April 8th,  Sunday

Water logging (LOL)

I am inspired today by a comment from my hero, Matt Hoh.( Matt is my hero because he is a warrior for his country and a man of honor. Plus  young men like Matt made coaching and teaching a joy.)  This was his comment.

In 1991, Coach, you had me run in the pool when I had an Achilles injury. A few months later I barely lost the Group III, 800m state championship, I think the pool may work fine for you too ?

I do remember that race at South Plainfield. Matt and Pat Redmond were both in the hot heat. The finish was a blur of five guys lunging simultaneously at the tape.  I wish I had a copy of the photo finish because I did see it. Pat was awarded third place even though he was not in the picture thanks to my friend Bill Bannon who was the photo analyst. Pat was sprawled  on the track across the finish line, and the camera did not catch his body.

I also remember that Matt  anchored our 1st Place Eastern State Championship 4 by 800m relay, running a 1:53 for the 800m.  That team of Brian Harris, Brenden Heffernan and Pat Redman ran 7:48 that night. It was the fastest time in New Jersey that year and remains the North Hunterdon High School and Hunterdon County record to this day.

Thank you for the encouragement and a nice memory, Matt.

Stats –

I-Mad = 0

I-Mid = 4

a.m.HR =54BPM

Weight = #145

Sleep = 9.5 hrs

Workout = 1 hour at club;  15 lift – 15 swim  – 30 water fun

April 7th, Friday

Today I became resigned to the reality that I will have to get the major portion my work done in the water for at least another week or two. The strained muscle in my foot is healing very slowly and it makes no sense to run on the surface.  I just looked at my log I can last April and I am writing basically the same entries about a strained muscle in my foot. That time it took almost a month for the foot to completely heal which was exactly what the first doctor I went to told me it would take. So it’s lifting and water running for the foreseeable future.

Today I worked out in the fitness lab for 25 minutes lifting, lightly because it’s been a while. Then I ran in the water for 40 minutes. I decided to do 10 of the pick up series 30 -20 – 10. Now on the ground it would be 30 seconds at 5K pace, 20 seconds at 800-meter pace and 10 seconds all out.  In the water I count strides 60 – 35 – 25. Ten sets is the most I have ever done,  so I was pretty happy with today’s effort.  I finished with 15 minutes in the whirlpool mostly focusing on massaging the sore foot.

Stats –

I-Mad = 0

I-Mid = 4/5 ?

a.m.HR =54BPM

Sleep =8 hours

Weight =#154

WORKOUT = ???? 65 minutes

April 5th, Tuesday

A good session of alternative training at clubhouse tonight.  Biking and light lifting in exercise room, 20 minute swim and 20 minute water running in pool. A total of 65 minutes.

Stats –

I-Mad =0

I-Mid = 5.  ?

A.m.HR =54BPM

Weight = #156

Sleep = 8 hours

Workout = 65 minutes at club

April 1, 2, 3

???  FEELING ANTSY

This plus70Runner is feeling a little antsy these days because of the slow pace at which my foot is healing. This is clearly not a serious problem, but it is preventing me from doing any serious work. I was in very good shape two weeks ago when I ran the St. Augustine Lighthouse 5K in My Best Time Ever. I was anxious to get back to New Jersey with my goals having been accomplished to be in good aerobic shape and injury-free. Well I think I’m still in pretty good aerobic shape, but this injury is nagging me. I was planning to begin doing speed work in April and May in order to run a competitive time at the Senior Nationals. Speed work, and in fact any work, is on hold for a few more days until I get the foot issue under control.  So I will be doing work that does not involve impact or pushing go off my left foot. I can bike and swim and run in the water.  ???

Saturday- Spent 7 hours on my feet today at the Raider relays. I don’t think it helped my foot very much.

Sunday – Today I ran a very slow 2 miles in about 30 minutes at the cinder track. . My foot was hurting during the entire run. It never got better. This is what makes me believe I do not have plantar fasciitis, because if I did, the discomfort would slowly disappear as I got warmed up. Have to stay with the concept that I have a strained muscle in my foot.

Monday-Today was an indoor day at the clubhouse riding the bike, swimming  and running in the deep water,  no impact or push off.  (I hour of work)

STATS – STABLE

March 30,  Wednesday

Foot healing: rode bike for 32 minutes today.  5 miles.  First time on bike in a few months. New goal is to start running on Sunday.   Saturday will be a long day on feet at Raider Relays. Trying to stay positive and focused.

March 28th, Tuesday

With nothing to report but an aching sore foot and no running, I have not had anything to write about for the last 5 days.  We did spend two of those days driving home from Florida. So it is back in Jackson now trying to treat an aching foot.  I did reconnect with the coaches from Jackson boys track team. Tomorrow I will be helping the coaches at an inter-squad meet.                  I am contemplating a bicycle ride early tomorrow if the weather is good.

Stats-

I-Mad = 0?

a.m.HR = Steady

Weight = #158?

I-MId = 4/5?

SLEEP  = 11 hours ?

Workout =  Nada for a whole week……??

March 21st,  Tuesday

Resting sore foot.?

March 22nd, Wednesday

Solid swim….??

Feeling down but exercising an abundance of caution, I have refrained from running and concentrated on swimming. The weather is ideal; upper sixties, blue skies and the pool is a comfortable 78*.  The foot is feeling better each day. This is an unfortunate way to conclude this eight week stay in St. Augustine.  But I had vowed to return to Jersey injury free and with increased fitness. I think I can still accomplish both of those things.

Leaving in three days.?

Stats-

I-Mad = 0

a.m.HR = 50BPM. Rather low

Weight =  #158 ? ??  Way too high from lack of work..

I- MI’d = 3/4 -Getting better

Sleep = 10 hours.  OK

Workout = 40 minutes in the pool

March 18th and 19th,  Saturday and Sunday

Looks like a holding pattern for a few days.

Still nursing a sore foot I took a day off on Saturday and ran three and a half uncomfortable, slow miles on Sunday. I don’t see any progress with this sequence. So, I am going to have to take a couple of days off to see if I can rid myself of this aching foot. During this Hiatus I am still confused about whether to be using heat or ice to treat this injury. I am pretty sure this is a strained muscle as I had a few months ago.  My foot does not hurt on impact while running. But each time I push off of my left foot I get a mild to medium  level pain in the instep. Now, I could keep  running on this because it doesn’t hurt badly. But I’m pretty sure that if I keep running it will get worse and worse.

I will have to keep reminding myself of the advice I read in a recent article. The author explained that muscle and aerobic fitness develop much more quickly than the skeletal system can adapt.

So, as I increase my training level I put my bones, ligaments, tendons and fascia in jeopardy.  Be smarter, man!

I had thought about purchasing a bike when I arrived in Florida seven weeks ago. But I figured running would be better for my conditioning than riding a bike: so I did not. I could really use it right now. But with only six days to go until we head home, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to buy it now.  I guess I’ll just try to swim in the pool for a few days and see how quickly my foot responds to no running.

Stats are pretty steady and unremarkable.

March 17, Friday ? ♱

Achey 3.5 on beach today…..

I ran 3.5 miles on the beach today in 38:00 with my left foot talking to me softly the whole time.  During the run did 8 pickups of 30 seconds each.  My Garmen tells me I’m running about 8:00 per mile pace during the pick up segments. The mile times were 12:30 warm up, 10:03, 10:27 and  6:00 cool down.  Refreshing ocean soak and ice roll afterward.  Check foot reaction in morning.

Stats-

I-Mad = 0?

a.m.HR = 54BPM

Sleep = 8 hours

Weight = #154.5

I-Mid = 5 ?

March 15th, Wednesday

“Beware the Ides.. ”  and the foot

After a very nice lunch in Old Town with Kristen and Arlene, came home and had a nap. Feeling frustrated about consistent soreness to my left foot, I decided to go out for a while under a new plan.  That plan was to do 10 minute warm-up, 10 minutes of work,  and 10 minutes cool down. The idea was that only 30 minutes of work may not put undue pressure sore foot. There was moderate pain in my left InStep for the entire 30 minutes. Clearly there is something going on in that foot. But I did manage to do 10  x 30-second pickups going off every minute during the middle stage. That was good and seemed to get my heart rate up pretty high. I was breathing pretty heavily for those 10 minutes. These pickups today were not very quick, just a  solid stride (short).    I was happy to get that much work in today.  I will see what effect it has on for my foot tomorrow.

Stats –

I-Mad = 0.   The Achilles tendons are fine period no pain or soreness at all. I need a new indicator two measure my instep soreness level. I guess it has to be I-Mid, (Index of Morning Instep Discomfort )

I-Mid =  6 today

Sleep = 6 hours. Not good last few days. Not getting to bed early enough.

a.m.HR = 54 BPM

WEIGHT  = #154

WORKOUT = ABOVE