Week of 9/5/2011 and 9/12/2011

I've been a bit busy and haven't had a chance to post the last two weeks. Unfortunately, they were pretty terrible, until this past weekend. I was struggling a lot with my back and hip pain, which appeared to have been an alignment problem in my SI joint. I saw a chiropractor this past Friday and since then have been feeling great. I did my first (pretty slow and easy) workout on Saturday and then had a solid long run on Sunday. I've been feeling good since then, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm on the other side of this injury.

Now, I just need to get my legs back under me and get used to running fast with the boys again. Our team's first race was this past weekend and we had an amazing showing, putting 4 guys in the top 10 against some good schools, with 5 guys between 25'05 and 25'45. I can't wait to get in there with them. It's a pretty special year.

Anyways, I'll be using this week to build and get used to some lighter workouts and strides and then hopefully be back in the mix as normal with the varsity guys by next week. Ethan has the top 10 or 12 sitting out Codfish at Franklin Park this weekend, so my first race won't be until Open New Englands at Franklin Park on October 8. I feel like this gives me plenty of time to get back in the saddle. Still 8 weeks to Nationals.

Lunes, 5 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Slept for a long time last night, woke up naturally around 7:30am. Did core around 8am for 25’00.

11am: Had height/weight this morning for NCAA. Still below the BMI cutoff despite pounding water this morning (119lb, 5’8”), which is surprising because this is actually heavier than I usually am… Anyways, took morning off and did a bit more core with some of the team before lunch.

4:30pm – 5M easy shakeout on fields, barefoot. Back/ right hip still not perfect.

Martes, 6 Septiembre, 2011 – 7:30am: Non-optional day-off from Ethan. Got up early and biked over to Gantcher and did a bit of XT on the stationary bike 50’00 on the “hills” setting. Pretty good effort. Didn’t bother the back/hip at all. Better this morning.

3:30pm – Mandatory day-off. Just core with the guys, lots of stretching, rolling.

Miercoles, 7 Septiembre, 2011 – AM: Rest

3pm: Ran about 2M on treadmill and then around gantch. Back/hip still sore but getting better. 80 minutes on elliptical after at moderate intensity.

Jueves, 8 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Back better this morning, 25’ core session.

3pm: Team core. Lots of planks. Fun.

3:30pm. Ran outside towards the river with Matt and Kyle. Got dropped after about a mile. No limping, but still pretty painful. Slow, but longer than I thought once mapped, so not as bad as I thought. Total 7M in 50’40. After, lots of rolling/stretching and about 10’00 cooldown on bike.

Viernes, 9 Septiembre, 2011 – 10:30am – Ran down to Alumni fields and ran around the perimeter. Felt pretty stiff at first but had a really good moment about 25’ in when my body seemed to just “remember” how to run. Form felt a lot more smooth and felt like I was running, not jogging, for the first time in a while. Felt good. Ran to Gantch, back to Chet to grab my ID and then to Dewick. Total ~40’00 for 5M+.

3pm: Ran 30’00 solo before meeting up with the dudes. Ran another 30’00 or so with them as they warmed up for Kenyan run. Felt pretty sore at the end.

8pm: 25’00 of core. Felt good.

Sabado, 10 Septiembre, 2011 – 9am: Back a bit sore this morning. Biked to Gantcher and then did 60’00 on elliptical. Pretty boring, but good effort.

10:30am: A bit of core on the grass with the guys while watching the women’s time trial.

3pm: Ran solo from Chetwynd to Long Lakes. Felt decent. First 2M in about 13’30 and then ran progressive once at long lakes. Started around 6’45 and went down to about 6’00 pace by end. Pretty good effort. 3M pretty slow after at about 7’00 pace back to campus and on grass to get to 10M++ in 70’02 (5M of LL in ~32’30).

Domingo, 11 Septiembre, 2011 – 10am: Woke up around 7am, had a bit of breakfast (2 bananas with manjar and a plum), took some advil and did work until heading over to Baronian. Longish run with the guys. Ran with Matt, Luke, Sam, Connor, and some freshmen to the river. Much better long run than last week. Started out very slow (7’30+ pace) and then brought it down to probably about 6’40 pace on the river. Stride felt pretty smooth for about an hour. Back started to bug me a lot at that point and I slowed down a bit, but not too bad. Total run 1’39’04 for 14M+ (7’00 pace).

7pm: Core, 25’00 session.

Weekly Total: 51 Miles in 8 runs

Lunes, 12 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: A bit stiff this morning, but still better. Biked over to Gantcher and did 35’00 on the elliptical. Moderate effort. Bike back.

12pm: Easy run from Chet down to alumni fields and around 4 big laps on grass and back (5.25M). Felt good. Total 39’00 (7’26 pace).

3pm: Easy run with Luke, Sam, Scott, and Ben on slut bias. Felt good, a bit stiff at end, but better still improving day to day. Very slow, easy pace. Total 67’05 for 9M (7’27 avg).

8pm: Core session 25’00.

Martes, 13 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Woke up feeling good. Did light core because planning to workout this afternoon ~15’00.

10:30am: 30’00 on elliptical. Felt good. Back/hip felt very good afterwards.

3pm: Really bad afternoon. Felt really stiff/awkward. Jogged to Gantcher and then over to fields on rt 16 to watch workout, but was in a lot of pain. Very frustrating. Walked back to Chet and then biked back to Gantcher. Stretched and rolled a bunch there.

8pm: Felt a bit better, jogged over to Gantch and a big lap of Alumni fields and then met up with Liam to do some aqua jogging. In the pool for about 30’00. Last 5’00 pretty hard. Better than nothing, but not where I want to be…

Miercoles, 14 Septiembre, 2011 – 12pm: Went and saw the trainer. Did about an hour worth of supervised stretching and PT exercises, focusing on hips and low back.

3pm: Ran out towards fells with big group. Felt fine until got into the fells where uneven ground really bugged my SI. Turned around and came back and tacked some on around roads. After, did 50’00 on stationary bike pretty hard. Total about 95’00 with about 6M run.

Jueves, 15 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Back/hip exercises. 3 sets of 15 bridges, side leg lifts, clam shells, and stretching.

10:30am – 5M+ easy around campus in ~40’00. Felt pretty decent.

2:30pm – Back PT exercises with resistance bands/weights.

3pm: team abs, about 10’00, not too hard.

3:30pm – ran with Murner out to ex-harvard and back with an extra loop around campus. Felt quite good. No limping/hitch. Total 53’14 for 7M++.

4:45pm – After run, stationary biked for 30’00 to get total time up to 80’00 for the afternoon and 2’00 for the day. Pretty good effort.

Viernes, 16 Septiembre, 2011 – 7:30am – Back PT exercises at home.

8am: 6M- easy in 41’45. First morning trying to run without advil pre-run. Pretty stiff and slow.

10:30am: Appointment with Dr. Tim at Tufts. Got some massage/loosening and then chiro adjustment of the SI/hip. Felt immediate relief! Much better walking around.

2:30pm: 40’00 on stationary bike, good intensity, before heading out to run.

3:15pm: Ran on C-Loop with Matt and Ben and then on the fields with Ben and Jerzy. Felt pretty good. No limp until last lap or so on the grass, so stopped there. Total 41’32 for 6M.

Sabado, 17 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Back PT exercises at home.

8:30am: 6M very easy on Alumni fields in 45’05. Second morning of running without advil before the run. Pretty stiff, but no limping.

1:30pm: At Bowdoin for Bowdoin Invitational 8k. 3M+ warm up, a couple drills, strides, and then work out. Ran with Jerzy and Brosh on the course for 8km of fartlek. Pattern was 3 sets of 3-2-1 on with half rest and 2’00 rest between sets. Felt really good! Strides felt smooth. Running felt smooth. No hitch at all. Felt a bit awkward to be running fast again, but hopefully that’s just because I haven’t run fast in a while. Still, feeling cautiously optimistic. Total including rest was 8km in ~29’30. After, did about 30’00 cooldown barefoot on grass to watch the girls race and then on the super nice turf field! Really good day – team killed it out there, with Matty taking the overall. Great day. Total 11M++ for the afternoon.

8:30pm – Back PT exercises at home

Domingo, 18 Septiembre, 2011 – 8am: Back PT exercises at home.

8:30am: 25’ of core with plank/side plank at end.

10am: Long run from Baronian with a big group out to Jamaica Pond. Another really great run! First 12M or so were very easy with group. I stuck in the pack mostly because I didn’t know where we were going. Nice run, though, with a good portion on packed dirt trails on the way back to the river. Once we got to the river, I picked it up and ran hard-long-run effort for the last 4M+. I felt very good – smooth and relaxed. Felt more like I felt in mid-August than I have in a long time. Ran the last 5km back to campus in 17’47 (5’43 pace) feeling smooth. Total run 1’49’12 for 16M (6’35 pace). Not bad given that we were running over 7’00 pace for probably 10M. Very good run and good day!

7pm: Back PT at home.

Weekly Total: 83 Miles in 11 runs