Focus:

Quality over Quantity.

Planned Workout Description: 

Recovery day. If I run, do an easy 1 mile run to see how the Achilles is progressing. Do resistance band, balance work, stretching, and icing protocols. Since it is Friday, I know that for supper will be Pizza and chips with a beer, so go easy at lunch. Also, we are starting work on the house, so I have to be available for the carpenters to answer their questions. It could be a slightly more stressful day than usual.

Warm-up: My minimum warm-up is the leg swing routine x 20, 40 air squats, 100-ups before running, and the first few minutes of the run will either be a walk or easy running, depending on the distance I have planned.

·      Course:  #1 – Philbrick/Howard Lap 

       Weather: Clear sky, 62°F, Feels like 54°F, Humidity 36%, Wind 9mph from NNE  

·      Distance: #1 – 1.07

·      Duration: #1 – 10:18

·      Power: #1 – 211

·      Running Streak Day #: 5

Running – What actually happened: 

I did what I set out to do – a recovery run and then stop close to 10:00 minutes. While I probably ran harder than what is considered easy by many, it is my easy for now, and I am happy with what I did this morning. If I wasn’t focusing so much on what I am doing in training and just going by feel, I am pretty sure that I would have done too much today and not really have done a recovery workout.

Other Stuff

I am working on doing my run planning during breakfast versus simply surfing the web. This way, I get to see if what I have written down or had in my head as a great idea is what I need to do and how it fits into what will move me forward towards my goals before my run. 

Sometimes trusting your gut for a workout is great, but I am learning that I need a bit more structure than I have had in the past if I want to improve as a runner. Especially as I work to get over this particular Achilles issue. 

I am using the front steps for doing eccentric calf drops, part of a daily routine after finishing Bennie’s long walk. Then when I get done whacking on the tire with the sledgehammer, I do them again. Those changes are starting to become more automatic and don’t require a lot of thinking about what to do next. The best part is that I can feel the difference that these exercises are making.

The carpenters came to do the work and their being here will impact my ability to get my runs and workouts in completely. I have to be available to answer their questions or approve changes to the work that had been previously agreed to. Just hope there are not too many more of those things.

Reading

I finished Make the Leap by Ryan Green and looked at the workbook. Many ideas to follow up on, and who knows, incorporate more than a couple into my thinking, training, and running.

Online articles:  Nothing running related.

Variables that impacted the run:

Injuries/Niggles: I am still nursing that left Achilles tendon issue but making slow progress. 

Shoes: ASICS Nimbus Lite 2 (38.39) – I don’t know what to make of the NL2s. I love how they fit, but I almost feel like I am fighting myself and the shoes to get a comfortable stride in them. I know that part of this feeling is the Achilles injury, but at the same time, I don’t feel smooth in them. They are comfortable and don’t bother my feet when I run in them, but the feel underfoot isn’t quite the same as either the EvoRide 2 or Magic Speeds. I will continue to keep them in my rotation and see how they feel when the leg heals up a lot more. Maybe then I will love them. 😇

After run work:

· Sledgehammering tire – 100

· Step hip lunges 2×20

· Eccentric Calf Drops – 4 ×15

· Calf Raises – 2×15

· Mobilization – pill bottle and The Stick

· Balance work and some minor stretching

· Iced Achilles 1×20 minutes

Easy night and a recovery day that I didn’t do a whole lot – but that is the idea of a recovery day – isn’t it?