TEXAS Paul - Out to Pasture - Healing

Temps in the low 60's.  Ran at Florence HS.  2 easy miles, 2 marathon pace miles.  Boston is only 1 1/2 months away. 

Tried getting registered to the Pikes Peak Marathon through the Active.com web site today, and like thousands of others, the Active.com site crashed and totally messed up the entire registration process.  The Pikes Peak committee is trying to figure out a reasonably fair solution. 

Strongest workout in the last 18 months.  Ran with Karen H., Tam, and Joe on the way up to Mt. Bonnell, then Joe fell back on the way down from Mt. Bonnell.  

Ran Mt. Bonnell 10 mile loop, then the 3 mile Townlake People Bridge loop.  Pushing up Mt. Bonnell I got my heart rate up to 171.  The strongest push up Mt. Bonnell in a couple of years.  Then we pushed the pace the rest of the way.  Boston is only 6 weeks away.  Our goal today was to give it a push for Boston preparation.  Karen H. and I are both doing Boston again this year.  Karen's 3rd in a row, my 7th.   

Still doing 7mg prednisone medication per day.  Right plantar tendon handled today's run really well.  Karen H., Lynn, and I went to Maudie's for breakfast after the run.   

Beautiful evening, temps in the low 70's or high 60's.  Ran at McNeil HS with Donnie's group.  Ran mostly with Karen H. and did continuous miles, while Donnie had most of his group do a mile speed trial.  Bill ran a 5:07 mile for the fastest time.  This was a fun night.

We had some great talk about the Muddy Buddy race in May.  Andy is registered.  We gave him lots of strategy ideas to consider for his team.   

Beautiful evening, about 68 degrees.  Ran at Williamson County Park with Donnie's group.  Ran the 4 easy miles with Daniel.  He reflected on completing his first marathon, and has been extremely happy with what this has done for his self esteem and confidence.  A great night of fun running. 

Another beautiful evening in Texas.  Temp about 70 degrees, cool breeze.  Ran at Florence HS track.  Pushed out 3 quick miles and headed for home.  Getting ready to do 24 miles on Saturday morning. 
Still on 7mg prednisone. 

A beautiful day in Austin, TX.  Temp at 6:00 AM was about 60 degrees.  Humidity was kind of high, but not too bad.  Karen F., Karen H., Carey, and big Tom met me and Lynn and we took off for Mt. Bonnell.  Tom stayed with us until we got to the cleaners at Pecos and 35th Street, then he headed back.  Tom and Karen F. are doing the Ironman in June in Idaho.

After Tom left us we ran on up Mt. Bonnell.  Carey powered up the hill.  Karen, Karen, and I only pushed a medium effort since we were in for the long run today.  Last week I powered up Mt. Bonnell.  Carey left us and headed back after the Mt. Bonnell climb, while Karen, Karen, and I headed up to 2222 and over to Shoal Creek, then down to LaMar, then back down to Townlake and up to Mopac where we started. 

Then Karen H. and I ran the 10 mile loop of Townlake, pushing the last 4 miles at marathon pace.  We both plan to requalify for Boston at Boston this year.  Should be fun.

Then Karen F., Lynn, and I went over to Maudie's for breakfast.  Man were we hungry after the run. 

Overall the legs feel pretty good.  I was especially happy with the plantar tendon on the right foot. 

Beautiful night in Texas, temp about 70 degrees, humidity a little high, but a great night for running.  Ran at McNeil HS with Donnie's group.  Tam and Daniel and Karen H. didn't make it.  We celbrated Joe's birthday with a cake after the run. 

2 miles warm-up.  Drills.  Then Donnie had us do 1100M at 10K pace, then 100M recovery.  Then 700M at 5K pace, then 100M recovery.  Then 4 by 300M at faster than 5K pace with 100M recovery each.  A great workout.  Then Karen F. and I did 2 miles cool down. 

I was still in some recovery mode after doing 24 miles on Saturday, but this workout was still doable and a lot of fun, as Johnny and I ran with Karen F. on this one.  Johnny and I sprinted in the last 125M of the last segment, and he passed me with 20M to go.  Fun.  These young guys can still push past us old guys. 

Still doing 7mg prednisone.  Right plantar tendon felt really good tonight.  I think it is actually healing. 

PIKES PEAK MARATHON !!!!  I got registered this morning for the Pikes Peak Marathon.  Two weeks ago the Active.com web site melted down trying to handle the volume of traffic, so they did a re-do registration today, and I got in.  This will be my 3rd year in a row doing Pikes Peak. 

Today the marathon registration filled in 15 minutes!!  Last year it filled in one day.  Two years ago it filled in 4 days.  Prior years registration filled in a few weeks or months. 

Outside of Colorado Springs, the most runners who do Pikes Peak Marathon come from down here in Austin, TX.  A bunch of flat landers that love to run up the mountain and back down.  The running community here in Austin is out of this world.  For Pikes Peak training we have the Barton Springs Green Belt and the Hill of Life.  Great training for Pikes Peak.   

First we need to get Boston out of the way in less than 5 weeks.  Then hit the trails and the treadmill on maximum elevation setting for Pikes Peak training.

Ran Williamson County Park with Donnie's group.  Took it real easy.  Pain in left shin.  Donnie thinks it is connective tissue.  Ice it and be careful.  Did one mile with Daniel.  He is still on a high from running his first marathon.  I gave him the DVD that my son put together of Daniel's marathon, with the picture of Daniel etched in the face of the DVD.  Cool. 

Still on 7mg prednisone for the muscle issue. 

Owieee.  The left shin was hurting last Saturday after the 24 mile run.  Then on Monday night instead of taking it easy, I pushed it and on the last 300M segment Johnny and I sprinted in to finish the workout.  Ouch, I knew I shouldn't have done it.

Well, Wednesday night the easy 3 miles at Williamson County Park hurt all the way.  These were slow careful easy miles, and they all hurt.

So I iced the shin real good yesterday afternoon at work, and last night at home, and today at work whenever I could.  I also bought an Ace stretch bandage during lunch today and put it on after the icing. 

I've called off the 15 mile run that we were going to do on this Saturday.  And with all this, Karen H. went to see Dr. Speers today to see if she has a hairline fracture in her left leg.  She is going in on Monday for an MRI, so she won't be running this Saturday either. 

Amazing, we both ran a great 24 miles last Saturday, and this Saturday will be a zero miles day.  My goal is to hurry up and get better so I can get back on the Boston training plan.  Boston is 4 weeks away from this weekend.

A warm humid day in Austin, TX.  At lunchtime I went over to Wells Branch on the trail and did 3 loops for a total of 6.6 miles.  This was my first test run since hurting my left shin with shin splints.  After the run the left shin was some tender, but not extremely painful. 

Boston is 3 weeks away.   Karen H. injury has her out of Boston.  She is hoping to still be able to do the Ironman in Idaho in June. 

Severe rain storms in Texas since Sunday.  Ran on treadmill at home.  Testing the left leg shin splint healing.  Treadmill is not nearly as impact prone as running on roads.  Shin felt fine for this run. 

Karen F. and I are doing 15 miles Friday after work.  Then this weekend I'm on the road taking my grand-daughter back home after her spring vacation with us.

Went over to Florence HS with Lynn, PD, and my grand-daughter, 7 year-old Tapainga.  This was just a testing of the left shin on the track, preparation for the 15 miles we are going to run after work on Friday evening.  Good news is the shin felt fine with this easy run on the track.  It was just 2 weeks ago that the shin had severe pain after easy running at Williamson County Park.  Looking forward to 15 miles around Townlake on Friday.

Ran after work with Karen F. on Townlake trail.  Did the 10 mile loop and then the 5 mile loop.  Monitored the left shin for any pain issues, but all seemed okay.  A beautiful day to run, after a week of rain.  The storm clouds moved away just as we got started running.