Ok up late watching Olympics. It's good to know that the fastest race in history wasn't important enough to be broadcast on Live television. I think Bolt could've gone 0.10 to 0.13 seconds faster. He might run sub-9.5 in 2012. 8 kudos to Michael Phelps. Two great pieces of God's work. Also, I'm thankful to have seen a 38 year old win the Women's 26.2 and a 41 year old medal in women's swimming. Seeing that lets me know that if I don't reach my peak in the normal ages of 26-32 (or whatever they may be), then it's not over. Now I know it's never over.

Monday 8/11 AM 2.5 roads easy. shin exercises reduced to once/day. Core meant for PM but went out and bought a bunch of necessary items for college.

Tuesday 8/12 AM PT and Core. PM 2.5 roads medium effort. felt great; very fast and easy. I would've liked to have seen the time on this one it seemed pretty good.

Wednesday 8/13 AM Core. PM 2.5 roads medium effort. not fast, didin't feel great.

Thursday 8/14 AM Core, Bike 3.6mi to work. PM 3mi roads. not hard/not easy.

Friday 8/15 AM Core, AM run 3mi main st w/Neil. 19:44, 6:34 pace. Neil stepped in a nice little hole 2mi in and had to slow down a lot but I kept hammering through and this was probably my fastest training run ever. I dont remember ever going faster than like 6:45 for any tempo run of any distance. It wasn't all out either, its just the same effort I put into my tempos as I ever have.

Saturday 8/16 AM Core, AM run 2mi roads. Went for 3mi, but 1.25 in I felt some give in the fibula so I called off the 3, took it easy home. Taking care of the leg.

Sunday 8/17 Off, rest, I love God.

 

Week Total 15.5mi. Four out of Six were good runs I guess, other than feeling a little crappy on Wednesday and hurting today.

That run Friday really surprised me. If that's any indication of my physical ability, I'd be in the best shape of my life. Not much more I can say or do with that though.. I just have to keep doing the core workouts (which have helped a TON), running every day even if it means going less to keep from injury, and keep letting the Lord renew my strength. This was a good week because I followed those steps.

Okay, basic recap because I just had this whole thing typed but accidentally pressed the back button on the browser and couldn't recover the page.

Monday-Off

Tuesday- AM PT found out that the pain is actually recovery taking place. PM Run 2mi no watch, judged pace on how I felt, trying not to hurt myself.

Wednesday- AM Full Core; 5 new workouts to the core routine incl. leg lifts. PM Run 2mi.

Thursday- AM PT. Felt sick, low energy level, no workouts.

Friday- AM Full Core. PM Run 2mi sublimation run. 14:03. Got angry/sad about a matter and took it out on the run. Timed it because I knew it'd be worth taking a look at. My fastest run since coming back.

Saturday AM Full Core. PM Run 2.5mi woods no watch easy. Moved up the distance. Shirtless run in the woods, bugs wouldn't leave me alone.

Sunday- Off. Rest day.

Week Total 8.5mi.

Monday 7/28
     6AM Bike 7.5mi 39:30 Didn't have any drive to go fast whatsoever.
     6PM Run 1.5mi 11:24. 7:36 pace. My lower legs were pretty tired toward the end of this run.

Tuesday 7/29
     6AM Core only. I meant to do a run but when I got out of bed and started walking around, I felt this awful sensation in my lower left leg (where my stress fracture was). It did hurt a little, but it was a strange hurt. It wasn't like a shin splints type of pain or muscle soreness pain. In fact I can relate it most to the morning I woke up after I sprained my ankle in August 2006. It's just this awful pain that sucks. You can't be a man and take it, you just lay there and hurt like a bitch. So after about 20 minutes of putting on and taking off socks and trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do for a workout I decided to at least postpone the run until the PM. I had work and if I went out on a run and hurt it, then well work wouldn't be too great. Also, walking and standing at work would give me further information on how the leg felt. I decided to lift in the morning (originally planned for PM), but then my right wrist was hurting so I was only able to do core.
     6PM Run 1.5mi 11:05. 7:25 pace. Felt easier physically than day before, and no lower leg pain. No leg pain at work either. Thought it was fine.
     On another note, I started taking hot-cold showers after my runs with this one. I get in, get everything wet with a comfortable temperature (what I'd take a normal shower in). Then I put it on a cold temperature. This usually comes with quite a few profanities. It's the worse of all of them. I only put it on low enough so it feels cold. By the last set I have it all the way to cold and it's a lot easier than this one. Anyway, I'll take the body wash and clean my left arm/shoulder/back areas... then I'll rinse it. All the while I'm moving around and putting legs under the water. Basically I'm making sure that with each cycle, my whole body is hit with the temperature. After rinsing I turn the handle to hot then wash same parts on my right side. This goes on with my whole body.. then I split my hair up (not by left/right, but) by shampoo/rinsing. I'm switching H/C about 4 times each at this point, and each one I make it colder/hotter than before. After cleaning, I'll do a final rinse in the absolute coldest water and then the absolute hottest water. (Then, since it's summer I'll put it on cold again so when I walk out of the shower I'm not sweating. If it were winter I'd just walk out after the hot). So the whole body goes from freezing to burning 5 times in the 5-10 minutes I spend doing this, and all the muscles feel great after. Also, I focus mostly on my legs while doing this.
     This works because the cold water causes the blood (with lactic acid) to move out of the muscles, then the hot water causes new blood to rush in. Repeating this process ensures that I get out most of the lactic acid. If you have enough cajones to deal with the first few cycles of freezing water then go for it, its basically a fountain of youth for the legs.

Wednesday 7/30
     7AM Bike 7.5mi 40:40 Purposely went really slow.. I was getting bored of doing the same old route but I didn't want to add more miles (which is what I'd have to do to go another route because of the limited places to ride around here). I didn't want to add more to the bike because I was moving up from 1.5 to 2mi in the evening. The ride felt good... I actually spent most of it thinking about what I'd do if I won a million dollars. Well, not much would actually change about me. I mean sure, no bills to worry about, plus better nutrition and training apparel.. a larger non-running wardrobe and I'd probably buy a dark blue Corvette with a soft top.. not the current model but the one before, from 2001 to 2003 I think. I'd still go to UMass-Lowell, probably for all four undergrad years, because I chose the school for it's track program. If I were to switch to another school the only one I could imagine going to would be the U of Oregon. One of my dreams is to race a 5K at Hayward Field. However, my current mission, is to be a Riverhawk, and I will complete that before I try anything else.
     7PM Run 2mi 14:43. 7:22 pace. So far, each of my runs has been at a faster pace than the last one. This has all happened naturally but I did not want the trend to end, so I pushed. Awful idea, considering the physical therapist's instructions were to "slowly stress the bone". Nothing seemed bad about the leg yet.

Thursday 7/31
     6AM Core. I was supposed to lift too but left elbow was hurting.
     7PM Run 2mi 14:32. 7:16 pace. I once again pushed myself to run faster than the day before. Horrible idea. I noticed the exact same feeling in the exact same spot of my fibula during my shower that I had felt before my injury healed. A sarcastic 'congratulations' to myself followed; I had succeeded in getting a better time on this one day, but it cost me another stress fracture and potentially months. Thinking about it now, I could have just put 3 months of training into running a 14:32 2 mile in training.

Friday 8/1
Nothing. Off for leg.

Saturday 8/2
Lift+Core.

Sunday 8/3 and likely the next few weeks; Completely off. I'm still going to work because I need the money and I will go crazy if I have to stay inside the house every day for another month. Also, I dont think that the 10-15 days of four to six hour shifts I have left this summer are going to do substaintial harm.

Week Totals 7mi running. 15mi biking.

So my physical life came back for not even a two week affair and she left because I was nothing but a stubborn, selfish guy. OK so maybe my life as a runner isn't a daytime soap opera but it sure does seems like it to me. That's the end of me being thick-headed about "being fine" when I'm really causing another injury. That attitude has taken serious training away from me for 4 months now.

My problem is that I train too hard for my body but not hard enough for my mind. Ever. It seems that nothing I'm gonig to be able to do now or over the next several months, is going to be enough to satisfy me. I want to reach my full potential. I want to be at my full potential for my whole life. I mean of course, my "full potential" will be faster in 5 years than it is now, and probably faster (depending on the distance), 5 years after that. When I hit 40, I'll probably start getting slower and that level of "full potential" will just get slower. That I can deal with. What I can't deal with, is being able to be outside running 50mpw no problem but instead being inside typing on a computer about how I can't.

I try to be perfect every day but I'm always far from it. I spend all morning figuring out solutions to my problems, then spend all afternoon creating more. I love this sport but I hate what I'm doing in it. I want to take care of my body of course, I hate being injured more than anything. However, I also hate working less than 100%. How can I go out there and do 100% of what my body is capable of but not get injured? I just can't seem to figure this out; in order to reach my full potential, I have to work very hard. However, if I work very hard, I get injured, thus eliminating all the benefits of the training I had done.

So, when I get back to training, what do I do? Do I take a more recreational approach to training, and simply "listen to my body" and increase mileage and speed as my body feels right? Or do I go back to training with an all-balls mentality and work my body hard enough to consider myself doing what is necessary to reach the next level of my running ability? The first option keeps me healthy but in order to do my best I need to do the second option. My problem is, if I do the first one, every day I'll wonder how much harder I can be pushing myself, but if I do the second one, I'll be injured and hoping I could just go out and do a 30minute 5K just to enjoy running.

It's a huge headache. Neither option lets me do what I want to do. However, I'm going to go with the first option because obviously the second one hasn't been hurting. I'll add on elements to my training as soon as it feels right. However, I'm afraid that I'll go too hard too early again. It's impossible to make a decision that will allow me to be injury-free AND as fast as I can be, at the same time.

Well, I'm going to close this out with a hope, the same prayer I've been saying to God for the past few days. I hope that this layoff goes by quickly because I've had quite enough of being away from serious training. God has been burning me in the furnace of adversity. I don't know how well-done he wants me to come out, but no matter how long my troubles continue I will have to withstand them if I am to become the greatest runner I can be.

This was my first week of regular training after 13 weeks with 3 days or more off from running, and it's the first week of training since the last week of May, when it became clear to me that I was still injured. It feels absolutely great to be back at it again. The sun shines a hell of a lot brighter now. Food tastes better and I have something to look forward to when I wake up.

Monday 7/21
     7AM Physical Therapy
Cleared to start running. Went 5 minutes on the bike and 0.4mi on the treadmill. Also did some more exercises and was cleared to start running. The instructions were to do 1mi jog then add 0.5mi every 4 days as long as everything felt good. So, when I went running that evening I went with the same effort he had me going on the treadmill.
     6PM Run 1mi 8:56
I went from the house down the hill for a half mile then back up. I'd be better off on flat land but I deal with what I have. I was out of breath and sweaty. That's the hardest 8:56 mile I've run in a very long time.

Tuesday 7/22
     7AM Bike 7.5mi 35:30 Slow and easy.
     7PM Run 1mi 8:55. Same route, same time, much easier.

Wednesday 7/23
     8AM Run 1mi 8:46.
     7PM Lift Same routine I've been doing. Did 45 pushups in the last set. Also, I added core to lifting.

Thursday 7/24
     11AM Run 1mi 8:22.
I was waiting for the rain to stop so I could bike (safety concern), but it didn't stop for a while so I did my run in the rain. (Of course, it stopped raining after I ran). When I got out of work it was too dark to bike so I moved the bike workout to Sunday, a day in which I originally planned only 1 workout, a run.

Friday 7/25
     8AM Bike 7.5mi 35:00. Way too slow going out.
     8PM Run 1.5mi 12:14.
That's 8:10 pace which means I'm still improving even though my run just increased in length by 50%. However my leg gave a little with about 200m to go, so every day since this day I've decided to give a moderate effort and let the pace decide itself. If I shoot for pace goals every day I'm likely to injure myself again.

Saturday 7/26
     7AM Bike 7.5mi 32:00.
Best bike time. I pushed pretty good knowing my 2nd workout was a lift; nothing cardiovascular. I also worked 6 hours and was doing my job pretty good. Saturday in a supermarket isn't anything easy for a bagger.
     7PM Lift+Core.
Same routine as last time, except when I did the last set of pushups (last part of workout), the good Lord let me do 63 pushups, my most ever.

Sunday 7/27
     9:30AM Bike 7.5 33:30. Tried going faster but legs didn't have it after yesterday's ride + day of work. It was a pretty good ride despite being 1:30 slower than yesterday.
     6PM Run 1.5mi 11:45.
7:50 pace. No rain until about 5:30 or so, of course, because that's when I started getting ready for the run. It was raining pretty good when I went out, so I had a long sleeve shirt and a zip hoodie on. Sweatshirt came off gradually as I got through the run. Didn't get cold or sick or anything and I got a very nice time for this stage of training, so the run was quite a success. Of, and of course after I got inside, showered, I looked out the window to see clear skies and no rain.

Week Totals 6mi running. 35mi biking. That's the most fun I'll ever have with a 6mi week. My bike riding is going to go down as my running mileage goes up. This upcoming week I'm switching to a 3 bike rides/3 lifts per week schedule, alternating Mon-Sat, with running on all of those days, and Sunday will be a complete rest day. I may hold that schedule for a few more weeks, and when it feels right I'll add in a Sunday long run every 14 days.

Since being cleared to ride a bike I've gotten back into some training which feels great. I started with bike one day/off the next, then I decided to bike 2 days in a row but eventually just went 3 days in a row because it felt fine.

Monday 7/14
AM Physical therapy
     Did some more active exercises this time including some quick stepping up and down and balancing and lunging and some more balancing, started doing balancing/strengthening exercises for lower legs, twice a day.
     No biking; scheduled day off.

Tuesday 7/15
AM Bike 7mi, walk half mile
     This is the standard workout. I bike 7 miles because theres's a conveniant (unlike the spelling of that word) turnaround point and end point that amazingly comes out to an exact mile marker. I walk the last half mile due to a physical therapist's advice, it serves as a bridge to running.

Wednesday 7/16
Nothing. Scheduled day off.

Thursday 7/17
AM Bike 7mi (29:07), walk half mile.

Friday 7/18
AM Bike 7mi (30:11), walk half mile.
     Was actually faster on the way out but considerably slower going back. Didn't feel any different than Thursday, the body just didn't go as fast.

Saturday 7/19
AM Bike 9mi easy, Lift
     Actually planned on taking the day off but I figured the legs could handle going out so I did, went fast out and back, but instead of going the uphill mile to the finish I caught my dad a half mile into his 3 mile run and pedaled alongside him talking for about a half mile before the sidewalk disappeared. Then there was only room for a single file so I rode behind him which can give a hell of a push. He had some knee pain with a half mile to go (too bad, he was having a good run). It's probably due to him cold turkey-ing bike riding once he got his car working again. When you suddenly drop an entire element of your training, you can't expect the body to react healthfully. After the easy ride I did my first lift in over a week. (More below).

Sunday 7/20
Nothing; scheduled rest day.

Week Totals Bike 30miles, 1 Lift.

That's probably the most bike riding I've done in a week since back in middle school when I rode between 3-5mi everyday around the neighborhood with my friend or just riding hard by myself. If I ride 40mi in a week then I'll call that my all-time high. I never kept track of it but I can't imagine I ever broke 40mi.

Now about lifting, I hadn't done it in about a week because, at first the wrists were hurting from just the lifting alone which is a normal problem for me. Then, they started hurting from the bike riding (leaning forward on them for 30mins each ride). So then I got the idea to use my dad's old Everlast boxing wrap and wrapped up the hand/wrist/forearm and was finally able to get a lift in. No problems with the wrists, the boxing wrap really helps and I'm going to use it every lift, and I will do 2 lifts each week now. As a runner I don't need more than that and as a person with weak wrists, 2 a week might be all I should be trying to handle.

The Excellent News is that after today's ass-o'clock (7am) PT appointment, I was cleared to start running again. While it is just a "1 mile jog" each day, it's excellent. Think of an alcoholic. Well, that's not me but think of someone who goes through a 6 pack or more every day. Imagine how shitty that person feels if he doesn't drink alcohol for a month. Then, imagine at the end of that month, the person being given a can of some cheap no-name light beer. While it's nothing close to the 6 packs of Corona and Budweiser he was having before, it's still beer so he savors every sip.
Now read that story again but replace drinking with running and beers with miles, and you have the story of my physical activity since April.

It feels great to be back running again. I'm including an appropriate quote from Batman Begins, which applies pretty well to what occured today; I saw The Dark Knight (superb movie, btw.), and was cleared to start running. It's said to Batman by Alfred.

"Why do we fall, sir? So that we might learn to pick ourselves up."

My drop is done, now I've begun to pick myself up.

OK my last post was about me visiting the doctor and getting a protective walking boot and now I'm not wearing that and I am now able to walk and ride a bike.

So here's a summary of what I've been doing with my body since then.

June 21, 24, 26, 30, July 3, 6= Lifting weights. It's been coming along nice but my wrists have very very little support and they always after so I have to delay lifts to having 2-3 days off in between.

July 10; First PT appointment. My hammies are weak (a result from doing nothing but laying/sitting down for a month) and inbalanced (boot made legs uneven). Also, my feet are inflexible so I've been doing exercises twice a day to help those out.
Today was my second appointment and I got another exercise to do for that. I also did this rapid step up step down exercise there and boy am I out of shape.

Yesterday I rode the bike for 6.5 miles then did 0.5 walking (PT recommended walking for a half mile as a bridge to start jogging). The bike ride felt great. I felt great... until I got to my turnaround point and I noticed I had a lot less left than I thought I would. Went a lot slower on the way home. Everything is sore today, which honestly feels pretty good. I love the physical pain that comes with a good workout, it lets me know I did what I was supposed to while I was out there.

If I ride today I'll probably have to take tommorow off for sure and likely won't feel good the next day. So, I'm not riding today. I don't want to slam myself into overtraining the first week I can. Emotionally I want to be out there riding but intelligently I am sitting here typing because this stress fracture has taught me that overtraining is real, and telling yourself you aren't injured does not make your split bone feel any better. As I get back into regular running I'm going to closely monitor how I feel. If this means that I take longer to get to the level of training I want to do, so be it, I will get there healthy.

A good note, I'll be working again in two weeks, and I'll be at college a month after that. So I go from doing nothing with my life for a month to cycling for two weeks to working for a month to finally being at school and living a regular life. Great news for me at college; a free swimming pool at the gym for students, and a free weight room at the rec center for students. So even if my running is only at some pathetic half mile a day level, I can still be on the stationary bike and lifting and swimming. I'll be able to do two workouts a day and get my body into good overall shape before I go back to a competitive training regimen.

(No running since 5/31).

Got an x-ray and there's a fracture in the fibula. I'm wearing this thing that goes up to my knee, it's removeable and it takes pretty much all the pressure of the leg. Monday I'll be going to the hospital for a bone scan to see what exactly is going on, then I'll see orthopedics on Wednesday to figure out what happens from there, but I'm probably done through the end of July.

I started lifting weights regularly, M-W-F. It's not in my personality to go without exercise.

Maybe by the end of August I'll be running every day and in October I'll be in full training. I don't know if the same walk-on deal is available for me for the indoor season but I'm pretty sure I won't be on the cross country team this year unless something amazing happens. I'll see.

Okay not much to write about but I'm waiting for a phone call so I figured I'd type something while I'm at it.

Mon 5/26 2.5mi hwoods orchard hill 18:43 (7:29). Mouth really dry; had 2 coffees at work. still went faster than last time.

Tue 5/27 3mi 21:22 (7:07). Was going for 4 but muscles around injury started really hurting.

Wed 5/28, Thu 5/29 Off.

Fri 5/30 CxT 30 mins hockey. Was going to run but after the leg hurt after playing hockey i didn't.

Sat 5/31 2mi 14:09 (7:05). Leg hurt.

June 1-9; Off. Lifted weights 6/3; 3 sets of 10 rep weight.

Finally seeing the doctor about this next Friday 6/13.

 

MON 1.5mi on track; 1 lap, 1 lap, 800m, 800m, leg went.

TUE 0.25mi 1 lap, leg wasn't good to run, stopped

WED/THU 0ff.

FRI 0.5mi no real workout but ran through the halls of the school for like 5 mins nonstop yelling and banging on lockers and such. This convinced me I would be ready to run on Saturday.

SAT 2.5mi 19:44 in homewoods to orchard hill rd and back.
It's been so long since I've been able to just go and run a hard, good tempo effort. I stretched out, laced the shoes tight, and took off into the woods. I probably started at about race pace for maybe a quarter mile before I settled down into tempo pace. I skipped over and about the rocks as I made my way down the hill and into the good part of the path. I was flying through, surprised that I felt as good as I did. I hit the half mile marker at about 4 minutes, which is a lot faster than I'd ever gone through that area before. I kept gliding towards the turnaround point. With the goal of 20 total minutes for the workout, I hit the turnaround at 9:30, right on pace considering going back included the hill. After the turnaround I felt slower than I had on the way out but I powered through. I could be making my leg worse, I could be shooting my muscles for the rest of the week... my right knee was aching. Still, I held pace. The main path was blazed and I headed up the hill. Never had the hill gone by so quickly. It seemed like a dominating climb, as I hit the straightaway with plenty left. I cruised at the aerobic threshold all the way back, the sun beating down my bare skin and sweat dripping down my forehead. As I crossed the invisible finish line and stopped the watch, I immediately basked in the glory of my first tempo run of the summer. The elation I felt reminded me of why I love running. Only those who have done it before will understand it now and do it again later. It's the happiest pain I'll ever go through and I wouldn't trade it in for anything.

SUN 4mi total
930AM 2mi tempo on S main st. a little faster than 8min pace? didn't have a watch.
8PM 2mi 16:22 easy in homewoods; about 1.75mi.

Week Total 9mi 2 actual days of running; hopefully that continues.

I'm back running again (sort-of). This is my log over the last month, which is basically the span of my injury from origin to now.

16 4.5 Meet vs Tantasqua- 2 mile 11:46, 4th.  Mile 5:32, 3rd. hurt ankle/leg 
17 5.75 39:27  5 woods medium +wu. [ankle/leg] 
18 3 27:21t  xc course easy +wu. [leg, knee] 
19 -   [?ankle/leg/tendon?] bike7.2 
20 -   [injury] 
21 4 Meet at Bartlett- 3200 11:51 2nd. 1600 6:18 4th. [injury], ankle, hot, no rest between. 
22 -   [injury] bike7.2 
23 -   [injury] bike3.6 
24 -   [injury] bike7.2 
25 -   [injury] walk4 
26 -   [injury] bike7.2 
27 -   [injury] bike3.6 
28 -   [injury] felt good on walk home-almost better 
29 -   [injury] probably good to run but no practice 
30 2 Meet at Grafton- Mile 5:38 2nd. [injury], 8 days off=slow time 
MAY 1 -   [injury] worse than before due to race; ice all day 
2 -   [injury] 
3 -   [injury] 
4 -   [injury] bike3.6 5 -   [injury] 
6 -   [injury] 
7 -   [injury] 
8 -   [injury] 
9 -   [injury] 
10 -   [injury] bike7.2 can start to walk. 
11 -   [injury] bike3.6  
12 -   ready to jog? 
13 -   ran around in gym-hurts but ok to jog a little 
14 -   can jog; not run. 
15 1.25   1 lap warmup, 2 800's. 
16 -   sick 
17 -   sick 
18 3 30:45  homewoods w/Neil

On the days there's actually something written, the columns go total miles/time/workout description. Also, about the bike-I didn't choose to cross train, the bike hurt my injury, but it was my only means of getting to and from work. Also, any day where it says 'bike', I was working too so that's probably about 3 miles of walking total during the day, and otherwise standing the whole time.

On the run today I was breathing pretty heavy throughout.. Wasn't going better than 8:30/mile at any point. I'm still a little sick and I'm coming off the biggest layoff from running in at least 2 years.

About 2 weeks ago I contacted the assistant coach for distance at UML, Nate Jenkins, inquiring about walking-on. He said I have to run between 10:00 to 10:10 2 mile by the end of the summer. He gave me a basic outline for training which is this;

At least 70mpw. Two-a-days every day except for Sunday. go easy/easy one day, easy/hard the next. On Sunday I start with a 1 hour long run and build up 10 minutes a week to 2:10, then I finish with a 400@ 2miGP. I'm supposed to build this up as much as possible and hopefully finish the 2:10 with a 5:00 mile or 7:30 2400 by the end of the summer. Also, because I'm following this traditional running week, my log weeks go Monday to Sunday, with the long run being the last run of the week. The training goes that way so it makes more sense to put it in that way.

At least once a week I do short hill repeats. These are 8 to 15 second all out sprints up the steepest hill I can find (luckily for me there's 2 awful ones within a 1.25mi of my house). I start out at 8 or 10 reps (something like that, I'll check the email again before my first one) then I add on a few each time I do the workout and I should be doing like 25+ repeats by the end of the summer. Once a week I do strides, 8 to 10 x100m (which I'll probably do as an easy workout because I defenitely don't see that as hard.) On the hard runs, I do a progression or tempo but either way it has to be HARD and AEROBIC.

I have to be able to run a 5min mile any time ("drunk, yup, hungover yup..."). 6min/mile is TRAINING-tempo run pace. 7min/mile is EASY running. 8min/mile or slower is shakeout.

How the hell am I going to do all of this? 2 simple reasons;
1. I love working hard.
2. I love running.

Coming off the injury I have to be careful as not to make it worse while I'm running again. I think I'm going to accomplish this by doing two-a-days immediately. So rather than put the leg through 6 miles, I'm putting it through 2 3-milers. I think thats going to be easier on the leg. As for this week I'm doing a couple miles until I can run without pain. I'm hoping it will still heal while I do this easy running, otherwise I'm going to need even more time off and there will be no way I'll come close to making the team.

So, once I can run once a day without pain in the leg, I'm immediately going to 2 a days and building up to that 70mpw as soon as possible. When I get to the 70 I'll maintain it for a couple of weeks and when I know I can, I'll increase. There's not too much I can say about it now because I guarantee something will happen between now and then. (I mean look, 40 days ago I thought that on Wednesday I'd be looking to break 5 mins in the mile. Now, on Wednesday I'll be looking to complete a 3 mile run without making my injury worse.) I'm really looking forward to this; honestly, I'm going to love doing this, but I just need all the help in the world to make this leg better.