800 Repeats, Pain in my Knee, and Why so much food?

What kind of things do I need to remember about today?

Pain in my right knee for most of the workout and definitely after the workout.  Talked to Mike since he came from a cycling background.  I told him that the knee pain only started once I got back on my bike regularly.  He said that it is possible that my saddle may be too low.  He said that my knee should only be slightly bent.  Not straight and fully extended, either.  I will have to check on this and make an adjustment if necessary.

Cliche:  Pain is temporary.  Pride is forever.  Gotta remember this when my legs feel heavy, there's a sidesticker making it hard to breath, my head feels like it is going to pop, and my arms are tingling.  I gave up on my last repeat tonight.  I was hurting, but was there more?  There's always more.  Always.  Unless you're on the floor.

Don't let the King be the Winner!  I went to Burger King an hour post workout.  I ordered and devoured

a BK Double Stacker (I love the sauce they use),

small french fries,

small Coke,

and the clincher... a BK Fish sandwich.

Did I really need the fish sandwich, too?  The King made me do it.  I will be stronger next time.  Approximately 1900 calories.  BMI just went up 1pt.  I can feel it.  This is gonna need some extra laps on the next workout.

And the workout...

3 laps around the track on my own (.75 mile)
1 mile loop around the neighborhood
Stretching and then 4 x 100 striders

6 x 800 repeats @ 4-7 seconds faster than 5k goal pace (3:20-3:25)
I ran 3:19, 3:20, 3:19, 3:26 (missed by 1 second), 3:21, 3:44 (refer to 2nd paragraph above ^ beginning with Cliche.)

Did some breathing exercises and slow stretching at home a few hours after the workout.

Reset on the Long Run

After getting up to 10 miles on my long runs, I have hit the reset switch and am now back at 6 miles for my long runs.  I didn't run as fast as my 10 milers either.

I didn't start with a warmup this workout, because I had my girlfriend pacing me on her bike.  She stayed slow enough for me to keep up with her, which was very nice.  I say this because a cyclist could very easily push the pace and send a runner into anaerobic activity in no time flat.

My left ankle has hurt since Friday.  No particular reason.  My GF felt my ankle and thinks that I am missing some cartilage.  Could be, but I don't really want to know that.  It was still a little sore when I started today's run, but it felt normal by the time I hit 2 miles.

Everything felt nice and smooth through 3 miles.  That's when I had to start thinking about pushing myself to maintain my pace.  I would say that I probably was running in the high 8's for most of the run.  Somewhere between that point and mile 5, my GF says to me, "Let me see that gazelle stride you talk about."  Of course, I start pushing off harder and lifting my thighs as I drive my knees forward.  I picked it up and ran sub-6 minute pace for about a quarter mile and was out of breath in no time.  I told her to wait as I slowed down, but kept motivated enough to go back to my previous pace.

I yelled out when we had 1 mile left, because I have that marked in my head (from too many runs to count).  When we hit about half mile left, she tells me that we're close and I need to pick it up a little.  I really like that about her.  She knew exactly when to push me.  When we finished up, I was spent.  The temperature was high 70's when the sun was going down.  Felt great!

It is Hard Running after a Layoff

I haven't really worked out very hard in about 3 weeks and I sure feel it.  It is now 3 hours since I finished my workout and my legs are killing me.  This time, I wised up and took my Claritin-D an hour before my workout.  I was very thirsty, which is a side effect, but much better than feeling like my lungs are about to seize up, runny nose, and itchy eyes.  Just saying.

The workout wasn't really that hard, which makes me feel even more pathetic about taking so much time off.  We ran a 1.25 mile warmup, did our usual light stretching and then a 4 mile loop to, around, and back from Lake Baldwin.  Most of the people in my group are running the Winter Park 10k this Saturday, so he didn't want us killing ourselves.  He said to run at conversational pace.  That would have worked if I kept up with anyone.  Instead, I just had to keep my thoughts to myself, which were mostly about just trying to keep pushing.  Nothing truly inspirational that's for sure.  I had to stop for about 30 seconds around the 2 mile mark.  After that, I went between barely jogging to pushing through the headwind and trying to keep pace.

By the time I got back to the track, almost everyone was finishing up the 200 meter repeats.  Coach wanted us to run 4 to 6 of them.  Run them somewhat hard, but not sprinting.  Just get a good turnover with your legs.  I was dying by the time I got there, so I ran 4 of them.  I felt like death afterward.  I sat down on the bleachers next to the water jug, so I wouldn't have to move very far.  I was beat physically, although mentally, I felt very accomplished.  I could have easily not run at all today in fear of the pollen.

I wish I had done more indoor workouts during my time off.  Some of it was to rest my calf, so maybe not that time.  But I could have been doing something instead of going outside and causing a nasal infection a week ago and that would have given me the ability to do even more indoor workouts.  See how that works?  Maybe next year I'll have a game plan in place for when the Oak Pollen Attacks!!

3 weeks exactly until the IOA Corporate 5k in downtown Orlando.

First Run in 2 Weeks and Allergies Did Me In Again

It is 2 hours after my workout stopped and I am still blowing my nose.  The last time I ran I hurt my calf and then I got a sinus infection from pollen overload.  The pollen count is still very high today, but it hasn't been as bad on me the last few days.  The pollen has gone from a light green to brown now and I thought it was a turning point.  I am fully vested in Claritin and hopefully my nose calms down soon.  It is driving me crazy.

So the workout... we did our normal 1 mile warmup, stretching, and then 4x100 striders.  All is well.  The actual workout is 5x1000 at 5k goal race pace with 200 recovery jog.

I ran the first one in 4:05 (6:34 mile pace) and the second in 4:20 (6:58).  That's a considerable drop.  The first felt pretty good even though my legs felt like they were burning up.  I didn't think too much of since I haven't run in 2 weeks.  The definitely felt like I slowed down on the second repeat even though I was trying to maintain the same pace.  My lungs were starting to feel asthmatic, though, by the end of that one.  I walked the recovery, got a little swig of water, and started the third 1000.  My lungs kept getting more constricted as I went and I stopped after 1 lap.  That was it.  I walked it off and got some cover under a tree.

Within 5 minutes, my nose was running like crazy and my eyes were itchy.  Done.  I popped one Claritin right away.  I biked home and ate some veggie lasagna and popped another Claritin.  Hopefully this goes away within the next hour, so I can sleep tonight.

Tuesday's Workout Brought Calf Pain

Irony Alert:  We never stretch our calves during warmups.  On Tuesday, we stretched our calves.  On Tuesday, I hurt one of my calves.

Tuesday's workout was 2 sets of 4 x 600 @ slightly faster than 5k pace.  I ran the first set with no problems.

2:25, 2:30, 2:23, 2:25

The second set was going great.  2:28 on the first rep.  On the second rep, I was on pace all the way through the 400 and as I was coming down the last straightaway, I could hear someone just bearing down on me.  Breathing.  Footsteps.  So I turned around mid-stride to see if the person was going around.  I moved into the second lane to make way and as I stepped through with my left leg, something pulled in my left calf.  Just enough to warrant stopping.  It was the kind of muscle pain that you know to stop and rest it.  So I didn't even try to jog it off.

It is Thursday now.  Yesterday, it was very sore and there was a little pain going into my Achilles.  Today only hurt when I used stairs, but walking on flat ground didn't hurt.  It's still sore.  I will rest it tomorrow as well.  We'll see for Saturday.