Training 8/14 - 8/27

A training fortnight!

Onto the numbers...

8/14, Sunday: 9 - 1:16:22, Bradbury Mountain Breaker. Still not really sure how or why I had such a solid result.

8/15, Monday: 5 - 41:35, Highland Green. A little tight and a touch of fatigue after the race, but not sore at all, which is even more baffling. Good to feel a bit tired after a hard effort. Hadn't had that feeling in weeks...months?

8/16, Tuesday: 7.75 - 1:35 running time, Beast Run. Drink a beer, run a mile lap in the trails. Suffice to say, mistakes were made, but a good time was had by all. Thankfully, I was given a ride home. Unfortunately, I rolled my left ankle quite hard only 2 miles into the run. Would've been ideal to ice it afterwards...

8/17, Wednesday: Off...off from life...

8/18, Thursday: 3 - 23:31, Patriot Commons. Flat, road run to test the ankle. It didn't feel that great. Booooorrrrrinng loop.

8/19, Friday: 5 - 38:30, Patriot Commons x2 (Canam Variation). Ankle felt good enough to push it to 5 miles, but not good enough to do something other than another boring, flat, easy road run.

8/20, Saturday: 5 - 39:00, Patriot Commons x2 (Canam Variation). No real/addition pain in the ankle, but left shin was extremely tight/painful from compensating. Some pain in my foot as well. Conscious of it with every step, which only added to the mental torture.

Totals:
Miles: 34.75
Trail: 16.75
Road: 18

Not the mileage I had hoped for, but I'm playing it safe with the ankle/don't have a choice. More curtailing due to injury. I'd be mad if I didn't half expect it at this point, or I had rolled it at the end of the Beast Run, read while...well...drunk. Rolling it early was no different than rolling it on your standard trail run.

8/21, Sunday: Off. Planned to get in a run today, but my shin was fairly painful and randomly spasming all afternoon. Sam and I met D at The Brad while she was doing her long run. I hiked about 2 miles with Sam in the backpack, which must have aggravated it.

8/22, Monday: 9 - 1:09:38, Bowdoin Fields. Surmising that the increase in road runs was exacerbating the pain in my shin, I hoped that the relatively smooth treadway of the trails around Pickard Field would be a viable running option. Turned out to be a very good decision. Got in 9 miles at a reasonably quick pace (7:42/mile) without any shin or ankle pain. Each full lap is about 1.1 miles, and I was able to be creative with switching directions in various locations to keep from getting bored.

8/23, Tuesday: 5 - 37:58, Treamill. "GASP!" On Monday night, I drove down to New Jersey to visit my sister who is recovering from hip surgery. Trapped in the urban jungle, the treadmill in her apartment complex was the best option. I didn't want to risk my ankle on the sidewalks—to great a potential for odd changes of direction from cars and/or pedestrians. Treadmills are evil, but the run was a great way to get the previous day's 6-hour car ride out of my legs.

8/24, Wednesday: 7.5 - 1:28:50, Treadmill - Mt. Washington simulation. Since I don't normally have/want access to a treadmill, I figure I might as well up the torture quotient. Really, I knew that a strength workout would be the best thing I could do, and the treadmill was a safe place to do it without risking the ankle. I was a bit nervous how the constant incline would affect it. Admittedly, it was a touch sore by the end, but not a concern during the run. In any event, I set the incline at 11.5% and pace at 12 minutes from the start and the first hour (when the timer ran out on the treadmill...annoying) was easy. Upon the restart, I felt totally thrown off for the next couple minutes, but soon settled back into my groove. I cranked the pace up to around 11:30 for the final 2.5 miles and could really feel it by the end. Good workout. Although, I was worried my sweat might short out the treadmill...so gross. Clearly, running Mt. Washington on a treadmill isn't nearly as difficult as actually running the mountain, as I was well under my PR, but this reasonable facsimile was a great workout. Plus, knowing the road so well, I could really envision my location as I watched the miles tick by on the treadmill's read out. Just before 4 miles I thought, "Finally, I'm above treeline." And, really, running the road on a treadmill is akin to running the road below treeline: it all looks the same.

8/25, Thursday: 5 - 37:42, Treadmill. Easy recovery run on the treadmill, even though I pushed the pace at the end to get it over with. Legs were neither sore nor tired from the previous day. Luckily, I borrowed my sister's iPod all three days, otherwise it would have been impossible. Hopefully, on my next visit, I'll be able to get out on the roads.

8/26, Friday: 18 - 2:40:45, Bowdoin Fields, Brunswick Town Commons and Simpson's Point. I never fell good about my training unless I'm getting a long run in, and based on Monday's success and healing of the ankle, I hoped that a mish-mash route on flat, level terrain would work. Turns out, it did work. Started out with a lap around the fields, then headed out through the Commons onto the roads to the ocean at Simpson's Point. I kept the pace easy and stuck to the softer shoulders on the roads where I could. All in all, the run went well, although it's clear I haven't been running much—no spring in the legs, which is similar to how I felt during the Breaker. Set up an "aid-station" at my car, which worked well. I could feel my ankle the whole way, but it never worsened. My shin was never an issue. Not the type of miles I'd like to be doing (read: flat and easy), but better than no miles. Hopefully, I can get some real trails into my long run next week.

8/27, Saturday: 5 - 43:07, Highland Green. Easy plod around the familiar loop. Hamstrings/calves were very tight from the previous day, and I was low on energy. Neither were a surprise. Solid, smart recovery run.

Total: 49.5
Trail: 27
Road: 22

The total for this week was probably a bit more than I should have done, but I'm not known for my solid decision making. My ankle is still an issue—icing daily. I've hit a few small rocks/roots on a couple runs, and I can tell that a bad roll would do some serious damage. Trying to avoid that, while continuing to train is tricky. It will heal, but not if I roll it again. I'm very wary of it on all my runs. It sure would be nice to run some hills and real trails again.