October 6th and 7th

Thursday

Tried to jog at practice today.   Still sore.  Continuing to work on eccentric calf races.

Friday

One mile at Holmdel park.  Still sore.      Thirty minutes in the pool, swimming.and running.  2 ×15 eccentric

It has been difficult these past few weeks to write an enthusiastic blog while I am unable to complete running workouts.  No inspirational songs or quotes come to mind these days.  I remind myself that I write this blog primarily a log of my training for myself.  But, to my friends and loyal readers, who truly make these project a joy for me, promise to limit the whining and blog more upbeat stuff.

How about this one?

https://youtu.be/XsxVKN114M0

STATS –

I-Mad – 3

SLEEP – 8 hours

Weight – 153 pounds

a.m.HR- ?

Workout –  30 minutes in the pool  & 1 MILE JOG  & 2 × 15 eccentric

October 4th, Tuesday  &

5th, Wednesday

4th – Tuesday- No workout,  only 3 x sets of eccentric exercises and walk

5th – 40 minutes of biking with 8 x 50 pump at Max effort

+ eccentric exercises for my Achilles

My calf muscle seems to be developing quite quickly.   It is handling 9 sets of 15 eccentric heel exercises rather easily after 1 wee

Stats –  Stable

October 2nd, Sunday.

Off day with continued eccentric calf exercises

October 3rd, Monday, 11:00 p.m.

Ninety minutes at the club.  Upper body and core + swim and run in pool.  Good solid work.

STATS – Steady

October 1st,  Saturday,   7 p.m.

A  little on the cinders…

Today I concentrated once again on lower leg eccentric exercises. Out at the Jackson horse track I did my exercise series with a half mile  jog / light run between each set.  That is the longest I have run without Achilles pain in number of weeks. So I remain encouraged.

GO METS!

Stats-  Good!

I-Mad – 0.5 ?

a.m.HR – 54 BPM

Weight – 151.5  pounds ☺

Sleep- 8 hours

Workout – 1.5 miles  on cinders + eccentric exercises

September 28th, 29th and 30th.                   Wednesday,Thursday and Friday

The time sure does go fast!  I can’t remember the last time didn’t post  for 3 days. I guess writing just isn’t as much when I don’t have a workout to report. And I really do dislike whining about my Achilles tendon. The last three days, however, have been a net positive.?

Wednesday – Recovery

No workout today. My morning heart rate was up around 59/60.  So I thought maybe I had been doing a little too much.  My body needed a recovery day.  While doing some reading about Achilles tendon injuries, I came upon an article I had previously read.  As a result I have decided to embark on a regime of eccentric exercises for my injured Achilles. If any of my readers are having similar difficulties with nagging Achilles tendon problems, you can find the link to the article below.  Started tentatively today.

http://www.runningtimes.com/jan08

Thursday – Strong effort

Today my tendon felt better, admittedly  after a day of rest,  but also after the first day eccentric exercising.   I did get in an hour of pretty solid work in the fitness room; 20 minutes on the elliptical machine + 15 minutes on the bike + 20 minutes of weights and core work.  Continued eccentric heel exercises today with a little more intensity.

Friday –  Slipping away

Somehow I let this day get away without doing any workout.  I did get almost 11 hours sleep last, and it was a pretty unpleasant day. But there were two very interesting developments in my left lower leg.  One, I had virtually zero discomfort in my Achilles tendon.  Two, my upper calf muscle was extremely sore.  I’m sure both of those are the result of the eccentric exercises I have been performing for two days.  Throughout today I did 3 sets of 3 x 15 eccentric heel exercises, culminating in the evening with a half mile run between the last sets.  I had virtually no pain once again.  I am a little confused because the article says that it takes 12 weeks for the complete rehabilitation of the Achilles tendon. So, I guess we will see?!?

Stats –

I-Mad -?

a.m.HR – ?

Sleep – 11 hours ?

Weight  – 153 pounds

Workout –  Regeneration days

September 25 & 26, Monday & Tuesday

Monday –

The plan was to test my Achilles tendon on a slow jog on the track during cross-country practice this afternoon. I did that and finished 1 mile very slow with minimal pain in the Achilles tendon area. I could still feel it nagging, but nothing dramatic.  I thought it was a positive outcome.   The true test will be how my leg feels in the morning.

Tuesday-

 I went to Ocean County Park with the cross country team today for a dual meet.  The goal was to run another slow effort of maybe 2 miles this time.  I even heated and stretched my tendon before I got to the park. Well, the tendon was much more sensitive today.  So I cut the run short.   Not positive!  ??

But I quickly rallied and headed to the clubhouse immediately as I returned home. I did 85 minutes of solid work; 40 minutes on the bike, 20 minute swim  in the pool and 25 minutes on core and upper-body work. After 15 minutes in the whirlpool, I headed home, pleasantly drained, to watch the Mets take on the Braves.   It has become abundantly clear to me that I will have to concentrate on swimming, biking and working in the fitness lab for an extended of time until my Achilles tendon is completely healed. I’m perfectly content with that and will continue working my butt off to stay fit.

?   ?  ?   ?   ?   ?

Fortunately,  my stats have remained stable and solid throughout this non-running interval. ?

September 25th, Sunday. 6:00p.m.

A good day of work in the pool.

 I spent 45 minutes total, 30 minutes running and 15 minutes swimming.  My running included 5x the 30 -20- 10 second surge sequence.  In the pool I do that as 55 leg pumps at 5K effort, than  35 at 1500m race pace effort, than 25 at maximum effort.  That usually results in some serious quadricep burning and considerable aerobic stress. It usually takes me two or three minutes to recover from that sequence.

Than into a nice 15-minute whirlpool afterwards to make it a very pleasant morning.

Stats –

I-Mad = 1

Weight – 153 pounds

Sleep – 9 hours

a.m.HR- 54BPM

Workout – 45 minutes in pool as above

September 24th,  Saturday,  1:00p.m.

In the cool, cool, cool of the morning 

On the first Autumn like morning of this year I rocked a solid eight mile bike ride around my Jackson neighborhood in 45 minutes. Added 10 x 50+ max strokes on each hill along the way.  Surprized and encouraged by the ease and alacrity of my recovery was I.  LOL.      Banana + tart cherry juice with green tea  to replenish ??

Stats –

I-Mad – 2

a.m,HR – 54BPM

Weight – 154#

Sleep – 9 hours

Workout – 8 miles on bike in 45 minutes

September 22, Friday, 3:00 p.m.
???

Got an early 40 minute session of straight swimming in the pool this morning. First 40-minute swim in many months.  Afterwards went in the Whirlpool for 16 minutes with special attention to my Achilles tendon and calf muscles. It feels like my tendon is making steady progress.

Stats are steady.

September 21st,  Autumn, Wednesday, After midnight, so, really Thursaday

Not much to report today. Still choosing to err on the side of caution.  I took my bike to practice again today and spent about an hour in motion all over the Jackson Liberty campus.  I actually joined 3 other cross country team members who were on rehab duty today riding bicycles around campus also.  I am confident that my Achilles is getting better each day. Tomorrow will be dedicated to swimming and lifting.

I was accidentally referred to a post from June 13th today. In that post I laid out what I had discovered to be a particularly important point about + 70 running. That point was to start slow and go slow for a long time and let the body do its own adaptations. I will try very hard to heed this advice when I am back on the road again.

Stats are stable.