To where I am transitioning is not clear. But what *IS* clear at the moment is that I'm done recovering. What's even less clear is whether that's really a good thing. I feel mostly okay these days, but the weird aches and pains don't really clear up. Its always something slightly different, but I never feel... totally good. Its just like this plateau of no man's land. The funny thing is, the less I exercise, the worse my feet feel.
I honestly feel totally overwhelmed with work and athletically and physically directionless, but for lack of desire to stay where I am, I'm moving on. To something. Let's hope its to running again.
Sunday 08/19: 11.5 miles, hiking. Mt. Baldy adventuring with Peter. After my proposed route was vetoed, we parked halfway up to the ski lifts, then took the south side "Ski Hut" trail up to the summit, then came back an easier, longer way along the ski lifts on a fire road back to the car. The way up was *brutal*... that or I am miserably out of shape. Likely a combination of both. Had a fantastic roast beef sandwich and a nap at the top at 10,000 feet. Windy and beautiful. Really enjoyed the wind and the clear air and the coolness. Way back was more boring, but getting tired so glad for the less challenging terrain.
Feet held up pretty well to this excursion, mildly rolled an ankle at one point, but thankfully the hiking boots avoided the other Mt. Baldy-esque disaster. Some aches and pains later on that day, but miraculously pain free the next morning!
Monday 08/20 - Tuesday 08/21: Really, Really, sore... ughhhh. This was NOT a welcome development. The bipedal motion muscles must really be shot. The second day, the rolled ankle felt sharply painful to the touch. Iced a lot, but the feet are still okay. Had promised myself that if the feet held up to the hike, I would go ahead and try 20 minutes of jogging. Feeling really antsy to get the show started.
Wednesday 08/22: 2 miles, 21 minutes with Peter. Oh, the rude awakening that is el first "run" back... all of these months of darkness I imagined what running would be like, to glide effortlessly over hill and dale, perhaps a bit more slowly than usual, but nevertheless... all crisp cool air and quickly bounding legs. Little did I know... within 50 ft, Peter was already sprinting on ahead, and when I finally caught up, panting for an easier pace... I was met with pure incredulity: "WHAT?! but we're almost *walking* as it is!"
The reason for his complaint was discovered some 4-5 minutes later when we arrived at the track, and I realized that we were going like 9 minute miles... and it already felt like drowning. The thing is, I was prepared for bad... I was even prepared for... really bad... but this was... off the charts bad! This is going to take like, a good 3-6 months to repair.
Thursday 08/23: 3.1 miles, 31 minutes. Pre-race from the gym at night. Hoping to meet no one I knew... was successful at least this time. Sans el boy unit, I was able to go at a pace that didn't require huffing and puffing. Sadly for me, this was just about 10 minute miles. The running system feels really, really bad. HR pushing 170, sweating like a pig, but at the very least, my feet were okay.
Friday 08/24: Off. L achilles really painful. Decided to institute the 2 days on, 1 day off plan until the aches and pains stabilized out a little bit. Iced a lot, and it all cleared on up. Feet holding up better than I expected, but nonetheless resolved to run on grass for the next few.
Saturday 08/25: 2.5 miles, 24 minutes, 8 laps around the North Fields at dusk. Apparently 10 minute miles on pavement is NOT the same as 10 minute miles on grass... Felt pretty drowning, HR really really high. Really discouraging run--looking back before I started this last 4 month stretch of being injured... the whole 3 min/lap speed was my rest day routine of 10 laps at 135 bpm. This was less a "run" and more just a pleasant jog, just to get the blood circulating on non training days. Right now, said pleasant jog requires a heart rate of 175 bpm, and an unpleasant drowning sensation. I realized after 8 laps that I was really relieved to be done. Legs felt heavy, heart was pounding uncomfortably, everything just felt bad, bad, bad.
Weekly Totals: 7.6 miles. With some help from the Medical Gods... I could even reach double digits next week!
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