Still coming back

80 miles in January with 18 total runs  (4.444 miles per run).

81 miles in February with 18 total runs (4.5 miles per run).

85 miles in March with 19 total runs (4.5 miles per run).

I'd say my knee is just about completely healed.   There's still a phantom twinge now and then but at this point I don't feel like there's much opportunity for reinjury.  

I've been relatively consistent so far this year, albeit at a reduced load.  I've struggled to find the motivation from day to day but I've still been able to keep myself going enough that I haven't completely lost all my fitness.

On the negative side, running hasn't been very pleasant.  My pace has been reduced but my heart rate is high.  I've had a ton of sinus issues and feel like I'm constantly running with a head cold to the point where I've questioned if maybe this is somehow post Covid related... or maybe I'm just getting older or maybe I'm just worn too thin from work, family, and life responsibilities and stress.

It's not all negative though.  For the last few months I haven't felt much of any improvement in terms of building endurance or fitness.  I've struggled though most of my miles and just felt overall out of shape.  The last couple weekends that's finally seemed to be changing.  

2 Saturday's ago I hit the track with my girls and did some short sprints.  Not a lot of mileage but way more intensity than I've been accustomed to for a while.  I followed that up with a 8 mile run on Sunday... legs were tired from the sprints but it felt good.  I finished up the weekend feeling fatigued and sore, but in a good way.  

Similar this weekend.  Hard treadmill run on Saturday, 6 miles, 1 mile at 9 mph, and then more 9 mph 1/2 and 1/4 mile.  It was faster than I've been running, and it was hard, but it hurt in a good way.  Followed that up with another 8 mile run... a little faster and a little easier than the previous weekend.

I think it's going to be a while before I start getting to sub 19 minute 5K fit but I'm finally feeling like maybe I'm at least starting down the path towards it, after pretty much jogging in place since last June.

The slow road back

 It's been over 5 months since I hurt my right knee moving furniture.  Still not sure what I even hurt exactly but it's been healing extremely slow.  

It's still not 100% but at this point it seems that I can more or less run without it bothering me.

The bad part is that I'm completely out of shape.  From the end of August when I hurt myself to the end of December, I ran a total of 165 miles.  The positive side was that I never truly quit and still got a couple short runs in a week as my body allowed.  

2023 has been better, I'm at almost 100 miles for the year, and last week I finally felt like I was making some progress, logging a total of 24 miles

I ended the week with a Sunday "long" run of 7 miles and was able to average a 7:27 pace for the run and actually felt pretty good.  Solid effort but not overly painful and I only had to force myself not to stop and walk a couple times.  

Still haven't totally found my motivation yet but hoping I can get my fitness up enough so that by spring I'm ready to nail it.

Still plugging along

 It has been a rough summer and frankly a rough 2022.  Just haven't had the consistency to maintain the level of fitness I would like.  I was either too busy or hurt or having breathing issues... definitely not what I had hoped for coming into the year but at this point I'm feeling more upbeat.

I've been dealing with breathing issues for months but I think I finally got those under control and with the use of an additional Advair inhaler will hopefully keep it under control.  

My other immediate struggle is with my right leg.  I royally strained something while moving furniture for my mother.  That was maybe 6 weeks ago at this point and it's still not at 100%.  At this point I'm not even exactly sure what the problem is... it's either Sciatica or some strained tendons or a strained hamstring or maybe all of the above.  The good news is that I never really felt anything pop or tear and it seems to be healing... just extremely slowly.  I'm able to run on it but it will then get stiff and tired and will bother me for the rest of the day.  

So for now, I'm just trying to get out there and get mileage in where I can.  Hopefully I can stay active enough so that when I eventually heal, I won't be starting from scratch.  

Burned down but not burned out

The last month has not been kind to my running.  I've battled through a 2 week bout of bronchitis that pretty much prevented me from running at all, I've overwhelmed with life obligations (family vacation, moving my mom, other household tasks) I've been exhausted, and I've been a bit burnt out.  Most of all, I just haven't felt good running.  I've had a weird tightness/pinched nerve feeling in my back and shoulders on and off dating back to March.  I'm not quite sure what is going on... not sure if it's something with my form or some kind of injury?  If it is an injury I don't think it's caused by running but has made running more unpleasant than it should be.  

All this has resulted in my running 12 times in the last month for a total of 37 miles.  Better than doing nothing I suppose.

Today I ran 5 miles at 8:20 pace and for this first time in a month I actually felt pretty good during the run.  The pace was easy, my cadence was good, and I didn't feel like I was suffering and forcing myself to take each step.  That's promising at least.

Definitely not in top fitness right now but I don't need to be.  I'm hoping that today was a sign that I'm getting back in the groove and will be able to build on this moving forward.

Monumental goals on the horizon

Just as I was starting to get fit, I seemed to have puttered out at the end of May.  

Travel for work and personal obligations led to multiple days off.  I was able to sprinkle in some runs here and there but the mileage is still down from where I'm normally at.  

It's June 1st and I'm going to use the turning calendar page to try to turn it around.  

Today I ran 8 miles at 6:58 pace.  Hard run on a hot and humid morning but I don't think I over did it.  

Then, this afternoon I signed up for the Monumental Marathon.  Plenty of time to but need to start building the long run back up.

Holding steady

Covid 19 acted like a hard reset on my training.  I feel really lucky to have zero lingering effects from my bout but my mileage has been down ever since.  

I've been hitting about 40 MPW since the end of March, been taking more days off, and have really been shirking on the long runs.  Not sure what it is but have not felt like running long runs which are normally my favorite and have limited them to 10-11 miles.  

On the other had, I have been running quite a bit faster.  I ran 10 miles at 7:06 average pace on Sunday (which felt relatively easy) and after an actual easy 7 on Monday at 7:55 pace I ran another 7 miles today at 6:47 pace...  first couple miles I was working kind of hard but once I settled in I started cruising and was able to cut it down the last 2 miles to 6:39 and 6:28 without straining too hard.

I feel like I'm gaining fitness again without overdoing it right now and I'm definitely way less fatigued with the reduced mileage which is good since I have a lot of other things going on besides running.  

My performances are starting to approach what I've hit at top fitness in the past so that's encouraging at least.  

I pretty much know what I need to do moving forward...  start working back in some longer runs and also run some shorter 3-4 mile tempo runs at a quicker pace (6:20-6:30).  Knowing is half the battle but executing is the other half.  I really prefer 7-8 miles at 6:50 pace vs 3-4 miles at 6:20 pace.  It just feels like more of an accomplishment.  I guess I need to get over myself.

TUESDAYS RUN > TODAYS RUN

 Tuesday I ran my 8 mile loop at an average 6:39 pace.  6:48, 6:42, 6:49, 6:41, 6:50, 6:31, 6:38, 6:20.

The weather was perfect and I felt really good.  I started strong and finished stronger.  It was the kind of breakthrough workout I had been hoping for and fairly close to being one of my fastest workouts ever (top 5 at least).

Today, after 2 fairly easy days, I did 5 miles at an average 6:49 pace.  6:51, 6:44, 6:55, 7:03, 6:30. 

the weather was hotter and more humid and I didn't feel very good.  My HR averaged 5 BPM higher (even though I went slower and shorter) and it was pretty much a struggle.

Don't know if it was the heat, fatigue, or maybe a TDAP vaccination I recently received or maybe it just wasn't my day.  

Still a good workout I suppose and I'll hopefully just build off it and hit it better next time.