In the previous blog, I told y’all that I was running strong
and recover well from yearlong injury. I
honestly felt very well after that weekend.
I uptick my mileage the following week and logged about 46 miles –
highest for the year. I was clearly tire
on June 14, but I decided to go run Greenway Trail with the MCRRC Sunday trail
group. Then the nightmare began within
two miles into the run, I hopped off a log, and my left foot land on a patch of
green leaves – looked safe at the time.
But when my foot touch down, we heard a popping sound from my ankle, and
I scream “#$%&”. It felt a little
tight up, I rubbed it for about a minute and it start to fade off. I thought it wasn’t anything major and
continued onto the trail with everyone else for about 10 miles. I felt fine after the run and rest of the day. After dinner, I felt something puffing on my
ankle while I was talking on the phone that evening. I looked down and saw my foot was swollen
like a golf ball, “$hit!”
I texted Dr. Firestone and he suggested me to stop by his
office first thing in the morning. Next
day, I went and learn that I was pulled a ligament and put on bench again – six
weeks. There I was, on the bench, again,
just like before. Because of it, I only
logged 85 miles for June.
Six weeks without running wasn’t too bad, considering the
fact that was out for seven months. I
bike commute almost every day of the week and did a lot of foot exercises to strength
the foot.
... ... ... ...
Five weeks went by and I felt I can run again, but I told
myself to listen and be patient.
Sunday of July 26 was the beginning of seventh week, I laced
up and jog out my front door. I jogged
for 32m’34s’ for about 4.5 miles and felt very heavy. The next day, I ran 31m’42s’ during lunch
hour in thunder storm. Tuesday was off
from running, but bike commute. Wednesday
and Thursday were double down on bike commute and 5-nish miles run during
lunch. For July, I put down just 21
miles.
I felt strong and jog lightly on the first day of August. August 2, weather was super nice, temperature
was at low 60, and I drove out to Germantown MD for Riley Rumble Half
Marathon. I wasn’t plan to race, I planned
to run it was a long run, do it as 5k at a time, and target to finish around 1h’45m’.
Like I said, weather was great and I ran out too hot at 6m’15
pace at the first mile. I dialed down
and clock second mile at 13m'49.09s’. I
really felt great and clocked 14m'10.9s’ at mile four. I started to debate myself whether or not to
run the whole thing and disregard the original plan.
I decided to run it all, but kept that idea in mind in case
my body tells me to stop; so I pressed forward and wonder how long I can last
with that pace. At mile six, I clocked 13m’42.49,
14m’24.66 for mile 8, 14m’30.36 for mile 10, 14m’27.93 for mile 12, and 7m’46.16
for mile 13.1; I finished the race with a time of 1h’32m’52s’ on one of the hilliest
half marathons in the region. That time
was a total surprise for me.
Legs were sore the next day and I ran easy the following few
days, while I was in a conference without much time spare for running. On Friday of August 7, it was Going Green
Track Meet. Again, I wasn’t tried to
race hard. I just want to get a
reasonable good workout in. At the end, I
ran 11m’59.2 (6m’ + 5m’59.2) the 2-mile and 5’45.2 for miler. Both times are way off my personal best, but
given the amount I been training for, I really can’t complain. I took Saturday off and ran 10 miles on Sunday.
Week of August 10, I took a week easy and only logged 28
miles with four runs; nothing really special to report. Week of August 17 is the last week before my
long trip; I took Monday off after weekend long runs. Tuesday morning, I got up early and dressed
lightly, I jogged down my street around 06:00 and toward my office – I was
run-commute. I done that run when I first
transplant here several years ago, I didn’t know where I was going, and did
that run around two hours. This time is different;
I know the area well and ran the whole thing within 1h’37m’45, it is 13.125
miles door-to-door. That was awesome.
I didn’t feel as bad as I thought I would be on Wednesday
morning; but I had something to deal in the morning, so I skip the morning run
and joined the Wednesday Track in Rich Montgomery HS. The last time, I did a reasonable workout was
too long ago to remember. The workout plan
was run 16 x 300m with 100m recover; I plan to run it around 6m’ pace. I think executed it pretty well: 1m'05.80s',
1m'04.43s', 1m'03.44s', 1m'04.38s', 1m'05.05s', 1m'03.55s', 1m'02.72s',
1m'03.82s', 1m'00.65s', 1m'02.58s', 1m'01.10s', 0m'59.81s', 1m'01.31s', 1m'00.93s',
1m'00.05s', 0m'58.05s'; that was average about 62s’ per 300m or about 5m’32 per
mile.
I have one more race before my trip, East County 8K on August
22. After that, I will be on vacation
and I am not sure I will log any miles, but I will certainly try. Please come back and visit my blog, I will
post my messages by email.
y’all have a good summer!
