Week in Review

38 miles
6 days of running / 1 day off
2 lifting sessions
1 rock climbing session
8M with 4M tempo at 640/636/622/612 as pacemaker for Howard
9.4M long run
1 massage

Things continue to stay the same, meaning that I might not be injured any more!  I believe that a combination of factors have led to my ability to nip this injury in the bud:  1) consistent weight training regime, 2) massage therapy once a week and 3) patience and trust.  It's easy to get excited and to jump right back into the thick of training.  But, really, there's no point to that. I don't have any races set on the calendar.  If I am toying with the idea of any races, it's because I want to represent the Strava Track Club and give back to them since I have been completely MIA at the track practices.  I know that I must put my ego aside and just get ready to lace up eventually, even if I've had a couple of bumps in the training so far.  Regardless, I'm feeling pretty confident that I've put the achilles flare up behind me.  My goal now is to help Howard out for some of his marathon workouts because they allow me to get some work in, but not hard enough to put me at risk of doing too much speed too soon.  We'll see how next week pans out!

Week in Review

24 Miles total
5 days of running / 2 days off
2 lifting sessions
1 massage at Sports Medicine Institute

Okay, I don't want to get too excited yet, but I am happy that I was able to get five runs in this week, without any setbacks on my achilles.  I've kept the mileage low (<6 a="" achilles="" after="" as="" be="" but="" couple="" far="" free="" fully="" i="" is="" it="" mile="" more="" much="" my="" nbsp="" not="" o="" of="" p="" pain="" plan="" running.="" runs="" satisfied="" seems="" so="" soon.="" stress="" that="" the="" to="" too="" until="" weeks="" will="" working="">

Week in Review

3M total
5 days off
1 mile run on Saturday
2M run on Sunday at 608 pace
4 days in Plano, TX
1 yoga session
3 weight lifting sessions

Phew! What a whirlwind week:  I was in 4 states in the span of 3 days!  It's nice to finally be back home.  I started off the week in Plano, Texas for some facetime with my teammates who are helping Bank of America to launch Erica - a digital assistant for the mobile app.  It's really hectic and crazy when I go to the Plano office, with lots of work and team dinners, and not enough time to unwind.

Since I can't run, it's tough to sleep right now.  So, naturally, in the middle of the night on Tuesday, I decided to book a ticket to Raleigh / Charlotte to surprise Michelle before she goes to London (and also to pick up the remaining items I left in Durham after my separation).  I landed in Durham late on Thursday night and headed over to Billy's to spend the night.  I was sad that I couldn't run so we could catch up even more, but I had a crazy day on Friday.  I woke up early to pack my car full of the boxes of books I left at Billy's house before driving over to Amanda's house to get those boxes too. As Amanda brought my boxes down, I was reminded about how much crap I had left here.  While simultaneously catching up with Amanda and playing with her boys Owen and Eli, I sorted my stuff into piles - ship back to Cali or take to Goodwill.  After an hour, I said my goodbyes and stopped at Goodwill before going to the UPS store to ship three boxes of stuff.  It took a long time to wrap all of my art, but I was able to get it all sent out without a problem.

By 9AM, I already felt extremely accomplished and still had to drive 2 hours to Chatham, Virginia to see Don Reagan, a PT that I greatly respect.  Don validated some of the things that other clinicians had told me and also cautioned me to stick with just one person so that I don't get overloaded with too many opinions.  After two wonderfully painful dry needling sessions, I felt great.  I really wish dry needling were allowed in California!

After my appointment in VA, I drove to Charlotte to surprise Michelle (and Danielle!).  It was great to hang with the women who have stood by my side through a tumultuous year and to celebrate Michelle's job transfer to London!  It was here in Charlotte that I attempted my first run, a whopping 1 mile jog with Michelle on Saturday.  I didn't feel my achilles, so I knew that my lifting was helping me improve and get healthy!

And sadly, after a couple of hours at the brewery, I had to say goodbye to my Charlotte family and head back to California.  I'm so glad that I finally sorted through my belongings in Durham and that i could find closure in that chapter of my life.

Week in Review

10 Miles
3 days of lifting
2 days of rock climbing
1 hike

I've been down this injured achilles road before, so I decided to shut things down and to continue lifting weights instead.  I hate running sporadically, with all decisions to go on a run dependent on how my achilles is feeling.  I would rather take time off than to juggle the conflicting emotional decision making.   And so with that, I lifted a bunch, went on several walks and went rock climbing.  There has been a ton of rain, so I have avoided sloshing through puddles at least!

I did get some answers from Jenna, as well as a PT at San Francisco Cross Fit.  Seems that most of my underlying issues are stemming from the same source as last year's injury - tight calves, tight lats and an overactive back.  I've been working on corrective exercises to remedy this issue.