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Today was supposed to be the day that I lined up with over 40,000 other runners at the start of the New York City Marathon. Instead, it has now been 8 full weeks since I’ve completed a run of any distance. As a matter of fact there are many days where I don’t even feel like a runner anymore, much less someone who has completed 13 marathons and 13 half marathons over the past four years.

My plan had been to try and maintain fitness and build a good base for the future by completing P90X while on the bench. However this was also derailed by a pinched nerve in my neck that I’ve been dealing with for the past two weeks, which has significantly limited the use of my left arm (prayers for this would be appreciated).

Needless to say this is all been very frustrating ,however I’m determined to turn the page and begin writing a new chapter in my running journey. With that in mind I’m going to attempt to begin running again tomorrow. Even if things go well I’m going to take it very very slow, and just try to enjoy each and every stride. I don’t know if or when I’ll race again but I desperately want to run.

Thanks to everyone for your continued encouragement.

Well…I gave it one last shot:

After taking 2 weeks off to try and heal my leg / hip, I ran a very, very easy 4.5-miles on Thursday, 3.75-miles on Friday, and 11-miles on Saturday. There was no pain during or after my run on Thursday, a little pain after my run on Friday, and quite a bit of pain after the Saturday run continuing on through Today (Monday). I could probably run on it for a few more days, but I know where this is headed. At this point it is extremely unrealistic to think that I could somehow be ready for NYC in less than 8 weeks. So, that leads me to one final conclusion…

Needless to say, this is CRAZY frustrating. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do going forward. At some points I just want to quit running altogether, but then I think about how much I love to run and race, and realize that I have to at least try and get past this cycle of injuries. Part of me is thinking about just shutting it down for the rest of the year, and maybe cranking up the full P90X again. Whatever the case, my hope to run NYC for 2013 is done.

Warning….Venting ahead!

What a difference a day makes. Last wednesday I posted about trying to push through with my hip injury to still be able to line up in NYC this November. Well, the very next day I attempted a tempo run with Nathan, and it was a complete bust. The pain started radiating down my leg from the first step and never let up. I got through the tempo section by gritting through the pain, but eventually had to stop and walk back to the car.

Since that point it has been hard to even walk without a limp. So…to sum up my chances of actually being able to make it to NYC:

I’m going to take at least the next two weeks off from running and see what happens. Not sure yet of whether or not I’m gonna go see the MD again, or even who I would go see if I decided to go that direction. Just really frustrated with not being able to run, and about the prospects of not being able to run in NYC. This has been a tough two weeks for me personally, and I’m now without one of my primary emotional outlets. This has also been a rough 12-months from a running perspective. I’m now on my third significant injury in that period of time, and this one comes after making some drastic changes in my training. Beast Mode is definitely not ON.

However….I do know that this is really insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I am a very blessed man.

Well, it has now been over a week since I started back to running after my hip injection, and I’m pretty sure that it didn’t have any impact on my injury. I’m convinced that the reduction in pain I felt last Wednesday and Thursday were primarily due to taking time off, because by Friday evening the aching had returned.

However, since my ortho things this is something that I can’t injure any worse, I’m going to continue doing my rehab exercises and try to push through to NYC. To that end, Nathan and I did a very, very chill 3-mile shakeout run on the Vaughn’s Gap cross country course last Friday morning, and then I got in a very solid 18-mile on Saturday with the Nashville Striders on the Shelby Bottoms and Stones River Greenways.

My hip was very sore for the first 3 to 4 miles of the long run, but after taking a quick break to stretch out, the pain vanished for the remainder of the run. All-in-all it ended up being really good. Some fatigue started setting in around mile 14, but I was still able to finish all 18 with a fairly decent pace.

The other great thing about the 18-miler was that it was the first time since I learned about the sudden death of my dear friend Kerry on Wednesday that I had been able to focus my mind on something else. Of course, this flooded back quickly as we laid him to rest on Saturday afternoon. Tidal wave of emotions on Saturday.

By Monday morning, my hip and leg were pretty sore (and tired!), but Nathan, Paxton, and I (the Bellevue Trio!) cranked out 6.5 easy-paced miles on the White and Red trails in Percy Warner Parks. Of course, “easy pace” definitely does not mean “easy run” on these trails with the monstrous elevation changes:

Yesterday morning, Nathan and I did a chill 8.3-mile run through Bellevue, Edwin Warner Park, and the Harpeth River Greenway. My hip and leg were still sore, but this slowly subsided throughout. We survived the return of the nasty humidity to have a pretty good run.

Today was a scheduled off-day, and then I hope to be back on Thursday with some tempo intervals if my hip will allow it.

While running has been pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things this week, I have gotten in a couple of runs since my injection on Monday. Yesterday morning I did a very, very chill 6.25-mile run with Paxton on the Harpeth River Greenway. The temperatures and humidity were absolutely perfect, and the run was quite enjoyable with my friend. Overall my hip felt a little stiff and sore, but no pain to mention.

Tonight was track with the JSRC, and I was quite anxious about how it would go. I got there plenty early to make sure I was good and loose for the workout. Here’s a rundown:

• 2-mile warmup
• 6 x 100m Stride Outs
• 3 x 400m fresh (60 sec / 400m recovery)
• 3 x 250m gfg (150m / 400m recovery)
• 3 x 250m ggg (150m / 400m recovery)
• 800m Straights and Curves
• 1/2-mile cool down

There were only three of us that participated tonight, and I ended up running most of the intervals with Hannah. I lagged behind her quite a bit on the 400s, because I was trying to be very conservative. However, by the time we got to the 250s, things were finally starting to loosen up and I was able to keep up.

All-in-all I felt really good, and my hip seems to be holding together pretty well. It is still really tight, but no noticeable pain so far. At this point I’m pretty pleased with the results of the injection, but the real test will come Saturday when I try my first long run. Hoping things will hold together well enough that I can still toe the line in NYC this fall.

I went to see my ortho yesterday, and he diagnosed me with IT Band Syndrome in the hip along with possible Trochanteric Bursitis. The good news is that this is all “soft tissue” in nature, and he does not think that the injury involves bone or the hip joint itself. He gave me a cortisone shot in my hip to try and calm down the inflammation, and the goal is to be back running by tomorrow morning. He told me that the cortisone would take about 24-hours to start working, and then I could be back running in 48-hours.

It is interesting how sore my hip is today, but I’m guessing this is mostly from the shot itself and not from the inflammation. I’m pretty nervous about how my hip will feel getting back on the road, and know that I have to really buckle down on doing my glute and adductor exercises. I didn’t realize how intense the side effects would be from the injection, since it is localized. I’ve always hated taking a Prednisone dose pack, because of the way it makes me feel, and this is very similar. I’m constantly hot and feel like I’m hyped up on caffeine. I could not fall asleep until about 4am this morning and then had to get up around 6am to take my daughter to school. Hope this doesn’t last too long!

Anyway, I hope to post another update after my first run tomorrow morning.

Well….these days it just seems like I can’t keep myself off the bench. After taking 4-days off due to hip pain a couple of weeks ago, I’m back on the bench again with the same problem. I tried running at track last night, but quickly noticed that I was altering my stride to compensate for the discomfort. This caused me to bail less than halfway through the workout.

One of my running friends, who is a Nurse Practitioner, said she was pretty confident it was hip bursitis. I hope she’s right, and that this can be taken care of with a cortisone injection. Whatever the case, I have an appointment with my ortho on Monday to see what is going on. My plan is to stay off the road until then.

This time last week I was pleased that my hip issue was doing lots better. Well, it is still largely better than it was, but is still something that continues to flare up. Not too bad as long as I keep it stretched out. Here’s a quick rundown of the past week:

Thursday

After taking the previous week off at track due to my hip issues, I came back to track last Thursday night. The humidity ended up being pretty nasty, though the temps were thankfully only in the mid-80s. Here was the workout:

• Approx 1-Mile Warmup
• 6 x 100m Stride Outs
• 3 x 400m fgf (200m / 400m) – 1:29 / 1:21 / 1:23
• 1 x 800m g (400m) – 2:58
• 3 x 400m fgf (200m / 400m) – 1:25 / 1:20 / 1:24
• Approx .5-Mile Cooldown

I probably ran most of these splits too fast, but did remain fairly consistent all the way through. Ideally I like to get in at least 2-miles warm-up before doing the stride-outs, but I was running late due to work responsibilities. Happy that my hip felt decent throughout.

Saturday

After taking Friday off, the group ran the vaunted 16.5-mile loop in Percy and Edwin Warner Parks on Saturday, starting at the Edwin Warner Nature Center. This is one of the hardest runs in Nashville, due to the extreme elevation changes:

I was quite nervous about being able to finish this one since my longest recent run has been 13.5-miles, and that was on fairly flat terrain. The humidity was tough, but we ended up getting quite a break in the temperatures, which never left the low 70s. I ended up feeling better during the second half of the route than I did during the first. My strategy throughout was to take it VERY easy on the downhills (to protect my legs), and push a little on the uphills. The best I felt all day was during our climb up 3-mile-hill in Percy Warner (was 13th mile on this run), and during the last mile where I tried to finish with a much quicker pace. Again my hip felt great throughout, and I was surprised at how good I felt overall throughout the run. I had never started the 16.5 from anywhere other than the main gates in Percy Warner, but this proved to be a nice change.

Monday

After taking Sunday off, Nathan and I did a VERY, VERY, chill 5-miler on the Vaughn’s Gap Cross Country Course in Percy Warner Park. It was a pretty humid, partly cloudy morning, and the sky was quite beautiful during sunrise:

Unfortunately, my hip was very stiff after the long run on Saturday. This slowly subsided throughout the run, but it was more bothersome than it had been in several days. Overall though it was a good shakeout run on a nice, soft surface.

Wednesday (Today)

To “celebrate” the final birthday of my 30s, I did the Percy Warner 11.2-mile main drive loop. Incidentally, this route is fully contained within the 16.5-mile loop mentioned above, so this made twice in the past five days. That’s a lot of elevation change for my already trashed legs:

Wednesday is normally an off-day, but since I didn’t get to run on Tuesday, I decided to do a run this morning. I wanted to get in 8 to 10 easy miles, but for some reason I let Nathan convince me to join him and some other friends from our group (Dan, Dawn, Mary, Lesley) to do the 11.2 this morning. I’m no meteorologist, but I’m pretty sure the humidity was around 7,454%. I don’t think it is possible for the humidity to be any higher without it actually raining (it did rain before and after our run). Nathan and I commented several times that the moisture was so heavy in the air that it looked like we were running through the rainforest. Nathan even said that he half expected a T-Rex to jump out since it looked like Jurassic Park.

Anyway, this humidity was suffocating, and I slowly wilted throughout the run. Things felt ok for the first 6 to 7 miles, but then I just hung on for dear life the rest of the way. Dan had started early from a different spot, so he finished within the first 4 miles of the loop. Once I started to fade, Dawn, Mary, and Lesley pulled away, but thankfully Nathan stayed with me. I know he could have easily kept up with them, but there is no way I would have finished without walking had he not hung back.

All-in-all it wasn’t the best run, but I’m glad to have finished. My hip was still bothersome, but at least it didn’t affect my stride. Hopefully I can get it really stretched out before track tomorrow night.

Beast Mode….ON!

Well….this time last week my left hip was so bad that I didn’t think there was any way I would be back on the road for week 15. However, this morning was my third straight day to get a run in, and so far things are holding together pretty well. I really focused last week on doing strength and stretching exercises for my core and hip, and on Sunday the pain started to slowly subside. I was still pretty achy after Monday’s 5-miler with Nathan on the HR Greenway, but nothing like what I was dealing with last week.

I didn’t get to run yesterday morning due to getting home around 1am from a concert, so I did a 4-mile run yesterday afternoon, in a steady rain, on the Vaughn’s Gap Cross Country course in Percy Warner Park. I actually ran this in my Saucony Hattori shoes, which is the first time I’ve taken them off-road. It turned out to be an awesome run. I felt extremely light on my feet in the grass, and my hip felt great throughout, with minimal aching afterwards. Once I got home I put in another 30 minutes doing some strength training.

This morning Nathan and I got in 6.5-hilly-miles through Percy and Edwin Warner Parks, surviving a few downpours later in the run. Again my hip felt good throughout, though I’ve had a little more aching today than yesterday. Even with that, I’m very happy about the progress. Getting fired up again about my training after the disappointment last week.

Beast Mode….ON!

Well….I was hoping to be able to run through this nagging hip problem, but I realized last night that is is unlikely to get better without taking some time off. To that end I’m going to shut things down for at least a week and hope that it does not end up being longer than that. With my recent injury track record, I’m really nervous about what this means for New York. Now I need to decide whether or not go and see my orthopaedist now or wait until after taking a week off. I really hate to wrack up more medical expenses related to running if I can avoid it, but I also hate not knowing for sure what is going on.

Anyway, prior to shutting it down this morning, I’ve completed two runs since my last post. One was a group tempo workout last Saturday in really nasty humidity. The plan called for 80 minutes of tempo intervals, though I only made it through 54 before I had to stop. I still got in over 10.5-miles of work. Yesterday, Nathan and I did 6+ miles of trails in Percy Warner Park in the rain, and my body felt trashed the whole way. I eventually told Nathan to go on without me because he was looking strong. I finished the run, but there was very little enjoyable about it.

After such a good start of the week last week, this week has been a bummer so far. Looking forward to brighter running days ahead.

Sor far, this week of training is going really, really well. I think my body is finally adapting to the nasty heat and humidity in Middle Tennessee. My left hip continues to bother me, but I’m pretty sure it is an IT Band issue, and nothing bone related. I’ve stepped up my emphasis on stretching, strengthening, and foam rolling to try and get it knocked out. Here is a quick rundown of this week so far:

Monday

Nathan and I hit the trails in Edwin and Percy Warner park to get in a few off-road miles. We started with the Blue Trail in Edwin Warner, and added the short Yellow and Orange trails to add a little distance. My legs were definitely pushed to the max on the steep climbs, but I made it all the way through without walking. After a quick fluid stop at the Nature Center we hit the Candy Cane Connector Trail in Percy Warner, and then did a loop on the Vaughn’s Gap Cross Country Course before returning back to Edwin Warner on the Candy Cane Trail. We got in a little over 6-miles, and my legs felt pretty good throughout.

Tuesday

Nathan and I started from the main gates in Percy Warner park and did an 8.5-mile easy run through the streets of Belle Meade. We kept the pace very, very chill throughout, and it was good to get in a fairly long, mid-week run. Incorporate the infamous “Zig-Zag” route created by our friend Edward:

Thursday

After last week’s track workout disaster, I was anxious to get back out there this week. Thankfully, the intervals were much shorter, and I felt AWESOME. Here’s a rundown:

• 3.2-Mile Warmup (wanted to make sure my hip was good and loose)
• 6 x 100m Stride Outs
• 4 x 200m fresh (100m Recovery / 400m Recovery)
• 800m Straights and Curves (400m Recovery)
• 3 x 250m fresh (150m Recovery / 400m Recovery)
• 800m Straights and Curves
• 1.35-Mile Cool Down

It was crazy humid, but for some reason it didn’t really bother me after I got through the warmup. I started off the intervals fairly conservative, but picked up the pace as my confidence started to grow. For example, my 200m splits during the 250m intervals, were faster (39/40 sec) than during the 200m intervals (43 to 46 sec). In total I got in just over 8 miles, and more importantly re-gained a great deal of confidence that was lost last week. Still have a LONG way to go, but it is nice to have a good night at track.

Friday

The Bellevue Trio Returns!! Paxton has been nursing an injury for the past few weeks, and today was the first day in a while that all 3 of us did a run together. We did a 4-mile recovery run through Bellevue using 10 / 1 run-walk intervals. My legs were pretty toasty after the track workout, but we kept the past very chill, and it felt good.

About to head-out for an evening 2.5-mile run/walk on the White Trail at Percy Warner with my girls, and then tomorrow we have a group tempo workout with 10 to 11-miles of Marathon Pace intervals. Should be a good challenge.

Beast Mode….ON!

Today I finished off week 12 in my training for the 2013 New York City Marathon with a great 13.5-mile run in East Nashville, Shelby Park, and the Shelby Bottoms Greenway with our running group. One of the things that made it great was getting a very nice break in the temperatures. When Nathan and I got out of my car by the train trestle in Shelby Park, it was only 62° with humidity that was not too terrible for July.

The train trestle in Shelby Park just before this morning’s group run.

Before the group all arrived for the run, Nathan and I got in 1/2-mile warmup out-and-back to the Shelby Bottoms Greenway Nature Center. Our group then started with a 4-mile loop that incorporated a couple of laps around big pond in Shelby Park and a short distance on Electric Avenue. On the way to Shelby Park, Nathan and I prepared for the run by listening to the song Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant, which I had not heard in a LONG time.

These first 4-miles were quite hilly, but my legs felt much better than I expected after the disastrous track workout on Thursday night. Dan had to remind me not to push the pace, since the goal today was simply slow, easy miles.

After grabbing a quick drink back at the cars, we did a second 4-mile loop on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Barclay Drive, and my legs continued to feel really good in the mild conditions. After this loop was completed, Nathan and I were at 8.5-miles in total. My schedule called for 12-miles, but there were some members of the group that were going to do as many as 8-miles out-and-back on the Greenway for the third part of the run. I knew I didn’t want/need 16-miles, but my legs felt good enough that I suggested to Nathan we try to do 2.5-miles out-and-back to end up with a total of 13.5, which would be my longest run since the injury by over 3 miles. This is exactly what we did, and I felt strong all the way to the end. We even dropped below 8min pace for the final 1.5-miles.

This run was a BIG confidence boost after a rough track workout on Thursday night. In total we completed 13.56-miles with an average pace of 8:52 per mile. Perfect long run! For the week, I got in just under 38 total miles. Slowly building my way back up.

On a side note, I’m still having some problems with my left hip after tweaking it earlier this week. However, it continues to feel better as I run on it, and doesn’t affect my stride, so I’m going to try and train through it unless it gets a lot worse.

After the run, our group had an awesome breakfast at Sky Blue Cafe in East Nashville where they have Trivial Pursuit question cards on the table. It was a lot of fun taking turns on the trivia questions.

Beast Mode….ON!

I’m currently in the middle of week 12 in my training for the 2013 New York City Marathon. Last week was my first after completing the “return to running” program from my doctor, and this week I began my official training plan for NYC (more on that in a minute).

Week 11

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week (4th of July weekend), we had a LOT of rain in Middle Tennessee, which is quite unusual for July. On Thursday I met several friends for 7-miles of trails in Percy Warner park in a downpour. The trails were pretty nasty, but overall the footing was decent. I stayed strong through the first couple of miles, but then my lack of fitness started to show on the very hilly route:

I ended up walking up several of the more severe climbs just to be able to finish. Even though the conditions were tough, and I am not in ideal shape, the park was really quite beautiful in the rain. I am very fortune to live so close to such an awesome place to run and to have great friends to share it with (even in a downpour):

With Brian, Marc, Josh, and Mark after the (very wet) trail run

After a very easy recovery run with Nathan on Friday (also in the rain), I had my first tempo workout on Saturday since returning from the injury. This was also done in a downpour in Percy Warner Park with my regular running group. We got in 10 total miles, with approximately 45 minutes of tempo intervals. I ran all of the intervals with Brian and Nathan, and ended up feeling MUCH better than I expected, even though I almost tossed my cookies during one of the more intense efforts.  It was a very good morning with a very dedicated group:

At the end of last week, I finally mapped out my training schedule for New York, which is an 18-week plan, and will generally follow the pattern below:

• Monday – 60 to 70-Min Easy (Trail or Road)
• Tuesday – 60 to 90-Min Tempo Intervals / Easy Run (alternating weeks)
• Wednesday – Rest
• Thursday – 6 to 8-Mile Track Workout
• Friday – 40 to 50-Min Easy
• Saturday – Long Run / Marathon Tempo Workout (alternating weeks)
• Sunday – Rest

Week 12

In keeping with my new plan above, on Monday Nathan I did an easy 7.5-mile run on the Harpeth River Greenway (including a new unpaved section) in the nasty heat and humidity. My legs felt pretty toasty after the difficult effort on Saturday, but I was glad the get this one done. At the end we did 4 stride outs as I continue to try and incorporate more up tempo work into my training. Sometime during this run (maybe during the strides), I must have tweaked my left hip, because it started aching later in the day. It is still there today (Thursday) as I write this, but fortunately it is one of those “injuries” that gets better as I run, which does a lot these days to ease my mind, since I am so fearful of another stress fracture.

On Tuesday, Nathan and I did a tempo interval workout that consisted of :

• 20-minute warmup
• 6 x 4-min (7:15 to 7:20 pace) / 1-min recovery jog
• 10 to 15-minute cooldown

The heat and humidity was again very nasty, which made the workout difficult. My legs didn’t feel nearly as good as they did during Saturday’s workout, but I still managed to hit the goal pace during the first 4 intervals. I faded during the last two, but still kept them in the 7:40 range. Overall, I was pretty happy with the effort.

After a rest day on Wednesday, I returned to track tonight (Thursday) for the first time in over 16 weeks, and it was humbling on a hot and muggy evening. We started right off-the-bat with a 2000m interval, which punched me right in the mouth. I was only able to complete the first 3 sets of the workout, before pulling out and jogging a few easy laps to cool down. It was one of those nights where I left angry at how much fitness I have lost, and how miserable I felt. However, I know this is only the beginning of a long training schedule, and am determined to come back stronger than ever.

Beast Mode….ON!

The last couple of weeks have been crazy, so my running updates have been few and far between. I finished my 10-week “Return to Running” program last Saturday, and am now free to make out my own schedule toward NYC this fall. Last week I tried running the red trail at Percy Warner Park for the first time since the injury, and it absolutely kicked my tail. Even though I’ve been consistently doing leg workouts, I realize that I still need a LOT of work running hills to build up my strength. Also last week I had my longest run since the return by completing 10.5-miles with the group on Saturday. Here are my totals for the last two weeks:

Today I started week 11 of my NYC training, running through various neighborhoods in West Lansing, Michigan. After several weeks of nasty, nasty heat and humidity in Middle Tennessee, it was quite a thrill to see this on my phone just before my run:

With the extremely mild conditions, I was able to crank out just under 7.5-miles with an average pace around 8-min per mile. I was even able to take the last 3 under 8:00, and it felt really good. I’m still having some issues with my achilles, but overall my legs felt great this morning.

Beast Mode….ON!

It has been 11 days since I last posted a running update, mostly because of being on vacation last week in Myrtle Beach. I’m not intending to provide a day-by-day breakdown, but simply an overview of the last 11 days of my “Return to Running” program.

Week 8

I was able to get in 4 days of running while at Myrtle Beach, but the heat and humidity caused me to cut several of the runs short. However, I got in at least 35-minutes of uninterrupted running on each of the 4-days, which is the primary goal in the “Return to Running” program. My longest running segment increases by 5-minutes each week. Last Friday I ended up getting in the entire run, and felt very good. In total I got in just under 23-miles for the week.

The only pair of shoes I took with me were the adidas Energy Boost, and I’m pretty sure that I’m done with these as training shoes. I’ve never had achilles / ankle / calf problems as a runner, but have been struggling mightily with these things since starting with the Boost. I’m not sure if it is the increase in heel-to-toe drop over my Kinvara, or something else, but I know that they are not working.

Week 9

I was dealing with some stomach issues earlier this week, so I did not get in my run on Monday. However, I got in a fairly hard 40 minute run late last night, and then another good 7.8-mile effort with Nathan this morning through the streets of Belle Meade (40 / 15 / 10-minute intervals). My body is longing to be done with the “Return to Running” program and be back doing speed and hill work. Once this week is finished, I’ve got one more week to go. Beast Mode is ready to engage!

I’m currently on Week 7 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:

• 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
• 30-minute run /1-minute walk
• 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown

Tuesday AM Run (Day 44)

I met Nathan at the Bellevue Church of Christ parking lot, and we ran through the streets of Bellevue, and a couple of miles on a stretch of the Harpeth River Greenway that we don’t frequently use. As it stands right now, the Greenway exists in several separate sections, though it is eventually supposed to be all connected. There are three ongoing construction projects that are extending parts of the Greenway, including the section we ran on Tuesday. After about 3 1/4 miles we reached the place where they are working, and actually spent a few minutes talking with one of the workers. The new section will include a hairpin turn that leads to a steep down-hill going closer to the river. As we were talking to the construction guy, he kept saying over and over again “They call this section ‘The Switchback,'” and it was quote obvious that he was proud of that name. Anyway, it will be awesome when all of the sections are finally connected, and we will have access to all those miles of greenway in the Bellevue area.

As for the run, even though the humidity was tough, my legs kept feeling better and better throughout, and this was evident as the average pace of each running segment got progressively faster (8:50, 8:23, 7:53). In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 8 minutes of walking for a total of 6.94 miles completed, which was my longest effort since coming back from injury.

• Miles: 6.94
• Time: 1:03:22
• Pace: 9:36
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
• Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway

Tuesday PM Run (Day 44)

My orthopaedist has talked to me about adding some doubles into my training plan on the day before a rest day, as a way to get in more mileage without sacrificing the extra day of rest I’m planning on taking each week leading up to NYC in November. Well, Tuesday was the first day I gave this somewhat of a try. My daughter Kate and I went out to the White trail in Percy Warner Park for a 2.5-mile run/walk. I knew this would be a very easy effort since Kate would not be able to run the whole way on the hilly terrain. Even though I didn’t keep track of specifically how much time we spent walking vs. running, I would estimate it was about 50/50, and it was a quite enjoyable time spent with my daughter. In total we finished 2.5-miles with a pace of 15:04 per mile.

No running on Wednesday (Day 45) – Scheduled rest day

Thursday Run (Day 46)

Nathan and I met in the parking lot at the Bellevue United Methodist Church, and ran through the surrounding neighborhood, and made a big loop on the HR Greenway. The humidity was crazy intense, and my legs felt pretty trashed throughout. This was one of those runs where I was just glad that I stuck with it until the end, because I absolutely didn’t have it. In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 7 minutes of walking for a total of 6.57 miles completed.

• Miles: 6.57
• Time: 1:02:32
• Pace: 9:32
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#8)
• Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway

Friday Run (Day 47)

I couldn’t get my lazy self out of bed to do a solo run on Friday morning, so I ended getting this one done in the late afternoon. I again started from parking lot of the Bellevue United Methodist Church building, and started out through the surrounding neighborhood. I ended up running an out-and-back on the middle, disconnected section of the HR Greenway, and then another out-and-back on the initial section by Ensworth High School. The humidity  was nasty, and storms were threatening, but this was by far the best I’ve felt from start to finish on any run since coming back from injury, and I actually wanted to keep going when it was time to stop on the last interval. During the last interval, I passed by the spot where they are expanding the initial section of the HR Greenway. There is a Danger…Construction sign at the start of this expansion, but it was obvious that it was now paved. I decided to ignore the sign, and ended up running the entire length of the new section, which unfortunately comes to an abrupt dead-end, with no option but to turn around and come back. I was hoping this new extension would connect with the middle section that was finished last year, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait a while longer for that. Anyway, In total I finished 55 minutes of running and just over 12 minutes of walking for a total of 7.42 miles completed, which was my longest effort since coming back from injury.

• Miles: 7.42
• Time: 1:07:19
• Pace: 9:05
• Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#8)
• Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway

No running on Today (Day 48) – Travel day for vacation

A New Threshold

Even though I only ran 4 days this week, it was still my first time to cross the 30-mile threshold for weekly mileage since coming back from injury. Feels good to be building back up:

Cross-Training

• None – Gotta do better on this front.

Today’s Run (Day 43)

After a schedule rest day yesterday (Day 42), today I started Week 7 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:

• 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
• 30-minute run /1-minute walk
• 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown

I met Nathan in Percy Warner Park near the Iroquois Steeplechase, and we ran a modified version of our normal “Steeplechase Loop” though Percy and Edwin Warner Parks. The temps were a little more mild than last week, but the humidity was still intense. My legs felt pretty good throughout, even through the first couple of miles which were mostly uphill. We finished up the opening 30-minute running interval near the end of of a long downhill, and took the 1-minute walk break just as we reached the bottom. Right when we started off the 15-minute interval, a chipmunk came shooting across the road right in front of Nathan and directly at my feet. I actually had to hop on one foot for a second to keep from squashing the little guy. Right after this another another chipmunk came flying across the road a little bit ahead of us. This lead to Nathan saying that they looked like “Chipmunk Torpedos” that were being launched across the road.

Anyway, we thankfully avoided any subsequent chipmunk encounters, and kept the pace fairly chill throughout. In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 9 minutes of walking for a total of 6.69 miles completed, which is my longest effort since coming back from injury.

• Miles: 6.11
• Time: 1:04:10
• Pace: 9:36
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#8)
• Route: Steeplechase Loop

Cross-Training

• Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
• Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
• Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
• Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
• Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
• Hip Hike 2 x 30 reps (each leg)
• Monster Walk with Band 3 x 12 reps (each leg)
• Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
• Toe Flexor x 75 reps (each leg)
• Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps

I’m still in Week 6 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:

• 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
• 25-minute run /1-minute walk
• 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 3 to 5+ minute walking cool down

Friday’s Run (Day 40)

Since this was going to be the first time in several weeks where I was actually going to get in my full 5 days of running, I decided to do a slightly shorter run on Friday. Nathan and I started from the Bellevue Church of Christ parking lot, and did our normal 4-mile route through the streets of Bellevue. As part of this we did a 25-minute running interval before taking a 1-minute walk break, and then running 5+ minutes back to the parking lot. Once there we walked a loop around the church building for our cool down. We kept the pace extremely chill, and overall it was a pleasant effort except for the intense humidity. In total we finished just over 30 minutes of running and just under 10 minutes of walking for a total of 4.1 miles completed.

• Miles: 4.1
• Time: 40:26
• Pace: 9:52
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
• Route: BCOC Loop

Saturday’s Run (Day 41)

I started with our running group in the Bread and Company parking lot to join them for at least part of their planned route through Belle Meade. The humidity was super-intense, but my legs felt really good even running mostly uphill for the first couple of miles. When I reached the point of my first walk break, most of the group took it with me, which was a very pleasant surprise. They even took the next one with me, which was awesome. It is so nice to be able to run with my group again! Their plan was to do a 10-mile loop, so I broke off from their route after about 5 miles. It ended up that several from the group broke off with me, because they also only wanted 6 to 7 miles. This included Brian, John, Dan, Andy, and Dennis. In total we finished 50 minutes of running and just over 12 minutes of walking for a total of 6.46 miles completed.

• Miles: 6.46
• Time: 1:02:22
• Pace: 9:40
• Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
• Route: Belle Meade

Today (Day 42) is a scheduled rest day, so no running!

2013 Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon

On Saturday I added to my planned race schedule for the fall (October 12th), signing up for the 2013 Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon. This has become one of the premier race events in Middle Tennessee, and will be my 4th time to participate. Two years ago the race sold out in 11 hours. Last year it was just over 6. This year’s race sold out in 2 hours 11 minutes. I actually registered on my phone while I was on the elliptical machine at the YMCA after my Saturday run!

Cross-Training (Day 40)

• None

Cross-Training (Day 41)

• Elliptical >> 1-hour completed

Cross-Training (Day 42)

• None

Today’s Run (Day 39)

After a schedule rest day yesterday (Day 38), today continued Week 6 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:

• 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
• 25-minute run /1-minute walk
• 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown

I met Paxton at Bellevue United Methodist Church, and we ran a big loop through the surrounding neighborhood, the Harpeth River Greenway, and Edwin Warner Park. The temperature at 6am this morning was 78°, which I think is the highest for an early morning run so far this year. I could definitely feel the heat and humidity during the run, but we were saved a bit by a consistent breeze. We kept the pace pretty chill throughout, though it was a bit quicker than Tuesday’s effort. I was tired by the end, but overall my legs felt fairly decent today. In total we finished 50 minutes of running and just under 8 minutes of walking for a total of 6.11 miles completed.

• Miles: 6.11
• Time: 57:48
• Pace: 9:28
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#8)
• Route: BUMC / HR Loop

2013 ING New York City Marathon Confirmation

Even though I already knew I was in the NYC Marathon this fall, it was still cool to get this email last night:

Cross-Training

• Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
• Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
• Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
• Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
• Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
• Hip Hike 2 x 30 reps (each leg)
• Monster Walk with Band 3 x 12 reps (each leg)
• Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
• Toe Flexor x 75 reps (each leg)
• Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps

After a schedule rest day on Sunday (Day 35), Monday began Week 6 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:

• 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
• 25-minute run /1-minute walk
• 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
• 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown

Monday’s Run (Day 36)

Since I had the day off work (Memorial Day), I started my solo run a little later in the morning than normal (around 8:00am). Unfortunately this also meant that the temperatures were a bit warm, which made this a more challenging effort. I started off from the main gates at Percy Warner Park, and ran through the streets of Belle Meade. I think I’ve figured out that my ankle soreness is a touch of achilles tendonitis, which had flared up again on Monday after being better on Saturday. Thankfully this quickly faded during the first running segment. I picked up the pace a bit during each of the 3 intervals (8:45, 8:15, 8:08), but was toast by the end of the third with the heat and the hills. In total I finished 50 minutes of running and just under 9 minutes of walking for a total of 6.43 miles completed.

• Miles: 5.75
• Time: 58:41
• Pace: 9:08
• Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
• Route: Belle Meade

Tuesday’s Run (Day 37)

The Bellevue Trio (Paxton, Nathan) was reunited for this AM run after Paxton had taken a week off for a leg injury. We started from the Edwin Warner nature center, and kept the pace very chill throughout, though my legs were pretty toasty from the very beginning. Thankfully my ankles felt better than on Monday. In total we finished 50-minutes of running and just over 7 minutes of walking for a total of 5.89 miles completed.

• Miles: 5.89
• Time: 57:32
• Pace: 9:47
• Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
• Route: Nature Center / Harpeth River Greenway

No running today (Day 38) – Scheduled rest day.

Cross-Training (Day 36)

• 2.5-mile hike / run with Kate and Sara on the White trail at Percy Warner Park. I expected this to be a leisurely hike, but the girls ended up running a significant portion of the route.

• 100 Push-Up Routine >> Week 4 / Level 2 / Day 1 – 102 total reps completed.
  -After two attempts at Week 4 / Level 3, I decided to start week 4 over on level 2.

Cross-Training (Day 37)

• Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
• Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
• Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
• 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
• Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
• Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
• Hip Hike 2 x 30 reps (each leg)
• Monster Walk with Band 3 x 12 reps (each leg)
• Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
• Toe Flexor x 60 reps (each leg)
• Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps

Cross-Training (Day 38)

• 100 Push-Up Routine >> Week 4 / Level 2 / Day 1 – 120 total reps completed.
• Pull-Ups >> 23 total reps