Hoping for Fall redemption

John Kilpatrick wrote:Hang in there Seth. You obviously love running to put yourself through what you have and I'm not trying to give advice, but would you consider adding a day or two cycling to help with the niggles? It may or may not even help, but it might be worth a closer look...

John, please don't hesitate to offer advice! Right now I'm using
swimming (along with strength training) as my primary cross training. I
have been meaning to mix in some biking as well. I don't think dropping
back down to less than five days a week of running will benefit my
training unless I really have to, and from the way I rebounded from this
minor episode, I think I'm o.k. with the amount of running I'm doing.

Liz R wrote:Your blog sounds like mine, with all the ups and downs! As long as there is continued forward motion, it is good.

+1 Liz!

Easy niggle free five miles tonight. The only thing about it that wasn't easy was that I ran too soon after eating dinner, and felt it during the whole run, even cramping up a bit. Stupid!

Third of four sessions with the personal trainer tomorrow, then meeting my old college buddies tomorrow night, which means Saturday's ten or eleven miler should be really fun.

Seth Harrison wrote:Easy niggle free five miles tonight. The only thing about it that wasn't easy was that I ran too soon after eating dinner, and felt it during the whole run, even cramping up a bit. Stupid!

Third of four sessions with the personal trainer tomorrow, then meeting my old college buddies tomorrow night, which means Saturday's ten or eleven miler should be really fun.

Woohoo! Gotta love the niggle free runs, and you did 5 miles to boot! Nice job, Seth! You've overcome some crappy obstacles with niggles and it's so great to see you running without them. Have fun with the personal trainer and not too much fun with your college buddies

Don't overdo it tonight, but enjoy.

Congrats on a niggle-free run! It sounds like you're doing a good job listening to your body. Keep healing up!!

You and I are both doing the personal trainer thing. I just agreed today to extend it out to Chicago. Its kind of silly because the guy doesn't have me doing anything I couldn't go to the gym and do on my own but it helps me to be FORCED to attend a session at a specific time because otherwise, its too easy for me to blow it off.



Remind me again of when that November marathon is. You have a link to that? Its my backup should Chicago be a hot weather day.

Jim Lentz wrote:Don't overdo it tonight, but enjoy.

Thanks Jim. I have to drive about an hour out to Long Island to meet up with my friends, so that means an hour drive home, which of course means that I won't be overdoing it.

Julie wrote:Congrats on a niggle-free run! It sounds like you're doing a good job listening to your body. Keep healing up!!

Thanks Julie. I'm feeling pretty encouraged by how my leg got past those latest niggles so quickly. It makes me more confident that I can run through some of this stuff.

Chris M wrote:You and I are both doing the personal trainer thing. I just agreed today to extend it out to Chicago. Its kind of silly because the guy doesn't have me doing anything I couldn't go to the gym and do on my own but it helps me to be FORCED to attend a session at a specific time because otherwise, its too easy for me to blow it off.

Remind me again of when that November marathon is. You have a link to
that? Its my backup should Chicago be a hot weather day.

Remind me again of when that November marathon is. You have a link to
that? Its my backup should Chicago be a hot weather day.

Chris, this guy has me doing things that I could never dream up on my own. Next week is my last session with him, and he's going to have to write down as much of what we're doing as he can. I can remember a lot of it, but he comes up with so many great variations, that I'll need some sort of guide in order to jog my memory.
I'll respond over at your blog about the Bucks County Marathon.

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Woohoo! Gotta love the niggle free runs, and you did 5 miles to boot! Nice job, Seth! You've overcome some crappy obstacles with niggles and it's so great to see you running without them. Have fun with the personal trainer and not too much fun with your college buddies

Thanks Lisa. I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys. We reconnected a couple of years ago and have managed a couple of get togethers over the past couple of years. It's pretty funny to hang out with them again. They were a bit crazier than I was back in college and not much as changed since then!

Jim Lentz wrote:Don't overdo it tonight, but enjoy.

Thanks
Jim. I have to drive about an hour out to Long Island to meet up with
my friends, so that means an hour drive home, which of course means that
I won't be overdoing it.

Julie wrote:Congrats on a
niggle-free run! It sounds like you're doing a good job listening to
your body. Keep healing up!!

Thanks Julie. I'm feeling
pretty encouraged by how my leg got past those latest niggles so
quickly. It makes me more confident that I can run through some of this
stuff.

Chris M wrote:You and I are both doing the personal
trainer thing. I just agreed today to extend it out to Chicago. Its
kind of silly because the guy doesn't have me doing anything I couldn't
go to the gym and do on my own but it helps me to be FORCED to attend a
session at a specific time because otherwise, its too easy for me to
blow it off.

Remind me again of when that November marathon is. You have a link to
that? Its my backup should Chicago be a hot weather day.

Remind me again of when that November marathon is. You have a link to
that? Its my backup should Chicago be a hot weather day.

Chris,
this guy has me doing things that I could never dream up on my own.
Next week is my last session with him, and he's going to have to write
down as much of what we're doing as he can. I can remember a lot of it,
but he comes up with so many great variations, that I'll need some sort
of guide in order to jog my memory.
I'll respond over at your blog about the Bucks County Marathon.

Stay in control, Seth and make sure you don't convince yourself that all is well when it might not be. I do it all the time and then end up in trouble - so stay smart

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Stay in control, Seth and make sure you don't convince yourself that all is well when it might not be. I do it all the time and then end up in trouble - so stay smart

Thanks for the reminder Michele. I'm making sure to keep it easy on the days when it doesn't need to be hard, and giving myself sufficient recovery.

Today was a good, hilly, 11 miler in the preserve. It was up around 80 when I started, but the humidity was very low, so it was manageable. I felt the knee a little towards the end, but otherwise there were no issues. Pace was fine for a long run.
Today's run:

Very nice run, Seth. That's what I'm talking about.

We do hard and easy. Seth does niggle and niggle free.



Btw, the recent world record by your club is really impressive. You must be proud of being in such a club. Nice.

Seth Harrison wrote:
this guy has me doing things that I could never dream up on my own.
Next week is my last session with him, and he's going to have to write
down as much of what we're doing as he can. I can remember a lot of it,
but he comes up with so many great variations, that I'll need some sort
of guide in order to jog my memory.
I'll respond over at your blog about the Bucks County Marathon.

I can't even tell you how many times I've accursed accused (Freudian slip) my trainer of making things up.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Very nice run, Seth. That's what I'm talking about.

Thanks Michele. Let's hope I can stay smart!

Jerry wrote:We do hard and easy. Seth does niggle and niggle free.



Btw, the recent world record by your club is really impressive. You must be proud of being in such a club. Nice.

You're right Jerry, for me it really is about just dodging niggles. Unfortunately, I don't see it ever changing much.

As for the World Record set by the women in my club, it really was such a great achievement. More than anything, we're all so happy for our coach, who is one of the most selfless and giving people I've ever known. He's dedicated his life to our sport, and this is such a deserving reward for all he's done and continues to do.

Natalie wrote:

Seth Harrison wrote:
this guy has me doing things that I could never dream up on my own.
Next week is my last session with him, and he's going to have to write
down as much of what we're doing as he can. I can remember a lot of it,
but he comes up with so many great variations, that I'll need some sort
of guide in order to jog my memory.

I can't even tell you how many times I've accursed accused (Freudian slip) my trainer of making things up.

The guy is amazing Natalie, and perhaps the best thing about him is that he gets what I do, and has been able to tailor workouts that don't in any way hinder my running. It's too bad I only have one more session with him.

Nice job on the 11 miles, Seth.

Glad your latest run went well Seth! It's encouraging when you have a run like that I'm sure. Hope things continue on a relatively smooth path for you!



In life it seems it's always about the process.

Good to see another solid run in the books Seth. Nice to see the length of the runs creeping up a bit too.

mul21 wrote:Good to see another solid run in the books Seth. Nice to see the length of the runs creeping up a bit too.

+1. Looking good!

There is the old Seth. Glad the run went well!

Thanks guys. Neither the foot or knee are perfect, but I'm seemingly able to train through all this.

Sunday: 5 miles easy/recovery (after Saturday's 11 miler)
Monday: Upper body strength training

This morning was 6 easy miles (8:57/mile). The legs were a little on the tired side, which surprised me. I hope they're fresher for tomorrow's workout with the club.

The goals right now are twofold: both slowly getting back my speed, which I'm doing with the Wednesday workouts, and much more importantly, building volume. It's been a slow increase in weekly mileage every week, and that will continue to be the main focus for the this portion of the training cycle. (I should have said the goals are threefold...the main goal is always to remain as injury free as possible).

It sounds like you're being very smart about all of the build up and being cautious. Congrats on a solid 11 miler and good recovery run and easy run as well.

Nice running!

Are you including cut back weeks in your mileage build up?

Julie, Kenny, Jim, thanks!
Jim, no step back week yet. So far, my build up, as far as volume and intensity, has been gradual enough that I haven't needed it, but it's definitely coming soon. Perhaps next week.

Today was a good speed workout, with a little bit of a step up from last week's workout.
8.5 miles in total, with 2 x 1 mile, than 2 x 5 min. all at about 7:30 mile. The first of the 5 minute intervals was mostly uphill.

Seth Harrison wrote:Julie, Kenny, Jim, thanks!
Jim, no step back week yet. So far, my build up, as far as volume and intensity, has been gradual enough that I haven't needed it, but it's definitely coming soon. Perhaps next week.

Today was a good speed workout, with a little bit of a step up from last week's workout.
8.5 miles in total, with 2 x 1 mile, than 2 x 5 min. all at about 7:30 mile. The first of the 5 minute intervals was mostly uphill.

Very good day of running some quick pace there for you! Not sure how much you have lost in speed. Endurance will happen as you build back up!

Kenny B. wrote:

Seth Harrison wrote:Julie, Kenny, Jim, thanks!
Jim, no step back week yet. So far, my build up, as far as volume and intensity, has been gradual enough that I haven't needed it, but it's definitely coming soon. Perhaps next week.

Today was a good speed workout, with a little bit of a step up from last week's workout.
8.5 miles in total, with 2 x 1 mile, than 2 x 5 min. all at about 7:30 mile. The first of the 5 minute intervals was mostly uphill.

Very good day of running some quick pace there for you! Not sure how much you have lost in speed. Endurance will happen as you build back up!

I've definitely lost some speed, but as long as I can continue to train consistently (read: no injuries), I think it will come back pretty quickly.

My running partner convinced me to run without a watch for today's 5 mile recovery run. It felt like a good recovery pace. No issues to report.