Dear cross country skiing,

I honestly dislike you from my guts.

All the best,
ste

Party time

Achilles started creaking again last night. Maybe just because I didn't dance (at our University's pre-Xmas event).

Couple hours before this I met Dr. Orava for the first time after the surgery. He said that everything is pretty normal at this point - the swallen achilles, really stiff calf, my anxiety and some other features slow recovery. So, shouldn't be anything to worry about. He estimated that by the Xmas achilles might in better shape. I really hope that I can run when we arrive to the US.

Some hours before the appointment I was going to do some nordic skiing (yes, we already have snow). I woke up at 6 AM, geared up, drove to other side of the city (it's a small city) and was ready to roll at 6:30. But the loop was currently under construction and I HAD to drive back home and fall back to sleep since doc's appointment was at 9. At least I tried, right?

Since the achilles is now really bad I have to postpone skiing and gym for couple more days but at this phase of this sportish bankruptcy it doesn't matter so much.

Ice and snow

I think that they killed my achilles yesterday. Dammit.

Away II

Despite the highly innovative topic set for this post, I had another nice morning in Maastricht. Yesterday I lost the map so today I selected a less extreme adventure and strolled out and back follow the river Maas. Achilles was talking the same language as yesterday but today left knee also had something to say.

Still, this day strated with a positive tone.

Away

I had a nice morning jaunt (3 miles @ 7.30s, got lost only three times) around tiny city of Maastricht, NED. Achilles was today way better than I could expect based on the self-caused pain due to yesterday's adventure to get here (lots of walking and sitting in various forms of transportation). This day will be spent by sitting and listening to various presentations (on interesting topics of course), but I'll meet the empty streets again tomorrow morning.

And yes, this does not suck.

First run

Today: 3 miles @ 8.00 pace. 

At first the achilles was a little too stiff, but I decided to give a try and run (the whole) 3 miles. After 1k striding started to feel easier, but left leg felt still relatively stiff. At the traffic lights around 1.5 miles I had a exclusive chance to do some stretching which - of course - helped. Then I conquered some mud, cold water, more mud and many many cyclists with no lights. And I was the only one smiling in the cold dark evening. To make it clear - it didn't suck.

It's a long long way to travel (and wishes that the old glute/hamstring pain is gone) before I'm back. But I think that there's a chance. Nice.

Slow progress

I had to skip running yesterday and this morning due to icy conditions. Instead, I ran indoors 2x1k + 2k and then rowed for ten minutes. Thereafter, I got sucker punched by achilles. This road to back on the road takes a loooong time. Fortunately, I'm seeing the doc on Nov 25th. On that day I will get an understanding where I am.  

Sunday I did a bike ride during which it started snowing. It means that the Sun is away for the next few months. Nice. Then I steared NYC marathon online and wore my Grapevine shirt just to remember where my mind was wandering (in US that is).

On Monday I had a day of passive rest since I travelled to Tampere and back. The real reason was to give some slack for the achilles. Today, just 40 minutes ago I ran 4x400m + 1x800m with walking rest of 200m (on slightly slippery road and 25F...). Operated achilles was ok if you don't mind the stiffness. Yay!

Baby steps, baby! Yeah!

At last

After winning a 5 day long but uneven battle with sore throat and cold I returned to the more or less continuous streak of core training. In order to keep things interesting, I walked with Lil' D and sweetie for 45 minutes on Wed and on Thu I repeated that and added 15 minutes.

But today I walked to the indoor track, changed my shoes and gear and RAN. Well, I ran and walked, but still this is the start. I did 200, 400, 800, 400, 400 and 200 meters (@ extremely easy pace and smile on my face) with walking rest of 200 meters. Achilles is darn stiff but it's not hurting. In order to get some sweat going I spent 20 minutes on Concept2 (a rowing machine). Now I gotta remember the baby steps. Luckily, the stiffness will keep me alert (I hope). I'm still far from decent running streak, but it's a start.

What a fun morning! 

Marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon, marathon and Grapevine!

It's not dead

November 1st was on Monday. Didn't run even if I expected so. However, achilles has indicated some recovery since last Saturday which makes the forthcoming weeks look really bright. Next weekend I will try out walk/run combination for 15-20 minutes. Similarly, indoor biking (read = spinning class) will soon be part of the recovery process.

After the soon-to-be-forgotten downturn things have to proceed by baby steps...