in a while. Aqua-jog felt OK.

Wanted to try a run again. Broke out the new Salomon Speedcross shoes to break in. I have been experimenting alot with shoes over the past year- looking for the best shoes to help my form be at its most natural (once I have the strength to have a "natural" form. That is minimal when my calves are strong and non-minimal when they are not. I used to think trail shoes were a gimmick, but after some of the more technical trails and orienteering have actually ripped up my shoes, I have been searching for shoes built for rougher terrain and the improved traction does not hurt. The Speedcross fits the higher profile non-minimalist trail shoes. In general I liked them. They are light for a trainer and have great durability and grip. They are over-cushioned though. they have that running-on-a-pillow feel. My plantar fascia fatigued early on in them and my knees were much more irritable then last weekends runs. I would say that the shoes are probably a difficult to isolate in the chaos of my body right now. I will break them in more as I go.

All in all today was a mix. I did feel some form, but my knees did get irritated and were immensely banged up at night following the run. I had one really bad step where I landed and pushed off without my knees bent aggressively.

I was hoping that taking 3 days off before my next run would leave my quads ready to roll and they were not. Again, my form had its moments, but that seemed to come at too high a cost as my heart rate was much higher then it should have been at points in this run. I felt like my effort matched up with last weekends runs, but my heart rate was so high at the end of the green loop that I stopped to walk. According to Stava, I was at 171- that is ful on for me and my RPE matched up. It was not like that at all last weekend. My pace wasn't terrible, according to Strava my green loop was as fast as I ever have, but that isn't saying that I was working that hard at all. I have never done the green loop un-damaged.

When I stopped to walk, I stopped my watch by mistake. Missing last 1.5 miles of run.

strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/57386096

last 1.5 miles when had stopped watch. Stopped and walked when heartrate had really climbed again.

knees and quads extremely tight and a bit sore. Full stretching and heel raises, toe raise walks, and ankle rotations.

Had to leave work an hour early because Gail called worried about Claire. The babysitter had called saying that she had pulled a tick out of Claire's arm and the head was still in. With Gail's ForeRunner gone and us in the process of getting new car, I have been dropping off Claire and picking her up. So I ran down to pick them both up and go to the Dr. Only problem is Dr. Mike is on vacation, so we head to the childrens hospital North express clinic... they don't open until 5:00. It is near teh Y so I sneak over and aqua-jog and then we head back for the 5:00 start time.

Didn't feel great, but right knee was OK.

full stretching and wall squats and 1/4 one legged raised squats. Didn't have time for machine exercises at Y after aqua-jogging before having to get Claire to the Dr.Probably for the better to avoid the extra stress after knees were so irritated. They do feel better today.

full stretching and resistance band 4 way hip strengthening. day off from cardio to give knee an extra day since that spot on the knee-cap is still irritated. In s many ways I feel stronger then I ever have in my upper-legs, but I am incredibly frustrated to still be having knee issues 2.5 years after this injury and my right-calf/hamstring isn't healing (that was very present during my PT as well).

45 minute aqua-jog as planned. I will do the same on Thursday. I may not run again until the weekend. Right knee felt swollen all day at work (standing). I felt it during the aqua-jog, but it was not destructive. In fact the swollen feeling was present through my PT enough that I held off on the last set in almost everything I did. It was kept from doing any real damage though. I was able to back off before crossing any lines.

The swelling is there and I can feel it. That is the reality and the take-home point.

knee extensions, leg press, and hamstring curls at Y. Held off on final sets due to irritation to right knee. Did not do wall squats or one-legged quarter squats at home due to knee. Just stretching.

right calf still feels damaged as I am going through eccentric motions of quad exercises. I still feel like I am one turn out of the saddle on the bike from it exploding again. This has really kept me off the bike this spring, which is disappointing.

Oddly enough my right knee feels strong (but not my calf) when I am doing continuous cardio exercise, where my left knee feels vulnerable. Yet, in daily life I feel swelling and, this evening and through the night, a very concise irritation zone right on my right knee-cap.

Wouldn't necessarily run 2 days in a row to start, but I was in a new place and a second test coud be revealing.

http://www.stonewallresort.com/i/downloads/Trail_M... No GPS again. This time went from the lodge north to the northern trailhead of the Cairns trail and ran around to the Heveners orchard trail and down to the golf club and in to the lodge. Like yesterday it was slow and relaxed and I did have good stretches again where I felt my form and my core 'on top' of my hips. I found my arms often stiffening when I would 'spin' my legs. It will hopefully become natural to relax my upper body when I drive. My knees, especially my left, did feel more vulnerable, but they did hang in. This trail was not as nice and heading up to the Hevener's Orchard trail was very steep wood road... I did get my heart rate up much higher then yesterday.

All in all, a good run. Aqua-jog tomorrow and wait a few days to run again.

short PT session. all strength work, but 1/2 stretching. Not enough time. Knees are a bit tender.

Event: Hickory Hop: DVOA Hickory Run Mini Rogaine
 

I did not bring my GPS watch so I would not fall into any traps at all of analyzing my pace on my first run back. I wanted to focus on form and go as slow as needed t maintain it. I have been feeling more purpose in my muscles as I walk and aqua-jog so I was hopeful I would be able to feel my pace. I did feel it and that was good.

Here is trail-map to make up for no GPS: http://www.stonewallresort.com/i/downloads/Trail_M...

I started at the lodge and ran to the northern trailhead of the Hevener's Orchard trail and ran around to the south terminus and in to the lodge through the marina and pedestrian bridge across the water. The trail description said it was 3.5 miles of trail and approximately 5 mile loop. The 3.5 might be right, the 5 is way log for the road connections. I went with 4.6.

The trail was actually not to bad. A mix of woods and a few open grassy hillside areas. Nothing special, as this park could be described, but nice on a mist-over-the-lake dew-soaked morning. The 'attraction' of the trails are the stone 'Cairns' that are distributed throughout the hillsides. The origins or purpose of them is unknown. In researching the park ahead of time I saw a picture of them that appeared no different then the old stone walls that separated farmland years before the Ramapos were reforested back in NY. Not very mysterious for us hiking through the area growing up unless you count the mystery of whether or not a rattler of copperhead was hiding under the loose rock...

The best display of the Cairns was on this trail today and I was pleasantly surprised in that the position and continuity of the Cairns was more interesting then just property markings. the placement was along cliffs in a manor of alost fortifications.

I felt pretty good at the start on the roads and probably went a little to aggressively, but not to badly. I eased off on the trail as I climbed. I encountered a problem on the first bench the trail followed. I was feeling a pretty aggressive irritation behind my right knee. Was this my tight calf playing a tug war with my hamstring? later on in the day, my hamstring was very tight. Anyway, it did loosen up after a bit but it was bad enough that I thought I might have to stop and did for a minute or two to get a handle on it.

My quads felt pretty good up unti the last little bit near the pedestrian bridge and I just stopped and walked it in from there. The best thing about the run was that from about 1/2 way through I had several stretches where I felt my core get 'on top' of my hips and my legs ran free (I could 'spin' them and drive with them independent of 'forcing' with my hips). The downside was that I felt no power in that stride- which I am sure had a lot to do with my calf/ hamstring.

Later on put Claire in the "baby backpack" for the first time and took an hour hike on the Autumn Laurel Brooke Trail and the Chipmunk Point trail.