14K and other stuff

What I've been up to:

Wednesday: elliptical 45 min.

Thursday: 8K on the indoor track at the U at approximately 6:30-6:40/km pace. Forgot my Garmin and had a few other mishaps so not 100% sure of my time.

Friday: elliptical 45 min plus lots of walking around campus. Got almost 25,000 steps.

Today: 14K. Took Sugar with me and had a great time, though I was slowish. To be fair, I did a fairly hilly first 8km, and my legs were a bit tired from the 25000 steps yesterday, so I think it's all good. I'm just happy to have gotten it done. If I recover well, speed will come later, when I get more fit and can do speed work. For now to finish and to feel good w/o excessive fatigue is a good goal.

I beat the rain :). It was clear and upper 40s F (9C) with 10mph (16kph) breeze, and quite pleasant for a spring morning.

1:35:02 for 6:47/km. 

Canyonlands 5-miler; feeling better

I've been feeling better since mid-February or so, which is great. I've been trying to get more sleep, but other than that I'm not sure what the difference is. It seems kind of random, as it has for the past 4 years, so I guess I'm just happy to be feeling better.

On Saturday (the 18th) I did the Canyonlands 5-miler. I was originally registered for the half marathon, but after the 2 weeks of fatigue in January I had to drop to the 5-miler. I was a bit bummed about that, but glad I could at least still do something. Calvin was slated for the 5-miler as was my friend Diane, so that worked well; plus, the weather was crazy warm on Saturday and the people doing the half really suffered at the end, so I guess it all worked out for the best.

I have actually been able to ramp up my long day just a little the past few weeks, from 8km to 10km, and so I decided to do 12km on race day. I did 2km out and back before the race started, and had the whole road to myself, which was absolutely stunning (at left). I got back just about 1min before the gun went off (perfect timing!) and then did the 8km of the race. My total time worked out to 6:36/km for the 12km, which was great considering how out of shape I am and also the hills and the warmth of the day, which I'm not used to yet.

Calvin and Diane had very good races and placed well in their age groups, I got Loren a couple beers at the finish line beer garden, and Grace enjoyed playing on the playground in the park, so we all had a great time. Plus add in some great food, swimming/hot tub at the hotel, and some amazing hikes (Saturday: Tower Arch; Sunday: Delicate Arch) and it was a great weekend. The only downer was the crazy 4WD road in Arches that totally tore up our car (eeek!); it was designed for high clearance vehicles but there was no sign advertising this and so we were in over our heads in our Rav4. Fortunately Loren was quite skillful so we didn't get stuck or roll the car (both very real possibilities on this crazy road) and the only damage was to our muffler. We got it fixed today for $182 so that could've been a lot worse.

More pics:

Delicate Arch

Pasta Jay's (Calvin's fave!)

***

Monday I did some elliptical to let my body recover.

Today I went out for a gentle 6K and my legs were still a little sore from the hiking, etc. so I wasn't surprised to be a bit slow at 6:48/km. But it felt fine and I plan on 8K on Thursday and 14K on Saturday. Fingers crossed to keep feeling good as I have a race registration for the Salt Lake Half in April and I can do it if things keep going all right.

Off to bed - I have been finding that extra sleep is very helpful with the fatigue thing.

follow-up since St. George trip

After I got back from St. George, which was SO restful, it took about 2-3 days for me to totally crash and burn. The fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks, and I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't overload my schedule when I returned, so...? Thankfully it was only bad for about a week, and I think maybe now I'm starting to feel better?

I've done a lot of elliptical lately, since I bought a used one for my house :), and the weather has been cold and nasty with a lot of snow. Plus I'm trying to take it easy on my body, with the fatigue and all.

So....the upshot is that today was the first day I racewalked since going to St. George, and it felt like it :(. I did 5K in 33:15, with some rolling hills (~20m), which isn't bad, but I was breathing SO hard, and my HR was up in the 160s. Sigh...all fitness gone. But at least I got to walk.

In other news, I went back to my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, after not going for 8 months. Yup, it was ugly. I had gained 15lb and am up to 174.0. Dang it. Well, what can I expect? I'm a recovering food addict and I have got to stay on track. So I'm back, and have work to do. I reset my goal weight to 160lb because I'm not walking competitively right now and that's a more realistic # given my fatigue. Back on the wagon - and I'm feeling great about tracking and monitoring food intake again :).

elliptical; 8K

I feel great. This weekend away has been very rejuvenating. I'm sure by the time I'm back home for a couple days I'll be tired again, but for now, it's good. I have to address that tired at home part - have been discussing strategies with Loren so that I don't get so worn out. I'm not good at asking for help, and that's a goal for the next month or two so that I can get through the daily routine more easily.

Exercise-wise, I did the elliptical yesterday for an hour, and otherwise relaxed, read a LOT of books (I think I've read 6 books this weekend!), watched football with Loren, and colored in the adult coloring book my sister-in-law got me for Christmas.

Today, I did 8km. My shins were sore (very sore! haha!) from the 10km on Saturday, but I knew it would still feel good to get out. Obviously I haven't been walking enough (though in part the shin soreness was from the hills). The rest of me was a bit sore too - core, mostly, but even my arms were a little sore. Geez. On the plus side, it tells you what a great total-body workout racewalking is. As for the 8km, it went quite well. I picked a much flatter route through neighborhoods, which wasn't as interesting as yesterday's route but was gently rolling, a lot like my typical workout at home. Still, it is very pretty here with the red rock and snowy mountains behind it, so it's not like it was boring. My legs (except shins haha!) felt good for about 6km and then were a bit tired the last 2km, but not too bad.

I'm enjoying the thaw-out from the cold and inversion (bad air) in Salt Lake. It was chilly for St. George this morning at 33F (1C) but the high temp predicted for Salt Lake is 30 today, so obviously I'm liking the weather here. I wasn't cold at all with long-sleeve, tights, and gloves, and the gorgeous sun felt amazing. In fact, I took off the gloves near the end of the workout; I'm sure it warmed up some while I was out.

My speed was about what you'd expect right now at 6:45/km. I'll take it. Average HR was 141. Here's the fitbit data. I forgot my Garmin, remember? :)

attempting to get back in action

It's been a month (!) since I've posted, but I really have been trying to get back in action. That was only slightly derailed by holiday company and planning, as I got exercise pretty much daily, whether 5-6km racewalking, or 30-45 min elliptical, or cross-country skiing (yay! fun!).

More problematic was the first week of January, when I 1) got a severe stomach flu, and 2) 2 days later had my tooth implant installed (previously scheduled). That did set me back a bit. But last week I felt like I was able to ease back into things, and better yet, I'm now in St. George for the weekend for some MUCH needed R&R with Loren and without the kids (left our housemate Kenzie to watch house and dogs, and my parents are watching the kids). It's excellent. I think we are going to have to do this more often. Not that I don't love my kids, but they are a lot of work, and every mom needs a break sometimes.

So yesterday I did an hour (! the luxury! to have an hour!) on the elliptical and then this morning I decided that since that had felt pretty good I'd try 10km racewalking. The 10km went pretty well, though I tracked it in two separate instances on my Fitbit because 1) I forgot my Garmin (grrr!) and 2) I misread the Fitbit and thought I was at 10km when really I'd just taken 10000 steps on my walk, which was 9.16km. So then I had to do an extra 0.84km to get the 10km, but I was motivated. I really wanted that 10km under my belt.

Keep in mind that it was VERY hilly (there's nowhere flat that's convenient here), and that I'm *very* out of shape and about 15 lb over racing weight. Therefore, I was super slow. But it's something, and I'm out there again.

Total time was 1:03:20 + 6:15 for 1:09:35 (6:58/km). Wow, that's so slow. ***MUST NOT GET DEPRESSED*** yelling to myself. ***YOU GOT OUT THERE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS***. [end of rant]. My average HR was pretty low - the first 9.16km it was 134 according to my Fitbit, but that HR monitor is NOT as accurate as my Garmin chest strap, and that seems low for how I felt.

My legs felt good for 7km, then quite tired the last 3km, which is totally reasonable for how little I've RW lately. My left foot was a bit sore at the end of the walk, on the lateral side. Will keep an eye on that.

Here's a photo. I really did enjoy myself :). And the weather is SO much better here than in Salt Lake! It was 45F (7.2C) and overcast with an occasional slight drizzle, but that is really nice in my book --- my last walk in SLC was so icy that I was terrified. It's been as cold as 2F (-17C) at our house, so 45 feels delightful.

long break

I have had a long break from training, and from a lot more. From the end of July through the beginning of November, I pretty much felt lousy. Dizzy/off-balance, very fatigued, caught at least 4-5 colds/other viruses, and just felt rotten. Went to my family doc, who checked everything and found the same neuropathy I'd had 3 yrs ago when my B12 was low. She referred me to neurology, and when I finally saw them in November, they did an EMG which was totally normal. I still have some neuropathy type symptoms, but they are mild and nothing to worry about apparently. Soooo....still no idea what's wrong. My best guess is chronic fatigue of some type plus stress and viral illness = sick Tammy. I've been feeling pretty good for a few weeks now, though this week I've noticed the fatigue and dizziness a little. Still, I want to racewalk more, so I am cautiously adding in stuff.

Yesterday I did 6K at 6:35/km, which is pretty fast for me lately. Most of my workouts that I've been able to do have been more like 6:45-7:00/km, so 6:35 was good. So today I decided to do a 3K fartlek, even though I know I've been a bit "off" this week. I still want to try and get back to racewalking...carefully. I had to work out at the indoor track because outside there was a light dusting of snow on the track and it was slick. The indoor track is nice & warm anyway :) and it's dark out so late now, so indoor is kinda nice.

I did 5 laps to warm up, with some strides on the last lap. It felt surprisingly OK to walk fast on that last lap. I did some dynamic stretching and then started in on the fartlek. I felt pretty good for 5 laps (2 fast, 2 med, 1 fast) but then the 1 fast, 2 med, 2 fast to end were tougher. My medium effort laps were slow because I'm out of shape, but not as slow as I feared. My fast laps weren't as slow as I thought they'd be either. However, I was ***really*** out of breath and very tired at the end. But hey, I made it, and I was much faster than I expected.

My times (2 laps, 585m) were 3:25.9, 3:49.1, 3:30.6, 3:51.0, and 3:30.1 --- corrected to 500m that is 2:56, 3:16, 3:00, 3:17, 3:00. Total time 18:07, corrected to 18:34 for a full 3K (this was 2926m). That's not so awful. OK, yeah, slow...but of course! I haven't been training. But it's not deathly slow.

3K fartlek data here. 

***

I have gained about 10 lb too, from the recent problems. It's hard to keep weight off when you're chronically overtired and not exercising as much as you are used to. I am trying to take it back off now that I'm feeling better, but it's a slow process. Baby steps.

Still not feeling good

I did another 6K today, alternating walk/RW 500m each. I still felt tired, dizzy, and fatigued with heavy legs.

I'm wondering if it's the mystery illness again? My resting HR is running a little higher the last few weeks, maybe 53-55 instead of ~50. But that seems inconsequential?

The fatigue is pretty impressive. I fell asleep at a kids' birthday party on Saturday afternoon - while the kids were noisily playing Bingo.

Nothing I can do except wait it out, and do as much exercise as I can tolerate, for mental health if for nothing else.

Garmin data here. 

doing what I can

Wednesday: 30 min elliptical wore me out. 

Thursday: went to the track, did 1 mile with strides in a ridiculously slow 10:45, felt lousy (weak, dizzy, fatigued, heavy legs) and went home sad :(. 

Friday & Saturday: rested from exercise (still went to work, cared for kids, house, etc). 

Today: I'm still kinda weak and dizzy with heavy legs, but going stir crazy. Went out and did 6K alternating 500m walk/RW and it felt OK (only 5K on Garmin, long story). Still dizzy, and tired at the end, but it was a gorgeous morning 62F and sunny and I enjoyed it a lot. The dogs did too :). They've been a bit crazy not exercising (no one else takes them out!). 

Someday I'll feel better. Until then, trying to keep my spirits up, eat right (!have gained so much weight! UGH!) and get exercise as I'm able. 

8K

I managed 8K today with Kelly (she was running, and I was RW). I thought I'd feel much better today, but it felt a lot like yesterday. Slow and ugly. I wanted to do 10K, but when I was feeling really lousy at 4K, Kelly and I turned around (she felt crappy too!) and we made it to 8K, which we were really proud of. Sad...but can't change it so have to start where I am.

8K at 6:46/km; ave HR 152. 

Hopefully after x-training tomorrow I'll be good for a short track workout on Thursday. Even if I don't feel good, I'll do it, unless I feel terrible, obviously. Got to push myself a little out of my comfort zone.

My hamstring was fine :) in some good news :).

still alive... 6K

Yes, I'm still alive. It's been interesting. Not at all the way I wanted to start training, but life happens and you have to roll with the punches.

So I was very sick for about a week because of a tooth, which cracked in half and had to be pulled. Thankful for modern dentistry! I will be getting an implant later, but for now... yeah... I'm missing it. The before pic at top shows the crack - all the way through the tooth (1st molar, on right of photo). The after pic is the meth-head look ;). Sigh...

Then, three days after my tooth was removed, and on my second day back at work after missing three days (I was really, really sick...antibiotics are helping), my daughter broke her arm (radius, distal) AND leg (tibia) roller skating. Both are non-displaced fractures so she won't need surgery, but she cannot go to summer camp and cannot be left alone because she can't get herself around the house. She's wheelchair bound but can't get to the bathroom alone. At least now she can get to the toilet from the wheelchair and back to wheelchair; initially she couldn't even do that much and we had to lift her onto the toilet...oh yay. Plus I've had to sleep with her in the guest room because she can't go up the stairs to her room, and she can't get anything she needs in the middle of the night (pain meds, ice, bathroom, etc.). Sleep is a loose term, since I get about 2-3 hr at most before she needs something. Hopefully that will improve as she continues to have less and less pain. I expect she won't need me at night after a few more days. I hope.

I felt good enough myself to try the elliptical on Saturday, despite residual dizziness and fatigue, and I did 45 min without too much trouble. I rested Sunday and then racewalked today. I was surprised how poorly I felt today racewalking, but it went all right considering. I was really tired and still pretty dizzy, which made me glad I didn't try to RW on Saturday. I was slow, but otherwise not too bad, and my hamstring felt decent. And I did make it 6K in a pretty slow 6:45/km. But I'm trying to focus on the positive - I got out there and walked, and it was all right. Hopefully tomorrow I can do 8-10km at a better pace. Maybe I'll sleep better tonight which will help?

Garmin data here. 

Still 3 months until the 30K. I hope I can do it.

6K + 5x200

This morning I did 6K plus 5x200. Took the dogs for the 6K and the first 200 and then tied them to a tree while I did the remaining 4. They are just NOT into speed work (more on that later).

The 6K felt fine, with my legs feeling a bit fresher than they did yesterday, which isn't surprising considering my activities on Monday (hiking & 10K race!). I did it at 6:32/km with ave HR 145.

Then I started on the 200s. It makes sense to take the dogs with me on the first 200m since then I go back and forth on the street and end up where I tie them up. However, they (especially Powder) really don't like to go fast, especially after 6km. I ended up half dragging Powder down the street - it must have been funny to watch - and only did 1:07 on the first 200m. The others were faster, and I did all 5 in 5:26. I have to get my fast twitch muscles back in gear, because that's pretty sad! But I'm OK with it. It was nice to be out this morning; a bit warm at 23-24C (73-75F) but dry and calm and clear.

My hamstring bothered me a bit at the end of the 6K and especially on the last 50m of each 200. It was all right at work despite some prolonged sitting at the confocal microscope, so I'm not too worried, just noting it. I'm happy that it's continued to improve.

I'm baaaaack!

Well, after a relaxing vacation and then a 3-day weekend last weekend (including a 10K race that I was ill-prepared for but did anyway (1:03:35....ugh! But what did I expect?)), I feel ready to train again. I wasn't sure I would, but I really do want to do it. My hamstring is MUCH better - 95% of normal I'd guess - and I want to refocus. I'm thinking of doing the national 30K in NY on November 6, and that seems like a reasonable goal, as it's 15 weeks away and though I'm out of shape I've been walking enough that we can ramp up fairly quickly, assuming I continue to feel well.

Speaking of that, I have been a bit fatigued the past week (since returning from vacation) which seems pretty normal, but it seems to be a bit more than I'd expect. Plus I have a nagging toothache, and I got the tooth checked out by the dentist and it's FINE (he's checked twice, including x-rays). It occurred to me this morning that maybe I have some sinusitis going on (!) and that is causing the pain and fatigue. So I made a doctor's appointment for Monday to get it checked out. My dentist is awesome so I really believe there is nothing wrong with the tooth, and it's not unusual for me to have tooth pain with sinusitis, so maybe that's it. A strong decongestant and possibly antibiotics might do the trick?

Anyway, this morning I did a track workout, albeit a short one. East High is done being resurfaced and it is really nice now! Plus it was unlocked!!! YAY!

I did a 1600m warm-up with strides in 10:12, and then some dynamic drills. Guess what? The hamstring one did NOT hurt for the first time since December! WOOHOO! My 3x1km was pretty bad, but 1) I did a whole bunch of hammy PT at the gym yesterday and my legs were still sore, and 2) on Monday I did a 10K race plus a moderately hard hike, so yeah, my legs were feeling it. My times were (ugh!) 5:57.2, 6:03.1, 6:00.8. HR was in upper 160s-low 170s at the end of each of the last two, so I was working hard, but apparently I have no more fast twitch muscles, haha! That'll change.  Garmin data here.

Soul searching

Saturday, after the PT on Friday, my hammy really hurt. A lot. Like 2-3, maybe 4 at times, while racewalking 8k on the Jordan River Parkway. Ugh. It was terrible. I wanted to do 20K, then realized it was gonna be 10-12K, then had to stop at 8K.

Sunday night I picked up the pianist (and his mom, and two teachers) that we are hosting for the Gina Bachauer Junior Competition this week. Things got busier from there. I did take a rest day on Sunday, but it was busy getting ready for our guests.

Monday morning I went out for 6K, and it felt OK. But I was slow, and tired. Every time I pull my hamstring it shortens up my stride because I get paranoid about hurting it, and then I lose my toe-off, and then I'm really slow. I did 6:37/km. Oh yay.

Tuesday I was supposed to do 8K, but I was up late Monday night for the piano competition opening gala, and I was way too tired to get up and walk. So I didn't. I was angry about the hammy and frustrated and tired.

Wednesday I did the 8K, and it went OK; better than Monday but still sluggish. I did 6:32/km. I was talking with friends Wednesday night and journaling some and realizing that something has to give in my life. I'm too busy and it's not good for me or the kids or Loren or work or RW or anything else. But I don't know what to give up.

Today I was to do a 5K fartlek. I woke up tired with a sore throat and just looked in the mirror and said "I don't have to do this any more. Maybe I need to give competitive racewalking a rest." So I went to the gym and did the elliptical and did my PT - including all of the eccentric exercises. It felt OK during, but later, at work, my hammy hurt annoyingly any time I sat more than 15 minutes.

So, right now I'm thinking that I need to consider carefully whether I need a break or not. I'm thinking a break might help my hamstring to recover, though when I e-mailed my PT about that he said he thought I could continue training, albeit at a reduced volume.

I just don't know what to do.

But hey, at the moment I'm enjoying a Chopin Etude, courtesy of my 13-year-old guest prodigy. That's awesome at least.

6K

I racewalked today. It went OK. I was slow and cautious because of my hamstring, but it actually didn't hurt too much. Maybe 1-2/10, and mostly 1 with the occasional 2. I guess that's all right. 40:16 for slow 6:44/km with ave HR 142.

Then I had PT, and my PT was dismayed about my tweaking my hammy again :(. But he thought it might not be too bad. He is pushing me to do some more eccentric hamstring exercises daily, even if they hurt a little. The latest research shows that some eccentric load helps tendons heal faster. Seems to make sense. He had me do some exercises and they hurt 2-3/10; the ones that were 3 we stopped before they could get worse. I am feeling OK now, in the afternoon.

I might try a longer walk tomorrow. I don't know. I'm still tired and discouraged and trying to figure things out. I still need to stay in shape, and I still want to RW. But I wonder if I am pushing too hard for something that can't happen right now. My PT and coach don't seem to think so, so maybe I should believe them?
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more problems

First, I should catch up on workouts that I was actually able to do.

Friday: 6K, felt good; 6:25/km with ave HR 147.

Saturday: Was camping with Grace at Wasatch Mountain State Park and did 20K at altitude (1700m instead of my usual 1300m), in heat (started late-ish, and finished at about 10 am...it was 70 and sunny at the end, which I'm not used to), with hills...lots of hills. My legs were toast by 14km and hamstring got very whiny about the hills; 14.5km in I wondered if I should keep going but worked a lot on my posture and the pain didn't increase. Despite all that I managed 6:45/km for 2:15 which seems pretty good for that workout. Had a LOT of muscle soreness afterward - Sunday, and Monday too.

Sunday: rest day.

Monday: was to do 8K with 3x3' at 10K race pace, but my legs were DEAD. So I did 6K and called it good (or terrible, actually). So slow. 6:58/km, with HR only 133, so you can see the problem was my legs. Sigh...

To make matters worse, that afternoon while parking my bike in the garage (biking kids to summer camp these days now that school is out) I tripped over a pile of rocks we had delivered for our backyard, and caught myself poorly, skidding forward on my bad leg. My hamstring screamed in protest, and so did I. It hurt a LOT for 30-45 minutes, despite ice + acetominophen + naproxen. Oh yay.

So, yesterday & today I did elliptical. I did racewalk 3 laps on the indoor track today and it wasn't too awful. It hurt, but not horribly so. My last lap was 1:51 (6:15/km pace) and that felt OK-ish. But sitting at work today has been brutal (had a lot of time on the microscopes, confocal and compound) and I think I need one more day of cross-training. Maybe on Friday I can try 6km again and then Saturday longer assuming the hammy does OK.

I'm really bummed out. I am seriously considering finding a different sport. I have no idea what I'd do but I'm just done with this right now.

8K w/5x200@85%; 10K kickdown

Yesterday: 8K w/5x200m @85%. Legs felt tired from all the weekend landscaping/home improvement. Got out there anyway and did the workout. Weather was amazing at 13.9C (57F) and calm and clear. Calvin came with me (yay!) and regaled me with snippets of funny YouTube videos. We brought the dogs, but regretted bringing Powder, as she was totally lagging. She did that last time too...I guess she's not a distance dog. We are both so annoyed with her that she might be relegated to casual walks.

Other than that, the walk went well. I did 6:25/km for 51:22 with ave HR 142. Then I did the 200s. Calvin did them too :). I did them a bit harder than 85%. It took me 5:28 to do all 5, which was decent I guess. Calvin did his in 3:59!!! He's getting to be a good runner.

Garmin data here and here.

Today: I woke up with tired legs. I think they were tired from the weekend's yard work/house work plus from yesterday's walk, especially the 200s. I was apprehensive and definitely thinking too much. Calvin volunteered to come along to encourage me; he was worried I'd go too fast for him but I told him that even my fastest would not be a challenge for him and that was true. At least the weather was very, very nice. It was 12.2C (54F) and calm and clear. Perfect.

I started off and my Garmin was off on the first 500m, as it sometimes is. Annoying! It had me down for 3:45 and I am sure it was more like 3:15 pace. No matter. I kept going and though my legs were slow to warm up, I did the first 2.5km in 16:56 (though I'm guessing it was really more like 16:30...darn the track for being closed!).  Then next 2.5km was in 15:59, and I wondered how I'd go faster - thought my legs were pretty dead. But I turned off my brain and found another gear. Calvin encouraged me a lot especially on the last 2.5km :) :) :). The next 2.5km was in 15:32 and the last in 15:08. OK, that's kinda slow, but we're starting where we are starting, and that's what came out. I was working SO hard and my HR was 168 at the end, so I was really burning it. Total time was a very slow 63:33 (63:03???? Not sure about that first 500m) but hey, I got it done. Next time it'll be easier.

Hamstring: felt good except afterward I walked the dogs, and Powder stopped suddenly to sniff a dead bird; I fell over and pulled it a bit :( :( :(. It was sore at work but not too awful and I think it'll be OK. I am really annoyed because I made it through the whole weekend of yard work keeping it safe. Oh well.

Garmin data here. 

6K, 16.5K

Yesterday: 6K in 6:26/km with ave HR 144. Then a very vigorous PT session working on glutes, quads, calves, lots of core, and more...fun! But tiring. Then 7 hr of yard work shoveling heavy rocks (seriously ---- we got 5000 lb of rocks delivered!) and planting our strip. Plus laying some pavers. Yeah...I was SO tired after that. Oh, and my hamstring hurt a little for the 6K, probably 1/10.

Today: 20K was on the agenda, but I knew after yesterday I might not make it, and I was OK with that. This was the only chance I had to do that much yard work, and I took a day off to do it, so...yeah. But I did OK today considering. I made it 16.5km, with the last 6km pretty hilly, and though I stopped pretty frequently it went all right. And yeah, I was slowish, at 6:38/km, but considering how tired my legs were I think that's not bad. They were pretty much toast at 13.5km but I cranked out another 3km so I'm happy with it. Garmin data here.  Best of all: NO pain in hamstring! YAY!

And I did more yard work today - no pics from today though.

5x878m at indoor track

Yesterday: Cross training; elliptical + PT.

Today: Went to the indoor track since the outdoor one is closed for resurfacing. I warmed up for 5 laps (~1500m) and felt horridly sluggish to start and was concerned; also felt a bit nauseated, but that subsided. By the 3rd lap I felt a bit better and was good to go.

I started in on the intervals, and felt OK. I focused a lot on technique, thinking about all that my coach and my PT have been telling me to fix. After the first two intervals went pretty well, I pushed a little harder for the last 3 and was rewarded with slightly increasing speed. This was MUCH better than last week when I slowed down a lot. My intervals were 5:07-5:03 which works out to 5:50-5:45/km. Not fast, but not so awful as it has been, and not too bad for my second speed workout this week. And guess what???? Best of all, NO PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Garmin data here.

Splits:

Split	Time	Avg HR	Max HR	878m	1k equivalent
1	01:40.8	133	151
2	01:43.5	150	151
3	01:42.9	153	156	05:07.2	05:49.9
4	02:00.1	115	156
5	01:39.4	139	154
6	01:44.1	155	157
7	01:42.1	157	160	05:05.6	05:48.1
8	02:00.2	128	160
9	01:40.8	140	155
10	01:42.3	157	160
11	01:42.1	160	162	05:05.2	05:47.6
12	02:00.4	126	162
13	01:39.9	144	157
14	01:42.5	159	161
15	01:41.2	163	165	05:03.6	05:45.8
16	02:00.4	131	165
17	01:40.4	143	161
18	01:43.1	160	162
19	01:40.3	163	166	05:03.8	05:46.0
20	02:46.4	124	166
Summary	36:12.7	143	166
					28:57.4	(5K equivalent)

8K fartlek

Today was a little too interesting. I planned to go to the track at 6:10am with Calvin. At 6:08, Calvin reported dog poop upstairs. Oh yay! Even better, when I investigated, it was 5 puddles of diarrhea. Even more oh yay! So I got out the carpet cleaner (2 dogs + 2 kids = a necessity), and cleaned up. Of course, by that time it was 6:30 and too late for C to come along. Just as well, since when I arrived at the track I saw this:

The bottom photo has a sign that says "Track Closed For Resurfacing". It needs it badly, but it sure would have been nice if they had given some warning to the public, and I have no idea how long it'll be closed. Oh yay again. 

So I went home, and executed plan B. Go to work, start my experiments, then go work out, and go back and finish up. Plus the late-night part where I get to go in tonight because there's more to do. 

I ended up at the indoor track by 8:45 am, and did my 8K fartlek: 3 laps hard, then 2 medium/2 hard until lap 27 = 7900.4m. It went about as well as it probably could have, which is the very good news. I was very consistent and paced it better than I thought possible at this point. My splits were pretty good - see below - fasts were 500m equivalent of 2:56-3:00 and mediums were 3:09-3:15, which is lots better than the last couple weeks. Total was 48:27 which works out to 49:03 for the full 8km had I been on the outdoor track, with the typical average HR of 160. I was pushing very hard at the end and it averaged 170 on the last split. Not bad.

Hamstring? Very little pain. Mostly no pain, but some intervals it was 1/10. No foot pain. My legs did get pretty tired but I was able to keep the pace. I'll take it for now. Still slow, but improving. 

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Avg HR	Max HR	878/585m	1k/500m equivalent
1	01:40.0	01:40.0	137	153
2	01:44.0	03:24.0	153	156
3	01:43.9	05:07.8	157	159	05:07.9	05:50.7
4	01:50.9	06:58.7	155	159
5	01:50.2	08:48.9	155	156	03:41.1	03:09.0
6	01:43.9	10:33	160	163
7	01:45.0	12:18	163	164	03:28.9	02:58.5
8	01:52.2	14:10	159	162
9	01:53.3	16:03	155	156	03:45.5	03:12.7
10	01:43.9	17:47	160	165
11	01:44.6	19:32	166	167	03:28.5	02:58.2
12	01:51.9	21:24	160	167
13	01:51.6	23:15	159	161	03:43.5	03:11.0
14	01:43.4	24:59:00	165	168
15	01:43.3	26:42:00	168	170	03:26.7	02:56.7
16	01:50.2	28:32:00	159	170
17	01:53.0	30:25:00	162	163	03:43.2	03:10.8
18	01:44.2	32:09:00	166	170
19	01:45.9	33:55:00	168	170	03:30.1	02:59.6
20	01:53.4	35:48:00	162	168
21	01:52.7	37:41:00	162	163	03:46.1	03:13.2
22	01:46.4	39:28:00	166	169
23	01:44.3	41:12:00	169	171	03:30.7	03:00.1
24	01:53.3	43:05:00	160	169
25	01:54.6	45:00:00	161	163	03:47.9	03:14.8
26	01:44.9	46:45:00	166	169
27	01:42.7	48:27:00	170	172	03:27.6	02:57.4
Summary	48:27:00	48:27:00	160	172		49:03:39

rest day; 10K w/3x3' @10K race pace

Yesterday: much needed rest day. My hamstring was pretty sore while playing the piano for church; not sure why - maybe because of the PT on Friday? I might eliminate the one exercise I think is the problem and see if that helps. I was SO tired yesterday. Weirdly tired.

Today: I woke up feeling very rested (!), and ready to do today's workout, which was 10K w/3x3' @10K race pace. The weather was lovely, and much nicer than the rain on Saturday! It was 45F (7.2C) and calm and clear, and very beautiful in Liberty Park. The workout went really well, too! Calvin and the dogs joined me and I felt very good on my fast 500s - I have no idea what 10K race pace is these days, but I just went by effort, and those were great. 2:58, 2:53, 2:57, and they didn't feel too hard. My GPS was very off for the first 500m (by probably 20-30 seconds under - had me at 2:48 for easy pace - ummmmm, NOT!) but otherwise seemed fine. Total time was 1:03:57 for 6:24/km with ave HR 145. I like that! I liked even more that my hamstring had mostly ZERO pain and some 1/10 but only on the fast intervals and only part of the time, not the whole interval. Doing better for sure.

I'm taking anti-inflammatories again to try to get the hammy feeling 100%. Hoping it helps, since it was so sore on the weekend.