9/24/10 PM 7.1 Miles

7.1 Miles
52:45

Ran with Geoff down Blossom to the park for a loop and back. Felt mostly good, but the Achilles was aching for the last mile or so of the run. Leaves me a little less than confident, yet still anxious to run, about my attempt at 17 miles tomorrow.

9/23/10 No Run

Had every intention of running, but not getting up in the morning, and attending a wake for a close friends mom left no running time by the end of the night. I'm ok with that, though.

9/22/10 6.6 Miles & A.R.T. Therapy

6.6 Miles

Easy run that felt crummy for 4 miles, but great for the last 2.

Had a late appt for A.R.T. Was good, and is a very positive thing that Dr. Hernandez is telling me she sees improvement with each visit. Very promising stuff.

9/21/10 No Run

I was way sore from my A.R.T. therapy the day before, so I opted out of my Tuesday run. I got up, headed to the little wranglers room, and coming out, my Achilles were just too sore and beat up. I figured it would be a huge exercise in painful frustration.

9/20/10 AM Easy Run, 7.35 Miles

7.35 miles
55:24
7:32 avg pace

I took my run this morning out along my favorite route... my "old" morning route down Memorial, loop the park and back. It felt good to run that route again, as I decided not to do my usual route again till I could do it fully and not worry about stopping before making it home due to pain. Today was that day, and it felt great. After running late in the evening yesterday, it had been only 12 hours since my prior run, and there as a huge difference between how the Achilles' felt from the start. My first 2 miles were both 8-minute miles, in about 16:10-16:20. All moved well after that.

9/19/10 PM Easy Run, 6.1 Miles

6.1 Miles
42:53
22:10 out
20:43 back

Good run, and probably just what I need the day before another therapy session. Plan is to run tomorrow morning, since I know I won't be running after.

9/18/10 Kenyan Way Long Run, 14.7 Miles

14.7 Miles
1:44:55
45 Miles for the Week

I had to come up with the mileage and time, both by kind of a guess. I had to MapMyRun.com it to get the mileage, then deal with not starting my watch from base to the first water stop, so missing approximately 15 minutes...if I had to guess. But, great run. The Achilles were bothering me some over the first half, but calmed down for the 2nd half.

Did 2.1 miles early, then ran into the Heights, down the hike & bike path into Downtown, around the Juice Box, then back to base. Headed out for a couple of extra miles to the Rose Garden and back. Good stuff...

9/17/10 AM Easy Run, 5.6 Miles

5.6 Miles
41:08
31 Miles for the Week

Easy run...felt good for the most part, but definitely some soreness after in the Achilles. Did some stretching, and now just biding my time till the Saturday morning long run. Just hoping for a good day out... going for 13-15 miles.

9/16/10 PM Easy Run - 5.25 Miles

5.25 Miles
40:16
25 Miles for the Week

Nothing too major. Just a loop of the bayou. Good run, and felt great in the "late" night air (ran @ 8:30pm).

9/15/10 AM Easy Run, 7 Miles

7.1 Miles
53:17
7:30 avg
20 miles for the week

I can't even describe how good it felt to run the way I ran today. The start of the run was not nearly as uncomfortable as yesterday's run. I made my way up Blossom, down Crestwood to Memorial then into the park for a loop and back the same way. I chatted briefly with a couple of friends, then ran into Bill and Sean at the end of my park loop. Was good to see those guys, but man it was tough to just tell myself to head back home while they were starting their loop. If I'd run with them, that would have put me @ 10 miles for the day. Judging by the fact that the only discomfort I really felt was in the last half mile, it was a VERY good thing that I listened to my good sense and just headed home.

9/14/10 AM Easy Run - 6+ Miles

6.1-6.2 Miles
48:11
25:10 out
23:01 back

Good feeling run. After yesterday's therapy session, I was definitely a little sore, so I could not really "press" the issue much at all today. It felt great, though, back out on the roads before the sun came up. The "worst" part of the run, so to speak, was just as I was getting close to the tennis center and my turnaround at the park, I passed by the big group of folks doing a work out heading the opposite direction...Sean, Bill, Luis, JP, Jose, Vaughn, Dan and likely a couple of others. I couldn't help but just think about how much time I've lost, but it's all big picture right now. UGH. Was pretty awesome though...they seemed to be on the tail end of a pretty good workout and were moving out pretty good.

Working tonight, so got a long, long day ahead of me. All good though...all good.

9/13/10 No Run - Therapy

ART Therapy today at Chiro-Health down in Pearland. Great treatment, and no running today.

Will be back on the road in the AM.

9/12/10 AM Easy Run - Rebuilding Brick By Brick

6.2 Miles
48:10
24:00 out
24:10 back

Pace was not great, nor was it a focus today. I basically shuffled my way through the first mile to get the Achilles loosened up. Starting @ 9 am wasn't the smartest idea, as it was hot and humid the whole way. I was moving pretty well by the time I turned around, and I can safely say the middle 2 miles were the best. The last 2 miles back home were a bit of a struggle, as I felt the edge of my fitness. Was a rough run, but a good wrap up to the weekend.
4.5 on Friday
11.5 on Saturday
6.2 on Sunday
32.2 miles for the weekend. I'll take it.

9/11/10 Kenyan Way Long Run

11.5 Miles
1:18:43

Great feeling run this morning. First couple of miles saw a tight Achilles. I stopped at the first water stop and stretched a little extra time, letting the group get away from me. Once I got going, though, ran well, mostly pain free, but not 100% free of discomfort. It's still not the way I want it to be, but man did it feel good. I'm feeling the loss of fitness from all the time off...even biking the last 3 weeks didn't get it back. But the mileage on the road was great. Longest run in a while.

9/10/10 AM Easy Run - 4.6 Miles

4.6 Miles
33:54
7:22 avg

I know my first mile was around an 8-minute mile, then a brief stop and chat when I got into the park all made for a good run. What I'm finding is that if I go for a mile or two, stop, stretch, and let things "catch up" so to speak, the Achilles is much less of a problem when I get going again. All in all a good feeling run, and leaves much promise for tomorrow's "long run".

9/9/10 No Run, Making Sure I'm 100%

I didn't want to run tonight after dropping off my little one just for the sake of running. With my Achilles still on the mend, and still feeling a little residual garbage in the nasal and throat passages, I'll wait till the morning. Planning to get after it in the morning for at least 30 minutes...45 if I'm feeling REALLY adventurous. That would be awesome if I can put together 45 minutes tomorrow, 10 miles on Saturday and another hour on Sunday. Would lend a lot to confidence building as I continue down the injury recovery trail. We'll see how it all plays out.

9/8/10 No Run

Recovering from being sick. Will resume tomorrow, provided things have worked their way out as it appears.

9/7/10 AM Easy Run

35:10
18:22 out
16:48 back
A little over 4-miles

Ran down Blossom, left @ Crestwood, right on Memorial to the water fountain at the gazebo and back. Was tough sledding for the first half mile and for the last half mile. The Achilles were done, for sure. Glad I got it done, though. Good feeling, overall to be out and about in the AM.

Feeling the potential beginnings of a summer cold or something. Feel pretty miserable, in all honesty. Plan was for another 30-minutes this afternoon, but not sure that's going to happen.

9/6/10 AM Bike and Run

28 minutes on the bike
30 minutes running

Intended this to be another "reverse duathalon" day, but the rains came, and the core/upper body work after the run intense enough, that I just stayed off the bike, and feel quite okay with that. Did another good bit of jump rope today...not 10-minutes like yesterday, but maybe 6-7 minutes total. Was good. I'm seeing the value of doing that pretty instantly.

Achilles didn't feel good at all during my run today, but I'd say I ran the first 2 miles over 7:30, and the last 2 around 7:15-7:20-ish pace. Not too bad.

This week, I may give my legs a bit of a break from the bike and do some "testing", so to speak. Nothing foolish, definitely no speed work, but something light to test some durability. Not only of my Achilles, but of myself.

9/5/10 AM Bike Ride

42:00 minutes on the bike

I had planned to bike then run, but I went at it pretty heavy while riding, leaving the legs quite heavy, and the Achilles less than ready for any running. I started out for about a minute, then realized it would have been an exercise in futility and frustration.

So I did a hard bit of core and upper body work, followed by roughly 10-minutes of jump rope. Great workout to supplement the lack of running today.

9/4/10 Kenyan Way Long Run and Bike

1:01 Total Run time
45:00 Bike Time

With how my Achilles didn't feel good yesterday, I was really nervous, but excited at the same time, to run this morning. Started the run w/the group, then kinda stretched it out and ran ahead after about 2-miles. Felt really good the entire way. I was NOT by any stretch discomfort-free, but I could definitely run this run smoothly. My lack of fitness showed up late in the run, as I could feel it took effort to maintain the increased pace I was running for the last couple of miles, but it felt wonderful. Got back, hopped on the bike and hit the road. Great, great feeling run and ride.

9/3/10 - PM Bike and Run

1:10 on the bike
28:30 running

I was setting myself to commit to well over an hour of work on the bike and running. After getting outta work early, I got myself prepared, then headed down Blossom and over to the Picnic Loop for some moderately high intensity miles. I then took the bike down Memorial across 610, down one of the many Post Oaks to Woodway, then back up Woodway, into and around the Park, then back down Blossom. Followed that up with 4-miles of running.

Tough workout that, honestly, running didn't feel the best. Nonetheless, got plenty of work with a raised heart-rate.

9/2/10 - PM Bike Ride

50 minutes of biking

Started about 8:15 till just after 9pm. Great ride into downtown, around the Juice Box.

9/1/10 - No Running...EPAT

I gave my legs and Achilles a break in terms of running, but instead went for another session of EPAT this morning.

Definite progress in terms of how it felt this time. The therapy was definitely more bearable than last time. The first session, I thought my fingers were going to drive through the cushioning on the table, I was squeezing so hard as the level of pain and discomfort grew. This time, when the EPAT machine hit the injured area, I was able to handle it pretty well, and the pain just wasn't there anywhere near the same degree. Gooooood stuff.

Now, however, I have to worry about the right Achilles. If there is one side that seems to put a damper on a good run, it seems to be the right more than the left. The pains I feel seem different between the left and the right, but the injury seems to be about the same, as Dr. Leist has done some limited work on the right side. I think we'll get the left cleared up first, though, before he focuses on the other side. We'll see!