As January ends I am encouraged by the second day running without any discomfort. I’m continuing my ibuprofen regimen, and I ran about 30 minutes at a steady pace, sslightly faster than yesterday. Didn’t want to push my limits. Also iced after run.
Running on the St. Augustine beach has always inspired me. The venue has no equal in my running experience. As I glide along the tightly packed sand, all my senses are engaged. The surf hums a soft tune. The air smells salty as it gently embraces my face. The wide, flat, endless expanse of the beach stretches endlessly in both directions. The blue sky and late afternoon sun complete the visual. The smooth, firm sand is easy on my legs. The 58* moist air is refreshing. I could run for miles and not encounter a single obsticle. I am rarely more immersed in the moment.
So today I had my first beach run. Given the anxiety I have been experiencing recently because of some core aches and pains, my goal today was to move for one hour. I had not run for six days because of these issues and the drive to Florida. I walked and jogged alternatively for the whole effort. I experienced no discomfort in my upper thigh, groin area or abdomen. I have been taking ibuprofen three times a day for the last two days and I plan on continuing for a few more days. This is intended to treat inflammation in the muscles that I believe is causing my problems. It is my hypothesis that the exercises, both leg and core, I have been doing for the last few months have exerted unsustainable stress on the muscles in the area of my recent (3 years ago) hernia surgery. I hope I am right. That is the current state of my training. Regular posts and stats resume tomorrow.
January 26th, 27th, 28th. Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Driving to Fla. and resting legs. Run on Beach Sunday. Will update.
Still on the rest plan waiting to see if discomfort in my abdominal, groin, upper thigh area is going to disappear or I’m stuck.
Posting now while enjoying a Goose Island IPA.
Just returned from a 45-minute run covering 3.5 miles in an invigorating, gentle rain, wearing my new Pussy Hat and listening to Jimmy Buffett. Somehow Jimmy puts it all in perspective.
This one captured my mood earlier today……………..
This song, the motto of my blog for the past year, reminds me of why I’m actually doing this and how lucky I am.
And then Jimmy brings it all back into Focus……………….
I’m thinking about a lot of different things today. So this is likely to be a rambling narrative and I’m not quite sure where it’s going to go. First I’m trying to decide as I sit here whether to run today or not. I have been having a nagging ache in my upper right leg. I ran some pretty serious workouts last week which I was very happy with. On Friday I went to the clubhouse with intention of beginning to do some core and weight training for the first time since my eye operation in December. I was also looking forward to swimming for the first time, putting my head in the chlorine pool after five weeks. Well I cut the weight room/ core activity short because I felt some soreness in my abdomen at the sight of my three-year-old hernia operation. I went into the pool to begin a light swimming event, but the soreness reappeared as I started to swim. I ended up sitting in the whirlpool feeling sorry for myself for about 20 minutes. So this mild but obvious pain in my abdomen along with this other leg pain has continued for the last three days. I do not know for sure that the two are connected, but it does seem ominous. Now, in the last three years I have on occasion previously had a similar situation where I had pain in the area of my hernia scar which has lasted a few days and the pain disappeared. I’m hoping that is what is happening right now. After the operation Dr. Davidow told me that occasionally you can get a pulled muscle in that area because it has obviously been compromised by being cut open. Even though it heals, it is still subject to weakness. None of this uncomfortable soreness or pain has ever expressed itself while I was actually running. I could clearly feel it doing core work and swimming on Friday. So I’m still trying to reconstruct what’s going on, hoping that the intensity of last week’s work caused the discomfort in this area and it will soon resolve itself. Of course my greatest fear is that the hernia has recurred. So as I construct this post I continue to wonder if I should get a short run in today before the Nor’easter attacks for the next two days, or should I simply let things settle down and take off two days. Added into the mix is the fact that I will probably lose two days of training as we drive to Florida on Friday and Saturday. All arrangements are in place here in Jackson and in Saint Augustine, and I am very excited about training in some good weather. All indications are my mind will settle on attempting a 30-minute moderate run as soon as I’m finished with this post.
On another note I was struck yesterday as I sat in the Tom’s River Bubble watching two or three thousand people gathered to compete for the New Jersey Group IV state relay championship. SO many people focused on engaging in healthy, intense, spirited, yet good-natured competition. All happening while millions of people were marching In protest in just about every city in America while a newly elected president was arguing about who had the biggest crowd. I can’t resolve in my brain which of these two phenomena are more significant. One seems to represent everything about being a person that is right and normal, the other is just unnerving. As it turns out the Hillsborough boys 4 x 800 meter relay won a very exciting race. That was the race I had come to watch. The race produced a wonderful sport’s story that will probably not get too much attention. The Hillsborough anchorman, Mitch Baron, anchored the same race last year. His team gave him a sizable lead going into the anchor leg last year. Unfortunately Mitch was caught and the team finished third. Mitch was devastated and believed he had let the team down. Today Mitch received the baton in third place and ran down the two runners ahead of him to bring his team home first and win the State Championship. What a great story of redemption! All this while millions of people marched around the world to display that they are unnerved. And I have a pain, and we are heading to Florida, and the Giants are out of the playoffs, and I need to go for run, and I need a beer.?? Slainte!
It felt good to be back on the road today with fresh legs. I covered the 4-mile loop at Metedeconk Lakes in 47:30 with a 9:23 second mile. The body felt genuinely good for the entire run. I focused on running relaxed, belly breathing, keeping my stride short and accelerating uphill. All that with 8 lbs of layers on the body. A positive effort!
Today was another chance to get out to the cinder track for a workout. Once again I spent an hour in motion. That included 800m warm-up with stretching and drills, and 800m cooldown. In between the heart of the workout was 3 miles with 12 x 30 second pick-ups, one every 400 meters. Each pick-up consists of between 75 and 100 strides. The three miles took 35 minutes and was pretty demanding on my body.
We then drove to Philadelphia to transfer our house plants for loving care while we visit Florida. We had a lovely dinner with Kristen and slept over at her very comfortable city house.
In the morning we drove to Atlantic City. The day was bitter cold and raw. So we spent the day inside. My body was pretty tired from the workout yesterday. It may have been the most strenuous workout I have done in a few months. So Tuesday consisted of two separate afternoon naps plus a visit to The Knife and Fork restaurant for Happy Hour appetizers. Then home to bed early; a truly restful day.
I-Mad = 0
Weight = #153
Sleep = 12 hours ! ?
Kind of let this day get away. Had a long, post-operation eye exam after we drove home from Atlantic City. Then pretty much punked out because of the rotten, raw weather.
TOMORROW! !!!
Lots of drills and running for 40 minutes in the pool today. Then 20 minute hot whirlpool. Happy to get in work with no impact on legs.
It was pretty shocking how the temperature was dropping every minute this afternoon as I begin my run. I misjudged the weather conditions. So, underdressed, this was my first actual cold winter workout. But the cinder track was perfect today . It was soft and absorbent like a modern day rubberized track . It took almost 30 minutes with jogging, one leg drills and stretching to feel warm. The final half-hour was really solid work, and I left the track feeling that I had gained something.
4.38 miles on the cinders with various pickups, 1 hour total with stops for one foot drills and stretching.
Miles. 1- 14:00. 2- 11:48 3- 10:42. 4-11:38. +4:27
I ran a 200m pick-up at 8:00 pace each lap in miles 2-3 & 4.
Icing and rolling after.
I-Mad = 0
a.m.HR = 55BPM
Weight = #155
Sleep 7 hours
Workout = above